The best salon software of 2026

GlossGenius suits a stylist working alone or a small salon that wants a booking website, card payments and client marketing from one app, without a long setup. It also has separate plans for medspas, with charting.

Prices for beauty and wellness businesses on November 4, 2026:

• Standard: $24 a month billed yearly, or $28 monthly.
• Gold: $48 a month billed yearly, or $56 monthly, built for teams of up to 9.
• Platinum: $148 a month billed yearly, or $168 monthly, for teams of 10 or more.

Every plan has a 14-day trial with no card, and there's no free plan. Payroll costs $40 a month plus $6 a seat. Reception, an AI receptionist that answers calls and texts, costs $50 a month. Extra locations get 15% off the plan price.

You get online booking with Reserve with Google, a website builder, a waitlist, no-show protection with a card on file, marketing campaigns, forms and waivers, memberships and packages, gift cards, inventory and reports. GlossGenius moves your client data over for free.

Online invoices cost 2.9% + 30¢. The pricing page showed two different in-person card rates when we checked, so confirm the rate before you sign up. A salon with a front desk and a dozen providers will get more scheduling control from Mangomint or Boulevard.

Square Appointments is where to start if you don't want a monthly bill. The free plan costs $0 per location and includes an online booking site, appointment reminders and unlimited staff calendars. You pay only card fees: 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online.

The paid plans, per location per month on November 4, 2026:

• Plus, $49: adds cancellation policies with no-show fees, appointments with several staff, a waitlist and 500 marketing texts a month. In-person fees drop to 2.5% + 15¢ and online fees to 2.9% + 30¢.
• Premium, $149: adds a future bookings report, service cost tracking, resource management and 2,500 texts a month, with in-person fees of 2.4% + 15¢.

Plus and Premium both come with a 30-day trial, and you can cancel or switch plans whenever you like. Businesses that process more than $250,000 a year can ask Square about custom pricing.

The other reason to choose Square is the rest of Square. The same account runs retail sales, card readers and hardware from $59, payroll from $35 a month plus $6 per person paid, and banking. For a salon, though, no-show fees and the waitlist need the $49 Plus plan.

Booksy is built around its consumer app, where people search for a barber or stylist nearby and book a slot. For a barber or a new chair renter who needs clients more than software, that's the draw.

Pricing is one plan: $29.99 a month plus tax, and each extra team member costs $20 a month. You pay monthly, there's no commitment, and the 14-day trial needs no card. Every account gets a free marketplace listing and 2,000 free marketing texts a month.

Boost, Booksy's promotion feature, has no monthly fee. Booksy charges a one-time 30% of a Boost client's first visit, capped at $100.

Card fees on November 4, 2026:

• Booksy Card Reader: 2.49% + 10¢.
• Tap to Pay: 2.49% + 20¢.
• Mobile payments and keyed-in cards: 2.69% + 30¢.

Next-business-day payouts are free, and payouts within 30 minutes cost 1.5%. Booksy sells the Stripe Reader M2 for $53.10 and the S710 for $299.

Because each team member adds $20 a month, a large salon can end up paying more than it would on a flat-price plan such as GlossGenius Gold.

Vagaro covers more kinds of business than most tools here. It lists hair and nail salons, barbers, tattoo studios, spas, massage therapists, gyms, yoga and pilates studios, and it puts businesses in its own consumer directory with Daily Deals. It also sells its own card terminals, called PayPro, and a website builder called MySite, with online booking, forms, reports and a branded app.

Vagaro prices by bookable calendar. We couldn't confirm the base monthly price in US dollars on November 4, 2026. Its FAQ says each bookable calendar license you add costs $10 (US), up to seven licenses, and staff after that cost nothing extra. There's a 30-day trial, you can cancel at any time with no cancellation fee, and Vagaro moves you over from your current software for free. Businesses with several locations get custom pricing with no extra fee for managing them.

Card processing goes through Vagaro Merchant Services, and the pricing page offers a free card reader when you use it. Vagaro's pricing page didn't list processing rates, so ask for them before you switch.

Choose Vagaro if you run a mixed business, such as a salon with massage rooms or a studio with classes, and want one system for all of it.

Fresha, which used to be called Shedul, runs a large beauty booking marketplace. It says more than 130,000 partner businesses in over 120 countries use it, and that it has taken more than 1 billion bookings. Clients can book you through Fresha, your own booking link, Facebook and Instagram, and you can take deposits or full payment upfront to cut no-shows.

