Compare approaches
Boulevard or Velvet Lead: two different jobs
These are often compared, but they solve different problems. Boulevard runs the business inside your med spa. Velvet Lead builds the website that fills it. Here is how to tell which one you're missing.
Boulevard is a well-regarded platform for salons and medical spas, known for a polished client-facing booking experience, a strong point of sale and solid marketing and communication tools. Med spas that use it tend to like it, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
The thing worth understanding before you compare prices is that Boulevard is practice-management software. It runs your front desk, your calendar, your payments and your client records. It gives you a booking experience to send clients to. What it does not do is build and write the website that gets a stranger from a Google search to that booking page in the first place.
Velvet Lead is the other half of that. We build your clinic website with treatment pages, prices and an AI assistant, with online booking inside it rather than bolted on. This page is about which gap you actually have, because for some clinics the honest answer is that you want Boulevard, not us.
| Topic | Boulevard | Velvet Lead |
|---|---|---|
| The problem it solves | Running the business inside the clinic: calendar, payments, client records | Getting a stranger from a search result to a booked appointment |
| Your website | You supply it. Booking is linked or embedded into a site you get elsewhere | We build and write it, on your own domain, with booking inside it |
| Treatment pages | A service menu, presented through the booking flow | A page per treatment with price, duration, downtime, sessions, aftercare and who it isn't for |
| Point of sale and payments | A full point of sale, in-clinic payments and memberships | Booking deposits and gift vouchers through your own Stripe account. No point of sale |
| Answering questions before booking | Client messaging and marketing tools | An assistant trained on your treatments, prices and hours, answering at any hour |
| Where enquiries come from | Tracked once someone is a client | A lead inbox showing the campaign or channel behind every enquiry, before they book |
| How you pay | An ongoing subscription | A one-time build fee, then you own the site. No monthly fee to us |
| Locations | Built to handle multi-location operations | One location per website |
We compare approaches, not specific companies. For any provider's current features and prices, check their own website.
They are not really alternatives
It is common to see these put side by side, and it usually means somebody is comparing the wrong things. Boulevard's strength is everything that happens once a client exists: booking them in, checking them out, taking payment, keeping the record, bringing them back. That is a hard job and it does it well.
Velvet Lead's job starts earlier. Somebody searches for laser hair removal in your city at eleven at night, lands on a page, reads what it costs and how long it takes, asks whether they can come Saturday, and books. Nothing in that sentence is front-desk software.
So the useful question is not which is better. It is which gap is costing you more right now: an inefficient front desk, or a website that does not turn searches into bookings.
When a clinic runs both
Some clinics genuinely need both kinds of tool, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend one replaces the other.
Where a clinic is already committed to a platform like Boulevard for its day-to-day operations, Velvet Lead is usually not the right purchase, because our booking and admin panel would duplicate what you already run. Two systems holding two versions of your calendar is worse than either one alone.
The clinics we fit best are the ones whose front desk works fine on what they already have, but whose website is a brochure that nobody books from. If that is you, our med spa page sets out what changes.
What we deliberately do not do
Velvet Lead is not a full practice-management system and we do not claim to be. There is no point of sale, no memberships or recurring billing, no insurance billing and no full EMR. Patients pay deposits and buy gift vouchers online through your own Stripe account; the treatment bill is settled at the clinic.
Clinical records cover consultation notes, consent forms and treatment records with an audit trail. We don't make HIPAA compliance claims. Practices that must operate under HIPAA should talk to our team before storing clinical records, including about Business Associate Agreements. See security.
If those gaps matter to how your clinic runs, a full platform is the right answer and this is the wrong page to be convinced by.
Which is right for you?
An honest answer
When Velvet Lead fits better
- Your website is a brochure and patients call rather than book.
- You don't have a website worth keeping, and want one built, written and launched for you.
- Enquiries arrive through Instagram, WhatsApp and phone, and nothing records which became patients.
- You want treatment pages that answer price, downtime and suitability before somebody has to ask.
- You would rather pay once and own the site than subscribe indefinitely.
When Boulevard is the better choice
- You need a real point of sale, in-clinic payments, memberships or recurring billing.
- You run several locations and want them managed together.
- Your front desk is the bottleneck, not your website.
- You need a client record that follows someone across years of visits, purchases and packages.
- You already have a website that brings you bookings and only need the operations behind it.
- You want retail product inventory tied to point-of-sale checkout.
FAQ
Common questions
Can Velvet Lead replace Boulevard?
For most clinics, no. If you rely on a point of sale, memberships or multi-location management, Velvet Lead doesn't cover those and we'd tell you so on the demo. We replace the website and the booking on it, not the operations behind the front desk.
Can I use Velvet Lead's website with Boulevard's booking?
Not today. Our booking is part of the system, which is what keeps the treatment menu, the assistant and availability in step. Running two booking systems against one calendar causes more problems than it solves.
Which should a new med spa buy first?
It depends on where your patients come from. If you have referrals and footfall but chaos at the desk, buy the operations platform. If nobody can find or book you online, start with the website. See for new clinics.
Do you take payments like Boulevard does?
Only booking deposits and gift vouchers, and those run through your clinic's own Stripe account rather than ours. There's no point of sale and no full online payment of a treatment bill. See booking deposits.
Features mentioned
Solutions
Other comparisons
- Separate tools vs one system A designer, a booking app and a chatbot vendor, compared with one connected system
- Instagram DMs vs online booking Running bookings through Instagram and WhatsApp messages, compared with a bookable website
- WordPress vs Velvet Lead A WordPress site with booking and chat plugins, compared with a clinic-focused system
- Booking software vs Velvet Lead General-purpose booking software, compared with a clinic website that has booking built in
- Squarespace or Wix vs Velvet Lead A website builder with scheduling added, compared with a clinic system built for you
- Zenoti vs Velvet Lead An enterprise platform for multi-location groups, next to a single-clinic website and booking
Work out which gap you have
Book a demo and we'll look at where your patients currently come from. If the honest answer is that you need operations software, we'll tell you. You can see what a clinic website costs before you book.