Phorest Alternatives: 10 Best Salon and Spa Competitors Compared

How we compared

We compared each platform on five criteria that matter to owners leaving a quote-based system. They are pricing transparency (is the price published, or do you need a sales call?), per-staff fees (does the bill grow when you hire?), multi-location support (and what each extra site costs), automated SMS and email reminders (included or metered?), and integrated payments (the processing rate you pay). We read every price on the vendor's own pricing page or help center on September 25, 2026, and Twizzlo's on September 27, 2026. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say so and print no estimate. Twizzlo publishes this guide and is one of the 10 platforms. We did not test the platforms hands-on.

What Phorest costs in 2026

Phorest sells four salon and spa plans, Starter, Grow, Complete Advantage and Elite, and prints no subscription price for any of them. Phorest's US pricing page, read September 25, 2026, shows "Request a quote" on every plan and says its plans are "perfect for 3+ staff." Every plan includes unlimited staff and unlimited devices, and separate Med Spa plans sit on their own tab.

Texting is the only priced item on the page. Texts cost 5 cents each, 2-way SMS messaging includes 7,500 texts for $99, and the plans carry free allowances of 1,000, 5,000 and 27,000 texts a month. Phorest says it does not offer a free trial and offers a full product demo instead.

Because every plan is quoted, the cost depends on the conversation, not a published list. Every alternative below except Zenoti publishes prices on its own pricing page.

Phorest competitors priced for five providers at one and two locations

For five providers at one location, published subscriptions for Phorest's competitors run from $0 to $170 a month on each tool's lowest plan that covers five providers, based on each vendor's pricing page read September 25, 2026. Square Appointments Free and Twizzlo Free are $0 plans, with Twizzlo Free capped at 150 bookings a month. Paid plans that cover five providers run from $29.99 a month per business on Twizzlo Business Pro and $49 per location on Square Appointments Plus to $159 on Boulevard Essentials and $170 on Mangomint. At two locations, Square Appointments Plus doubles to $98, GlossGenius Gold rises to $103.60 and Mangomint to $290, while Twizzlo's per-business price does not change. Phorest and Zenoti publish no price, and Fresha's US prices were not read for this update.

Monthly subscription for five bookable providers in total, billed monthly, before tax

Subscription only, before tax. Payment processing, texts and add-ons are billed separately; on Twizzlo, online payments carry your Stripe processing rate plus a 1.5% Twizzlo platform fee. Arithmetic from published prices, not a quote. Sources: vendor pricing pages read September 25, 2026 (Vagaro: US help center; Square's multi-location row: its pricing grid, captured September 27, 2026; Timely's five-staff totals: its staff selector, read September 27, 2026; Twizzlo: twizzlo.com/pricing/, read September 27, 2026).

Square Appointments Free lists unlimited staff calendars at $0 per location, and Twizzlo's plans include unlimited staff and locations. GlossGenius Gold covers up to 9 staff and Boulevard Premier unlimited professionals, but both charge for each added location.

1. Twizzlo

Twizzlo is web-based online booking and appointment scheduling software for appointment-based service businesses, with two plans, Free and Business Pro.

Pricing: Free is $0 a month for up to 150 bookings, with no SMS. Business Pro is $29.99 a month per business with unlimited bookings and 50 SMS a month, then $0.03 per additional SMS. Both plans include unlimited staff and locations. Online payments carry your Stripe processing rate plus a 1.5% Twizzlo platform fee. Business Pro includes every Twizzlo feature, with no paid modules or add-ons; Free includes the core booking, CRM, staff, insights and online payment features up to 150 bookings a month, without SMS. Both plans send email reminders; Business Pro adds SMS within its allowance and carries a 30-day money-back guarantee. Figures from Twizzlo's pricing page, read September 27, 2026.

Best fit: salons that expect to add staff or a second location, since staff and location counts never raise the Business Pro price; multi-location insights, Employee Shifts for staff schedules and client records are included.

Limitation: Free stops at 150 bookings a month and sends no SMS; Business Pro includes 50 SMS a month and charges $0.03 for each one after that.

For the day-to-day salon setup, see the salon scheduling software page.

2. Vagaro

Vagaro prices its base plan with one bookable calendar and adds a monthly charge for each extra calendar.

Pricing: Vagaro's US help center, read September 25, 2026, lists the base subscription at $23.99 a month, a limited-time rate, with one calendar license; it does not print the price after that rate. Each additional employee calendar is $10 a month for up to seven paid licenses, and staff added after that are free. The help center prints no subscription price for an added location. See our Vagaro pricing page.

