4 Ways to Get Around Square Appointments Not Allowing Coupons or Gift Cards (Plus One Crazy Hack That Actually Works)

The Problem That’s Been Ignored for 7+ Years

If you’re running a service business on Square, you’ve run into this: customers cannot pay with a coupon or gift card when booking appointments online.

In 2025, with online booking being the standard for service businesses, Square still doesn’t support one of the most basic marketing tools available to retailers.

Messages in this thread go back to 2017 asking for this feature.

The frustration screams through the screen:

“Does SquareUp understand how important it is to be able to offer discounts and promo codes on services booked online?!”

“This system becomes pointless for salons and other service-based businesses if it’s missing such simple and basic selling tools.”

“What gives! Square—your whole setup has been nothing but a huge headache and letdown. Anyone reading this—I’d run away from Square as fast as you can if you book appointments and services.”

One seller shared a particularly painful story: “I just created a coupon code to be used for our golf simulator appointments, just to find out coupon codes can’t be used when making Square Appointments. Now I have to explain to each customer not to worry, that they will definitely receive their discount.”

Imagine launching a social media campaign with a discount code, only to realize your customers can’t actually use it. That’s the reality for Square Appointments users.

But some Square sellers have found workarounds. Here are four reasonable approaches and one that’s honestly a bit crazy but works.

Workaround #1: Apply Discount Codes with Credit Hold Checkout

How it works: Set up your online booking with a credit hold or no-show policy. Customers book online and write their discount code in the message area during booking. You then manually apply the discount when they check out in person.

The Good

This approach gives you decent protection against no-shows while still technically offering coupons to your customers. You can tell customers about the discount even if they can’t apply it automatically.

The Bad

Manual checkout is time-consuming. Every single appointment requires you to remember to apply the discount correctly.

But the real problem? It breaks customer trust and kills conversions. As one seller put it: “The reason customers book online is because it’s convenient and easy. But it’s more time consuming for us to go back in and apply the discount individually for each customer.”

Another added: “This is a huge limitation for us, especially when trying to market our services and offer discounts but not having any solid way for the customer to see that they’re getting those savings until after paying in person.”

Try running Facebook or Google ads with a discount code when you have to explain in fine print that the coupon won’t actually work at checkout—but trust us, we’ll apply it later. It’s not how customers expect online booking to work, and it shows.

Workaround #2: Book with Credit Hold, Then Send a Payment Link

How it works: Set up online booking with a credit hold or no-show policy so customers can reserve their slot. After they book, you create a payment link in your Square dashboard and send it to them via email or text. You just make sure to setup the payment link to accept coupons.

The Good

The customer actually gets to use the coupon themselves. They see the discount applied in real time, just like they’d expect from any modern checkout experience. You still get no-show protection from the credit hold, and everything stays within Square’s ecosystem.

For businesses running occasional promotions or dealing with a manageable booking volume this is a decent option.

The Bad

You’re creating and sending a payment link for every single booking that uses a discount. It can add up fast. If you’re running a busy salon with dozens of appointments per day, this won’t work.

There’s also a timing gap. The customer books, then waits for your payment link, then pays. If you’re not quick about sending those links, customers might wonder if their booking went through or if the promotion is actually valid. It requires you to be responsive and organized.

This works best for smaller operations—solo practitioners, boutique studios, or businesses with lower booking volume who want to run the occasional promotion without switching platforms.

Workaround #3: Switch to Acuity Scheduling (Keep Square for Payments)

How it works: Migrate your appointment booking system to Acuity (owned by Squarespace) but keep using Square as your payment processor. Acuity supports coupons and gift cards for online appointment bookings.

The Good

Acuity is purpose-built for appointment booking and has the features you need. Customers can actually apply coupons and gift cards at checkout like they expect. If services are all you offer, this is probably your best bet.

The Bad

You’re now managing two systems. There’s the upfront work of migrating everything from Square Appointments to Acuity, which can be substantial depending on how long you’ve been using Square.

More importantly, if you offer other products through Square Online (retail items, merchandise, etc.), you now have a fragmented experience. Your appointments are booked through Acuity, but other purchases go through Square. It works, but Square’s promise of one platform to run your business is broken.

Workaround #4: Move to a Platform Built for Service Businesses

How it works: Switch to a platform specifically designed for service businesses like salons, spas, personal trainers, or wellness centers. Vagaro is one popular option, though there are others depending on your industry.

The Good

These platforms are built from the ground up for service businesses. They understand your workflow, your needs, and include features like coupon codes for online booking out of the box. They can replace everything Square offers—payment processing, scheduling, client management, and marketing tools.

The Bad

Here’s the catch: these platforms often take over the client relationship. They become the intermediary between you and your customers in ways that may make you uncomfortable. Square lets you keep a direct connection to your customers.

One Reddit user warned about Vagaro getting in between them and their customers.

It’s worth doing thorough research before committing. These are complete platforms, and switching is a major decision.

Workaround #5: The Crazy Hack That Actually Works

This is a crazy hack that works because Square Online allows you to create items that accept gift cards and coupon codes.

How it works: Instead of using Square Appointments, you sell appointment slots as regular items through Square Online.

Here’s the process:

1. Create an item called something like “Monday 11/17 Appointments”
2. Add variations for each time slot (9am, 10am, 11am, etc.)
3. Set inventory to 1 for each variation
4. Make it available through Square Online
5. Customers “buy” the time slot like any other product—and they CAN use coupons and gift cards
6. You manually set up the actual booking in Square Appointments so customers get reminders and confirmations
7. At the end of each day, you have to remove or archive the appointments that have not been booked to ensure someone doesn’t accidentally book an appointment for a time in the past

The Good

You stay in one system. If you’re already using Square for retail or other products, this isn’t as disruptive as switching platforms entirely. Customers get the online booking experience they expect, with working discount codes.

The Bad

The manual work is significant. You’re essentially maintaining two parallel systems—items for purchase and actual appointment bookings. If you allow bookings up to the actual appointment time, this could turn into a full-time job just managing the coordination. The online booking experience won’t look like the typical calendar selection customers might expect.

Automation could take away the bad

There’s potential here for automation using Square’s APIs:

• You can set up your time slots in Square Appointments
• Items with the right variations can be created automatically and made available on your website
• Modifiers can be used if you offer more than one service per booking
• When a customer buys/books an appointment through your website, the time slot can automatically be booked in your Square Appointments schedule
• It will include the customer’s information and all the services they booked, which lets Square Appointments take over to send reminder emails and texts
• Any unsold appointment slots can be marked as zero inventory so someone doesn’t accidentally book an appointment in the past

That’s the basic idea, but there are a bunch of details to work out. I’m working on building this solution, so if you’re interested, .

What Now?

Square may not have solved this problem, but the workarounds have evolved to the point where you can run a successful service business despite this limitation. Here’s how to choose:

Start with your business model:

• One or two services, low volume? The manual discount application method works fine. It’s not elegant, but it’s manageable.
• Small operation running occasional promos? The payment link approach lets customers apply their own coupons without switching platforms.
• Service-only business ready to commit? Acuity or a specialized platform will give you the features you need without compromises.
• Mixed business with products and services? The crazy workaround keeps everything in one system. And with potential automation via Square’s APIs, it would just work.

It’s been 7+ years and Square’s roadmap doesn’t include this feature. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck. The key is matching the solution to your specific situation. If you’re interested in exploring the automated version of the crazy workaround, . I’m building it out and working with businesses to get it right.

Your customers want to book with you—don’t let Square’s limitations stop you from making it easy for them.