Outline charges €30/month flat with zero commission. Venue.ink is free for artists but charges your clients a 10% booking fee on every transaction. For 30 monthly bookings at $50 deposits, your clients pay around $150/month in fees with Venue.ink. With Outline, they pay nothing extra. The question is: do you want a free tool for yourself, or do you want a tool your clients don't pay extra for?
This article is written by the founder of Outline. We're transparent about the bias. Where Venue.ink is better, we say it.
The 30-second summary
| Outline | Venue.ink | |
|---|---|---|
| Price for the artist | €30/month (Pro) | $0/month (Free) or $50/month (Pro) |
| Fee charged to your clients | 0% | 10% (Free plan) or 5% (Pro plan) |
| Currency | EUR | USD only |
| Native iOS app | ✅ (App Store) | ✅ |
| Native Android app | In development | ✅ |
| Languages | English + French | English only |
| Data hosting | Paris, France (EU) | Canada |
| Focus | Solo artists only | Solo + studios |
| Commission, ever | Never | Always (5-10%) |
The pricing model — two completely different philosophies
Outline is a pure SaaS. You pay €30/month, you get the full product, and that's it. Your clients pay exactly what you charge them. Stripe processing fees apply (1.4% + €0.25 for EU cards), but those are unavoidable with any payment processor — Outline doesn't add a single cent on top.
Venue.ink uses a transaction-fee model. The artist pays nothing on the Free plan, but Venue.ink charges your clients 10% on top of every deposit and payment. If your deposit is $100, your client pays $110. You receive $100, Venue keeps $10. To reduce that fee to 5%, you can pay $50/month for the Solo Pro plan — but the fee is still charged to your clients.
This is verbatim from Venue.ink's own website: "There's no catch! The booking fee your clients pay is 10% of deposits and payments. So if you have a $100 deposit, your client is charged $110."
What it actually costs
Let's run the numbers for a tattoo artist doing 30 monthly bookings with an average $50 deposit:
Outline:
- Subscription: €30/month
- Fees charged to clients: $0
- Total cost: €30/month
Venue.ink Free:
- Subscription: $0/month
- Fees charged to clients: 30 × $50 × 10% = $150/month
- Total cost to clients: $150/month (your clients pay this, not you)
Venue.ink Solo Pro:
- Subscription: $50/month
- Fees charged to clients: 30 × $50 × 5% = $75/month
- Total cost: $50/month for you + $75/month for your clients = $125/month combined
The key question with Venue.ink isn't whether you pay — it's whether your clients pay. And they do, on every single booking.
The hidden cost of client-paid fees
Here's something that doesn't show up in any pricing page, but matters: price-sensitive clients abandon bookings when unexpected fees appear at checkout.
Your Instagram says "$100 deposit." Your client clicks the link, fills out the form, gets to checkout, and sees "$110." They hesitate. Some complete the booking anyway. Some don't. You'll never see analytics on how many you lost.
This is documented in Venue.ink's own App Store reviews. One artist wrote: "Taking $10 away from each and every client I book with adds up really quick! On average I'm booking about 30 people per month… that means I'm paying $300 a month for this app!"
The artist is wrong about who's paying — technically the client is — but the experience of seeing fees added at checkout damages the booking experience either way. With Outline, your client pays exactly what you charged them. No surprises.
Where each tool wins
Where Outline is stronger
Zero commission, ever — for you and your clients. This is the core differentiator. Your clients pay exactly what you charge them. No surprise fees at checkout, no friction in the booking flow.
Predictable flat pricing. €30/month. Always. Doesn't matter if you do 5 bookings or 500. Easy to budget, easy to forecast.
Bilingual EN + FR. If you have international clients, do guest spots in Europe, or work in any French-speaking country, Outline supports both languages natively. Venue.ink is English-only.
EUR native pricing. No currency conversion friction for European artists. Venue.ink prices everything in USD, which adds friction and unpredictability for non-US artists.
