Booking software for hair stylists, booth renters and suite owners

Once you rent a booth or a salon suite, the front desk stops being yours. Nobody answers your phone, confirms tomorrow's balayage or calls the client who didn't show for a four-hour color. For an independent stylist the admin work sits in those long services: knowing how long they really take, holding them with a deposit, and getting the client back in the chair six to eight weeks later.

From color consultation to the next root touch-up

1. Create one meeting type per service on your booking page with its real length: "Cut and style" at 60 minutes, "Root touch-up" at 90, "Balayage" at 4 hours (a booking can run up to 8). Add a 15-minute buffer after color to clean the bowl and mix for the next client.
2. Make "Color consultation" a free 20-minute meeting type for new color clients. If your color line calls for a skin test 48 hours ahead, book the consultation at least two days before the color appointment.
3. At the consultation, quote the price and send a single-use booking link for the long service. Leave that meeting type turned off and it won't show on your page; only the people you send a link to can book it.
4. On services over two hours, turn on charge to book with a fixed deposit, for example $75 on a $300 balayage, refunded if the client cancels 48 hours or more ahead. A later cancellation keeps the deposit in your Stripe account without you asking for it.
5. Use the booking questions (up to 10) to plan time and product: hair length, last color and when, any box dye or lightener in the past year. Inspiration photos come by text or Instagram DM, because booking questions don't take files.
6. On the day, the balance and the tip go through your own card reader or cash. If you'd rather send a link, an invoice for the balance gets paid by card through your Stripe account, with your Zelle or Venmo details listed as text.
7. About an hour after the appointment, the follow-up email for that meeting type thanks the client, reminds her about sulfate-free shampoo and links to book the root touch-up.

A typical week in a salon suite

• Tuesday: you open with seven appointments. Two came in Sunday night from your Instagram bio link, and one already paid the $75 deposit on a balayage.
• Wednesday: a client moves her keratin treatment to Saturday from the link in her confirmation email. The three-hour gap is booked again by evening.
• Thursday: a no-show on a root touch-up. You mark it, and an automation emails her a link to pick a new time.
• Friday: suite rent is due Monday. You log it in Expenses with the receipt, along with this week's color tubes, developer and foils.
• Saturday: four cuts and a bridal trial that was paid in full when it was booked.

All 13 tools, one by one

For a stylist, Scheduling does most of the work. The other tools come in for the work outside the chair, like bridal hair, education days or an agreement with an assistant. Here's each one:

• Link in Bio: your Instagram and TikTok bios open one page with your service menu, your booking page, your suite's address and an email signup for new openings and holiday hours.
• Short Links: a QR code on the mirror card at your station and on the appointment card, pointing at your booking page; if you move suites, change where it goes without reprinting.
• Forms: a "Color quote" form with conditional questions: pick "lightening" and it asks about previous color and box dye, then sends the client on to book the consultation.
• Scheduling: one meeting type per service with its real length, a cleanup buffer, a fixed deposit on color, reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before, and the follow-up email with the rebooking link.
• Proposals: for bridal parties: the bride, the trial and each bridesmaid as line items with quantities, plus travel, with a deposit percentage. Everyday cuts don't need one.
• E-Signatures: the agreement when you sublet part of your suite to another stylist or bring on an assistant, or a contract for a large wedding. Clients in your chair rarely sign anything.
• Document Tracking: your price list or the aftercare sheet after a lightening service, shared as a tracked PDF, so you see whether the client opened it before her next visit.
• Screen Recording: it records a computer screen, so it barely touches salon work. Use it if you teach a color class online and want to walk students through a formula chart.
• Notes & Boards: a board for the season's bridal clients by stage, and a note with your base formulas. Each client's own formula fits in the notes on her contact.
• Time Tracking: helps little with fixed-price services. Use it for an education day you bill by the hour or for styling on a photo shoot.
• Invoicing: the balance for a bridal party, an education class or a house call, with a card pay link, your Zelle or Venmo details and email reminders when it's late.
• Expenses: color, developer, foils, shear sharpening and your booth or suite rent, each with a receipt photo. The report counts only paid invoices as income, so money taken at the chair shows up only if you invoice it and mark it paid.
• Automations: a client marked as a no-show gets an email with a link to rebook, and a client whose invoice is paid gets a review request a week later.

Booth rent, suites, tips and taxes

• Booth renters and suite owners usually run their own business. IRS Publication 4902 lists the signs: your own key, your own hours, your own products, your own prices and your own phone number. You report income, tips included, on Schedule C, pay self-employment tax on Schedule SE and may need quarterly estimated payments; the estimated taxes guide has the dates.
• Your license comes from your state's cosmetology board. Before you sign a booth or suite lease, ask the board whether the space needs its own license or permit.
• Tips: the IRS list of occupations for the "no tax on tips" deduction includes barbers, hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists. For 2025 through 2028, voluntary tips paid in cash or by card can be deducted up to $25,000. If you're self-employed, the deduction can't exceed the net income of the business, it phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 on a joint return), and it only covers federal income tax: self-employment tax still applies. Ask your tax preparer whether you qualify and how to claim it.
• Form 1099-K: payment apps and online marketplaces send one when you pass $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year, but card payments are reported whatever the total. All income is taxable, cash included, whether or not a form arrives.
• Sales tax on the shampoo and styling products you sell depends on your state, and some states tax services too. SoloWOS doesn't calculate or collect it.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS, GlossGenius or Vagaro: which fits

GlossGenius and Vagaro are salon apps built around the appointment book. SoloWOS has no point of sale or card reader: it covers booking and deposits, plus the paperwork for work outside the chair, and card payments land in your own Stripe account.

Choose GlossGenius or Vagaro if:

• You want booking and in-person card payments in one app at your station.
• You want a waitlist that offers canceled slots to other clients. SoloWOS doesn't have one.
• You need text message reminders. SoloWOS sends email only; check their sites for SMS.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• Bridal parties, education days or house calls are a real part of your income and need proposals, contracts and invoices.
• You want card payments in your own Stripe account, with no processor tied to the booking software.
• You want one published price with every tool included: $15/month, or $35/month if you share a suite with up to 2 other stylists.

Prices and features checked between October 17 and 23, 2026 on each company's site.

Start with these three

Scheduling with one meeting type per service and a deposit on color, Link in Bio so Instagram sends people straight to it, and Automations to rebook no-shows. Proposals can wait for wedding season.

Free tools that help

• Break-even calculator to see how many services a month cover your booth or suite rent.
• Profit margin calculator to check what a balayage leaves after color, toner and foils.
• Payment fee calculator to see what a $75 card deposit nets after Stripe's fee.
• Self-employment tax calculator for the quarterly payments a booth renter makes.
• QR code generator for the mirror card at your station.

What SoloWOS won't do for a hair stylist

• No point of sale, card reader or retail inventory.
• No tips: neither the booking checkout nor invoices ask for one, so tips stay on your card reader or in cash.
• No commission splits or payroll for assistants.
• Reminders go by email only, not SMS, so clients need to give an email to book.
• No waitlist and no packages that count down, like five prepaid blowouts.
• No days-off feature of its own: take the day out of your hours or add an event to the Google or Outlook calendar you connected.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.