The Best Salon Appointment Booking Apps for 2024
Work smarter —not harder— with an app for scheduling salon appointments.
Online booking apps aren’t new. They’ve become necessary for hair salons and beauty business to succeed.
In fact, hair stylists who don’t use a salon booking app miss out on 46% of bookings by not giving their hair salon clients the option to book through an app or through an online appointment scheduling software.
Getting the most out of any salon booking app means you’ll need —at a minimum — the following features:
- Calendar management
- Automatic alerts, like appointment reminders and confirmations via text and/or email
- Mobile, tablet, and desktop accessibility
- And more!
The Best Booking Apps for Salons and Other Service Providers
Vagaro
We couldn’t put together a list of the best salon booking apps without mentioning our own — which we happen to think is the very best option out there.
Vagaro is an all-in-one booking solution for service providers. Think hair, beauty, massage therapy, and more.
Our appointment scheduling software also provides email marketing, text message appointment reminders, client list management, and payment processing.
Vagaro is great for new providers and those who have multiple locations.
Our essential scheduling features grow as you do, and you get unlimited access to every tool your business needs in one place.
Vagaro Features
Scheduling
Marketing
Automation
Administrative
Cost
Appointment booking
Facebook & Instagram booking integration
Client text/email reminders
Client management
Starts at $23.99/month
Class bookings
Automated email marketing
Package management
Staff schedule management
Workshop bookings
Promotion marketing
Automatic billing
Multiple locations
Personal time off
Marketplace listing
Online payments
Business analytics
Multiple staff schedules
Waivers
Waitlists
Built-in payment processing is our favorite tool. It integrates seamlessly into our booking app and the scheduling experience for clients.
We even have industry-low rates, two-day funding, and no hidden fees. It makes getting paid a snap!
Calendly
If you’re looking for an simple starting point to online appointment scheduling, Calendly might be the ideal option for you.
A free account gives you access to one calendar and one type of event, but you can schedule unlimited meetings.
Calendly is also set up to easily integrate with Google Calendar, Office Outlook, and iCloud.
Paid accounts are available as well. They allow you to set up unlimited event types and include access to live support.
Calendly is the ideal what-you-see-is-what-you-get option for first-time businesses: Easy meeting scheduling and an intuitive calendar but not much else.
You need to go elsewhere for marketing tools or payment processing — which explains why most service-based businesses go for more specialized scheduling apps.
The Google Calendar and Office 365 calendar integrations make it easy for you and your clients to work your meetings into their regular calendar.
(If you already have an account and are looking for an Calendly alternative, check out these better online booking apps for salons and service providers.)
HubSpot’s Free Meeting Scheduler
Marketing titan HubSpot created a free meeting scheduler that’s simple enough for any small business.
It aims to eliminate back-and-forth email chains, trying to find a meeting time that works for everyone. They offer two flexible meeting options:
- Group availability for when you’d like your team to be invited to a meeting with a client
- Round-robin availability for when you’d like your client to choose a time that works best for them (and book a meeting with only one teammate)
Like Calendly, the Free Meeting Scheduler integrates with Google Calendar and Office 365, so you can keep all invitations and meeting links in a single place.
It’s clear that HubSpot’s newer scheduler is meant for sales and prospecting calls, as it integrates with other HubSpot features, like its CRM and email marketing tools.
This is great if you’re looking to close the deal!
Any time someone books a meeting with you, their contact information is automatically stored in your contacts database.
That means no more duplicate contacts or multiple tabs open to see who you’re talking to and why.
Acuity Scheduling
Acuity Scheduling by SquareSpace is a super-simple platform covering all the essentials:
- Online scheduling
- Website integration
- Appointment reminder emails
- Package management
This booking software is an especially good option if you use SquareSpace to manage your site. You can keep all of your business needs in one place.
(Here’s how Acuity compares to Schedulicity.)
Acuity Scheduling Features
Scheduling
Marketing
Automation
Administrative
Cost
Appointment booking
Facebook & Instagram booking integration
Client text/email reminders
Client management
Starts at $15/month
Personal time off
Package management
Staff schedule management
Multiple staff schedules
Multiple locations
Business analytics
Our Favorite Acuity Scheduling Feature
The beauty of Acuity Scheduling is its ability to work with other tools. The app integrates with other softwares like MailChimp and QuickBooks.