Best fit: salons that want booking, point of sale, inventory, memberships and a client marketplace in one system; Vagaro's product page, read September 27, 2026, lists each of them. Schedulicity's site now redirects to Vagaro with the line "Schedulicity is now Vagaro." (read September 25, 2026); see our Schedulicity alternative guide. Weighing Vagaro against Booksy? Our Vagaro vs Booksy comparison breaks the pricing down line by line.

Limitation: premium features are add-ons: Forms $10 a month, text marketing from $20 for 1,000 credits, MySite $20, Payroll $34 plus $5 per employee, and a Branded App at $100 a month on a limited-time rate plus $100 one time. Forms, MySite and the smallest text plan take the $23.99 base to $73.99 a month.

3. Fresha

Fresha sells paid Independent and Team plans and charges a one-time fee on brand-new clients who book through its marketplace.

Pricing: Fresha's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, describes an Independent plan for one bookable team member and a Team plan billed per bookable team member; returning clients carry no marketplace fee. We could not read Fresha's US prices for this update, so this guide shows no Fresha figure; confirm the current US plan on Fresha's pricing page.

Best fit: salons that want its client marketplace to bring in new bookings, since the fee applies only to new clients it sends.

Limitation: costs grow with each bookable team member on Team and with each new marketplace client. If that model is what you are leaving, see our guide to Fresha alternatives.

4. Booksy

Booksy charges one monthly subscription per business with every feature included, plus a fee for each additional team member.

Pricing: According to Booksy's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, the published price is $29.99 a month plus tax with one team member and every feature included, plus $20 a month for each additional team member. It lists a 14-day free trial, "No commitment," 2,000 free SMS marketing messages a month and free appointment confirmations and reminders. Boost, its optional marketplace program, charges a one-time fee of 30% of the total cost of a Boost client's first visit, and the Booksy Card Reader rate is 2.49% plus 10 cents. See our Booksy pricing page.

Best fit: barbershops and salons that want new clients from the Booksy app and no feature tiers.

Limitation: per-member fees add up. Five team members cost $109.99 a month plus tax, and Boost takes $60 of a $200 first visit (arithmetic). Owners who want Booksy's client app without its per-member fee can compare these apps like Booksy.

5. GlossGenius

GlossGenius sells three beauty plans at a flat price per business, with staff limits by plan.

Pricing: The GlossGenius pricing page, read September 25, 2026, lists Standard at $28 a month billed monthly ($24 billed annually), Gold at $56 ($48) and Platinum at $168 ($148). Standard has no staff management, Gold covers businesses up to 9 staff, and Platinum is for teams of 10 or more. Each additional location is charged the plan price at a 15% discount. Every plan has a flat 2.6% card rate with no Tap to Pay, card-on-file or manual-entry fees, and Payroll is an add-on at $40 a month plus $6 per seat. See our GlossGenius pricing page.

Best fit: solo pros and teams under 10 that want one card rate; the page, read again September 27, 2026, lists free data transfer on every plan.

Limitation: staff management starts on Gold, at twice the Standard price, and Gold at two locations comes to $103.60 a month.

6. Square Appointments

Square Appointments has a $0 Free plan with unlimited staff calendars and two paid plans billed per location.

Pricing: Square's US pricing page, read September 25, 2026, lists Free at $0, Plus at $49 and Premium at $149 a month per location, with a 30-day free trial on Plus and Premium. On Free, card payments cost 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online; Premium's in-person rate is 2.4% plus 15 cents. See our Square Appointments pricing page.

Best fit: salons that want a $0 plan and in-person card payments from the same company. Its pricing grid, captured September 27, 2026, puts deposits and reminders on every plan, no-show fees, a waitlist and multi-location management on Plus, and room and station management on Premium.

Limitation: it is built for many kinds of appointment businesses, not salons alone, and paid plans bill per location: three sites on Plus cost $147 a month (arithmetic).

7. Mangomint

Mangomint charges $120 a month for each location plus $10 a month for each user.

Pricing: Mangomint's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, lists $120 a month per location plus $10 a month per user and says anyone with a profile counts as a user, front-desk staff included. Its add-ons cost $70 a month per phone line, from $30 a month for marketing, and $50 a month plus $8 per worker for payroll. In-person card payments cost 2.45% plus 15 cents, and virtual payments 2.90% plus 30 cents. The page lists free onboarding, free data transfer and no contracts, and says Mangomint takes no fee on appointments booked in the platform.

