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Hairdressers.io

Comparing pricing models

GlossGenius alternative that brings new clients, not just bookings

GlossGenius is a tidy front of house. The question worth answering before you renew is where next month's new clients are supposed to come from, because that is the part it deliberately leaves to you.

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Service list

What you charge, and how long it takes

  • Cut and finish 45m $55 to $110
  • Single-process color 1h 30m $85 to $150
  • Balayage 2h 30m $210 to $340
  • Blowout 40m $45 to $75
  • Bond treatment 30m $30 to $55

Availability on the booking page is generated from these durations. Sample list.

Short answer

Hairdressers.io is a GlossGenius alternative for salons and independent stylists who want the flat monthly price and also want the software to bring new clients, not only book the ones they already have. GlossGenius runs no consumer marketplace, so finding people is left to your own marketing. Here, every plan includes a listing on the city directory for your area with booking straight from the listing, from $39 a month for a single chair and $89 for a salon of up to eight stylists, and there is no commission on anything the directory introduces.

The model you are comparing

A flat subscription covering a team, with new-client discovery left to your own marketing

Our model

The same kind of flat subscription, with a city directory listing in every plan and 0% commission on the bookings it sends

We deliberately do not publish GlossGenius's prices, plan names or commission rates on this page. They change, and a stale number would be a false statement about a real company. Check their own pricing page for the current detail, then compare the two models below.

What actually changes when you switch

Discovery is in the plan, not on your to-do list

GlossGenius gives you a booking link you can attach to Google, Instagram, Facebook and Yelp, which converts people who are already looking for you by name. It does not put you in front of somebody who searched for a salon in your area this morning and has never heard of you. That second person is the growth, and reaching her is normally where a separate marketing bill starts.

Flat stays flat, including after the directory works

Both platforms charge a subscription rather than a cut, and that is the right model. The difference shows up once discovery starts working: no commission on introduced bookings, no growth tier to unlock, no paid promotion layer sitting on top of the plan you already pay for.

Your client list is portable on purpose

Contacts, appointment history, color formulas and notes export to a spreadsheet whenever you ask, including on the day you decide to leave. A platform that makes leaving hard is telling you something about how it expects to keep you.

01

What GlossGenius does well, and where the gap actually is

It is worth being straight about this, because if the gap below is not your problem then switching would be a waste of a weekend. GlossGenius is popular for good reasons, and most of them are about how it feels to use rather than what it costs.

The pricing model is honest
A flat plan that covers a team beats per-user pricing plus paid modules, which is the thing most salons are escaping when they arrive at it. We are not arguing with that structure, we use the same one.
Setup is genuinely fast
The onboarding is one of the least painful in this category, and a solo stylist can be taking bookings the same afternoon. Any alternative that cannot match that is not really an alternative.
Marketing tools are included, not bolted on
Text and email campaigns, a booking website and client insights sit inside the plan rather than behind add-on pricing.
The gap is net-new clients
All of the above works on people who already know your name. There is no consumer marketplace, so nobody browses GlossGenius looking for a salon. That is a deliberate product choice, not a bug, and it means new-client acquisition stays entirely on you.

02

How new clients reach you here without a cut being taken

The reason marketplaces exist is that discovery is hard and salons will pay for it. The reason people leave marketplaces is that a share of every introduced booking never stops being charged, so the better the marketplace works the more it costs, indefinitely. Both of those things are true at once, which is why this product splits the difference.

Every plan includes a listing on the city directory page for your area: your services, your genuine price band, your team and your real open times, with booking straight from the listing into the same calendar your regulars use. A client the directory introduces pays your prices, books on your availability, and costs you the same in year two as on the day she found you.

We should be honest about scale, because you would find out inside a week otherwise. A directory that is being built city by city does not have the footfall of a national consumer app with years of head start. What it has is a price that does not move and no percentage attached to growth. If you are choosing between paying a percentage forever and paying nothing extra for smaller but free reach, that is a real trade, and the right answer depends on how full your book already is.

03

What moves with you when you switch from GlossGenius

Migration is what stops most people, and vagueness about it is why. Three things move cleanly, one does not move at all, and knowing which is which before you cancel anything is most of the job.

Clients move
Names, phone numbers, email addresses and appointment history import from a spreadsheet. Export yours while the old account is still open and keep the file somewhere safe, whatever you end up deciding.
The service menu moves
Services, durations, buffers and prices get set up with you during onboarding instead of being typed in one row at a time at eleven at night.
Future appointments move
Import what is already on the books so no client is asked to rebook something she has already booked. This is the step people skip and then regret.
Your card processing does not move
Payments are a separate rail on every platform including this one. Treat the processing rate as its own decision and compare software cost against software cost, or the sum turns into mush.

04

Who should switch, and who should stay put

We would rather you stayed than moved and regretted it, so here is the honest split.

