Discover the Best Salon Software for Your Business

Software designed specifically for salons will ease your operations, organize your appointments, handle your business, and enhance marketing efforts. With the right tools, you can focus more on delivering exceptional service to your clients while the software takes care of the behind-the-scenes tasks.

But from a pool of salon software, which one to choose? In this blog post, we will guide you through some of the best salon software, their key features, reviews and ratings, and prices.

Table of Contents

Best Salon Software for Managing Appointments

Trafft – The best booking software for salons

Trafft stands out as a leading scheduling software for beauty salons. With an intuitive interface that’s as smooth as a fresh facial, and features designed to simplify booking and employee management, Trafft provides a flawless solution for salon owners.

Trafft’s salon software streamlines booking and scheduling, ensures real-time updates to staff schedules, and automatically sends appointment reminders to clients, reducing no-shows and keeping your salon running like clockwork.

Key features:

Customizable Booking Page: An automatically generated booking page that can be personalized to reflect your salon’s brand identity.
Flexible Scheduling: Manage individual and group appointments, as well as recurring bookings, to accommodate all types of salon services.
Calendar Integrations: Sync with Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook to avoid double bookings and keep all your appointments in one place.
Automated Reminders: Send SMS, email, and WhatsApp reminders to clients, minimizing missed appointments.
Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into your salon’s performance, track client interactions, and monitor occupancy with detailed reports.
WordPress Integration: Seamlessly integrate your booking system with your WordPress website using the Trafft plugin.
Easy Sharing: Share your booking page effortlessly via links or QR codes across multiple channels.
Payment System Integrations: Accept payments online through PayPal, Mollie, Authorize.Net, and Stripe, with invoices sent directly to clients after payment.
Mobile App Access: Manage bookings, schedules, and client communications on the go with Trafft’s Android and iOS apps, ensuring smooth operations from any location.

Pricing:

Trafft offers a variety of pricing plans to suit beauty salons of all sizes. With paid plans, you unlock additional features like customer registration, automated invoices, deposit and refund payments, and more credits for SMS reminders.

Free Plan: Up to 5 users, unlimited appointments, and 5 premium features.

Paid Plans: Start at $23.20 per month, with pricing increasing based on the selected plan. Be sure to compare Trafft’s pricing plans to choose the one that best fits your salon’s needs!

Reviews:

Beauty salon owners praise Trafft for its ease of setup, customization options, and the convenience of an automatically generated booking page. These features streamline salon operations, allowing owners to focus on delivering top-notch services rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

Ratings:

5/5 on Capterra
4.6/5 on G2
4.8/5 on TrustPilot
5/5 on GetApp

Amelia – The Perfect WordPress Plugin for Managing Salon Bookings

Amelia is a WordPress plugin designed to seamlessly integrate into your salon’s website, and make appointment and booking management effortless. With Amelia, clients can book services directly from your website at any time, 24/7.

This WordPress plugin provides automated reminders, calendar syncing, and smooth online payment options. It reduces administrative tasks, leaving you more time to focus on what matters most – delivering exceptional service to your clients.

Key features:

Client-Friendly Booking: Clients can easily schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments directly from your website, making the booking process hassle-free.
Automatic Reminders: SMS and email reminders are sent automatically to reduce no-shows and keep clients informed of their upcoming appointments.
Calendar Syncing: Keep all calendars up-to-date by syncing with Google Calendar, Outlook, and other platforms, preventing double bookings.
Staff Management: Assign specific tasks to your team, manage their schedules, and track their availability, ensuring efficient operations.
Customizable Booking Forms: Tailor booking forms to match your salon’s branding and gather important information from clients during the booking process.
Online Payment Integration: Amelia integrates with popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, and Mollie, allowing clients to pay or place deposits when booking.
Business Insights: Gain valuable insights into your salon’s performance with detailed analytics on bookings, customer retention, and financial data.
Mobile-Friendly Interface: Both clients and staff can interact with the booking system on the go, ensuring seamless operation from anywhere.

Pricing:

Amelia offers flexible pricing plans to accommodate beauty salons of all sizes. Whether you’re a solo operator or managing multiple salon locations, Amelia provides single-site and multi-site licenses.

You can choose between annual or lifetime pricing plans, each offering unique benefits:

Annual Plans: Start at $49, with pricing increasing based on the selected plan.
Lifetime Plans: Start at $176, with pricing increasing based on the selected plan.

Explore Amelia’s pricing options and find the perfect plan for your salon’s needs!

Reviews:

Beauty salon owners highly recommend Amelia for its intuitive interface, comprehensive features, and reliable performance. Users appreciate how Amelia streamlines their booking processes and daily operations, making their businesses more efficient while reducing administrative workloads.

Ratings:

4.9/5 on GetApp
4.9/5 on Capterra
4.6/5 on WordPress.org

Best Salon Software for Employee Management

MindBody

MindBody is a software design for the wellness and beauty industry. With tools that encompass scheduling, payroll, and performance metrics, Mindbody helps you manage your team more effectively, ensuring that both your staff and business thrive.

