Salon software in the US: how to choose booking and management tools

How are US salons set up, and why does it matter?

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 670,800 jobs for barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists in 2025. About 48% of hairstylists and cosmetologists were self-employed, and about 80% of barbers were. Many of them rent a chair or a suite and run their own bookings.

That changes what you need from software.

• Solo stylists and suite renters: You need cheap booking, deposits and card payments for one person. Each renter often pays for their own tool.
• Commission salons: The owner runs one shared calendar for the team. You need staff schedules, commission reports, retail stock and payroll data.
• Larger salons, spas and med spas: You need several locations, rooms and equipment, forms and stronger reports. Med spas also need clinical charting.

What should salon software do?

• Online booking: Clients book from your website, Instagram or Google at any hour.
• Deposits and no-show fees: You hold a card or take a deposit for long or costly services, such as color corrections.
• Reminders: Automatic texts and emails cut down on no-shows.
• Client records: Formulas, past services, photos and notes stay on each client's profile.
• Payments and tips: Card payments at the chair or online, with tips going to the right stylist.
• Waitlist: Clients join a list and get offered a slot when someone cancels.
• Marketing: Rebooking reminders, birthday offers and win-back messages for clients you have not seen in months.
• Reports: Revenue per stylist, rebooking rates and retail sales.

How much does salon software cost?

These are each vendor's own published prices as of October 2026. Card processing fees are extra on all of them.

Product	Starting price	How it charges	AI features listed
Fresha	$19.95 a month for one team member	Team plan is $14.95 a month per bookable team member	AI Concierge add-on from $29.95 a month
Vagaro	$23.99 a month for one location (intro rate for 6 months)	$10 for each bookable calendar license, up to seven	Vera AI assistant included
GlossGenius	$28 a month ($24 billed yearly)	Plans by team size	Reception add-on at $50 a month
Boulevard	$143 a month for one location	Per location	Beau AI Receptionist

Fresha

Fresha's Independent plan costs $19.95 a month for one team member. Its Team plan costs $14.95 a month per bookable team member. Fresha also runs a client marketplace. It charges a one-time 20% commission, with a $6 minimum, on new clients who find you there. Bookings from your own link, Facebook or Instagram are free. Card payments cost 2.29% + $0.20 in person and 2.79% + $0.20 online. Its AI Concierge add-on costs $29.95 a month per location for messages, or $99.95 a month per location for calls and messages.

Vagaro

Vagaro shows $23.99 a month for one location, a rate that lasts for the first six months. The page also shows $30 next to it, so ask what you will pay after six months. Each bookable calendar license you add costs $10, up to seven licenses, and staff beyond that cost nothing extra. Every plan includes a Vagaro Marketplace listing, 1,000 free emails a month and unlimited reminders. Vagaro also includes Vera, an AI assistant that helps with marketing, fills empty slots and talks with clients.

GlossGenius

GlossGenius has three main salon plans. Standard costs $28 a month, Gold costs $56 a month for up to nine staff, and Platinum costs $168 a month for ten or more staff. Yearly billing lowers each price. In-person card payments cost 2.4% + $0.15 and online payments cost 3.4% + $0.15. Its Reception add-on answers calls and texts around the clock and books clients for $50 a month. GlossGenius also sells plans for med spas with charting tools.

Boulevard

Boulevard targets larger salons, spas and med spas. Essentials costs $143 a month for one location with up to five bookable providers. Premier costs $234 and Prestige costs $328 a month per location as a limited fall offer for new customers. Their normal prices are $293 and $410. Boulevard does not list a base card rate, so ask for a quote using your current statement. It also lists Beau, an AI receptionist that answers calls, books clients and captures leads.

If you are choosing between two of these, my Vagaro vs GlossGenius page goes deeper.

Which salon software fits your setup?

