It’s 2024, and you want your hair salon to run as smoothly as possible. A major step in the right direction is to start using an app to manage your salon’s bookings and more.
But when you search for an app, Google spits out a staggering number of them. Who in the world has time to review each one of these?
We do! In this article, we’ll recommend the best eight hair appointment apps of 2024 to increase your bookings (and much, much more).
Why You Need an App For Your Hair Salon
An app for your salon will give you booking features to simplify your job. Many salons still rely on physical calendars and phone calls for booking appointments.
But the reality of 2024 is that most clients don’t like to call, wait for someone to pick up the phone, and then see if the time they have in mind is open.
With a booking system, your clients can see open time slots and make a reservation with the simple click of a button. You won’t have to deal with the phone, and you can ditch that paper calendar.
While a booking tool is a huge reason to get a hair salon app, many hair salon apps come with other features too.
The following are just a few time-saving and convenient features you might get with an app:
- An instant messaging system so you can communicate with your clients directly in the app. Neither you nor your clients will need to sieve through text messages, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp to chat. A messaging tool will save time and make you look more professional.
- A payment platform integrated with Stripe, Square, or PayPal. This will make it simple for clients to pay. After working your magic on their hair, your clients simply open the app, verify the amount paid, and send their payment. No need to deal with the cash register.
- You can sign regular clients up for loyalty programs. Every time they book through your app, the system will automatically give them points, and they’ll be able to redeem them when the time comes. This can keep clients coming back.
- Push notifications for reminders about upcoming appointments. This feature will help you reduce no-shows, which will save you time and keep revenue flowing in.
These are just a few of the many features that a hair salon app can give you. With so many tools and functions, having an app for your hair salon in 2024 is common sense.
How We Chose Our Top 8 Hair Salon Apps
With so many hair salon apps out there, it’s difficult to find the right one without spending tons of time. Since we’re huge app fans, we’ve sifted through several apps so you don’t have to.
We chose our top 8 apps because they had each of the following features:
- Booking: It goes without saying, but each of the apps we selected comes with an easy-to-use booking tool.
- Messaging: Because it’s important for clients to communicate directly with you through the app, we ensured that each one had a built-in messenger.
It’s common for clients, especially new clients, to have questions about products and services. A messaging feature is the best place to answer questions.
A messaging tool that’s easily accessed through your app will make communication convenient.
- Integrations: Most apps are full of integrations to payment platforms, email marketing tools, analytics report features, etc. We ensured that the booking apps we chose had functions beyond scheduling and messaging because we wanted people to be able to get the most out of their hair salon apps.
Our Top 8 Hair Salon Apps
Adalo, if you want to custom-make your very own hair salon app to give you full control of how your app appears, functions, and feels.
Mangomint, if you want automation features to help manage your large-size salon.
GlossGenius, if you want to choose how your app appears while using solid built-in features.
Vagaro, if you want to market your hair salon on a salon-centric social media network with thousands of users.
Fresha, if you want a battle-tested app used by almost half a million salons worldwide.
Zolmi, if you want an app to manage your salon and send promotional updates to clients.
Mindbody, if you need an app to organize the many needs of your chain salon.
Tapstyle, if you want a highly affordable app for your small-scale salon.
#1 Adalo
Adalo is a no-code app builder that lets you create an app to your own taste and in line with your salon’s brand. You won’t need any coding or technical skills to make your app with Adalo.
Simply choose a template from the Adalo library and start building with the intuitive drag-and-drop interface. You’ll be able to create a highly functional and professional-looking app in no time.
Why Adalo is in Our Top 8
- Adalo comes packed with integrations - over 5,500 of them. So, if you want to build special features using Zoom, Google, Zapier, QuickBooks, PayPal, Airtable, and more, you can use Adalo to really customize your salon app.
When you make your own app with Adalo, you’ll have the power to do more than just build booking features. You can build out most of the features that other hair salon apps have and design them to your own liking if you use Adalo. Adalo is that powerful.
- After you finish building your app, make it easily available to your clients by publishing it in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or on your own website. There will be no confusion about how to download your custom-made app.
Everyone will love the convenience of being able to find it with a simple search in a major app store.
Pricing
You can use Adalo starting at $36/month.
#2 Mangomint
Designed to assist bigger salons by executing administrative tasks, Mangomint uses automation features to simplify managing your salon. Your team will love the convenience and ease that Mangomint brings.
Why Mangomint is in Our Top 8
- Once you set up the booking system, Mangomint’s automated features will organize your schedule for you. If a client cancels, the automation feature immediately opens the spot, without any press of the button from you.
You won’t have to worry about reconfiguring your schedule when clients cancel.
- Mangomint will help you manage your staff and market their skills to your clients. Let your staff create their unique profiles and showcase their expertise so clients can choose which stylist they want.
This feature will give your clients options, and it will help your stylists market themselves. A win-win for everyone!
Pricing
Mangomint’s cheapest option starts at $165/month for up to 10 users. If you have a huge salon with over 20 stylists, get Mangomint’s unlimited plan for $375/month.
#3 GlossGenius
You’ll get several built-in features, but you get to choose how your hair salon app looks when you use GlossGenius. Pick a template, and upload photos from your salon. You’ll be able to show off your brand and expertise using GlossGenius.
