Last updated on June 6, 2024.
In this fast-paced industry, finding the right point-of-sale (POS) system for your hair salon can help you elevate your business. But wading through the endless options? It’s not as easy as picking out your salon’s signature shampoo. Heck, that might not even be easy!
That’s why we did the work for you. You’re welcome! Here are our top picks for salon POS systems in 2024. We compiled this list based on pricing, features, reviews, and more.
Scroll on to find your perfect POS match and get ready to level up your hair salon.
Quick Glance: 2024’s Best POS Systems for Hair Salons
What Is a Salon POS System?
First things first: a salon POS system is a combination of hardware and software used to process transactions, book appointments, manage clients, and streamline your business so you can focus on the more important stuff.
With smart tech advancements, today’s POS systems offer innovative features like client check-ins and required deposits for those more expensive services—all the things that make your job as a salon owner easier.
Depending on your business needs, these salon POS systems could be your new helping hand.
The Best POS Systems Based on Salon Needs
Whether your top priority is attracting new clients, or you’re simply looking for a no-fuss solution for your business, these top salon POS systems are a great place to start.
Square Appointments: Best POS Overall
Square Appointments is our pick for the best overall POS system for hair salons thanks to its all-in-one suite of features, which includes scheduling, flexible checkouts, and management for inventory, clients, and team members. Plus, you can easily integrate with popular third-party apps like Wix or Quickbooks.
Square Appointments’ Top Features for Hair Salons
- Free online booking website
- Automated email and text reminders
- Instagram and website integration
- No-show and cancellation fee capabilities
- Contactless payments
- Client card info saved on file
- AfterPay payment installments
- Client loyalty program
- Client notes and profile
- Staff and payroll integration
- Team performance reports
- Free online shop
- Low-stock product alerts
Cost of Using Square Appointments as a Hair Salon POS System
- Plans: Free, Plus ($29/month), or Premium ($69/month)
- In-person processing rate with the free plan: 2.6% + 10 cents
- AfterPay processing rate with the free plan: 6% + 30 cents
- Various hardware: free to $799
What Square Appointments Users Say
G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Square Appointments users love the ease of use, flexible booking, customer support, and simple integration. Some critiques include limited customization, pricing, and a mediocre interface and design.
How to Get Started With Square Appointments
Create an account and submit an introduction form to get set up with the Square Appointments sales team.
Shopify POS: Best POS for Salon E-Commerce
Maybe your online retail store is hitting a new stride, and you need a POS system that can keep up. If so, consider Shopify POS, our top pick for e-commerce needs.
Shopify POS is an omnichannel POS system that allows you to streamline sales in person, online, on social media, or in marketplaces. With customer-focused features, inventory management, and integration options for your favorite scheduling app, Shopify POS can help you increase your hair salon’s revenue in 2024.
Shopify POS’ Top Features for Hair Salons
- Scheduling app integration
- Rich client profiles
- Client loyalty program
- Email and SMS marketing notifications
- Detailed inventory reports
- Sales attribution to salon team members
- Promotion through Google Merchant Center
- Fully integrated hardware
- Payment installment options
Cost of Using Shopify POS as a Hair Salon POS System
- Plans: Basic ($39/month), Shopify ($105/month), Advanced ($399/month)
- In-person processing rate with the Basic plan: 2.6% + 10 cents
- Various hardware: free to $459
What Shopify POS Users Say
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Shopify POS users love the seamless transactions, efficient inventory management, and intuitive interface. Some dislikes mentioned were a lack of a subscription feature, integration challenges, and limited customization.
How to Get Started With Shopify POS
Start a free trial or talk to the Shopify POS sales team to get set up.
Vagaro: Best POS for Reaching New Clients
If your biggest priority as a salon owner is attracting new clients, Vagaro might be the POS system for you. Along with powerful online booking and secure payment processing, Vagaro also offers increased visibility when you list your business in the Vagaro Marketplace. Get featured, get more clients, and get ready for a bustling salon.
Vagaro’s Top Features for Hair Salons
- Vagaro Marketplace for new client visibility
- Waitlist to fill last-minute cancellations
- Automated appointment reminders
- Credit card capture for booking
- Booking widget to embed anywhere
- No-show and cancellation fee capabilities
- Contactless check-ins
- Client credit card saved on file
- Tip and sign during checkout
- Payment installment options
- Built-in marketing tools
- Automated inventory management
- Customized forms auto-saved to client profiles
- Simplified payroll and scheduling
Cost of Using Vagaro as a Hair Salon POS System
- One-location plan: starting at $30/month (pricing based on the number of bookable calendars)
- Processing rate for sales under $4,000/month: 2.75% per swipe
- Processing rate for sales over $4,000/month: 2.2% plus 19 cents per swipe
- Hardware: free credit card reader; pricing for other hardware accessible through the Vagaro online store
What Vagaro Users Say
G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Vagaro users love the ease of use, affordability, and live customer support. Some complaints include the additional fees for extra features, a buggy mobile app, and a higher learning curve due to customization options.
How to Get Started With Vagaro
Start a free trial or connect with the sales team to get started with Vagaro.
Fresha: Best POS for Smaller Budgets
Running a salon is not cheap, so if you need a more affordable POS system, check out Fresha, our top pick for smaller budgets. Fresha stands out for its zero-cost entry point: no monthly fees, and one of the lowest in-person processing rates on the market.
With Fresha, you get all of the standard features like online booking, payment processing, and some marketing options, too. The only downside is that Fresha charges a one-time 20% commission fee for new clients who book your salon through their marketplace.