• Solo stylist or suite renter: Fresha Independent or GlossGenius Standard keeps the monthly cost low. Compare the card rates on your real monthly sales, since those fees often cost more than the plan.
• Small commission salon: Vagaro's per-calendar pricing stops rising after seven licenses, so a growing team stops adding cost. GlossGenius Gold suits teams up to nine.
• Busy salon with many stylists: Fresha's Team plan charges per team member, so work out the cost at your real headcount. GlossGenius Platinum and Boulevard Premier are flat per location.
• Multi-location salon or spa: Boulevard and GlossGenius Platinum offer stronger reports, rooms and resources. Ask each vendor for a demo with your own service menu.

Vagaro vs GlossGenius: commission and booth-rent tracking

Vagaro starts at $23.99 a month and is the most widely used paid booking platform in the beauty industry for small to mid-size salons, with an automatic rent and fees feature that lets an owner charge booth renters, schedule recurring payments, generate renter agreements and deduct commission from rent automatically inside the same platform. GlossGenius starts a little higher, from $28 a month up to $48 a month for a larger team, and is known in the hairstylist community specifically for producing the cleanest, most professional-looking client-facing booking page at its price point, with commission tracking and booth rental both included as standard.

If your salon runs on booth rental with independent stylists, Vagaro's automatic rent-and-commission deduction is the more mature, purpose-built feature of the two. If your priority is the booking experience your clients actually see and use, GlossGenius tends to win that comparison.

What should you check before you buy?

• Total card fees: Multiply each rate by your monthly card sales. A gap of half a percent on $40,000 a month is $200 a month.
• Tips and commissions: Check that tips go to the right stylist and that commission reports match how you pay your team.
• Deposits and policy: Check that you can set different deposit rules for different services.
• Text costs: Some tools include texts, while others charge per message after a free amount.
• Data export: Ask if you can download your client list, notes and booking history. Your client list is hard to rebuild if you lose it.
• Marketing consent: Get clear written consent before you send marketing texts, and keep a record of it.
• Contract terms: Ask about intro rates, what the price becomes later and how to cancel.

How can AI help a salon?

An AI receptionist that books while you work

Stylists cannot answer the phone with color on a client's head. An AI receptionist can answer calls and texts, quote prices, check the calendar and book the client. GlossGenius, Fresha and Boulevard all sell or list one. My guide to AI receptionists for salons covers how to set one up. Be careful if you want an AI voice to call clients with offers. In February 2024, the FCC ruled that AI voices count as "artificial" under the TCPA. Telemarketing robocalls with those voices need prior express written consent.

Filling last-minute gaps

When a client cancels, AI can pick clients from the waitlist or regulars who are due for a visit. It then sends each one a personal offer for the open slot. Vagaro's Vera says it helps fill empty slots in this way.

Rebooking and win-back messages

AI can look at each client's history and spot who is overdue. A client who gets a cut every six weeks and has not booked in nine weeks gets a friendly message from their stylist. This brings back visits you would otherwise lose.

When does custom salon software make sense?

Most salons should buy one of these products. They are cheap, they work on day one and they handle the normal salon workflow well. Your own system is worth a look when one of these fits.

• You run a suite building or salon group: You may need a system that tracks rent from many renters, shared rooms and each renter's own bookings.
• You sell memberships in a special way: Blow-dry bars, lash memberships and spa clubs sometimes need billing rules no standard tool supports.
• You have many tools that do not connect: If you copy data between booking, payroll, a CRM and an ecommerce store, a custom layer can join them.
• Per-staff fees get high: At a large headcount across several locations, the yearly bill can justify your own system.
• You want your own branded app: Some brands want an app with their own name, loyalty program and store.

You can also keep a standard booking tool and build around it, such as a custom loyalty app or an owner dashboard. My guide to build vs buy software helps with that choice.

How would Blur Studio approach a salon project?

I start with your booking flow and your money flow. Who books, who gets paid, and where do clients drop off? If a standard tool fixes the problem, I recommend it and you skip the build.

If you need more, I builds the missing piece and connects it to the tools you keep. That might be an AI receptionist tied to your calendar, a renter portal for a suite building or a dashboard for several locations. The code and accounts belong to your salon, and I looks after the software after it goes live.