Download the Acuity Scheduling app here. (It’s designed for the iPad only.)
7. Best Scheduling App for Beauty Pros: StyleSeat
StyleSeat is a highly stylized booking software that focuses on branding and aesthetics.
The scheduling platform was built for solo beauty providers and includes basic scheduling and marketing features to help manage your client relationships.
The booking app is geared towards only the beauty industry with highly visual features across the board, like a customized business listing banner.
StyleSeat Features
Scheduling
Marketing
Automation
Administrative
Cost
Appointment booking
Facebook & Instagram booking integration
Client text/email reminders
Client management
Starts at $35/month
Personal time off
Online payments
Business analytics
Our Favorite StyleSeat Feature
StyleSeat shows verified reviews for every business listing to help boost credibility and establish trust.
Download the StyleSeat app here. (It’s designed for the iPad only.)
To learn more, read our comparison between Schedulicity and StyleSeat.
8. Best Scheduling App for General Business: Square Appointments
Square Appointments is a solid scheduling app for businesses in any industry. Because of its generality, it offers basic scheduling features: calendar management, recurring appointments, and client booking.
However, it’s not made for a specific industry, like hair, beauty, or fitness, so users may miss out on some of the unique booking features of its competitors.
Our Favorite Square Appointments Feature
Square Appointments is made by Square, the popular payment processor. That means payment processing is directly integrated into the booking app. You can charge late, cancellation, and no-show fees.
It also comes with retail and inventory features, as well as a point-of-sale system. Users and their clients can enjoy contactless payments, card-on-file, invoices, gift cards, and more.
Download the Square Appointments app here.
FAQs: Scheduling Software & Booking Apps for Salon Owners s & Other Service Providers
Why offer online appointment scheduling?
Whether you run a hair salon or work as a massage therapist, you need a booking app because you book a lot of appointments. Simple.
And the more your business grows, the harder it is to keep your schedule straight.
Instead of juggling a paper appointment book…
Taking calls and answering DMs at all hours…
And hoping you write down appointments correctly…
Online scheduling software takes your business to the next level. These apps are designed to save you time and money — and to grow your client base.
What are the benefits of an online appointment scheduling app?
On the fence about online scheduling software? Let’s get specific about exactly what you get from an appointment scheduling app.
- You Can Manage Your Own Schedule. Appointment scheduling apps give you access to your calendar in real-time — from any device. You can easily edit or cancel appointments and adjust your schedule 24/7.
- You Save Time and Money. Scheduling apps are like a personal assistant in your pocket. In fact, the estimated value savings from using online appointment scheduling is $3.2 billion.
- You Can Market Your Business With Ease. Any appointment booking app worth the price tag should include marketing features, like email marketing, discount management, and a booking listing (where clients can book appointments for free).
- You Can Share Information Easily and Safely. Client information can be super sensitive, depending on your industry. It’s often not safe to share details over email or text. Scheduling apps maintain all client notes in one secure platform, allowing you to provide a streamlined service without the risk.
- You Can Get Paid Right Away. When you buy online scheduling software, look for a payment feature that allows clients to pay through the app. You can also take deposits (which cuts down on cancellations) and process payments all in one place.
What features should online scheduling software have?
Every online scheduling app comes with unique features, and it can be overwhelming to figure out what you need.
To help with your research, we narrowed down five critical elements to consider when it comes to picking an appointment scheduling app.
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Scheduling. Scheduling software should have multiple options for booking: appointments, classes, workshops, and more. Clients should also be able to book their appointments for free. (Hidden booking fees can add up.)
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Marketing. These features grow your business and include promotional options, business listings, email marketing campaigns, and social media booking integrations.
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Automation. Scheduling apps should take care of daily repetitive business tasks, like client appointment reminders and follow-ups, automatic billing, and emails.
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Administrative support. Any booking software should deal with the logistics of staff, client management, and multiple locations.
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Cost. Scheduling software should save you money — and even help you make more of it by filling up your calendar — so apps should come with a reasonable price tag and no hidden fees for signing up, cancelling your account, or booking appointments.
Are you a salon owner or hair stylist looking to grow your business? Schedulicity has you covered!
With appointment scheduling, marketing tools, and payment processing, you have everything you need to run your business — all in one place!