Key features:

Smart Scheduling: Mindbody allows you to create and manage employee schedules with ease. You can assign shifts, track hours, and ensure that your salon is adequately staffed at all times.
Accurate Payroll Management: It simplifies the payroll process by automatically tracking employee hours, calculating wages, and making sure staff is paid accurately and on time.
Performance Metrics: Mindbody provides detailed insights into your employees’ performance. You can monitor key metrics such as sales, customer feedback, and service efficiency.

Pricing:

Four pricing plans that offer various features, ranging from $129 to $699 per month.

Reviews:

Users appreciate the ease of use, robust employee management tools, and performance tracking. This software is often praised for its ability to manage everything from booking to client interactions in one platform. However, some users wished for better customer support.

Ratings:

4/5 on GetApp
4/5 on Capterra
3.6/5 on G2

Zenoti

Zenoti is a software that helps beauty salon owners manage schedules, employees, and payrolls. It helps you easily create, adjust, and optimize staff schedules to meet client demand. In addition, Zenoti provides detailed performance analytics, and allows you to track individual employee performance through metrics such as service delivery, client feedback, and sales contribution.

Key features:

Easy Scheduling: Zenoti’s drag-and-drop interface allows you to quickly schedule staff, manage leave requests, and automate appointment reminders to reduce no-shows.
Simplified Payroll: You can track hours, tips, and commissions accurately. Zenoti allows you to generate payroll reports automatically and integrate with payroll tools like ADP RUN and accounting software like QuickBooks Online.
Performance Management: Set goals, track performance, and provide real-time feedback to help with staff development and identify training needs.

Pricing:

Zenoti’s price starts at $200 a month and has no free trial.

Reviews:

Users are quite satisfied with Zenoti, especially with their helpful customer support. People love Zenoti’s comprehensive features that cater to the needs of beauty salons and other service-based businesses. The software’s customization options are also highly valued, allowing businesses to tailor it to their specific needs. Still, some report occasional challenges with data migration and onboarding.

Ratings:

4.4/5 on GetApp
4.4/5 on Capterra
4.3/5 on G2

Best Salon Software for Marketing

Booker

Booker is MindBody’s salon management tool that excels in marketing automation, helping you maintain client engagement through automated email campaigns and client retention tools. It’s designed to enhance your salon’s marketing efforts.

Key features:

Email Marketing: Create and automate email campaigns tailored to client preferences, keeping them engaged with updates on services and promotions.
Social Media Tools: Manage and track social media promotions on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to attract and retain clients.
Client Retention: Utilize loyalty programs, memberships, and automated reminders to maintain client relationships and encourage repeat visits.
Marketplace Exposure: Integrate with the Mindbody Explore marketplace for additional online exposure to potential clients.
Custom Booking Pages: Design branded booking pages to maintain a consistent brand image and simplify client bookings.

Pricing:

Booker offers four billing plans, ranging from $139 to $599 per month. Each plan comes with a specific set of features tailored to different business needs.

Reviews:

Users like how clients can easily navigate through the software and book a service they want. Some users have noted limited customization options in the marketing features compared to more specialized marketing software.

Ratings:

4.1/5 on SoftwareAdvice
4.1/5 on GetApp

Best Point-of-Sale (POS) Software for Salons

Vagaro

Vagaro is a salon management software with an integrated POS system. Among various other features, it provides inventory management and payment processing features. This way, you can easily manage sales, track stock levels, and process transactions seamlessly.

Key features:

Integrated POS System: Process payments directly through Vagaro’s system, supporting various payment methods.
Inventory Management: Keep track of product inventory, set up automatic reorders, and manage stock levels efficiently.
Sales Tracking and Reporting: Monitor sales performance with detailed reports and analytics.
Mobile POS: Use mobile devices to process payments on the go, ensuring flexibility in service delivery.

Pricing:

Vagaro’s prices go between $30 and $90 a month, depending on the number of users. There’s also a multiple location plan, and a free trial.

Reviews:

Users really love this software, especially for its ease of use and salon management features.

Ratings:

4.7/5 on GetApp
4.7/5 on Capterra
4.5/5 on G2

Fresha

Fresha offers a POS system without any subscription fees, making it an attractive option for beauty salons looking to minimize costs. But, you do pay every time a transaction has been made, and when new clients find you on Fresha marketplace.

Key features:

No Subscription Fees: Only pay processing fees for transactions, with no monthly subscription cost.
POS Features: Handle sales, manage client checkouts, and process payments with ease.
Client Management: Integrates POS with client booking and management features for a seamless experience.
Inventory Tracking: Monitor product inventory and get alerts when stock is low.

Pricing:

Fresha doesn’t charge subscription fees, but you pay for the processing of payments.

Reviews:

Users find Fresha to be very user-friendly and appreciate its effectiveness as a POS system. The fact that it’s free is a big plus for many. However, some users wish they could have more control over the design of their booking pages to better match their brand.

Ratings:

4.9/5 on GetApp
4.9/5 on Capterra
4.9/5 on SoftwareAdvice

So, Which One is the Best Software for Salons?

It depends on your needs.

Software for salons will help you manage appointments, enhance customer relationships and streamline operations. Whether you’re looking for advanced marketing features, a robust POS system, or ease of use, there’s a software solution tailored to your specific needs. Choose the one that aligns with your goals, whether it’s boosting client retention, simplifying payment processing, or offering a seamless booking experience.

The best software for salons is the one that meets your unique needs and helps your business thrive!