Local Business & Vertical Software

7 Best Salon Software for Booth Renters in 2026, Compared

Compare the 7 best salon software for booth renters on price, per-renter costs, booking and payments, with every price checked November 8, 2026.

Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 8, 202613 min read

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Key takeaways

  • GlossGenius is the best fit for most booth renters at $28/month; Square Appointments follows with a genuinely free plan, and Vagaro at $30/month with a bookable calendar per renter.
  • Fresha is the cheapest paid option at $19.95/month, but its 20% commission on new marketplace clients is the real cost — on a $20 trim it takes a quarter of the ticket.
  • The single most important buying factor is how the price scales with renters: per-calendar, per-location and per-user pricing give wildly different bills for the same four chairs.
  • Boulevard at $159/month and Mangomint at $130/month only make sense once the salon has several renters; a solo renter should start on GlossGenius, Square or Fresha.
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Quick comparison

Starting prices checked November 8, 2026
ToolBest forStarting priceFree plan
GlossGeniusSolo stylists and booth renters who want polished booking, payments and marketing in one app$28/moNo (14-day trial)
VagaroBooth renters who want their own bookable calendar plus a marketplace that sends new clients$30/moNo (30-day trial)
FreshaNew booth renters who want the lowest subscription and marketplace discovery from day one$19.95/moNo (7-day trial)
BooksyBooth renters who want every feature in one plan plus a marketplace that finds new clients$29.99/moNo (14-day trial)
Square AppointmentsBooth-renter salons that want one flat fee per location and a free plan to start onFree; Plus $49/moYes (free)
MangomintGrowing booth-rental salons that want fast front-desk tools and one simple price formula$130/moNo (free trial)
BoulevardEstablished booth-rental salons with 3 to 5 providers that want premium scheduling and support$159/moNo (demo only)

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The best salon software for booth renters

#1

GlossGenius

Best for: Solo stylists and booth renters who want polished booking, payments and marketing in one app

4.9/5 on G2 (85 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit glossgenius.com
Starting price$28/month (Standard, billed monthly; $24/month billed annually)
Free planNo — 14-day free trial

GlossGenius is the tool most independent stylists reach for first, and the reason is focus: it is built for beauty professionals, not adapted from generic scheduling software. Standard costs $28 a month, or $24 billed annually, and covers online booking, a booking website, payments, client records and basic marketing for up to two users. Clients can book in under 30 seconds without an account, and the in-person card rate is a flat 2.4% plus 15 cents.

The catch is the user cap and the geography. Standard covers two users, so a renter with an assistant needs Gold at $48 a month billed annually, and the software works in the US only. Text credits are limited, so heavy SMS campaigns cost extra. Buy it when you rent a single chair and want one polished app for booking and payments.

What we like

  • Built for independent stylists: booking, payments, client records and marketing in one mobile-first app
  • Flat in-person card rate of 2.4% + 15c, with no marketplace commission on your own bookings
  • AI receptionist and AI marketer included, so calls and campaigns keep working while you cut hair
  • Clients can book in under 30 seconds with no account and no app download

Watch out for

  • Standard covers only 2 users, so a chair with a helper or an assistant needs Gold at $48/month billed annually
  • No free plan, only a 14-day trial, and GlossGenius works in the US only
  • Text-marketing credits are limited, so heavy SMS campaigns cost extra
#2

Vagaro

Best for: Booth renters who want their own bookable calendar plus a marketplace that sends new clients

4.6/5 on G2 (394 reviews, checked Nov 2026)
Visit vagaro.com
Starting price$30/month (1 bookable calendar; $23.99/month for the first 6 months)
Free planNo — 30-day free trial

Vagaro's pricing fits booth rental better than any other model here because it charges per bookable calendar, not per business: one calendar costs $30 a month, each extra adds $10, and the bill stops growing after seven paid licences. The base plan covers online booking, client management, payments and reporting, and the Marketplace, Instagram and Apple Maps listings put your chair in front of people searching for a stylist nearby.

New customers pay $23.99 a month for the first six months. The base price is only the start, though: text marketing, intake forms and the website builder are paid add-ons, and card processing runs 2.2% to 3.5%. Support scores trail ease of use on G2. Pick Vagaro when you want your own calendar at a fair price and will pay for the extras you use.

