Best Salon Appointment Software in 2026: 9 Options Compared

The best salon appointment software for most salons is Fresha, for its low per-person price and booking marketplace. Square Appointments is the strongest free option in the US and UK. startbuddi suits salons in Nigeria and across Africa that want deposits through Paystack plus WhatsApp, client records and invoices in one place. Prices below were checked on 1 October 2026.

startbuddi is our product. We’ve included it where it fits and listed its limits as plainly as everyone else’s.

Key takeaways

• Compare the monthly fee and the per-booking costs together: card payments, text messages and marketplace commissions all add to the subscription.
• Marketplace “new client” fees are the biggest hidden cost. Fresha charges 20% on a new client’s first booking in the US, and Booksy’s optional Boost takes 30%, capped at $100.
• Several well-known tools don’t serve every country. GlossGenius is US-only, Vagaro covers four countries, and only a few can be bought from Nigeria.
• Deposits are the most reliable no-show fix, so check that a tool can take one in your currency, with a payment method your clients actually use.

Salon appointment software compared

Tool	Best for	Starting price (checked 1 Oct 2026)	Free plan	Standout feature
Fresha	Most salons wanting a marketplace	$19.95/month (Independent); $14.95 per team member (Team)	No (7-day trial)	All features on both plans, large booking marketplace
Square Appointments	US and UK salons on a tight budget	$0 (Free plan); Plus $49 per location	Yes	Free plan with deposits and reminders
startbuddi	Salons in Nigeria and Africa that want bookings, WhatsApp, clients and invoices together	See pricing	Yes	Deposits by card, transfer, USSD or mobile money through Paystack
Vagaro	US, UK, Canada and Australia salons wanting lots of add-ons	$23.99/month intro (US, normally $30)	No (30-day trial)	Unlimited reminders included, many paid add-ons
Booksy	Barbers and solo stylists who want to be found	$29.99/month (US)	No (14-day US trial)	2,000 marketing texts a month included (US)
GlossGenius	Solo and small US salons	$24/month billed annually	No (14-day trial)	Booking site and card payments in one app
Timely	Salons that want simple per-staff pricing	$26 per staff/month (Build)	No (14-day trial)	No new client fees on any plan
Mangomint	Busy, well-staffed US salons and spas	$120 per location + $10 per user	No	Unlimited text and email reminders included
SimplyBook.me	Very small or occasional bookers	€0 (Free, 50 bookings)	Yes	Cheap tiered plans by booking volume

Prices are in each vendor’s own currency for the country shown, before tax. Some vendors show different prices by visitor location, so check the page for your country.

How we chose

We looked for tools a salon, spa or barbershop could run without an IT person, and judged them on:

• Booking and calendar: online booking, staff calendars, services with different lengths.
• No-show protection: deposits, card on file, cancellation fees and reminders.
• True cost: subscription, text message charges, marketplace commissions and how card payments are charged.
• Where it works: which countries and currencies the vendor serves.
• Honesty about limits: what each tool leaves out.

Every price and fee comes from the vendor’s own pricing, help or terms pages, checked on 1 October 2026. We didn’t run hands-on tests, and we don’t quote review scores. Boulevard and Phorest were left out of the list because they don’t publish full prices: Boulevard’s plans start at $159 a month billed monthly but card rates aren’t published, and Phorest is quote-only with no free trial.

1. Fresha

Fresha is a booking and payments platform for salons, spas and barbers, with a consumer marketplace where clients find and book local businesses.

Best for: salons of any size that want to be found by new clients and pay a low fixed fee.

Key features

• Online booking, deposits and upfront payments, no-show and cancellation fees.
• Point of sale, retail stock, gift cards, memberships and waitlists.
• Team plan adds commissions, wages and timesheets.

Pricing: on Fresha’s pricing page the US plans are Independent at “$19.95 per month” for one bookable person and Team at “$14.95 per team member monthly”. From Nigeria, the same page shows NGN 6,800 and NGN 4,500. There is a 7-day trial and no free plan. Card payments are charged separately; see Fresha’s pricing page for current rates. New clients from the marketplace carry a “20% one-time commission” with a $6 minimum in the US. Fresha’s help article on new client fees says the fee still applies if your team cancels or leaves the booking unmanaged.

Pros

• Low price per person, with every feature on both plans.
• Strong marketplace for winning new clients.
• Sells in many countries, including Nigeria in naira.

Cons

• The marketplace fee can be large on a high-value first appointment.
• Messages, AI receptionist and loyalty tools are paid extras.
• Fresha’s payment processor terms list the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, the EU, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Nigeria and Kenya aren’t listed, so integrated card payments may not be available there.

Skip it if most of your clients already know you and you don’t want to pay commission when the marketplace sends someone new.

2. Square Appointments

Square Appointments is Square’s booking app for service businesses, linked to Square’s card readers and point of sale.

Best for: US and UK salons that want a capable free plan and already use, or want, Square for card payments.

Key features

• Online booking, deposits, prepayment and reminders on every plan.
• Unlimited staff calendars.
• Card readers, tap to pay and point of sale from the same company.

