What to compare on
Every salon booking system takes bookings. The differences that matter for a salon with a website are: how well it embeds or links from your own site, whether a link can pre-select a stylist and service, whether it takes deposits and sends SMS reminders, whether it is a marketplace that shows your clients your competitors, and what it costs at your team size. Here is how the common ones compare.
Fresha
Model: free software; revenue from payment processing and marketplace fees on new clients it brings.
Website: a hosted booking page with your branding and a "Book now" button embed; deep links to a specific service or team member. Not a full iframe widget, which is fine.
Deposits and reminders: deposits and no-show protection via card capture; SMS and email reminders included.
Marketplace: yes. Your profile appears in Fresha's consumer app beside competitors; new clients acquired through the marketplace carry a fee. Clients who book via your own website's link do not.
Strengths: genuinely free for the core, excellent interface, strong in hair and beauty. Watch: marketplace positioning and the habit it trains in clients.
Booksy
Model: monthly subscription plus optional marketplace boost.
Website: hosted booking page and widget; deep links to staff and services; a "Book" button for Instagram and Google.
Deposits and reminders: deposits, cancellation fees, SMS reminders.
Marketplace: yes, prominent, especially for barbers. Same ownership questions as Fresha.
Strengths: the barber market's default in many cities; good client app. Watch: marketplace dependence; subscription per location.
Vagaro
Model: monthly subscription scaling with team size; add-ons.
Website: an embeddable widget and hosted page; deep links; also offers to build you a basic site (skip that and keep your own).
Deposits and reminders: yes, plus memberships, packages and gift cards.
Marketplace: yes, with a consumer app.
Strengths: broad feature set, memberships, good for salons that sell products. Watch: the interface is dense; cost grows with add-ons.
Timely
Model: monthly subscription per staff member.
Website: a clean embeddable booking widget ("Book Now" and mini-site) with deep links per staff and service; behaves well on phones.
Deposits and reminders: deposits via TimelyPay, SMS reminders, waitlist, rebooking prompts.
Marketplace: no. Timely is your booking, not a directory.
Strengths: no marketplace, polished client experience, strong in premium salons. Watch: cost per staff at larger teams.
Phorest
Model: subscription, aimed at established salons and groups.
Website: online booking widget with your branding; deep links; app for clients under your brand.
Deposits and reminders: deposits, SMS, loyalty, marketing automation, rebooking reminders.
Marketplace: no.
Strengths: the most complete salon business system; loyalty and marketing built in; multi-location. Watch: price and setup effort; more than a two-chair salon needs.
Square Appointments
Model: free for one person; subscription for teams; Square payments.
Website: hosted booking page and embeddable widget; deep links; integrates with Square's point of sale and Instagram booking.
Deposits and reminders: card on file, no-show fees, SMS reminders.
Marketplace: no.
Strengths: free tier, tight POS integration, simple. Watch: fewer salon-specific features (colour notes, formulas) than the specialists.
What the website needs from any of them
- A Book button on every page, one tap to live availability.
- Deep links: "Book a balayage with Sam" from Sam's profile pre-selecting both.
- The widget or hosted page tested inside Instagram's in-app browser, where most salon clients arrive from.
- Deposits on for high-value or new-client bookings.
- SMS reminders with your wording.
- A
booking_clickevent on every button, and completed bookings by source from the system.
Choosing
- Cost is the constraint, hair or beauty: Fresha, with your own website as the primary booking path so the marketplace fee stays on genuinely new clients.
- Barbershop: Booksy or Fresha, same caveat.
- Premium salon, no marketplace, best client experience: Timely.
- Established salon or group wanting loyalty and marketing built in: Phorest.
- Already on Square POS: Square Appointments.
- Selling memberships and products heavily: Vagaro.
If you are already on one and it works, stay; the website can make any of them book well. Switching is a project, and the marketplace question is handled by making your own site the link everyone uses.
Where this sits
Integrating whichever system a salon runs, deep-linking it from every stylist and service page, and tracking it is the core of what we build into salon websites. The system is your choice; making it one tap from your own domain is ours.