What we like

  • Per-calendar pricing fits booth rental exactly: each renter pays for their own bookable calendar
  • The Vagaro Marketplace, Instagram and Apple Maps listings bring new clients without extra marketing
  • Calendar charges stop growing after seven paid licences, so a full salon caps at $85 a month
  • Payroll, forms and a website builder are available from the same company when you need them

Watch out for

  • Text marketing, intake forms and the website builder are paid add-ons, not in the base price
  • The $23.99 rate lasts 6 months only, then the bill returns to the $30 list price
  • Support scores trail ease of use on G2, and billing disputes are the commonest complaint
#3

Fresha

Best for: New booth renters who want the lowest subscription and marketplace discovery from day one

Visit fresha.com
Starting price$19.95/month (Independent, 1 bookable team member)
Free planNo — 7-day free trial

Fresha wins the headline-price contest: Independent costs $19.95 a month for one bookable team member, covers booking, calendar, POS, client records and marketing, and puts your chair in front of a marketplace of millions looking for appointments. Card fees are low in the US at 2.29% plus 20 cents in person, with no commission on returning clients or on clients who arrive through your own booking link.

Read the fine print first. Fresha's old free plan has ended, so $19.95 is the floor, and every new client the marketplace sends costs a one-time 20% commission with a $6 minimum. On a $20 trim that is a quarter of the ticket; on a $150 color service it is a fair trade. Choose Fresha when you are building a book and discovery matters more than cost predictability.

What we like

  • The cheapest subscription here at $19.95 a month for a solo renter, with POS and client records included
  • A marketplace of millions of consumers looking for appointments, which suits a renter building a book
  • Low card fees in the US: 2.29% + 20c in person, below most rivals in this list
  • No commission on returning clients or on clients who arrive through your own booking link

Watch out for

  • The 20% commission on new marketplace clients is the real cost, and it bites hardest on cheap services
  • The old free plan has ended: Independent now costs $19.95 a month, with only a 7-day trial
  • Team pricing is per bookable team member, so the bill grows with every renter you add
#4

Booksy

Best for: Booth renters who want every feature in one plan plus a marketplace that finds new clients

Visit booksy.com
Starting price$29.99/month (Booksy Biz, 1 user, plus tax)
Free planNo — 14-day free trial

Booksy sells one plan with everything in it, which makes the math simple: $29.99 a month plus tax covers booking, payments, client management, email and text marketing, gift cards, memberships and reporting, with no higher tier to be pushed into. It includes 2,000 free marketing texts a month, no-show protection, waitlists and Reserve with Google, and it works in more than 30 countries.

The costs that grow are people and promotion. Each extra team member costs $20 a month, so a three-renter chair costs $69.99 a month before tax, and the optional Boost feature takes 30% of a new client's first visit, up to $100. There is no annual discount. Pick Booksy when you want every feature on day one and plan to use the marketplace to fill empty chairs.

What we like

  • One plan with everything included: booking, payments, marketing, gift cards, memberships and reporting
  • 2,000 free marketing texts a month, which most rivals charge extra for
  • No-show protection, waitlists and Reserve with Google are in the base plan, not an upgrade
  • Works in 30+ countries, so a renter who moves or travels keeps the same system

Watch out for

  • Each extra team member costs $20 a month, so a three-renter chair costs $69.99 a month
  • Boost takes 30% of a new client's first visit, up to $100, when the marketplace sends them
  • No annual discount, so there is no cheaper way to pay for a year up front
#5

Square Appointments

Best for: Booth-renter salons that want one flat fee per location and a free plan to start on

Visit squareup.com
Starting priceFree (Free plan; Plus $49/month per location)
Free planYes — Free plan ($0, 1 location)

Square Appointments is the only tool here with a genuinely free plan, and it is a real one: $0 covers a booking website, unlimited staff calendars, text and email reminders, deposits, prepayments and invoices for one location. Because Square charges per location rather than per renter, ten booth renters sharing one salon cost the same as one, and payments, hardware and the booking site come from the same company.

The free plan has sharp edges. No-show fees, the waitlist, classes and marketing need Plus at $49 a month per location, and booking for rooms and chairs needs Premium at $149. Online card payments cost 3.3% plus 30 cents on the free plan, the dearest online rate here. Start on Square when the budget is $0; move to Plus the month no-shows start costing you money.