Best fit: established salons and spas that want per-location pricing with onboarding and data transfer included.

Limitation: every user adds $10 a month, including front-desk profiles, and every location adds $120. Five providers come to $170 a month at one location and $290 at two.

8. Boulevard

Boulevard's Essentials plan covers up to five providers for one monthly price; its Premier and Prestige plans are billed per location.

Pricing: Boulevard's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, lists Essentials at $159 a month billed monthly ($143 billed annually) for up to 5 providers (bookable calendars). Premier is "normally" $325 a month per location billed monthly ($293 billed annually), or $260 ($234) on a limited-time fall offer for new customers; Prestige is "normally" $455 ($410), or $364 ($328) on the offer. Card processing starts at 2.65%, or as low as 1% with Boulevard Offset. Forms and charts are an add-on on Essentials and Premier and included on Prestige.

Best fit: salons and spas with up to five providers on Essentials, and multi-location groups on Premier or Prestige.

Limitation: the page marks multi-location support on Premier and Prestige only, so two locations on Premier cost $650 a month at the normal price. For other options, see our Boulevard alternatives.

9. Zenoti

Zenoti, like Phorest, publishes no price: every plan on its pricing page says "Get a Quote."

Pricing: Zenoti's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, shows no currency figure. Its FAQ says multi-location pricing "is customized based on your footprint and needs," that voice, SMS and messaging use is billed by consumption with optional base packs, and that its AI agents require the AI Plus package.

Best fit: salon and spa groups that want one quoted system across several sites.

Limitation: owners leaving Phorest because a quote makes budgeting hard meet the same model here. See our Zenoti alternatives for other options.

10. Timely

Timely prices its three plans by the number of bookable staff, in US dollars on its own pricing page.

Pricing: With the USA region selected, Timely's pricing page, read September 25, 2026, lists Build at $26, Elevate at $39 and Innovate at $47 a month for one staff member, billed monthly with no contract. Its staff selector, read September 27, 2026, prices five staff at $122 on Build, $155 on Elevate and $191 on Innovate; Build is offered for one to seven staff, and Elevate and Innovate cost a flat $241 and $300 a month from eight to 19 staff. The plans include 100, 200 or 350 SMS a month per staff member, extra texts cost 12 cents each, and each plan card reads "No new client fees." Part-time staff are charged at the same rate as full-time staff. Card processing is extra, and the page does not print the rate.

Best fit: small teams that want texts included for each staff member and no fee on new clients.

Limitation: the bill rises with each added staff member up to eight, part-time staff included; Build stops at seven staff, and Elevate and Innovate stay flat from eight to 19. For a wider shortlist, see our Timely alternatives for salons.

How to choose the best Phorest alternative for your salon

Three questions settle most switches from Phorest: what happens to the bill when you hire, when you open a second location, and whether you need the software to bring you clients.

When you hire: Booksy, Timely and Vagaro charge per team member, staff member or calendar, and Mangomint charges per user. GlossGenius prices by plan, with Gold covering up to 9 staff, and Twizzlo prices per business.

When you open a second location: Square Appointments, Boulevard's higher plans, Mangomint and GlossGenius charge per location (GlossGenius at 15% off the plan price), and Twizzlo's plans include unlimited locations.

When you need new clients: Fresha charges a one-time fee on brand-new clients from its marketplace, and Booksy's Boost takes 30% of a Boost client's first visit. Vagaro's US help center lists its Vagaro Marketplace as free, and its optional Fill My Books program charges 20% when a new customer books for the first time and 5% when a returning customer books (read September 27, 2026). A full book may not need marketplace reach. For a wider look at the category, see our roundup of the best salon booking software.

Before you leave Phorest

• Ask Phorest for an export of your client list and appointment history before you cancel.
• Check your contract end date and notice terms in writing.
• Count your monthly texts against each alternative's allowance (Phorest's plans list 1,000, 5,000 or 27,000 free texts a month).
• Run a test booking on your shortlisted tool's free plan or trial before you move your calendar.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line, and where Twizzlo fits

Every platform above except Zenoti publishes enough to model your monthly cost before you commit, which Phorest does not. Twizzlo has two plans priced per business, and both include unlimited staff and locations. Free is $0 a month for up to 150 bookings, with no SMS. Business Pro is $29.99 a month per business with unlimited bookings, email reminders and 50 SMS a month, then $0.03 each, and it carries a 30-day money-back guarantee. Online payments carry your Stripe processing rate plus a 1.5% Twizzlo platform fee.