Short answer
Setmore's main competitors for hair salons are other booking tools without a marketplace (Acuity Scheduling, Square Appointments, GlossGenius) and salon platforms with one (Vagaro, Booksy, Fresha, StyleSeat). Setmore is a general appointment scheduler: a no-cost tier for up to four users, then a Pro plan billed per user that adds text reminders, deposits and calendar sync. For a salon of up to eight stylists that wants one fixed number and a way to be found, Hairdressers.io is $89 a month flat with a city directory listing at 0% commission.
Salons usually arrive on Setmore because it cost nothing to start. Four people can share it without paying, the booking page takes ten minutes, and for a while that is enough. The search for competitors tends to begin at one of three moments. A fifth stylist joins and the whole team has to move to the paid plan, billed for every user. The owner finds that text reminders, deposits and recurring appointments were on the paid plan all along. Or the calendar is perfectly organized and Tuesday is still empty, because a scheduler only books people who already have the link.
This article keeps to the tools a US hair salon, barbershop or independent stylist would realistically move to. It compares pricing models rather than prices, because every company here changes its numbers and promotions. Read each pricing page on the day you decide.
Who are Setmore's competitors?
For hair salons, Setmore competes with two groups. Acuity Scheduling, Square Appointments and GlossGenius are booking tools without a consumer marketplace, and they compete with Setmore on the calendar, reminders and payments. Vagaro, Booksy, Fresha and StyleSeat pair booking with a marketplace that can send new clients, and each charges for that in its own way. The table shows how each one bills.
| Platform | What the bill scales on | What a brand new client costs | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setmore | A no-cost tier capped at four users, then Pro billed per user; text reminders, deposits, recurring bookings and two-way calendar sync are on Pro | Nothing, there is no marketplace | A team of up to four that only needs a scheduler |
| Acuity Scheduling | Tiers by number of calendars, with text reminders from the middle tier | Nothing, there is no marketplace | A stylist whose website already runs on Squarespace |
| Square Appointments | A no-fee entry tier, then paid tiers per location, with staff calendars not counted | Nothing per booking; listed in the Square Go consumer app | A salon or barbershop already taking cards on Square |
| GlossGenius | Tiers by team size, with each added location billed as another plan | Nothing, there is no marketplace | A salon of regulars that wants a polished checkout |
| Vagaro | Bookable calendar licenses up to a cap of seven, plus features chosen per location | Free listing on the Vagaro Marketplace; has used a one-time fee on new marketplace clients, check current terms | A larger floor that uses payments, inventory and loyalty daily |
| Booksy | One subscription with every feature, plus a monthly fee per added team member with no cap | Boost: a one-time commission on the first visit, only while Boost is on | A salon or barbershop that expects the Booksy app to fill chairs |
| Fresha | Flat for one bookable person, then per bookable team member; messaging past an allowance and add-ons extra | Listed as free on current plans | A small salon that wants a marketplace and a register together |
| StyleSeat | One monthly subscription | A capped one-time share of the first appointment from each brand new marketplace client | A solo stylist who wants marketplace exposure first |
| Hairdressers.io | Flat by band: $49 for one chair, $89 for up to 8 stylists, $199 for up to 25 | Nothing, including clients from the city directory | A salon of regulars that wants one number and a way to be found |
Is Setmore good for hair salons?
Setmore is good for a hair salon of one to four people that books regulars from a link and needs nothing beyond a clean calendar. It is a weaker fit once the team passes four, because every user is then billed on the paid plan, and it was built for appointments of every kind, so nothing in it brings in clients who do not already know the salon.
Its strengths are real, and worth naming before you leave. The no-cost tier does not limit the number of appointments. The booking page is quick to set up, payments connect through Square, Stripe or PayPal, and the paid plan has a refund window, so trying it is low risk. If your only problem is "clients need to book me without texting", Setmore solves it. The limits show up in salon-specific places. A general scheduler treats a haircut like a dentist visit or a tutoring session, so service lengths that differ by stylist, a client who books a person rather than a slot and a menu with price ranges are all things you configure yourself rather than things the tool expects.
What is better than Setmore for a hair salon?
No tool is better than Setmore for every salon, but several are better for a specific one. A salon with five or more stylists does better where the bill does not count heads. A salon that needs new clients does better on a platform with a directory or marketplace. A salon that wants checkout at the chair does better on Square or GlossGenius. Choose by what Setmore is not doing for you.