Fresha’s Top Features for Hair Salons
- User-friendly online booking
- Secure payment processing via link or saved cards
- No-show and cancellation fee capabilities
- Online marketplace for attracting new clients
- Direct-to-client salon visibility on the Fresha app
- Unlimited “Book Now” buttons for Instagram and Facebook
- Targeted marketing campaigns to build client loyalty
- Performance analytics and reporting tools
- Inventory management and online store
Cost of Using Fresha as a Hair Salon POS System
- No monthly fees
- In-person processing rate: 2.29% plus 20 cents
- Online processing rate: 2.79% plus 20 cents
- New-client fee: 20% one-time commission for marketplace bookings
- Hardware: pricing unlisted for Fresha 1 credit card terminal
What Fresha Users Say
G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Fresha users love the multiple features available, including online booking and gift cards, as well as the ease of use for the salon owner and the customer. Some complaints include client notes not tailored per type of client and season pack unavailability.
How to Get Started With Fresha
Create a free account to start using Fresha at your hair salon.
Rosy: Best POS for Booth Rental Salons
If you’re looking for a POS system with salon-specific features, plus help with managing booth rentals, Rosy may be the solution for you. With simple client scheduling, quick checkouts, and marketing options, Rosy’s cloud-based software has all the basics to help ensure a smooth operation for all of your independent stylists.
Rosy’s Top Features for Hair Salons
- Software option for booth or suite rentals
- Private client info and finances for rentals
- Simple client scheduling with auto-reminders
- Integrated credit card processing
- Inventory management with low-stock alerts
- Custom-branded webpage with retail store
- Detailed financial and performance reports
- Personalized guidance via client data dashboard
- Google integration for increased visibility
- Client loyalty program and referral rewards
- Automated email and text marketing
- Curbside check-in capability
Cost of Using Rosy as a Hair Salon POS System
- Standard plan: starting at $29/month (pricing based on the number of employees)
- Standard + premium plan: starting at $37/month (pricing based on the number of employees)
- Booth rental plan: pricing by request
- Flat-rate processing: 2.55% plus 10 cents
- RosyPay: custom quote for processing rates
What Rosy Users Say
G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Rosy users love the intuitive design, ease of integration, detailed reports, and access from its cloud-based system. Some complaints include an outdated look, a lack of report filters, and a limited waitlist feature.
How to Get Started With Rosy
Get a free trial to start using Rosy at your salon.
Phorest: Best POS for Client Retention
For salon owners looking to build stronger client relationships, Phorest is a great POS option. Our top pick for client retention, Phorest focuses on the client with detailed note options, portfolios, personalized marketing, and a loyalty program.
So, in addition to the essentials, like scheduling and PhorestPay processing, this POS system can help keep your clients coming back time and again.
Phorest’s Top Features for Hair Salons
- Paperless client cards storing information, forms, history, and life milestones
- Migration specialists for easy salon database import
- Deskless check-ins with PhorestGuest App
- Before-and-after image portfolios
- Special settings for VIP clients
- Personalized marketing campaigns
- Treatcard loyalty program
- One-click upselling for seamless checkouts
- Salon-specific selling and payment options
- Re-order prompts for low-stock inventory
- Smart commission calculations
- Multi-branch salon scheduling
- Virtual client consultations
- Automated appointment reminds
Cost of Using Phorest as a Hair Salon POS System
- Four monthly plans: Starter, Grow, Complete Advantage, and Elite (pricing quote by request)
- Processing rates: competitive quote by request
- Hardware: pricing unlisted for the touchscreen card terminal
What Phorest Users Say
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Phorest users love the ease of use, organization, and marketing solutions. Some complaints include absent customer service, difficult booking, and a communication gap between the U.K. company and its U.S. users.
How to Get Started With Phorest
Book a demo or request a quote to get started with Phorest.
How We Decided Which Hair Salon POS Systems to Include
To compile this list of best POS systems for hair salons, we considered the top point-of-sale systems available on the market today. We looked at each app’s offering of must-have features (such as client scheduling and payment processing) and nice-to-haves (such as contactless check-ins and marketing capabilities).
Finally, we reviewed these POS systems’ prices and user ratings for a complete picture. Based on these factors, we created this buyer’s guide for salon POS systems.
FAQs About the Best POS for Beauty Salons
What fees do hair salon POS systems charge?
Hair salon POS systems can charge monthly fees, per-transaction processing rates, commission fees, and extra fees for additional features, such as email and SMS marketing.
Which POS system for hair salons has the lowest fees?
Out of our list of the best salon POS systems, Fresha has the lowest fees: no monthly fee and an in-person processing rate of 2.29% plus 20 cents.
What’s the best free POS system for hair salons?
Out of our list of the best salon POS systems, Fresha is our pick for the best free POS software for beauty salons. It includes online client booking and payment processing, with options for paid features such as SMS marketing and marketplace listings.
How much should I spend on beauty salon POS software?
How much you should spend on salon POS software greatly depends on your salon’s budget and scale. The cost of salon POS software can range from free options to premium solutions costing $30 to $200+ per month, depending on the available features and volume.
Make Sure You’re Covered
Now that you’ve found the best POS system for your hair salon, make sure your smoothly running business is protected with salon and spa insurance. Beauty & Bodywork Insurance (BBI) offers booth-based coverage for hair salons starting at $31.08/month. Get covered in minutes with our easy, affordable policy!
