Last Updated on May 5, 2025 by Ewen Finser
When I worked in a salon, scheduling software was always a pain. Some clients complained that platform A was too confusing, while others had issues booking with platform B. Everyone seemed to have a preference based on their age or needs, and on the internal side, it wasn’t any better.
That said, I’ve had my fair share of experience with salon scheduling software and can now offer a reliable roundup of the best options based on your salon staff, clients, and services.
I’ll give you my rundown on Boulevard, GlossGenius, Vagaro, Goldie, Acuity, and Fresha. Hopefully, this will help you determine which works best for you.
The Short Answer
Each of these platforms has something about it that you might find useful, especially if that characteristic or feature is a priority for you. I think GlossGenius and Fresha are the best options for independent hair stylists who don’t yet have their own salon or are just starting out. Boulevard is the best option for existing salons with team members who want to foster long-term client relationships and need good marketing, reliable customer service, and all of the features included at a single price.
The Best Salon Scheduling Software
About Boulevard
Boulevard is a newer business management platform that not only provides salon scheduling but also features an intuitive calendar interface to look at schedules, a client management system that sends automated reminders to reduce no-shows by 71%, and a POS system that enhances the transaction process. It also allows you to create client profiles so that you can build a client relationship by being able to see things that your client has booked in the past and save notes about them.
About GlossGenius
GlossGenius provides simple scheduling and appointment reminders in addition to some basic reporting tools. Like Boulevard, it is slightly different from the other platforms in that it leans heavily into fostering client relationships. You can manage bookings with your customers and save unique profiles for them with their appointment history, what sort of dye colors they’ve used, and so forth.
About Vagaro
Vagaro is a scheduling software solution for salons that incorporates point-of-sale functions, business management, and inventory management. It has earned its reputation by allowing businesses to start with a baseline membership and then pick and choose the features they want to pay for after that. It also stands out by letting business owners create their own web store within the platform and take advantage of the internal Marketplace to reach a wider demographic of potential customers.
About Goldie
Goldie is a simple platform for independent stylists and professionals who want to keep track of their schedules. It is ideal for solo stylists who want to manage basic customer data and slowly grow their brand.
About Acuity
Acuity offers easy online payments, appointment reminders, and a user-friendly booking system with an emphasis on automation. The platform stands out because it lets you create repeatable workflows. Plus, if clients miss their appointments, it automatically charges a no-show fee.
About Fresha
Fresha is a simple but effective scheduling software for salons. It combines appointment setting and calendar functions with a business app and a personal app for the front-facing and back-facing aspects. If a customer has downloaded Fresha, for example, they can look up salons in the area and then book their appointments with your company and pay for services within the Fresha app.
Salon Scheduling Software – Comparison at a Glance
Platform | Best For | Price Range (USD) | Client Profiles | Marketing Tools | Customer Support | Language Support | Booking Process | POS System | Unique Features |
Boulevard | Salons with teams, client relationship building | $176–$410/month | Yes | Included (campaigns, promos) | 24/7 live support, chat, email | English | App/online, reorder multi-services | Included | Multi-service auto-reordering, high-touch support |
GlossGenius | Independent stylists, solo professionals | $24–$148/month | Yes | Basic client-based | Phone, email, chat (limited hours) | 22 languages | App only, easy to useApp only, easy to use | Included | Flat payment processing, app-only focus |
Vagaro | Small to mid-size salons with flexible needs | $30–$90/month | Yes | Advanced (extra cost) | Phone, chat, email, live reps | 12 languages | Online/app, Book Now via maps/social | Included | Marketplace, AI tools, webstore |
Goldie | Independent stylists just starting out | Free–$40/month | Limited | Minimal | Email, chat, phone | English & French | No account needed | Basic | Simple scheduling, social media booking button |
Acuity | Small to medium salons with automation need | $16–$49/month | Limited | Email integrations | Email, articles, chat | 12 languages | Online intake forms, cancellations | Included | No-show fees, repeat workflows |
Fresha | Budget-conscious independent stylists | Free–$9.99/month (fees apply) | Yes | Basic promos (cost per item) | Premium support for paid plans | 22 languages | Client app + business app | Included | Client & business apps, budget friendly, wide language support |
Price
Price is important, especially for independent stylists. Fresha, for example, is a free-to-use scheduling platform at its outset, so this can seem very appealing, especially for smaller teams or those on a tight budget. However, they work a little differently by charging extra fees for features. For example:
- You get 20 free texts per month, but after that, text reminders for appointments are 2 cents each.
