This article explains how to create and set up an appointment service in Appointments › Services: its duration variants and prices, scheduling settings and advanced options. A service is a 1:1 session that clients book in a free slot of a specialist, for example a personal training session, a massage, a consultation or a beauty treatment. Group classes, courses and events are set up differently and don't use services.
How do I create a new service?
In the sidebar, go to Appointments › Services.
Click Add service.
Fill in the basic details:
Service name — A clear, concise name (e.g., "Sports Massage", "Nutrition Counseling").
Category — Optional. Choose a category or create one with Create category.
Location — Required. Where the appointment takes place.
Description — Required. A short description visible to clients on the public page.
Image — An optional image for better visual presentation.
Set up Duration and price, Payment methods and Scheduling settings as described below.
Click Save.
How do duration variants work?
Every service has at least one variant in the Duration and price section. A variant is one length of the service with its own price. Each variant has:
Variant name — How the variant appears to clients when they choose it (e.g., "Short consultation 30 min", "Standard consultation 60 min").
Duration (min) — The actual length of the appointment, from 5 to 480 minutes.
Price — The pricing options for this variant. Each variant can have a different price.
One length (one variant)
If the service always takes the same amount of time (e.g., always 60 minutes), keep one variant and set its Duration (min).
Several lengths (several variants)
If you want to offer clients a choice of lengths (e.g., 30, 60 or 90 minutes), click Add variant and create one variant for each length. When a specialist offers more than one variant of the service, clients pick one under Select a variant on the public booking page.
Why does a booking show a different length than the client wanted?
The length of an appointment always comes from the variant the client selected. Zenamu calculates the start and end time of the booking from that variant's Duration (min). A pricing option only sets the price; it never changes the length. For example, if a service has only a 90-minute variant and one of its pricing options is named "60 min", every booking with that pricing option is still 90 minutes long.
On the public booking page, each variant appears under Select a variant with its Variant name and price. If a variant's name doesn't match its length, clients can easily pick the wrong one. After choosing a variant, clients see its duration in the service summary.
Changing a variant later doesn't change bookings that already exist. In an existing booking you can change the specialist, the location or the internal note, but not its time or length. If a booking has the wrong length, cancel it and create a new booking with the correct variant using Add booking in Appointments › Bookings.
How do I add a 60-minute option to a service?
Go to Appointments › Services and click Edit on the service card.
In Duration and price, click Add variant.
Enter a Variant name that includes the length (e.g., "Massage 60 min") and set Duration (min) to 60.
Set the Price for this variant.
Click Save.
Go to Appointments › Specialists. On the card of each specialist who provides this service, click Services, tick the new variant under the service and click Save. Specialists only offer the variants that are ticked for them.
Also check that the names of your other variants and pricing options match their real length, so nobody chooses a 90-minute variant thinking it's 60 minutes.
How do I set the price of a variant?
Each variant has its own Price section:
Enter the amount of the first pricing option.
Click Add another pricing option to add more ways to pay for the same variant, for example a discounted price, a price in credits or entries, or a membership. You'll only see the payment types that your studio uses.
To offer the variant free of charge, tick the free checkbox (labelled This class is free).
Pricing options set only the price of the variant. They don't change how long the appointment is. A specialist can also have their own prices for a variant: turn on Custom pricing for that variant in the specialist's settings.
Buffer time before and after
These settings are under Advanced booking settings in the service form. They let you reserve time (0 to 120 minutes) before and after each appointment:
Buffer time before — How many minutes you need to prepare before the client arrives (e.g., 10 minutes to set up the room).
Buffer time after — How many minutes you need after the appointment ends (e.g., 15 minutes for cleanup or a break).
Buffer times ensure appointments don't overlap and you have enough time between clients. Clients don't see this time — they only see available time slots that already account for buffers.
Booking window
The Booking window (in days, under Scheduling settings) determines how far in advance clients can book an appointment. You can set 1 to 365 days; a new service starts with 30 days. For example, if you set it to 30 days, clients will see available slots up to 30 days ahead.
Minimum notice
Minimum notice (in hours, under Scheduling settings) sets how many hours before the appointment start time a booking can still be made. You can set 0 to 168 hours; a new service starts with 24 hours. For example, if you set 24 hours, a client cannot book an appointment that starts in less than 24 hours.
This setting gives you preparation time and prevents last-minute bookings.
Booking for children
If your service allows bookings for minors, enable This service is for children under Advanced booking settings. During booking, the client will be able to select a child from their profile or enter the child's details.
Service categories
For better organization, you can group services into categories (e.g., "Massages", "Counseling", "Training"). Categories appear on the public booking page and help clients find what they're looking for more quickly. You create a category from the Category field in the service form with Create category.
Each category has:
Category name
Color — For visual distinction
Assigning a location
Every service needs a Location. If you operate from multiple venues or rooms, choose the one where this service takes place. The client will then see where exactly the appointment takes place, including the address.
Custom message after booking
Under Advanced booking settings, tick Custom message after booking and write your message (up to 2,000 characters). The client sees it after the booking is confirmed, and it's included in the confirmation email. Use it for:
Preparation instructions
Parking information
What to bring
A link to an intake form
Activating and deactivating a service
You can deactivate any service at any time without deleting it: use the switch at the top of the service form (Service is active / Service is inactive). A deactivated service is hidden from the booking calendar and clients cannot book it, but all existing bookings remain unaffected.
After creating a service, the next step is assigning specialists — learn more in Managing Specialists and Assigning Them to Services.