What we like

  • The only genuinely free plan here: online booking, unlimited staff calendars and reminders at $0
  • Priced per location, not per renter, so ten booth renters cost the same as one
  • Payments, hardware and a booking website come from the same company, with no marketplace commission
  • Deposits, prepayments and invoices are included on the free plan, not held for a paid tier

Watch out for

  • No-show fees, the waitlist and marketing need Plus at $49 a month; the free plan has none of them
  • Room and chair booking needs Premium at $149 a month per location
  • Card rates fall only slightly with each tier, and online payments cost 3.3% + 30c on the free plan
#6

Mangomint

Best for: Growing booth-rental salons that want fast front-desk tools and one simple price formula

Visit mangomint.com
Starting price$130/month (1 location + 1 user; $120/location + $10/user)
Free planNo — free trial available

Mangomint is the front-desk efficiency play for a salon growing past a couple of chairs. It sells one plan, priced at $120 a month per location plus $10 a month per user, so one location with one user costs $130 a month and every booth renter you add costs $10. That plan includes calendar, POS, online booking, Express Booking, forms and charting, memberships, inventory and reporting, with no tier paywalls and no booking fees.

The entry price rules out solo renters, and the add-ons add up: phone costs $70 a month per line, marketing starts at $30 a month and payroll at $50 plus $8 per worker. Mangomint works in the US and Canada only. Choose it when the salon has several renters and you want one price formula that scales with every chair.

What we like

  • One plan with everything included: forms, charting, memberships, inventory and reporting, with no tier paywalls
  • Booth renters count as users at $10 a month each, so the bill scales cleanly with every chair you fill
  • Express Booking handles multi-service appointments, and unlimited confirmation texts and emails are included
  • No contracts and no booking fees, with onboarding and data transfer included at no cost

Watch out for

  • At $130 a month for one location and one user, it rules out solo renters on a tight budget
  • Phone, marketing and payroll are paid add-ons that can push the real stack past $250 a month
  • US and Canada only, so renters outside North America cannot use it at all
#7

Boulevard

Best for: Established booth-rental salons with 3 to 5 providers that want premium scheduling and support

Visit joinblvd.com
Starting price$159/month (Essentials, billed monthly; $143/month billed annually)
Free planNo — demo available, no free trial

Boulevard is the premium option here, built for established salons with three to five providers who want scheduling to feel effortless. Essentials costs $159 a month, or $143 billed annually, for one location with up to five providers, and covers Precision Scheduling, color and multi-service booking, POS, text reminders and basic reporting. There is no marketplace, so no competing salon appears next to your listing and no commission is ever taken.

The price is the price, but the extras are not small. Intake forms cost $65 a month on Essentials, inventory needs Premier at $325 a month, and a twelve-month agreement applies. Card processing starts at 2.65%. Support is included on every plan. Pick Boulevard when the salon is established, the book is loyal, and polished multi-chair scheduling is worth $159 a month.

What we like

  • Precision Scheduling and color and multi-service booking are built for salons with several chairs
  • No marketplace, so no competing salon appears next to your listing and no commission is ever taken
  • Support is included on every plan, and the published prices match the bill with no hidden tiers
  • 250 free texts and 1,000 free email blasts a month are included on the entry plan

Watch out for

  • Essentials costs $159 a month, the dearest entry price here, and it covers only one location
  • Intake forms cost $65 a month extra on Essentials, and inventory needs Premier at $325 a month
  • A twelve-month agreement applies, so there is no month-to-month escape if the fit is wrong

The best salon software for booth renters does one job well: it gives each renter their own book, their own payments and their own client list, without charging the whole salon for every chair. We ranked the seven tools below by fit for the most common buyer — an independent stylist renting a chair in someone else's salon — starting with the most polished solo option and ending with the premium one, and every price was checked against the vendor's own pricing page on November 8, 2026.

How to choose the best salon software for booth renters

  • Count the renters, not the chairs. Vagaro charges per bookable calendar ($30 plus $10 per extra renter), Square Appointments charges one flat fee per location, Mangomint charges $120 per location plus $10 per user, and Booksy charges $29.99 plus $20 per extra team member. The same four renters cost $60 a month on Vagaro and $160 on Mangomint.
  • Ask who owns the client list. A renter's book is their business, so each renter needs their own client records and the ability to take the list when they leave. Check the export options before you sign up, not after.
  • Work out the marketplace math. Fresha takes 20% of a new marketplace client's first booking and Booksy Boost takes 30%, while GlossGenius, Boulevard and Square Appointments take nothing. If most of your new clients find you through the marketplace, the commission can cost more than the subscription.
  • Check the payment rate on your average ticket. In-person card rates run from 2.29% plus 20 cents on Fresha to 2.6% plus 15 cents on Square's free plan. On an $80 service the gap is a few cents; across a hundred services a month it is real money.
  • Try the booking flow as a client. Book an appointment on your own phone before you pay. The best tools let a client book in under 30 seconds with no account and no app download — every extra step loses bookings.

