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IntakePay
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For any one-person business that takes a deposit

The booking details and the deposit, in one link

Photographers, personal trainers, stylists, makers, bakers: if you agree the work first and take a deposit to hold it, send each client one link. They tell you what you need to know and pay the deposit by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, straight into your own Stripe account.

Start freeOpen the photographer demo

Free until your first client pays you, then $19/month · card required

An example engagement

Package
Half-day family photo shoot
IntakePay’s cut
$00% of every deposit
Deposit into your own Stripe accountPaid by card
$150less Stripe’s fee

The duct-tape version

The way many other solo businesses collect an intake and a deposit today

  • Booking details spread across DMs, texts and email
  • Deposits chased one reminder at a time
  • The date and what they asked for buried somewhere up the thread
  • IntakePay replaces all of it with one private link per client, and a page for your bio when you want one

How it works

Set up once: your business, your Stripe account, your plan. After that, each new client takes three steps.

  1. Step 1: Create the booking

    Add your client’s name and the deposit that holds their date. Your questions are copied onto their link.

  2. Step 2: Send one link

    Paste it into Instagram, WhatsApp or a text from your own phone. IntakePay never messages your client.

  3. Step 3: They answer and pay

    Your client fills in the details and pays the deposit by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The row flips from Pending to Paid and you get an email.

The Service booking template

An intake written for other solo businesses, ready on day one

What they’d like to book, the date and how flexible it is, where it happens, the budget and anything you should know. Reword, reorder, add or remove any question before you send your first link.

  1. What would you like to book?

    ParagraphRequired

  2. What date would you like?

    DateRequired

  3. How flexible is that date?

    DropdownRequired

  4. Where will it be?

    Short answerOptional

  5. What budget do you have in mind?

    DropdownOptional

  6. Anything I should know before we start?

    ParagraphOptional

  7. How did you hear about me?

    Short answerOptional
All templates
Preview of the Service booking template as a client sees it, for Harbor Light Photography, a fictional photographer, with a $150 deposit.

The template as your client sees it. Harbor Light Photography is fictional.

Is it for you?

IntakePay is built around one way of working. If that isn’t yours, a simpler tool will serve you better.

Built for you if

  • You work on your own and agree each job before you start it.
  • You take a deposit to hold a date or a slot.
  • Bookings arrive by DM, text or email, and the details end up scattered.
  • You want the details in writing, and the deposit paid, before you give the date away.

Not for you if

  • You’re paid after the work and never ask for a deposit. A plain payment link or an invoice already does that job.
  • You sell from a menu or a shop with a cart, shipping or stock levels. IntakePay takes one booking at a time.
  • You need a contract builder or a calendar built in. Those are left out on purpose; the full list of what IntakePay won’t do says why.
  • You work as part of a team that needs shared accounts.

Try it before you sign up

Open the link a fictional photographer would send. Fill it in on your phone and see what happens on your side when they pay. Nothing is charged.

Open the photographer demo

Questions from other solo businesses

Pricing questions
Can my clients pay with Apple Pay?

Yes. Your client pays on Stripe’s secure checkout, by card or with Apple Pay or Google Pay on phones that have them. The deposit goes straight into your own Stripe account.

Is there a form for my kind of business?

Start from the general booking form, or from scratch, and reword, add or remove any question. A home baker can start from the custom cake order form instead, with the common allergies to tick and up to three photos of designs they love.

Can clients send me photos?

Yes. Add a photos question to your form and they can attach up to three. They’re resized on your client’s phone, stored privately, and shown only to you.

Can I collect the rest later?

IntakePay collects one deposit per booking, to hold the date. Collect the balance the way you do today, on the day or with a Stripe invoice from your own account.

Set it up before your next job starts

Start freeOpen the photographer demo

Free until your first client pays you, then $19/month · card required