Choosing Your First Med Spa Platform
Aesthetic Record is a capable, aesthetics-built EMR. The differences show up in the bill and the busywork: AR prices per user and sells its AI as separate subscriptions, while VISTA weaves the AI that brings clients back into one flat price — quietly working in the background. New med spas get their first 3 months free.
Before you sign anything
Aesthetic Record is built for medical aesthetics, like VISTA — so the real comparison is how the two are priced and assembled. Ask these three questions of any platform on your shortlist; the answers below come from AR's own published pricing pages.
Aesthetic Record prices per user — $15–$19 per user, per month, plus a $399 onboarding fee (as of July 2026) — so the price climbs with every provider and front-desk hire you make. VISTA is $497/mo flat with unlimited staff, and new med spas get their first 3 months free.
Aesthetic Record sells its AI separately: ChartSmart AI charting is an add-on ($30–$75/mo, as of July 2026), and its marketing AI lives in LeadAR — AR's own separately-subscribed platform, whose AI-inclusive plans run $297–$397/mo (as of July 2026). VISTA's AI does a different job — writing the outreach that brings clients back — and it's part of the flat platform price, not a line item.
With AR, full marketing and CRM means adding LeadAR — a second platform to learn, connect, and pay for. VISTA runs booking, charting, POS, marketing, and your branded apps on one login, with the phone available as an optional add-on inside the same system.
Designed in the AI era
VISTA was built to incorporate AI seamlessly and grow as it grows — not as a bulky extra step or a separate subscription. It's constantly working behind the scenes to bring clients back.
Seven always-on journeys — rebooking reminders, win-backs, birthdays, last-minute-opening fills, review requests and more — where AI writes each client's message individually, in your brand voice, and sends it at the right moment. No staff involvement.
Journeys skip clients who already rebooked, respect opt-outs and cooldowns, and retry automatically if anything fails — an outage never silently drops a client's message. Every send shows up in your Activity feed.
Pick a goal and an audience; AI drafts three complete campaign variations in your brand voice, plus fully designed, on-brand emails. You review and send; it never sends without you.
$497/mo flat, up to 4 locations (as of July 2026). Hire your front desk and providers without doing per-seat math — the price doesn't move.
Calls ring inside the app your team already uses, and the client's card pops on screen — membership, last visit, balance. An optional add-on, built into the platform rather than a separate system.
New med spas get one free month before opening — to build the menu, booking, and charting — and two more after the doors open. Self-setup is free, with optional assisted onboarding if you'd rather we build it with you.
Side by side
A fair, sourced comparison. Where a detail depends on your plan or contract, we've left it out.
Aesthetic Record is also built for medical aesthetics, ChartSmart is billed per account (not per user) with a free trial, and LeadAR is AR's own product — this isn't a knock on their tools, it's a difference in how the two platforms are assembled and priced. The two AI offerings also do different jobs: AR's ChartSmart is an AI charting assistant (VISTA doesn't offer one); VISTA's built-in AI focuses on client outreach and retention. VISTA's phone system and telehealth are optional paid add-ons too; the difference is they're part of the same platform. Figures as of July 2026 from vendor pricing pages.
Launching is handled
Opening without systems and trying to retrofit them later is the classic year-one trap. VISTA's new-med-spa offer is built to prevent exactly that: your first month is free before you open, so booking, charting, your service menu, and your marketing are live on day one — then your first two open months are free too.
Already charting on Aesthetic Record? Talk to us about a white-glove switch. See how migration works →
Sources & notes. Aesthetic Record's per-user pricing ($15–$19/user/mo), $399 onboarding fee, and ChartSmart AI add-on pricing ($30–$75/mo) are from AR's published pricing page (aestheticrecord.com/pricing); ChartSmart billing details (per account, first charts free) are from AR's help center (learn.aestheticrecord.com). LeadAR's AI-inclusive plans ($297–$397/mo, as of July 2026) are from LeadAR's own pricing page (myleadar.com/pricing); a lower-cost LeadAR StARt plan exists without documented AI features. LeadAR is Aesthetic Record's companion platform, subscribed separately from the EMR. ChartSmart is not included in any published AR tier; Enterprise pricing is unpublished. "None published" refers to a new-med-spa launch offer we could find documented as of July 2026. Details accessed July 2026; vendor pricing changes — confirm current details with each vendor before you decide. VISTA pricing is $497/mo flat (up to 4 locations) as of July 2026; the 3-months-free offer is for new med spas (one month pre-open, two after opening); phone and telehealth are optional paid add-ons; VISTA's built-in AI covers client outreach and marketing — VISTA does not offer an AI charting assistant.
Book a free 30-minute demo. We'll walk booking, charting, your branded apps, and the AI journeys that bring clients back — on the menu you're planning — and map out your free pre-opening month.