From managing customer information, automating appointment reminders, and storing important reports, salons can greatly benefit from implementing CRM software into their business. From general CRM providers with in-market adaptations to software built especially for salons, this guide will help you figure out the best solution for your business.
In addition to the top CRM features you’d expect from any general provider, salon management software should offer holistic customer profiles, allow for appointment booking, help build marketing campaigns, and manage payments.
As an operational software, these solutions assist in managing services from end-to-end so stylists, administrators, and owners can focus on providing exceptional service to their clients.
| Star rating | Starting price* | Customer profiles | Appointment scheduling | Marketing features | Invoice/ Payment processing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| monday CRM | 3.5/5 | $12 per user, per month | Yes | Limited | Limited | Yes |
| Bitrix24 | 4/5 | Free starting price | Yes | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| HubSpot | 4/5 | Free starting price | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pipedrive | 4.3/5 | $14 per user, per month | Yes | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Vagaro | 3.9/5 | $30 for 1 bookable calendar, per month | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| *Price when billed annually. | ||||||
monday CRM users can automate repetitive tasks by creating customizable rules and triggers. Through these no-code automations, your notifications, meeting reminders, and task assignments can happen automatically in the background. This leaves you with more time to focus on providing great service to clients. Features like these can be helpful for salons that want to send automated appointment reminders or marketing campaigns to clients, or even process documents.
monday CRM is best known for its customization capabilities as a sales platform. Users can customize their dashboards, interfaces, and automations all with no coding experience and an intuitive drag-and-drop kanban view. It’s a great solution for salons looking to automate repetitive tasks and have a centralized place for all customer data.
If you’re interested in a similar tool with more free features and integrations, I recommend considering HubSpot.
For more information, read the full monday CRM review.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 14-day free trial. | Free plan is only available after approvals. |
| Supports unlimited contacts. | No customer relationship features available in the basic plan. |
| Offers up to 1 TB of file storage. | Users mention occasional update delays. |
Bitrix24 promotes productive collaboration and communication through built-in features for chat, online meetings, task management, calendar integration, workflow automation, and document collaboration. Owners, administrators, stylists, or any other person with access can schedule events and organize meetings from a synced calendar. You can also create and co-edit documents online, all while chat history is stored for reference.
Bitrix24 markets itself as an all-in-one solution for task management, e-commerce, HR, automations, and CRM functionality. It offers a free version of the software with limited access to standard CRM features. Bitrix24 also has an on-premise edition with enterprise-grade security that’s designed to be hosted on your own server with full access to the source code and API.
Bitrix24 offers a different pricing structure than most general CRM providers by not having the tiers priced per user but rather per organization. This might be intriguing for small salons looking for a basic provider. But if you want a solution specifically built for salons and have a budget big enough, consider Vagaro.
Read the Bitrix24 review for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 15-day free trial. | Users report loss of updates when bugs happen. |
| Offers REST API for integrations. | Premium plans are pricey for smaller businesses. |
| Users praise the intuitive interface once up and running. | Users report poor customer support. |
While other CRM providers on this list might offer a basic free version, HubSpot’s free CRM contains a robust mix of sales and marketing tools. Popular free features that would benefit a salon include the meeting scheduler, email template builder, and the dashboard and reporting software. All of these powerful tools can help salon employees market their services and manage appointments and customers.
HubSpot is a popular CRM platform that offers a mix of free and paid features for marketing and sales teams. With advanced technology, like AI tools for generating content and competitive integration capabilities, HubSpot is a go-to solution for companies across different industries.
HubSpot is an extremely scalable tool, but the premium plans can be pricey for smaller salons. For a more affordable general CRM tool with similar management tools, I suggest checking out Pipedrive.
For more details, head over to the full HubSpot review.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 14-day free trial. | Users report occasional limitations around user permissions. |
| Has over 1,500 possible integrations. | Higher premium plans can be costly. |
| Offers a suite of marketing, sales, and service software. | Users report a slight learning curve with the platform. |
Pipedrive is a CRM solution where users can easily manage and view entire sales pipelines, including goal setting and activity tracking to help create reports. The pipelines can be altered to fit the exact process of a salon with its custom fields, drag-and-drop interface, and intuitive design. In addition to clean data imports, salons can stay organized and build out more effective sales processes.
Pipedrive is a user-friendly CRM solution known for its visual pipelines that help simplify any sales processes, regardless of the type or size of business. Pipedrive is a great option for those in need of a more sales-focused software without any additional marketing tools. Pipedrive can also be adapted for unique or niche industries like healthcare, nonprofit, or automotive sales.
Pipedrive doesn’t offer a native paymenting and invoicing tool, but instead it integrates with Quickbooks to create, view, and send invoices. If you prefer a tool built specifically for payment management, I recommend Vagaro.
For more information, read the full Pipedrive review.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 14-day free trial. | More sales focused than marketing. |
| Supports international clients. | Doesn’t offer a free-for-life tier. |
| 24/7 customer support. | Limited reporting capabilities compared to others on this list. |
Vagaro uniquely offers reliable point-of-sale hardware that manages transactions and records operations. The entire suite of tools includes receipt printers, card processor, a scanner, a dual-screen pay desk, cash drawer, and swivel stand. This way, clients can schedule appointments, make secure payments, and leave feedback quickly.
Vagaro can handle service transactions from online booking to secure payment processing. It offers an array of features built for curating client experience, back office management, payment processing, and marketing and branding. Some standouts include Vagaro AI, integrations, mobile app, rent collection, and inventory tracking.
Vagaro is a booking software made exclusively for beauty, wellness, fitness, and grooming businesses. Since the pricing breakdown is by bookable calendar, it is the most expensive option on my list. If you’re hoping to try a more affordable option and are okay with a generalized CRM software, I recommend HubSpot or Bitrix24.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 30-day free trial. | Pricey compared to others on this guide. |
| Real users praise the easy to learn interface. | Not as feature-rich as other solutions. |
| EMR and HIPAA compliant | Users report occasional glitches. |
I recommend following general best practices to learn how to adapt a salon CRM software to your needs in order to find the best options. Start with the providers on my list above and consider signing up for free trials or product demos to map out their onboarding process.
Here are some questions I suggest asking before choosing salon software:
Each of the CRM providers on this list was scored using my in-house rubric with criteria and subcriteria that cover CRM software features and business benefits. Next, an algorithm calculated an overall star rating out of 5. Beyond summarizing key features and pricing plans, I also assigned each software an ideal use case.
Each solution above was scored with the following criteria breakdown:
