Reviews · Updated July 2026
Hands-on platform reviews.
Every review comes from running the same 11 real tasks on a demo business — never from marketing pages. Deep reviews are published as testing completes.
Vagaro
Best all-in-one · from $30/mo
Rank #1 in our 2026 index. Booking, POS, marketing and payroll in one plan — tested over three weeks.
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Fresha
Best free-to-start · $0/mo
No subscription, pay-per-use fees. Strong booking, lighter reporting.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
GlossGenius
Best for independents · from $24/mo
Flat 2.6% processing and the fastest setup we measured.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Bookendo
Best for PMU artists · from $19/mo
Website, deposits and bilingual consent forms included in one plan.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Mangomint
Premium front desk · from $165/mo
The cleanest calendar and checkout we tested — at a premium price.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Boulevard
Multi-location teams · from $176/mo
Polished client experience and strong front-desk workflows for groups.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Booksy
Marketplace exposure · from $30/mo
A real client-acquisition channel; per-staff pricing adds up fast.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Square Appointments
Simple POS + booking · $0/mo
Great if you already run Square POS; salon-specific tools are thinner.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Mindbody
Wellness chains · from $129/mo
Deep enterprise features; heavier setup and contracts than most salons need.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Phorest
Client retention · from $89/mo
Loyalty and rebooking tools stand out; interface feels dated in places.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Zenoti
Enterprise groups · custom pricing
Built for large chains; overkill and opaque pricing for independents.
FULL REVIEW IN TESTING
Disclosure: Salon Software Guide and Bookendo share common ownership. Bookendo is evaluated using the same published criteria as every other platform.