Starta.one
Altegio (formerly YCLIENTS) is a feature-rich platform with deep CRM, extensive loyalty programs, and a strong track record in Eastern Europe. Starta.one matches its core feature depth and adds a built-in AI assistant, a genuinely free plan, a customer Telegram bot, and a modern mobile-first interface.
Altegio has one of the most complete feature sets in salon software — full P&L reports, extensive loyalty programs, deep payroll, multi-warehouse inventory. But its interface remains dated, there's no AI automation, no free plan (only a 7-day trial), and the VK/YCLIENTS ownership history raises trust concerns for EU and Ukrainian businesses.
Starta.one matches Altegio's feature depth with AI automation, a free forever plan, a customer Telegram bot, and EU-first data handling.
Starta.one Lite — free, unlimited bookings
Starta.one Pro — from €6.29/mo. Up to 5 employees included, +€1.99/mo per additional
Per-employee pricing, single feature tier. Entry level from ~$11–29/month per employee depending on commitment length. All prices exclude VAT.
No free plan — only a 7-day trial. Long-term discounts require 12–24 month commitments. Pricing page is dynamic — exact costs aren't shown upfront.
Starta.one has a genuinely free plan and transparent flat pricing with up to 5 employees included in Pro. Altegio has no free tier, opaque per-employee pricing in USD, and incentivizes long commitments (up to 24 months) for the best rates.
Altegio's rich feature set takes time to configure — services, schedule, loyalty rules, payroll formulas. Starta AI describes the business to itself and sets everything up in minutes.
Automated reminders, smart scheduling, client reactivation, proactive suggestions. Altegio shows you data — Starta AI acts on it.
Weekly performance audits, margin analysis, growth recommendations. Altegio reports on what happened — Starta AI recommends what to do next.
Altegio has a deep feature set, but nothing is automated by AI. Every rule, reminder, and optimization is configured manually. Starta AI handles setup, scheduling optimization, and operational automation out of the box.
Altegio has no perpetual free tier — just a 7-day trial. Pricing depends on employee count and commitment length, with the best rates requiring 12-24 month commitments. Starta.one Lite is genuinely free with unlimited bookings.
Altegio's admin panel has been patched rather than redesigned — users describe it as cluttered and outdated. Starta.one's modern, mobile-first interface gets new staff productive in 10 minutes.
The VK-owned YCLIENTS spun off Altegio in 2022, but Ukrainian and EU investigative media have questioned whether the separation is genuinely complete. Starta.one has no such ownership history — EU-first from day one.
Starta.one matches Altegio's feature depth (P&L, loyalty, payroll, inventory) and adds what Altegio lacks: a built-in AI assistant for setup and daily operations, a full client-facing Telegram bot, a genuinely free Starta.one Lite plan, transparent flat pricing with 5 employees included, and a modern mobile-first interface. Plus — EU-first origin without ties to VK-owned entities.
Starta.one Pro — from €6.29/mo with up to 5 employees included, +€1.99/mo per additional employee. Lite — free with unlimited bookings. Altegio uses per-employee pricing with a single feature tier (no Basic/Pro plans). Entry pricing is around $11-29/month per employee, with the best rates requiring 12-24 month commitments. There is no free plan — just a 7-day trial. VAT is added on top.
Starta.one has a built-in AI assistant: it sets up the system from a chat description of your business, optimizes scheduling, reactivates inactive clients, runs weekly business audits, and gives growth recommendations. As of 2026, Altegio has no dedicated AI assistant, chatbot, or automation built into the platform — you can connect external AI tools via Albato, but nothing is built in.
Altegio was spun off from YCLIENTS in March 2022, and VK Group (Russian tech conglomerate) acquired the remaining YCLIENTS business in December 2023. Altegio claims full independence, but investigative media in Ukraine have questioned whether the separation is technically complete. For EU and Ukrainian businesses concerned about data sovereignty, this remains a consideration.
Export your client database from Altegio and the Starta AI assistant will configure services, schedule, and your booking page in minutes. Note: Altegio users have reported that data exports are sometimes incomplete (names/phones/emails only), so plan to recreate service definitions and schedule rules in Starta.one — the AI assistant makes this fast.
AI automation for setup and daily operations (Altegio requires everything manual), a full client-facing Telegram bot for bookings and reminders, a genuinely free Starta.one Lite plan, transparent flat pricing with 5 employees included instead of per-seat USD pricing, a modern mobile-first interface, and EU-first origin without VK-related ownership concerns.