Salon Software Reviews | Spa Software Reviews

Salon Software Reviews has been created as a service to the salon owner so they can make a more informed decision on the variety of salon management software options they have for the successful management of their salon business.

2012 Salon Software Review Product Comparisons

Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor Bad	Emisoft	Rosy	MindBody	SalonBooker	Insight	Envision	Salon Iris	Advantage	Unique
Read Reviews Product Reviews
Watch Videos Product Videos
Price	$99/mo No Setup Fee	$99/mo + $300 Setup Fee	$155/mo + $850 Setup Fee	$250/mo + $450 Setup Fee	$2,995 No Setup Fee	$1,895 No Setup Fee	$1,899 + $25 Setup Fee	$895 No Setup Fee	$695 No Setup Fee
Overall Rating Overall Rating
Ease of Use Easy to use and navigate for a non-technical user; easy data entry and intuitive.
Features Features
Installation & Setup The ease of installing for quick setup to get system up and running.
Pricing An overall cost and value for the feature set.
Help & Support Availability and quality of instructional aids, technical support, and customer service.
Features
Web Based Whether the software platform is based on this next generation “cloud computing-web” technology.
Unlimited Employee Licensing Whether usage is unlimited within the salon or salon network or if additional fees are imposed for additional users.
Unlimited Stores Licensing Whether usage is unlimited within a salon or salon network or if additional fees are imposed for usage by more than one store.
Appointment Book Organization, integration with other sections, and ease of use for scheduling, canceling, services & resource utilization; safeguards for eliminating double-booking and no shows.
Online Booking Does the software integrate with a salon’s Website for easy online booking with confirmation and reminders?
Point of Sale (POS) Rated for ease of use and for easy processing of all kinds of transactions; integrates with other sections for tax calculation, reporting, inventory tracking, service activity, etc.
Service Management Is there an integrated system coupled with an ease of use for scheduling, allocating, and tracking salon services—and how well?
Product Management A category for assessing how integrated a system is for entering products into inventory, tracking, and with automatic notification for reorder or low quantity.
Credit Card Integration The software integrates credit card transactions, interfaces easily with banks, and synchronizes with other sections in the programming.
Gift Cards With the software merchant can easily generate and distribute gift cards at any time and is automatically prompted with client birthdays and special occasions.
Payroll Easily sets and records salaried and hourly rates, commissions, tips, federal and state taxes, W-2s, 1099s, Medicare, social security, print checks... etc.
Accounting Rated for ease of use, integration, completeness, and conformance to accepted and standard accounting practices and reporting, employee deductions, etc.
Tips Provides for an accurate reporting of employee tips for payroll generation and tax reporting.
Commissions Programming easily sets individual commission rates on services and products and integrates with other sections for payroll generation and tax reporting.
Reports Software is rated for number and quality of reports in such as client and employee reports, POS and inventory reports, product and service utilization, accounts payable, etc.
Analysis This is a rating for ease of understanding data and graphic charting, trend analysis and comparisons.
Client Database A rating based on how well a database provides useful information on clients, contact info, characteristics, preferences, birthdays, referral source, visit frequency, etc.
Employee Database A rating based on how well a database provides useful information on employees, contact info, easy setting of work schedules, etc.
Direct Marketing Must have 3 elements, including email marketing, text messaging, direct mail label-printing capability.
Automatic Email Notification How well a system performs for automatically emailing appointment confirmations, reminders, birthday greetings and special offers.
Text Messaging Reminders A capability rating in the emerging area of social media—text messaging to be in touch with clients and employees for appointment reminders, specials, etc.
Birthday Reminders Does the program automatically generate birthday reminders for personalized greetings for email or text messaging?
Security & Data Protection Easily sets limits on employee program access; https utilization ,secure protocols; web based servers vs data on computer hard drives subject to crash, loss, and hacking.
Fingerprint Time Clock Does the system provide this accurate and secure self check-in, check-out system?
Surveillance Is there an option for motion detection, audio and video viewing of the premises?
Remote Access Does the software provide for online remote access from any computer in any part of the world?
Scheduling Website Synchronization Is there synchronization for distributing appointment info within the program and automatically sending out confirmations and reminders?
Free Customer Support Whether customer support is charged at any time.
Video Help Is easy to understand video help integrated in the software?
Social Networking Software must be integrated and compatible with three major social networks - Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Email Accounts Is the software integrated and compatible with major providers such as gmail, yahoo, hotmail, aol, etc.

They say, “It’s a jungle out there.” And it’s a jungle of salon software management programs out there to help you—the salon, barber shop, and spa owner—manage your business more easily and successfully.
There’s also a saying: “Survival of the fittest.” Obviously you want to be one of the fittest for many years to come. How do you do that? Well, what really helps is making decisions when you have the facts presented before you.
Presented here is a review of salon software with facts. These facts are about various salon software features, pricing, help and support, and other useful information. Of all the options available to you, Salon Software Reviews has compiled this 2010 Salon Software Review Product Comparisons page which should help you cut through the thicket of software programs out there so that you can find the salon software program that is right for you and the success of your business. Nine popularly available salon software programs were included in this comparison review.
The various salon software programs have been reviewed and ranked on a scale of bad to excellent. Reviews, evaluations, and reporting are in such categories as price, overall ranking, ease of use, features, installation and setup, and help and support that is available.
Salon software packages have been reviewed for such features as: Web Based, Unlimited Employee Licensing, Appointment Book, Online Booking, Point of Sale (POS), Service Management, Product Management, Credit Card Integration, Gift Cards, Payroll, Accounting, Tips, Commissions, Reports, Analysis, Client Database, Employee Database, Marketing, Automatic Email Notification, Text Messaging Reminders, Birthday Reminders, Security & Data Protection, Fingerprint Time Clock, Surveillance, Remote Access, Scheduling Website Synchronization, U.S. Based Customer Support, and Video Help.
A check mark under a salon software program’s name means the feature is present; an “x” means it is not. A salon, barber shop, or spa owner can also click on the “Reviews” button to read and learn more. When you right click on a particular category in the Features section of this review, a call-out caption will appear. For instance, in Pricing, the criteria was: “An overall cost and value for the feature set,” where a feature set is all the features you get in a particular software management program.
“Ease of use,” a very important category was evaluated as follows: “Easy to use and navigate for a non-technical user; easy data entry; intuitive, integrated and synchronized for little or no rekeying of information.” Each category under the Features section has similar judging information available to you with a simple click. The call-out caption will contain information about how the feature was evaluated and judged. This review of salon software was compiled and completed in October 2010 and is based on best available information for that particular time. The table and its information should serve you as a guide and handy reference that should point you in the right direction for getting a salon software management system that not only is right for your salon, barber shop, or spa business, but one that also is cost effective with an ease of use, and the wisest and best use of your dollars and the growth of your business.