Pricing: Square’s US pricing page lists Free at $0, Plus at “$49/mo. per location” and Premium at “$149/mo. per location”, with a 30-day trial of the paid plans. In the UK, Plus is £29 and Premium £69 per location. Card payments go through Square, at the rates on Square’s fees page.

Pros

• A free plan that genuinely takes bookings and deposits.
• Hardware, payments and booking from one supplier.

Cons

• Cancellation policies, no-show fees and waitlists are not on the Free plan.
• Text marketing isn’t available on Free.
• Available in a handful of countries (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, Japan, France and Spain on its site), not in Africa.

Skip it if you trade outside Square’s countries, or you need no-show fees and don’t want to pay for Plus.

3. startbuddi

startbuddi is an all-in-one workspace for service businesses. Bookings sits alongside a client list, an inbox for WhatsApp, Instagram and email, invoices and payments, so a booking, the client’s messages and their payments live on one record.

Best for: salons and barbers in Nigeria and across Africa that take deposits, chat with clients on WhatsApp and want one place for bookings, clients and money.

Key features

• A booking page for your services, with prices in NGN, USD, GBP, EUR, KES, ZAR or GHS.
• Require payment to book: take the full amount or a deposit before a booking is confirmed. With Paystack, clients pay by card, bank transfer, USSD or mobile money; with Stripe, by card. The slot is held for 30 minutes while they pay.
• Email confirmations, and automatic reminders by email, WhatsApp or SMS at a lead time you choose, plus an “after a no-show” follow-up email.
• Staff calendars, block time, round robin across stylists and a personal booking page for each team member.
• Every booking creates or updates the client’s contact record, and you can generate an invoice from a booking.

Pricing: a free plan is available; see pricing. The free plan allows one live service, so most salons with a full menu will need a paid plan.

Pros

• Deposits in naira with the payment methods Nigerian clients use.
• Bookings, WhatsApp conversations, client history and invoices in one workspace.
• No marketplace commission, because there is no marketplace.

Cons

• Not a point-of-sale or till system: no card terminal, no retail stock tracking.
• No consumer marketplace, so it won’t bring you new clients by itself.
• Each booking gets one automatic reminder. WhatsApp reminders need a connected WhatsApp number, SMS reminders need an SMS connection and a plan that includes SMS, and a second reminder or custom message needs an automation.
• Calendar sync pushes bookings to Google Calendar but doesn’t read your busy times.
• On a phone you get the overview and booking links; managing the calendar and services is done on a computer or tablet.
• No commissions or payroll for stylists.

Skip it if you need a till, retail stock and a front-desk app on your phone, or you rely on a marketplace for new clients.

4. Vagaro

Vagaro is salon, spa and fitness software with a long list of optional add-ons, from forms to a branded app.

Best for: salons in the US, UK, Canada or Australia that want reminders included and are happy to add features one by one.

Key features

• “Unlimited notifications & appointment reminders” and 1,000 free emails a month.
• Inventory, a free card reader with Vagaro’s merchant services and a marketplace.
• Add-ons for forms, text marketing, a website and payroll.

Pricing: Vagaro’s pricing page shows “$23.99 / mo. Exclusive rate for the first 6 months”, normally $30, plus $10 a month for each extra bookable calendar up to seven. The UK page shows £20 a month against £30. There is a 30-day trial. Taking online deposits and cancellation fees needs the Online Shopping Cart add-on, $10 a month in the US. Card payments go through Vagaro’s own merchant services.

Pros

• Reminders are unlimited and included.
• Marketplace bookings are free in the US, Canada and Australia.

Cons

• The add-ons add up: deposits, forms and text marketing are each extra.
• The headline US price is an introductory rate.
• Vagaro’s support pages say “Booking Fees Apply” to marketplace bookings in the UK.
• Only available in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.

Skip it if you want one price that includes deposits and texts, or you trade outside those four countries.

5. Booksy

Booksy is a booking app with a consumer marketplace, popular with barbers and independent stylists.

Best for: barbers and solo stylists in the US and Europe who want clients to find them in an app.

Key features

• One plan with all features: no-show protection, waitlists, forms, gift cards and memberships.
• Reserve with Google.
• Reminders are “always free”; US plans include 2,000 marketing texts a month.

Pricing: Booksy’s pricing page lists “$29.99 per month + tax” in the US, with extra users at $20 a month, and a 14-day trial. The UK price is £40 a month plus VAT, extra users £5, with a 7-day trial. Boost, the optional marketplace promotion, takes a “one-time 30% fee” on a new client, up to $100 in the US.

Pros

• Simple single plan.
• Generous text allowance in the US.

Cons

• Boost fees are high if you switch it on.
• UK text allowance is smaller (500, then 5p each).
• No African country version.

Skip it if you run a larger team on a tight budget, or you’re outside Booksy’s countries.

6. GlossGenius

GlossGenius is booking, payments and marketing software for beauty professionals in the US.

Best for: solo stylists and small US salons that want booking and card payments in one simple app.

Key features

• Built-in deposits and cancellation and no-show policies.
• Website, booking and payments in one.
• Inventory and payroll (payroll is an add-on).