You hired a fifth stylist
This is the most common trigger, and the cost jump is sharper than it looks, because the team goes from paying for nobody to paying for everybody. Moving to another per-person tool changes the rate and keeps the shape: Booksy adds a fee for each team member with no ceiling, and Fresha's Team plan is billed per bookable member. Acuity counts calendars instead and steps up at fixed limits. A flat band removes the question inside its range. On our Salon plan, up to eight stylists cost $89 a month whether you have five or eight, and a Saturday stylist adds nothing. The Setmore alternative page sets the two models side by side, and salon software for small business walks through what changes when a small salon hires again.
The calendar is tidy and the week is empty
Setmore has no consumer side, so it cannot help here, and neither can Acuity or GlossGenius. The tools that can each charge differently. Booksy's Boost costs nothing until it brings someone, then takes a one-time commission on that first visit. StyleSeat takes a capped share of the first appointment from each brand new marketplace client. Fresha's current plans list new marketplace clients as free and bill every member. Every Hairdressers.io plan includes a listing on the directory page for your city with your services, prices and hours, and clients book from it at 0% commission. The directory covers New York, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta and Austin.
You want reminders, deposits and checkout without counting users
If the paid features are what you are missing, compare where each tool puts them. Square Appointments does not count staff calendars and prices its paid tiers per location, which suits a shop already on Square readers. GlossGenius bundles reminders and a card reader into tiers set by team size. Acuity puts text reminders on its middle tier. The Acuity vs Square Appointments for salons comparison goes through those two line by line, and Acuity Scheduling competitors for hair salons covers the same decision from the Squarespace side.
You work alone and want the list in your own name
A solo stylist on Setmore's no-cost tier has little reason to leave on price. The reason is usually discovery, or wanting a page that looks like a stylist's page rather than a generic booking widget. Our Chair plan is $49 a month for one stylist, with a booking page, a city listing and a client export, described on the salon software for independent stylists page.
Is Setmore really free?
Setmore's entry tier costs nothing for up to four users and does not cap appointments, so a very small team can run on it indefinitely. What it leaves out is the part most salons end up wanting: text reminders, recurring appointments, deposits, two-way calendar sync and removing Setmore's branding are on the paid plan, which is billed per user.
So the useful question is what the salon would pay on the day it needs one of those features. A four person team that turns on text reminders pays for four users, not one. Price that plan with next year's team on it before you compare it with anything else.
Is Acuity or Setmore better for a salon?
Setmore is better for a team of two to four that wants to pay nothing and can live without text reminders. Acuity is better for a stylist whose site is on Squarespace, or one who needs intake forms, packages and gift certificates. Neither has a marketplace, so neither brings new clients, and both step up in cost as the team grows: Setmore by user, Acuity by calendar.
What Hairdressers.io does, and what it does not
Hairdressers.io gives each stylist a booking link with their own services, lengths, prices and hours, built for hair rather than for meetings. Clients request a service and a time inside those hours, every request lands in your inbox with the client as the reply address, and the client gets a link to move or cancel up to the cutoff you choose. Your deposit and cancellation policy shows on your page and in the confirmation email. The client list downloads as a spreadsheet on any day. Chair is $49 a month, Salon is $89 for up to eight stylists and Studio is $199 for up to 25 across locations, and yearly billing lowers each of them. Every plan is 0% commission on every booking.
It does not do everything Setmore's paid plan does. There are no card deposits at booking, no video appointments, no two-way calendar sync and no instant confirmation, because every booking is a request you approve. There is also no call answering. Setmore sells a live receptionist as an add-on, and a salon that mainly loses bookings to a ringing phone can get most of that from a cloud phone system with one shared salon number next to any booking page. Plans and what each includes are on the pricing page.
Before you switch from Setmore
- Export first. Download your customer list and upcoming appointments while the account is active, and keep the file yourself.
- Count users the way each vendor counts them. Front desk logins, part-timers and the Saturday chair are users on some tools, calendars on others and nothing on a flat band.
- List what you would miss. Video appointments and calendar sync matter to some salons and to most not at all. Compare only the lines you use.
- Change one link. For most salons the migration is the link in the Instagram bio, the Google Business Profile and the website button. Write down every place it appears before you switch.
- Ask about new-client fees in writing. Marketplace terms change, and one email settles the line that decides most comparisons.
The short version
A team of up to four that only needs a calendar: stay on Setmore, it is hard to beat at that size. A salon already on Square readers: Square Appointments. A salon that wants a polished checkout: GlossGenius. A shop that wants the largest consumer app: Booksy, with Boost priced in. A salon of five to eight stylists that is tired of counting users and wants new clients without a per-client fee: a flat band with a directory, which is what we built.