Free salon booking software falls into three buckets. A free plan costs nothing each month but caps users, bookings, or features. A free trial opens every feature for a set number of days, then billing starts.
A freemium tool stays free at the core and earns from commissions, card fees, or paid add-ons. The label on the pricing page matters less than the limit hiding under it.
We read each vendor’s own pricing page on 3 November 2026. For every tool we wrote down the free tier, the first paid step, and what the free tier leaves out.
Where a vendor hides a fee in a marketplace rule or a message allowance, we say so in that tool’s section. Prices change, so confirm the plan page before you sign up.
Our online booking guide explains how a booking page should work, and our salon management software guide covers the wider toolkit a growing salon needs.
What free salon booking software actually means
A free plan is the only tier you can stay on without paying. A trial is a deadline, not a plan, and a marketplace fee is a cost that only shows up after new clients arrive.
Read the free tier as a set of caps: how many staff, how many bookings, which features, and which fees still apply. That reading is the whole point of this guide.
The 6 tools in this guide
The list below runs in the order we cover the tools. Fresha leads on reach, PandaCue sits second as the all-in-one option, and the rest follow on how generous their free tier really is.
- 1. Fresha: best for salons that want marketplace reach.
- 2. PandaCue: best for salons that want booking, payments, and marketing in one place.
- 3. Square Appointments: best for solo pros who want a true $0 plan.
- 4. Booksy: best for salons that want client discovery and can pay from day one.
- 5. Setmore: best for small teams that need a free shared calendar.
- 6. Appointy: best for solo starters who book under 100 appointments a month.
The tools in detail
1. Fresha: the widest reach, with a marketplace fee attached
Fresha gives a salon the biggest built-in audience of any tool here. Clients already search its marketplace for hair, nails, barbering, and spa services, so a new listing can bring bookings without ads.
The platform covers online booking, team calendars, client records, payments, inventory, and marketing campaigns. Clients book through the Fresha marketplace, your own website, Instagram, or Facebook.
Fresha’s published US pricing lists an Independent plan at $19.95 a month for one bookable team member and a Team plan at $14.95 a month per bookable member. Teams get a 7-day trial with no card required.
The free era is over. Fresha no longer offers a free-forever plan, and its own pricing page confirms a one-time fee for each brand-new client who finds you through the marketplace.
That fee runs 20% of the first appointment, with a $6 minimum in the US.
Returning clients cost nothing extra, and bookings from your own website or social pages carry no marketplace fee. Card processing still applies: 2.79% plus 20 cents online and 2.29% plus 20 cents in person on published US rates.
Loyalty tools, extra messages, and premium support cost extra. If most of your new clients come from the marketplace, budget the fee as a customer acquisition cost, not as a surprise.
For a wider comparison of this platform, see our Fresha alternatives guide.
2. PandaCue: the all-in-one pick, with pricing still to confirm
PandaCue puts booking, payments, client records, automations, marketing, websites, and forms in one platform built for salons, spas, and beauty studios. One login covers the front desk and the follow-up.
Staff scheduling and online booking sit at the core, with a shared calendar, client management, and automated flows that send reminders and follow-ups without manual work. Payments, gift cards, memberships, and a unified inbox round out the toolkit.
PandaCue’s pricing page currently marks plan details as coming soon and offers a free trial from the same page. We could not verify a plan price or a free-forever tier from that page on 3 November 2026, so we will not quote one here.
That gap is the honest limit. You can test the platform on trial, but you cannot yet judge the long-term monthly cost from the public pricing page. Ask for the plan price before the trial ends, and confirm what the trial includes.
PandaCue publishes no per-booking commission schedule on its pricing page. For a salon that hates marketplace fees, that is a real difference from Fresha and Booksy, but it is not a promise about future pricing.
3. Square Appointments: the cleanest true free plan for solo pros
Square Appointments has the only genuinely free plan in this list that a working solo pro can run on. The Free plan costs $0 a month for a single location and includes unlimited staff calendars.
The free toolkit covers an online booking site, booking links for Instagram and Facebook, appointment reminders, invoicing, and a point of sale. Clients book around the clock, and you take card payments through Square.
Paid plans start at $49 a month per location for Plus and $149 a month per location for Premium on Square’s US pricing page. Card processing on Free runs 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online.
Free leaves out the features that protect a busy book. Multi-staff booking, waitlists, cancellation policies, and no-show fees all need Plus or Premium. A second location doubles the subscription, since pricing runs per location, not per person.
Run your salon on one platform
PandaCue brings booking, payments, clients, and marketing together in one place.
Square suits a solo stylist or a single-chair shop that takes its own bookings and wants no monthly bill. A growing team will outgrow Free fast and should price Plus from the start.
For a wider shortlist, see our best salon booking software guide and our Square Appointments alternatives guide.
4. Booksy: the discovery pick that starts paid
Booksy pairs a full booking toolkit with one of the largest beauty marketplaces around. Clients search the Booksy app for stylists and salons nearby, which makes it a discovery tool first and a calendar second.
The toolkit covers 24/7 online booking, no-show protection with card-on-file deposits, point of sale, client records, and marketing messages. Each subscription includes 2,000 marketing texts a month.