- Every time someone pays for a service with a tap-to-pay function, it’s $0.10.
- When an in-person or online payment is made with Fresha, it’s a 20-cent fee and 2.19% on top of that.
- Promotional text messages are 8 cents each, and promotional emails are two cents each.
- Data reporting each month per team member is $10.
So if you have two team members and you want a data report generated each month, that’s $20, and if you have 100 customers to whom you send confirmations for appointments, that can add a few dollars to your monthly bill as well. Exhausted yet? Me too.
All of these platforms offer slightly different features, which makes it challenging to do a real side-by-side comparison of prices, but here’s a rough breakdown of costs:
- Fresha: Free for independent users, $9.99 for teams (with fees, custom rates available)
- GlossGenius: $24 to $148 per month, depending on your plan
- Vagaro: $30 to $90 per month, depending on number of locations (some features cost extra)
- Boulevard: $176 to $410 per month, depending on your plan
- Goldie: Free to $40 per month, depending on your plan (some features cost extra)
- Acuity: $16 to $49 per month, depending on your plan (some features cost extra)
If you are an independent stylist and you rent a chair or a room, GlossGenius is one of the best options for you. It has a fully integrated platform where your personal clients can book appointments. You can also generate reports and process payments. It has a flat processing fee, so your profits won’t be eaten up by the tiny hidden fees that you get with companies like Vagaro that charge an extra credit card fee every time you have to manually enter the numbers or be forced to guess at what each ten cent and twenty cent charge will cost you with Fresha.
If you are a larger business with a team, then Boulevard is the better option because of the features that are all included. You won’t pay extra for services like generating invoices for your clients or processing credit cards.
Business Size
If your business is just you trying to manage your own bookings from a rented chair, Fresha or Goldie are great, but if you have multiple employees or multiple teams you are managing, you’re probably better off with Vagaro or Boulevard.
- Fresha: Ideal for individuals
- GlossGenius: Ideal for small or medium-sized salons
- Vagaro: Meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses
- Boulevard: Ideal for all sizes
- Goldie: Ideal for small salons or individuals
- Acuity: Better for small or medium-sized salons
I really like GlossGenius for an independent contractor. If you are by yourself and don’t need any extra bells and whistles, this is a great app—but it’s only an app.
If you’re looking to scale or have even a small team, Boulevard is the better option because, at some point, you are going to need more than just a scheduling resource. Even though it requires more of an investment upfront, you are getting marketing options, scheduling options, booking features, POS systems, client management, and data reports all included in the price, so you’ll get the most bang for your buck.
Customer Support
On that note, you do get what you pay for across the board. GlossGenius might have one of the more affordable options, but they don’t have a lot of team support, they don’t have a booking widget that you can integrate into your website, and the only thing you can access in a web browser is the calendar.
On the other hand, Boulevard has the best customer service access out of all the salon scheduling software I’ve worked with. I’ve had to deal with customer service from all of these companies, and at some point or another, I just get tired of waiting on hold (if they even have a phone number) and then being redirected to an FAQ article on their website as if I didn’t start there before making the call for help.
Boulevard has a lot of help options, not to mention webinars and live training options when you first invest in making the switch, so you’ll have a lot of upfront support and can get a hold of a real person if you have trouble down the line.
- Fresha: Email and article access for beginners with live chat and phone options for people who pay for premium support
- GlossGenius: Online articles as well as email, phone, or text support, 10 hours per day, 6 days per week
- Vagaro: Email help desk, chat feature, phone support, FAQ page, and live representatives
- Boulevard: FAQ page, chat function, email help desk, and live representatives available 24/7
- Goldie: Internal client forums and articles, FAQ page, help desk via email or chat, and phone support
- Acuity: Online articles, email help desk, FAQ form, and chat function on the website
Language Accessibility
Fresha stands out because of its language options. It is available in over 120 countries, which makes it one of the best widely accessible scheduling software options. It also supports 22 languages, which is great for salons operating in areas where clients or staff come from different backgrounds and need different languages when navigating the appointments/services.