Fresha charges a monthly subscription. The Independent plan is for one person with a single calendar column. The Team plan is billed per team member each month and adds phone support. Both come with a 7-day trial, teams can try it without a card, and there's no minimum contract. Fresha shows prices for the country you're in, and we couldn't confirm the US prices on November 4, 2026.

Add-ons are billed separately, including Client Loyalty, an AI Concierge for messages, Google Rating Boost, Xero accounting and Insights reports. Fresha also charges a one-time fee for new clients who find you through its marketplace, so check that rate for your country before you list.

Fresha also has its own card terminals, daily payouts, automated campaigns, reminders by email and text, team scheduling and inventory. Choose it if marketplace bookings matter to you and your clients come from Instagram.

DaySmart Salon is the current name of Salon Iris, which was in the old version of this guide. The Salon Iris website now sends you to DaySmart, and the mobile apps still say "powered by Salon Iris." It sells plans with a fixed number of users, which works for a small salon with a stable team.

Prices a month on November 4, 2026:

• Basic, $29: 1 user.
• Deluxe, $69: 3 users.
• Deluxe Growth, $149: 3 users.
• Premium, $199: 6 users.
• Premium Growth: quote, unlimited users.

Extra users on Deluxe and above cost $9 a month each. Every plan has a two-week free trial, and the Deluxe trial needs no card.

Deluxe and Deluxe Growth have the same user count, so compare their feature lists before you choose. The prices are monthly, and the page didn't mention a discount for paying yearly.

A six-person salon pays $199 a month on Premium. GlossGenius Gold covers up to 9 people for $48 a month billed yearly, so compare the two before you commit.

Mangomint suits a salon or spa with a front desk that wants fewer phone calls and faster check-in. Clients book online through Express Booking, arrivals go through a Virtual Waiting Room, and automated flows and campaigns send messages for you. Mira, its AI receptionist, answers calls and texts and can book, reschedule and cancel appointments.

Prices on November 4, 2026, billed monthly with no contract:

• Base: $120 a month per location, plus $10 a month per user. Anyone with a profile counts as a user, including front desk staff.
• Phone: $70 a month per line.
• Marketing: from $30 a month for 3,500 credits, up to $300 for 60,000.
• Payroll: $50 a month plus $8 per worker.

A one-location salon with 8 people pays $200 a month before add-ons. Card fees are 2.45% + 15¢ in person and 2.90% + 30¢ online, and large businesses may get custom rates. Onboarding and data transfer are free, and you can take your data with you if you leave. Mangomint offers a free trial but didn't state its length.

It also covers memberships and packages, forms and charting, gift cards, retail and inventory, and several locations. A solo stylist will pay less with GlossGenius or Booksy.

Boulevard is for appointment businesses with several providers and a manager: salons, spas, medspas, barbershops, nail salons and massage businesses, up to franchises. Clients book themselves through a self-booking page, a scheduling engine called Precision Scheduling arranges the calendar, and Beau, an AI receptionist, answers calls and helps clients book. You also get a point of sale, payments, client profiles, loyalty, memberships, marketing and messages, buy now pay later, and forms, charts and ePrescribe for medspas.

Prices per location a month on November 4, 2026:

• Essentials, $143: one location, up to 5 providers, 250 texts and 1,000 email blasts.
• Premier, $234 (normally $293): unlimited professionals.
• Prestige, $328 (normally $410): adds the Forms add-on, 2,500 texts and 10,000 email blasts.
• Enterprise: quote.

The Premier and Prestige prices were a limited-time fall offer for new customers. Yearly billing saves 10%. Add-ons include Forms from $65 a month per location, QuickBooks at $45, and ePrescribe at $45 per prescriber. Boulevard didn't list a free trial, and you book a demo to start.

For one location under 10 people, Mangomint costs less for similar front desk tools.

Zenoti is for salon and spa groups with many locations, along with medspas, fitness centers and barbershops. It says it serves businesses from a single location up to enterprise franchises, but its pricing makes most sense for chains: every plan is by quote, and pricing for several locations is set by your footprint and needs.

The core platform, Zenoti OS, runs operations, payments and client communication. Voice, SMS and messaging are included in the subscription but billed by usage, with optional base packs. AI Workforce adds AI agents for marketing, reception, retention and scheduling, and needs the AI Plus package, which also brings a dedicated customer success manager and priority support with service levels.

There's no free trial; you book a personal demo.

Choose Zenoti when head office needs the same setup, reports and pricing rules across many locations. A salon with one or two locations will find GlossGenius, Mangomint or Boulevard quicker to set up and easier to price.