{"question": "best salon booking software for salons", "category": "salon-booking-software", "category_name": "salon booking software", "audience": "salons", "audience_name": "salons", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-10-01T21:31:27Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/salon-booking-software-salons-2026-10-01", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/salon-booking-software/salons", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Vagaro", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "GlossGenius", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "Fresha", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "Square", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "Square Appointments", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Mangomint", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Boulevard", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "Zenoti", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://www.zenoti.com/thecheckin/best-salon-booking-software", "domain": "zenoti.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://www.capterra.com/resources/salon-booking-software-reviews-analysis/", "domain": "capterra.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://agentzap.ai/blog/vagaro-vs-fresha-vs-boulevard-salon-software-2026", "domain": "agentzap.ai", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.glossystack.com/pricing", "domain": "glossystack.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.glossystack.com/software/mangomint", "domain": "glossystack.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.glossystack.com/software/square-appointments", "domain": "glossystack.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://thesalonbusiness.com/best-salon-software/", "domain": "thesalonbusiness.com", "source_type": "other"}], "answer_text": "# Best salon booking software\n\nHere's who I'd actually name, roughly in the order I'd bring them up:\n\n**1. Vagaro** - The default recommendation for most small-to-midsize salons. Starts around $30/month for a single location and covers booking, calendar, POS, payroll, inventory, and marketing. The catch: those add-ons are à la carte, so a 5-person salon turning on forms + text marketing + inventory realistically lands in the $150-200/month range. Still the best feature-per-dollar for a 2-8 chair shop.\n\n**2. GlossGenius** - If you're a solo stylist, booth renter, or 2-3 person studio, this is the one. $24-28/month on Standard, scaling to $148 for Platinum with unlimited team members. Beautiful mobile-first app, genuinely built to run the whole business from your phone. Flat processing rate with no hidden add-on creep.\n\n**3. Fresha** - Free. No subscription on the entry tier; they make money on card processing (~2.19% + $0.20) and a 20% commission on *new* clients who find you through their marketplace. That commission is the thing to watch - if your bookings come from Instagram and repeat regulars, you dodge it entirely and this is nearly free. If you're relying on the marketplace f", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}