Why GlossGenius is in Our Top 8
- Accept payments with GlossGenius’s payment processing technology and receive a charge of only 2.6%. Many other payment processing platforms charge over 3%. By using GlossGenius, you’ll cut your costs. This can add up over time, saving you substantial money.
- Hairdressing is a social craft, and GlossGenius makes this super easy. Create client profiles and add the things that make each client unique - their kids, pets, hobbies and birthdays.
Before each client comes in, GlossGenius will automatically send you their profile information, so you’ll remember to ask about Fido’s obedience school.
Pricing
For $24/month, you get all the basic features. But if you pay $48/month, you’ll get access to more beautiful templates to design your app.
#4 Vagaro
Add rocket fuel to your marketing plan when you choose Vagaro. Vagaro has millions of users, many of whom are looking to find a new hairstylist.
When you sign up with Vagaro, your salon’s profile will get in front of users close to your location. This will help you get new customers fast.
Why Vagaro is in Our Top 8
- Vagaro offers an excellent client relationship management system (CRM) that records each client’s purchasing history. Use this to give special deals to habitual buyers of certain products and services, which will help you boost sales and keep clients coming back.
- If you sell products from an online store, get them in front of Vagaro's vast network of users with the Daily Deals Page. People who have never heard of your salon will suddenly see great deals to be had.
This will help increase revenue and possibly bring new traffic into your brick-and-mortar.
Pricing
Vagaro’s flat rate is $25/month, with an extra $10 per team member/month.
#5 Fresha
Fresha has been around for a while and has the numbers to show for it: clients have used Fresha to book over 700 million appointments. Many people use Fresha because it is one of the easiest-to-use booking tools on the market.
Why Fresha is in Our Top 8
- Fresha knows that social media plays a huge role in promoting your business. It takes promotion one step further, allowing you to embed “book now” buttons into your social media posts.
Clients can book your services without even downloading your app. This simple tool can help you reach new clients quickly.
- Transform your client profile list into a scale starting from loyal big spenders to people you just started talking to yesterday. Use Fresha’s marketing integration to offer each of these groups appropriate specials.
These CRM features can help you keep your loyal clients coming in and hook new clients with offers they can’t refuse.
Pricing
While Fresha offers its basic services for free, you need to pay for each add-on, like messaging, payment integrations, and marketing campaigns.
You’ll have to contact Fresha directly to get this information.
#6 Zolmi
Zolmi is a booking app that lets you reach out to potential clients and manage your team. You can manage your team members’ schedules, payroll, and time off in Zolmi. Being able to do this in one place will save you lots of time.
Why Zolmi is in Our Top 8
- Make your life easier with Zolmi’s automation features. Use these to automate team management tasks, including recurring team member schedule times and paydays. This automation feature will save you lots of time.
- Create your own specials and promote them with a newsletter you made in Zolmi. You can send them out to clients and contacts using the automation feature.
Doing this can notify current clients of specials, and you can also get new people into your salon using this feature.
Pricing
You can start using Zolmi at $15/month, but if you want the automation features, you’ll need to purchase the Pro Plan at $25/month.
#7 Mindbody
We understand - that running a huge chain salon is a challenge. Mindbody is a one-stop shop that helps simplify these difficult and multilayered processes.
When you choose Mindbody, you’ll get a huge toolbox of features and capabilities that will help you manage your employees, payroll, and get new customers.
Why Mindbody is in Our Top 8
- Mindbody is an excellent marketing platform. You’ll be able to use their integrated email marketing, messaging, and SEO tools for a greater reach.
Many salons that use Mindbody have grown their business revenue by over 30% within six months of using Mindbody. Mindbody will most likely benefit you, too.
- If you’re looking for ways to improve your salon’s sales performance, operational efficiency, or marketing campaign effectiveness, Mindbody’s comprehensive data-management tool can get you there.
You’ll be able to determine the best times for business, top-performing advertisements, and your best employees.
Pricing
Mindbody starts at $129/month. Larger salons that need more tools should contact Mindbody directly for enterprise pricing.
#8 Tapstyle
Tapstyle is a great, cost-effective app that can execute most of your business processes. It has basic analytics features that will keep you updated on customer spending, revenue and costs. The basic functions that Tapstyle brings are a good fit for small-scale salons.
Why Tapstyle is in Our Top 8
- Tapstyle conveniently integrates with text messaging, SMS, and WhatsApp. You’ll be able to reach customers on several platforms in one place. This will simplify sending messages for you, as you won’t need to thumb through all your messaging apps to communicate with clients.
- When you use Tapstyle, you can connect your point of sale (POS), invoicing, purchasing, and bookkeeping tools all in one place. This will help you keep your finances organized, making it less likely for costs to go under the radar. Who doesn’t like a great financial management system?
Pricing
Get all of Tapstyle’s features for $14/month.
Next Steps
Each of the apps on our lists comes with a free trial or a demo version. It’s a good idea to try most of them out before you commit to one app.
When you give each of the apps a test run, take notes, and decide what matters most to you. Getting your thoughts about how each app feels and functions on paper will help you make a decision.
After you find the hair salon app of your dreams, you’ll save time on bookings, administrative tasks, and more. You’ll never go back to the old days of pen and paper.