Switch if your chairs have gaps
Empty hours are a discovery problem, and discovery is exactly the thing your current plan leaves to you. A listing that is already included costs less than the marketing you would otherwise buy to fill them.
Switch if you are paying separately for reach
If there is a promoted listing, a local ads budget or a marketplace subscription running alongside your booking software, you are already buying the thing that is included here.
Stay if you are fully booked with regulars
A salon turning clients away does not need a directory listing, and there is no argument here that would beat leaving a working setup alone.
Stay if you need retail stock or payroll
We do not do point of sale hardware, shelf inventory or payroll runs, and we are not planning to. If those are load-bearing for you, a broader suite is the right call even at a worse price.

Before you move

Five things worth checking first

This applies whichever platform you are on, including ours. Migrating a salon is disruptive, so it is worth being sure the answer is better and not just different.

  1. 01

    Can you export your client list?

    Contacts, appointment history and notes, to a file you keep. Ask before you commit, not on the way out.

  2. 02

    What happens to bookings already made?

    You want to import upcoming appointments so no client is asked to rebook something they already booked.

  3. 03

    What is the real monthly total?

    Add every module you actually use, plus any per-staff element, plus anything variable. Compare that number, not the headline.

  4. 04

    Who holds the relationship?

    Whether reminders and confirmations go out under your salon name or the platform's changes what happens if you leave.

  5. 05

    Is there a contract term?

    A month-to-month arrangement and an annual commitment are very different decisions.

Our pricing, in full

Flat per salon, published, with nothing variable underneath

Chair

Start here

Solo stylist or booth renter

$39 /mo

$390 billed yearly

  • 1 stylist
  • Salon page on your own link: services, prices, open hours
  • Directory listing in 1 city
  • Booking requests inside your hours, by email
  • Private panel to edit your page and see requests
  • Pay by card, cancel any time
List your salon

Card payment, live right after

Salon

Independent salon, up to 8 stylists

$89 /mo

$890 billed yearly

  • Up to 8 stylists
  • Everything in Chair
  • Priority placement in your city listing
  • Per-stylist links and hours
  • Revenue and rebooking reporting
  • Import your existing bookings
Choose Salon

Card payment, live right after

Studio

Multi-location, up to 25 stylists

$199 /mo

$1,990 billed yearly

  • Up to 25 stylists
  • Everything in Salon
  • Listings for every location
  • Consolidated multi-location reporting
  • Roles and permissions per location
  • One invoice for all sites
Choose Studio

Card payment, live right after

Group

Chains and franchise groups

Talk to sales

Custom terms

  • Unlimited stylists and locations
  • Everything in Studio
  • SSO with SAML
  • Invoicing and PO billing
  • A named onboarding contact
  • Uptime SLA and a DPA

0% commission on bookings, on every plan

Including the clients your city directory listing sends you. There is no per-booking fee anywhere in this product.

0%

These are our plans. Pricing is flat per salon, so it does not change when you get busier. Chair, Salon and Studio are paid by card and your page goes live right after payment. Group starts with a conversation, because chains price on locations and terms. There is no free tier because the live demo is the free taste.

Questions

Switching from GlossGenius

The rest are on the salon booking system FAQ.

What is the best alternative to GlossGenius?

It depends on why you are leaving. If you want more features and can live with per-user pricing, Vagaro is the usual step up. If the problem is that your calendar has gaps, the thing you actually need is discovery, which is what Hairdressers.io adds: the same flat monthly price plus a city directory listing in every plan, with 0% commission on the bookings it introduces. There are pages here on the Vagaro, Booksy, Fresha and StyleSeat models too.

Does GlossGenius help you get new clients?

Indirectly. It gives you a booking website and links you can connect to your Google, Instagram, Facebook and Yelp profiles, so people who already know your name can book without calling. What it does not have is a consumer marketplace, meaning nobody opens GlossGenius to browse for a salon. Net-new client acquisition stays your job, which is the single biggest thing to weigh before renewing.

Is GlossGenius or Vagaro better for a small salon?

For a solo stylist or a two chair salon, GlossGenius is usually the easier product: flat pricing that covers a team and marketing tools inside the plan. Vagaro carries more features and a client marketplace, but charges per additional user and sells several capabilities as add-ons, so the bill grows as you hire. We wrote the full breakdown in GlossGenius vs Vagaro.

Can I export my client list from GlossGenius?

Your client contact details are yours and any serious platform will let you take them out. Do it while your account is still open rather than after you cancel, take appointment history along with the contacts if the export offers it, and check what happens to your public booking page once the account closes so clients are not still booking a link nobody is watching.

How much does GlossGenius cost per month?

GlossGenius publishes its plans and prices on its own pricing page, and that is the only place worth reading them, because rates change and a stale figure quoted here would be a false statement about a real company. What we will say is our own number: $39 a month for a single chair and $89 for a salon of up to eight stylists, everything included, listed in full on the pricing page.

More salon software pages

GlossGenius is a trademark of its owner. Hairdressers.io is not affiliated with, endorsed by or partnered with GlossGenius. This page compares pricing models only.

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