EU data hosting. Outline servers are in Paris (Supabase eu-west-3 and Vercel cdg1). For European artists who care about GDPR or data sovereignty, this matters.
100% solo artist focus. Outline doesn't try to serve studios. The interface stays simple and focused on what a solo tattoo artist actually needs.
Where Venue.ink is stronger
Native Android app. Venue.ink has both iOS and Android apps live. Outline has iOS but Android is still in development. If you're on Android, this is a real difference today.
Free plan with no upfront cost. If you literally can't afford €30/month or want to test the workflow before committing, Venue.ink's free plan lets you start without paying anything. Outline has a 14-day free trial but no permanent free tier with full features.
BNPL options for clients. Venue.ink integrates Affirm and Klarna for clients who want to pay deposits in installments. This is a US-market feature. Outline doesn't offer this.
Studio support. Venue.ink has a dedicated Studio plan ($150/month) for shops with multiple artists. Outline doesn't serve studios — solo artists only.
Established US presence. Venue.ink is based in Toronto and has strong traction in the North American market. They've been operating longer and have a larger client base in that region.
Mobile apps
Both apps are native and live. Outline is on the App Store for iOS, with Android in development. Venue.ink has both iOS and Android.
If you're on Android and need a mobile app today, Venue.ink has the edge until Outline ships its Android version.
Both apps include push notifications, mobile-optimized booking flows, and dashboards for managing requests on the go.
Who is each tool for?
Outline is for you if:
- You don't want to charge your clients a single extra cent
- You want predictable, flat monthly pricing
- You're based in Europe or work with European clients
- You need bilingual EN/FR support
- You care about EU data hosting and GDPR
- You're a solo artist and don't need studio features
Venue.ink is for you if:
- You can't or don't want to pay any monthly subscription
- Your clients are in the US and used to fees at checkout (similar to Uber, Airbnb, etc.)
- You need a native Android app today
- You want BNPL options (Affirm, Klarna) for your clients
- You run or work in a multi-artist studio
- You're based in North America and prefer USD pricing
The honest verdict
If your priority is the cleanest possible experience for your clients, Outline wins. Your clients see one price, pay one price. No surprises, no friction at checkout.
If your priority is paying nothing yourself upfront, Venue.ink wins on the Free plan — but your clients are paying for it, whether they realize it or not.
If your priority is predictable, flat costs with no per-transaction math, Outline wins. €30/month is €30/month, regardless of volume.
For European solo artists, Outline is the obvious choice. For North American artists who specifically want a free-for-artist model and are okay with passing fees to clients, Venue.ink is a legitimate alternative. Both products work — they just optimize for different things.
FAQ
Does Outline take a commission on my bookings? No. Zero commission, ever. You keep 100% of your deposits and flash sales. The only cost is the €30/month Pro subscription and standard Stripe processing fees (1.4% + €0.25 per EU card transaction).
Is Venue.ink really free? For the artist, yes — you pay $0/month on the Free plan. But your clients pay a 10% booking fee on every transaction. So while it's "free" for you, your clients are paying around $150/month combined for an average 30-booking month at $50 deposits.
Can I avoid the Venue.ink client fee? You can reduce it from 10% to 5% by paying $50/month for the Solo Pro plan. You can't eliminate it entirely. With Outline, there is no client fee at all on any plan.
Which one has better mobile apps? Both have native iOS apps. Venue.ink also has a native Android app — Outline's Android version is still in development. If you're on Android today, Venue.ink has the edge.
Which is better for European tattoo artists? Outline. EUR native pricing, EU data hosting in Paris, bilingual EN/FR, no USD conversion friction. Venue.ink is built for the North American market.
Does either one work for studios? Venue.ink has a Studio plan at $150/month for multi-artist shops. Outline is solo-only and doesn't serve studios.
Data verified on venue.ink April 10, 2026. Outline: €30/month Pro, 0% commission, iOS app live, EN+FR, hosted in Paris. Venue.ink: $0/month Free with 10% client fee, or $50/month Solo Pro with 5% client fee, USD only, hosted in Canada, English only.