A salon's software is only half the visibility problem. If the salon also needs to be found on Google Maps, our local SEO service covers the search side, and our guide to beauty salon management software compares the wider tools for owners who run the whole salon. Before you publish a booking page, run your title and description through the free SERP snippet preview tool to see exactly how it will look in Google.

Whatever you shortlist, try it with real bookings before you pay. The trials in this list run 7 to 30 days, which is long enough to run one genuine week — your clients, your services, your prices — and that week tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that clients can book without calling you, and that the money lands in your account at the rate you expected. Every tool here lets you cancel month to month except Boulevard, which asks for a twelve-month agreement, so there is no reason to commit for a year before you have tested it.

Bar chart of starting prices billed monthly: Fresha $19.95, GlossGenius $28, Booksy $29.99, Vagaro $30, Square Appointments $49, Mangomint $130, Boulevard $159
Starting prices, billed monthly. Square Appointments has a free plan — the chart shows its first paid plan (Plus $49/month). Annual billing is lower for GlossGenius and Boulevard — the comparison table at the top shows the annual figure.

Booth-renter salon software pricing: what you will actually pay

Take a salon with four booth renters, each doing about $4,000 a month in services — $16,000 a month in total. On list prices, the subscription costs $0 a month on Square Appointments Free, $60 on Vagaro ($30 plus three extra calendars at $10), $59.80 on Fresha Team (four members at $14.95), $89.99 on Booksy ($29.99 plus three extra members at $20), $112 on GlossGenius (four Standard plans at $28), $160 on Mangomint ($120 plus four users at $10) and $159 on Boulevard Essentials, which covers up to five providers.

Over a year, that is $588 on Square Appointments Plus, $720 on Vagaro, $717.60 on Fresha Team, $1,079.88 on Booksy, $1,152 on GlossGenius billed annually at $24 a month per renter, $1,920 on Mangomint and $1,716 on Boulevard billed annually at $143 a month. The same four renters and the same $16,000 of services cost $588 a year at the cheap end and $1,920 at the dear end — a $1,332 gap that comes entirely from the pricing model, not from features.

Three costs sit outside every number above. First, card processing: at 2.3% to 2.6% of $16,000, the salon pays roughly $370 to $415 a month in processing fees, which dwarfs most of the subscriptions. Second, marketplace commissions: if Fresha sends you ten new clients a month at an $80 ticket, the 20% commission adds $160 a month, and Booksy Boost at 30% would add $240. Third, the add-ons: Vagaro's text marketing and website builder, Mangomint's phone and marketing, and Boulevard's forms all sit outside the base price. If you run the whole salon rather than one chair, see our guide to booking software for salons for the owner-side tools.

Annual billing cuts the bill on the two dearest tools here: GlossGenius Standard drops from $336 to $288 a year per renter, and Boulevard Essentials drops from $1,908 to $1,716 a year. Vagaro, Fresha, Booksy and Mangomint publish no annual discount, so the monthly figure is the whole story. One more cost to check before you commit: a second location is a second subscription on Square Appointments, Mangomint and Boulevard, which all charge per location — so a salon owner with two sites pays double whatever the chart shows.

Matrix showing what each entry plan includes: daily updates, free plan, AI visibility and white-label
What the entry plan includes, checked November 8, 2026. A dash means the feature is not included on the entry plan.

Know the difference: booth rent vs commission pay

The confusion in this category is between two ways a stylist gets paid, and the software you need depends on which one you are on. Under booth rent, the stylist pays the salon owner a fixed weekly or monthly fee for the chair and keeps all of their own service revenue; the salon owner is effectively a landlord. Under commission, the salon takes a percentage of every service — often 40% to 60% — and the stylist is paid from what is left.

That split changes what the software has to do. A booth renter needs their own booking page, their own payments and their own client list, because the clients are theirs and the money is theirs — per-calendar pricing like Vagaro's or per-user pricing like Mangomint's fits that shape. A commission salon needs the opposite: one shared book, split tracking so each stylist's share is calculated correctly, and tip pooling, which is why Square Appointments keeps tip pooling and commission tracking on its Plus plan.

A third distinction worth knowing is rent collection versus rent tracking. None of the tools here is a rent-collection system: the renter still pays the owner separately, usually by bank transfer or standing order. What the software does is make the chair pay for itself — the booking, the payments and the client list that justify the rent. If a tool promises to collect booth rent for you, check whether it actually moves the money or just records that it is due.