Pricing: GlossGenius pricing lists Standard at $28 a month or $24 billed annually, Gold at $56 or $48 for up to 9 staff, and Platinum at $168 or $148. There’s a 14-day trial and no free plan. Card payments are built in, with rates on the same page.

Pros

• Tap to pay and card on file built in.
• Clean setup for one-chair businesses.

Cons

• US only: its terms limit use to the fifty states, US territories and DC.
• Text marketing allowances depend on the plan, and the page isn’t fully consistent about which tier includes it.

Skip it if you’re outside the US.

7. Timely

Timely is salon and spa software from New Zealand, priced per bookable staff member.

Best for: small and mid-sized salons that want per-staff pricing and no commission on new clients.

Key features

• Online booking, deposits and cancellation fees (where Timely payments are available).
• SMS allowance per staff member: 100, 200 or 350 depending on plan.
• “No new client fees” on every plan.

Pricing: Timely’s pricing page lists Build at $26, Elevate at $39 and Innovate at $47 per staff member a month, with discounts for more staff and a 14-day trial. UK prices start at £22.

Pros

• Clear per-person pricing that scales with your team.
• No marketplace commission.

Cons

• Integrated payments only in Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK and most of the EU, so deposits aren’t built in elsewhere.
• SMS isn’t delivered to Ghana, and SMS campaigns are limited to a short country list.

Skip it if you need built-in deposits in Nigeria, Kenya or Ghana.

8. Mangomint

Mangomint is salon and spa software aimed at busy, established businesses.

Best for: US salons and spas with a front desk and several staff who want reminders included and no booking fees.

Key features

• “Unlimited text and email appointment confirmations and reminders”.
• Deposits and cards on file through Mangomint’s own payments.
• Phone, payroll and marketing add-ons.

Pricing: Mangomint’s pricing page lists “$120/mo per location” plus “$10/mo per user”, in force since 1 August 2026, so a solo provider pays $130. Card payments are charged separately, at the rates on the same page.

Pros

• Reminders included, with no fees on bookings.
• Built for a real front desk.

Cons

• Expensive for a one-chair business.
• Everyone with a profile counts as a user, including front-desk staff.
• Deposits require Mangomint’s own payment processing.

Skip it if you’re a solo stylist or trade outside North America.

9. SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is general booking software used by many kinds of service business, including salons.

Best for: very small salons, home-based stylists or anyone taking only a few bookings a month.

Key features

• Online booking page and widget.
• Deposits and point of sale from the Basic plan.
• Plans based on booking volume and number of staff.

Pricing: SimplyBook.me’s pricing page showed, from Nigeria, a Free plan with 50 bookings and one staff member, Basic at €13.9 a month (€11.9 billed annually) and Standard at €29.9 (€24.9 annually), with a 14-day trial. It says “no transaction fees”, though your payment provider’s fees apply.

Pros

• A real free plan for low volumes.
• Cheap paid tiers.

Cons

• Not salon-specific, so less suited to colour, chair and stylist workflows.
• SMS, WhatsApp and AI voice credits are paid separately.

Skip it if you run a busy multi-chair salon.

How to choose salon appointment software

Start with three questions, in this order.

1. Can it take a deposit in my country, by a method my clients use? This rules out the most tools. A Lagos salon whose clients pay by transfer needs something different from a London salon whose clients tap a card.
2. What will it cost per month, all in? Add the subscription, texts beyond the allowance and any marketplace commission, then check each tool’s pricing page for how card payments are charged.
3. Do I need a till and retail stock? If you sell a lot of product, choose a tool with point of sale and inventory, or pair a booking tool with a separate till.

Here’s an illustrative monthly comparison for a two-stylist US salon with 8 new marketplace clients spending $80 each:

Cost	Fresha (Team)	Timely (Build)
Subscription	2 × $14.95 = $29.90	2 × $26 = $52 (list price, before any multi-staff discount)
New client commission	8 × $16 (20% of $80) = $128	$0
Total before texts and card payments	$157.90	$52

The figures are illustrative: your booking count and ticket size will change the answer, and card payments come on top at the rates on each tool’s own pricing page. The point is that the subscription is often not the biggest line.

For setting the deposit itself, our guide on how much deposit to charge clients walks through it, and the no-show appointment page covers what to do when someone doesn’t turn up.

If you are weighing startbuddi against Square in particular, the startbuddi vs Square Appointments comparison goes feature by feature. For non-salon businesses, see our best booking software list, and if you’re new to the category, start with what booking software does. Running the whole salon, not just the diary, is covered in the guide on how to run a salon business.

Can you get salon appointment software free?

Yes, with limits. Square Appointments has a free plan in its countries, without no-show fees or waitlists. SimplyBook.me’s free plan covers 50 bookings a month for one staff member. startbuddi has a free plan with one live service. For a working salon with several services and stylists, expect to pay for at least one tool.

Try startbuddi Bookings

If you run a salon or barbershop in Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa and lose money to no-shows, set up a service with a deposit and share your booking link on WhatsApp. Start free, no card needed, and see the Bookings features.

Frequently asked questions