Salon software pricing

Affordable salon software and cheap salon booking software with one flat monthly bill

A cheap plan that grows with every stylist you hire, takes a cut of every new client and charges for each text is not cheap by December. Pay one number that stays put while the salon gets busier.

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This week

Thursday, Maya's chair

9:00am 10:30am 12:00pm 1:30pm 3:00pm 4:30pm 6:00pm 7:30pm

Thursday 7:30pm · Root touch-up · 1h 45m

Sold this week: 78%
Rebooked: 61%
No-shows: 2

Sample data, shown to illustrate the interface.

Short answer

Affordable salon software is the plan with the lowest total bill over a year, not the lowest sticker price. Add up the subscription, the fee for each extra stylist, any share taken on new clients, card processing, text credits and add-ons. Hairdressers.io keeps that total flat: $49 a month for one chair ($288 a year), $89 for a salon of up to eight stylists and $199 for up to 25, with booking, a calendar, client cards, reports and a city directory listing on every plan and 0% commission.

Most salon owners shopping on price compare the number in large type on each pricing page. That number is rarely what leaves the bank account. The bill on many salon products is built from five or six lines: a base plan, a seat for every extra stylist, a percentage of card payments, a fee on the first visit of new marketplace clients, a pack of text credits and a paid add-on or two. A product that starts at nothing a month can cost more than one that starts higher, once the salon has four stylists and a busy Saturday. This page shows how to work out the real yearly cost and what our flat plans include.

What is the most affordable salon software?

The most affordable salon software is the one with the smallest total over twelve months at the headcount you will have next year. For a salon of regulars that usually means a flat plan with no per-stylist fee and no commission on new clients. For a solo stylist who takes every payment by card, a no-monthly-fee tier can work until processing fees add up.

The table sorts the common pricing models by what you pay on top of the headline price. We compare models and not competitor numbers, because vendors change their plans often; read each pricing page on the day you sign.

Pricing model	Headline price	What you pay on top	Cheapest when
No monthly fee tier	Nothing a month	Processing on every card payment, paid tiers for no-show fees, waitlists and multi-staff bookings	You are solo, take every payment by card and need nothing beyond the basics
Free tier with caps	Nothing a month up to a limit	A paid plan per user once you pass the cap on staff or monthly appointments	You book a handful of clients a month
Per stylist or per calendar	A base plan	A monthly fee for every added stylist, often add-ons for marketing and texts	The team will never grow
Marketplace with new client fees	A subscription	A one-time fee or share on the first visit of each new client the app sends, plus processing	You need strangers to find you and your first visits are small
All-in-one suite	A higher base plan	Per stylist pricing, hardware, setup and payroll add-ons	You need a register, payroll and inventory in one login
Hairdressers.io	$49 for one chair, $89 for up to 8, $199 for up to 25	Nothing per stylist inside the band, nothing per booking, no add-ons	Your book is mostly regulars and the team is growing

The five lines that turn a cheap plan into an expensive one

A salon owner reviewing a printed software invoice at the front desk

Pull last month's invoice from your current software and the statement from your card processor, then look for these lines. They are where a low headline price turns into a bill that rises every time the salon does well.

Per stylist seats: A fee for every extra team member, part-timers included. Hire a Saturday stylist and the bill rises for the whole month.
New client fees: A one-time fee or share on the first visit of each client a marketplace sends. On a $250 color appointment that lands on the client you most wanted to win.
Card processing: A percentage plus a few cents on every payment. On a no-monthly-fee tier this is how the product earns, and it grows with your sales.
Text credits: A monthly allowance of reminders, then a charge per message. A busy salon reminding every client passes it quickly.
Add-ons: Marketing, a branded app, a website builder, loyalty or reporting sold as extras on top of the plan.

What salon software has affordable pricing for one person?

For one person, affordable salon software is a single-chair plan with no fee on new clients and no processing tied to the booking. Hairdressers.io charges $49 a month for one chair, or $288 a year, which works out to $24 a month. That includes your booking link, a calendar, client cards, email reminders and a listing on your city directory page.

A solo stylist who takes every payment by card through a payments-first app may pay less in the first month on a no-monthly-fee tier. Do the sum at twelve months: total card sales times the processing rate, plus any paid tier you need for no-show protection, against a flat $288. Booth renters can see the full comparison in best booking software for booth renters.

What every plan includes, at every price

A stylist checking new booking requests on her phone between clients

Nothing below is an add-on. The difference between plans is how many stylists and locations they cover, not which features you are allowed to use.