Quick comparison: tool type by need

BuyerBest pickWhy
Solo renter on a budgetFreshaCheapest subscription at $19.95/month, marketplace brings new clients (20% on their first visit)
Best all-round for a booth renterGlossGeniusPolished booking and payments at $28/month, flat 2.4% card rate, no marketplace commission
Renter salon with several chairsVagaro$30/month plus $10 per extra calendar, and the bill caps at $85 for seven or more
Free to startSquare AppointmentsFree plan with unlimited staff calendars; Plus is $49/month for no-show fees
Growing salon, several rentersMangomint$130/month for one location and one user, $10 per extra user, everything included
Premium multi-chair salonBoulevard$159/month for up to 5 providers, polished scheduling, no marketplace commission

Mistakes to avoid

  • Budgeting on the intro price. Vagaro's $23.99 rate lasts six months, then the bill returns to $30, and GlossGenius costs $28 month to month but $24 billed annually. Compare tools on the price you will pay in month seven, not month one.
  • Ignoring the marketplace commission. A $19.95 subscription is no bargain if the marketplace takes 20% of every new client it sends you. Model the commission on your real new-client numbers before you celebrate the low subscription.
  • Buying per-location software for one chair. Boulevard at $159 and Mangomint at $130 are priced for a salon with several providers. A solo renter pays five times more than they need to on those tools.
  • Letting the salon own your client list. If you rent the chair, the clients are yours. Make sure your records sit in your own account with an export option, so a move to another salon does not mean starting from zero.
  • Paying for add-ons before you need them. Vagaro's text marketing and website builder, Mangomint's phone line and Boulevard's forms all cost extra. Run the base plan for a month first, and add only the tool that solves a problem you actually have.

How we chose

We verified each price against the vendor's own pricing page, using fresh copies crawled between October 28 and November 3, 2026 and cross-checked against at least one independent read, because the vendor pages refused direct loads on November 8, 2026. Ratings come from G2 and Capterra pages crawled in the same week: GlossGenius 4.9/5 on G2, Vagaro 4.6/5 on G2, and Capterra scores for Fresha, Booksy, Square Appointments, Mangomint and Boulevard. We ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — an independent stylist renting a chair — not by brand size. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.

What to do next

Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and run one real week of bookings through it. Check that clients can book without calling you, that the money lands at the rate you expected, and that your client list exports cleanly. If the bookings are sorted but new customers are not finding the salon, our local SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare providers in our guide to barbershop software. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.

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Sources we checked (14)
Shamim

Shamim

Founder of SerpAstra

A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best salon software for booth renters?

GlossGenius is the best all-round pick for most booth renters: polished booking, payments and marketing for $28/month, with a flat 2.4% in-person card rate and no marketplace commission. Square Appointments is the best free option, and Vagaro is the better pick when several renters share one salon.

How much does salon software for booth renters cost?

A solo renter pays $0 to $30 a month: Square Appointments is free, Fresha is $19.95, GlossGenius is $28 and Vagaro is $30. A salon with four renters pays $60 to $160 a month in subscriptions, depending on the pricing model, plus 2.3% to 2.6% in card processing on every payment.

Is there free salon software for booth renters?

Yes, one option: Square Appointments has a genuinely free plan with online booking, unlimited staff calendars and reminders at $0. Fresha's old free plan ended in 2025, so it now costs $19.95 a month. Every other tool here offers a free trial of 7 to 30 days instead of a free plan.

What is booth rent, and how does the software handle it?

Booth rent is a fixed weekly or monthly fee a stylist pays the salon owner for a chair, keeping all of their own service revenue. The software should give each renter their own calendar and payments: Vagaro charges per calendar, Mangomint counts each renter as a $10 user, and Square charges one flat fee per location.

Do I pay commission on new clients with salon software?

It depends on where the client comes from. Fresha takes a one-time 20% commission on new clients its marketplace sends you, and Booksy Boost takes 30% of a new client's first visit. GlossGenius, Boulevard and Square Appointments take no marketplace commission at all, since they have no marketplace.

Can a booth renter switch salon software later?

Yes, but check the export options before you sign up. Export your client list, service menu, prices and future bookings from the old tool, then import them into the new one and test a booking end to end. Switching at the end of a month avoids double-paying, and most tools here offer free data migration help.

GlossGenius vs Vagaro for booth renters: which is better?

GlossGenius is better for a solo renter: a more polished app, a flat 2.4% card rate and no marketplace fees, from $28/month. Vagaro is better when several renters share one salon: $30 for the first calendar plus $10 per extra calendar, with marketplace discovery. Both score well, with GlossGenius at 4.9/5 on G2.

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