- Fresha: 22 languages
- GlossGenius: 22 languages
- Vagaro: 12 languages
- Boulevard: English
- Goldie: English and French
- Acuity: 12 languages
The Booking Process
Varago is highly competitive when it comes to booking because of one thing in particular: they have an integrated POS system, so when your customers select staff members, purchase through your website, or book appointments, they can do it all internally without being redirected somewhere else. This can help you capture more business and revenue, as some new clients might shy away when they get redirected to a third-party platform.
That said, Boulevard was clearly designed by people who have worked in the spa and salon industry. It has some great functions within the booking platform that a lot of outsiders wouldn’t even think of. One of my favorites is the way they schedule multiple treatments within one appointment.
I once had a client come in for color and a keratin treatment, but she booked the keratin treatment first. We didn’t catch it until she had already arrived for her appointment, and we were left scrambling to fit everything in in the correct order since two different staffers were scheduled to do her treatments, and one ended up double-booked for the new timeslot.
With Boulevard, clients can book multiple services and select the order in which they want those services to be completed. However, the intuitive back end of the system will also reorder them for you and your team where absolutely necessary. Since clients won’t necessarily know which treatments need to happen in a certain order, Boulevard provides that extra layer of security upon booking to ensure they get the most out of their visit.
- Fresha: There is the business and personal app, one for customers booking salon appointments and one for employees
- GlossGenius: It is easy for customers to book in the app, but they need the app to do it
- Vagaro: Customers can book in the app or online with a “book now” feature on Apple Maps, Facebook, and Instagram
- Boulevard: Customers can book in the app or online, with easy management for cancellation, selecting the stylist, and looking at the calendar for broad availability
- Goldie: The platform is simple to use and lets clients book appointments without having to create an account
- Acuity: The scheduling option makes it easy for customers to fill out intake forms, get an invoice, or cancel an appointment
Marketing
Vagaro is known for their marketing services. They have a lot of AI tools that help you craft your marketing content compared to the other options on this list, and you can take advantage of the Vagaro marketplace, where your salon can be listed for those who are searching within the platform. The downside here is that you have to pay extra for these services. However, that’s kind of their entire business model: only pay for the things you want and customize everything.
If you want marketing features that are included in your monthly subscription, Boulevard is the way to go. The other platforms don’t offer nearly as many marketing tools as these two.
- Fresha: There are a few marketing promotions that help you grow your business
- GlossGenius: Client profiles for better marketing promos
- Vagaro: Lots of internal marketing options on the Vagaro Marketplace and other integrations
- Boulevard: Lots of marketing options like automated campaigns, email blasts, and product promos
- Goldie: No real marketing efforts but a “book” button for social media pages
- Acuity: There are marketing Integrations capable with MailChimp and AWeber
That said, from an internal perspective, one of the best ways that you can build your company is with the client profile features on Boulevard and GlossGenius. Right before an appointment, you can pull up that client profile and see services they’ve booked as well as notes that you might have kept on things like the color mixes you did, products you recommended, etc.
The small data points can help you increase marketing efforts with polite nudges or proactive booking reminders and deals.
While not technically a direct form of marketing, it will certainly build repeat business. As a customer, there is nothing that irks me more than showing up for an appointment with a stylist I have used in the past, telling them I just want my roots touched up so that everything matches, and having them ask me what colors they used on my last appointment because they didn’t take any notes.
I assure you I always choose a new stylist if this happens because I know how simple it is to write down a quick set of notes during the treatment.
Summing Up
Overall, my recommendations are: Boulevard for building client relationships and medium-sized businesses looking to get all the features beyond just scheduling; Fresha or GlossGenius for independent stylists who are on a tight budget; Vagaro for easy booking process and marketing options; Boulevard for customer service; and Fresha for language optimization.