A booking link per stylist: Each stylist has their own hours, title, services and price level, and the page offers only times that are genuinely free.
A calendar: Every stylist side by side for the day or one stylist across the week, on a 15 minute grid. Drag to move a booking and the client gets an email.
Real service lengths: Each service holds its own minutes, cleanup buffer and processing gap, so a balayage is never squeezed into an hour.
Walk-ins and phone bookings: Entered by the salon, confirmed at once and blocked on the calendar so online clients cannot take the slot.
Client cards: Visit history, a note, a color formula, the patch test date and the consent date for every client.
Reports: How full the week is against last week, what no-shows cost and where first-time clients came from.
Import and export: Bring your list in from a spreadsheet on any paid plan and download it whenever you like.
A city directory listing: Your salon on the directory page for your city, with 0% commission on clients it sends.

How much should a salon pay for software each month?

A solo stylist should expect to pay somewhere around the price of one or two haircuts a month for booking software, and a small salon around the price of a few. If your software costs more than one stylist's Saturday, check which of the five extra lines is driving it. Software that charges per stylist doubles in cost when the team doubles; a banded plan does not.

Here is how our plans work as the salon grows. Chair is $49 a month for one stylist. Salon is $89 a month for up to eight, so going from three stylists to seven changes nothing. Studio is $199 a month for up to 25 stylists across several locations, with a separate sign-in for each location manager. Group is $398 with no limits. Yearly billing is about half the monthly rate: $288, $528, $1,188 and $2,388. See the pricing page for every plan.

Is cheap salon software worth it for a growing salon?

A small salon owner welcoming a newly hired stylist at her station

Cheap salon software is worth it when the price stays cheap as you grow. Many low entry plans are priced per stylist, so the salon that hires its fourth and fifth stylist this year pays for each one every month. Check what the bill will be at next year's headcount, including part-timers, before you call any plan cheap.

A salon that is hiring should also look at what happens to client records when a stylist leaves. Cards belong to the salon account here, and the whole list downloads as a spreadsheet. The worked comparison for a two to six chair salon is in best salon software for a small salon, and the salon software for small business page covers the same question from the owner's desk.

What the price does not include

We keep the bill flat partly by not doing everything. There is no card reader, checkout or payment processing, so you keep the register or reader you already use and no percentage of your sales goes to us. There is no payroll, commission tracking, inventory or gift cards, no card on file and no deposit charged at booking. Reminders go by email two days ahead and on the morning, not by text.

If you need all of that in one product, an all-in-one suite will cost more and may be worth it. If what you need is booking, a calendar, client records and a way to be found, paying for a register and payroll you will not use is the expensive choice.

How to switch without paying twice

Most salons move in one sitting and run both systems for a couple of weeks.

1. Pick a plan: $49 for one chair, $89 for up to eight stylists. Sign in with a code sent to your email.
2. Import your clients: Upload the spreadsheet export from your current software, with visit history.
3. Set services and hours: Real lengths, buffers and prices per stylist, and the hours each one works.
4. Send new bookings to the new link: Leave existing appointments where they are, cancel the old plan when its calendar empties.

Pricing

Flat monthly, from $49. Never a cut of a booking.

Four plans by team size, from a single chair to a multi-location group. The 0% commission line is the same on all of them, including bookings that come from your city directory listing.

See the plans

Questions

About affordable salon software

The rest are on the salon booking system FAQ.

What is the cheapest salon software?

The cheapest at sticker price is a no-monthly-fee or capped tier, which earns from card processing or upgrades. The cheapest over a year is usually a flat plan without per-stylist or new-client fees. Hairdressers.io is $49 a month for one chair or $89 for up to eight stylists.

Is there salon software without per-stylist fees?

Yes. Hairdressers.io prices by band instead of by person: $89 a month covers up to eight stylists and $199 covers up to 25 across locations, so hiring inside the band does not change the bill.

Do you charge commission on new clients?

No. There is 0% commission on every booking, including new clients who find the salon through its city directory page.

Is yearly billing cheaper?

Yes, about half the monthly rate. Chair is $288 a year, Salon $528, Studio $1,188 and Group $2,388.

Are there setup fees or contracts?

No setup fee and no contract. Plans are bought by card on the pricing page and can be cancelled any time.

Does affordable mean fewer features?

Not here. Every plan has the calendar, booking links, client cards, reports, import and the directory listing. Plans differ only by how many stylists and locations they cover.

More salon software pages

Each one covers a different angle on the same product. The directory side lives on the salon directory.

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