Booksy has no free plan. The subscription starts at $29.99 a month for the first user, plus $20 a month for each extra team member, with a 14-day trial and no card required. In-person card processing runs 2.49% plus 10 cents.
The bill grows with every chair. A five-person salon pays $109.99 a month before processing or extras. The optional Boost program adds 30% of a brand-new client’s first visit, with a $10 minimum and a $100 cap, when you switch it on.
Turn Boost off and marketplace acquisition costs nothing, but you also give up the extra placement. Booksy fits salons that already want to pay for discovery and can fill chairs from the marketplace.
For a wider comparison of this platform, see our Booksy alternatives guide.
5. Setmore: the generous free plan for small teams
Setmore’s free plan is the most generous team option here. It costs $0, covers up to four users, and includes unlimited appointments, a branded booking page, and email reminders.
Clients book through your booking page, website widget, or social buttons, and you can take payments through Square, Stripe, or PayPal. The free plan also includes a branded mobile app and integrations with common business apps.
Pro costs $12 a month per user on monthly billing or $5 a month per user on annual billing. Pro adds SMS reminders, two-way calendar sync, recurring appointments, and removal of Setmore branding.
Free sends email reminders only, one per appointment, with no SMS reminders and no two-way sync. That means a booking made in Google Calendar will not block time in Setmore unless you pay for Pro.
Setmore has no salon marketplace, no point of sale, and no inventory tools. It is a scheduling tool, not a full salon platform, so a salon that needs payments and marketing in one place will pair it with other software.
Our how salon booking software works guide explains the calendar sync problem in plain terms.
6. Appointy: the tight free plan for solo starters
Appointy suits a solo operator who is just starting out and books a modest diary. The free plan costs $0 and covers one staff member, five services, and 100 appointments a month.
The free toolkit includes website integration, Square payments and point of sale, Zapier connections, automatic reminders, and a mobile app. Clients can self-schedule around the clock from your booking page.
Growth costs $19.99 a month on annual billing or $29.99 monthly, with unlimited services, Google calendar sync, and Stripe and PayPal payments. Professional adds five staff seats at $49.99 annual or $59.99 monthly.
The caps bite early. A sixth service, a second staff member, or appointment 101 in a month all need a paid plan. Free also leaves out two-way Google sync, prepayments through Stripe or PayPal, and removal of Appointy branding.
Paid plans come with a 14-day trial, and an account that does not upgrade drops back to the free plan. Appointy works as a low-risk first step, not as a long-term home for a growing team.
All 6 tools side by side
Read the pricing hint column as a starting point, not a quote. Confirm the plan page for your country before you commit.
| Tool | Best for | Key strength | Pricing hint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fresha | Salons that want marketplace reach | Largest beauty marketplace | From $19.95 a month; 20% one-time fee on new marketplace clients |
| 2. PandaCue | Salons that want one all-in-one platform | Booking, payments, marketing, and forms in one place | Free trial; plan prices marked coming soon |
| 3. Square Appointments | Solo pros who want a true $0 plan | Free plan with unlimited staff calendars | $0 for one location; Plus from $49 a month |
| 4. Booksy | Salons that want discovery and can pay | Huge client marketplace with Boost | From $29.99 a month; no free plan |
| 5. Setmore | Small teams that need a free shared calendar | Free plan for up to 4 users | $0; Pro from $5 a user a month billed annually |
| 6. Appointy | Solo starters under 100 bookings a month | Simple free start with Square payments | $0; Growth from $19.99 a month billed annually |
Questions salon owners ask before choosing
Free plans suit solo books and small teams
A free plan works when your diary, staff count, and feature needs fit inside its caps. Once you pass the cap, the paid step usually costs more than starting on a paid plan would have.
Count your real bookings per month before you pick. A 100-appointment cap sounds large until a busy month crosses it in week three.
Marketplace fees change the real monthly cost
A $0 subscription with a 20% or 30% new-client fee can cost more than a flat monthly plan once the marketplace starts sending clients. Count the fee on the clients the marketplace actually sends you.
Ask how the marketplace decides a client is new. The rule decides whether a returning client who found you once keeps costing you money.
Trials end, so check the price before day one
A trial shows you the product, not the bill. Write down the plan price, the per-user or per-location rule, and the renewal date before the trial runs out.
If the pricing page does not list a plan price, treat that as a finding, not a detail. Ask for the price in writing before you move client records across.
Switching costs more than the subscription
Moving client records, service menus, and booking links takes time. Pick the tool you can still afford at twice your current size, not just the one that is free today.
Medspas need consent forms and charting, so read our best medspa software guide before you choose. Nail salons need chair scheduling, covered in our best nail salon software guide.
Our pick by salon type
Solo stylists should start with Square Appointments for a true $0 plan, or Setmore if a small team shares one calendar. Salons that want new clients from a marketplace should weigh Fresha’s reach against its 20% new-client fee.
Salons that want booking, payments, and marketing in one place should trial PandaCue and confirm the plan price before committing. Appointy fits a solo starter with a small diary, and Booksy fits a salon ready to pay for discovery.
Last verified: 3 November 2026. Prices and plan limits change, so re-check each vendor’s pricing page before you sign up.
Run your salon on one platform
PandaCue brings booking, payments, clients, and marketing together in one place.