Salon booking systems in the UK: how online booking should work and what it costs
A salon booking system is the page your clients use to book you at 11pm, and everything that happens behind it: confirmations, reminders, deposits, the waitlist, the forms, and the diary the bookings land in. This guide explains what a good one does, the difference between a page you own and a listing on someone else's marketplace, what UK salons pay, and how to be taking bookings by tonight.
At a glance
- Own page or listing: a booking page at your own link, with your branding, or a profile on a marketplace next to nearby salons. The first builds a following that is yours.
- What it should do: confirmations and reminders by text, deposits with a cancellation policy, a waitlist when you are full, forms sent with the booking, and clients moving their own appointments within your rules.
- What it costs: per staff member, commission on bookings, or flat. Revyfy is £39.99 a month flat, unlimited staff, zero commission.
- Set-up: services, prices, durations and staff take about ten minutes. Share the link and you are live.
Who is Revyfy?
Revyfy is UK salon software: online booking on your own branded page, the diary, POS, client records, reminders, email and SMS marketing and consent forms, plus the Revy AI assistant. One flat price of £39.99 a month, unlimited staff, zero commission on any booking. Our team moves your data over from your old system during the 14-day free trial, no card needed.
Your own booking page, or a marketplace listing?
A page you own builds a following that is yours, while a marketplace listing builds the marketplace's. This is the first decision and it shapes everything after it. A marketplace puts your salon in a directory that people search. It can send you new clients, but those people see your competitors on the same screen, the marketplace owns the relationship, and a fee usually follows each new client it sends.
A booking page you own sits at your own link, with your logo and your photos, and nothing else on it. You share it from your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile, your website and word of mouth. Every client who books there is yours, the data is yours, and there is no fee per booking. It grows more slowly at first and it is worth far more after a year.
Many salons run both for a while. Whichever you choose, make sure the system you pick gives you a page you own, because that is the one you cannot get back once a marketplace has your clients.
What a good booking system does
A good salon booking system recognises returning clients, lets them choose, confirms and reminds, takes deposits, runs a waitlist and sends forms.
Recognises returning clients. A regular should not fill in a form every time. The page should know them from the link and let them book in a few taps. New clients register once and verify their contact details themselves.
Lets them choose. A named stylist, or the earliest free slot with anyone. Services with their real durations, and a bundle when two services belong together.
Confirms and reminds. A text confirmation the moment they book, and a reminder before the appointment, timed how you want. Reminders are the single biggest no-show reducer there is.
Takes deposits and shows the policy. A deposit by card at booking, with your cancellation policy shown before the client confirms. Late cancellations drop and the ones that happen are paid for.
Runs a waitlist. When you are full, clients join the waitlist online. When someone cancels, the gap shows you who wanted it.
Sends forms. If a service needs a consultation, consent or patch-test form, it goes out with the booking, is signed on the phone and lands on the client's record.
Lets clients help themselves. Move or cancel their own booking from a link, inside the notice period you set, so your phone is not the only way to change an appointment.
Needs no app. The page opens in any phone browser. An app to install is a reason not to book.
How clients actually book
Almost nobody types a salon's web address. They tap the link in your Instagram bio, the "Book" button on your Google Business Profile, or a link you sent them by text. Put your booking link in all three and most of your online bookings will come from them. Google shows the bookable link on your profile in Maps, which is where a new client looking for "hairdresser near me" finds you.
Existing clients book most often after a reminder or a message. A "your next colour is due" text with your link in it fills more slots than any advert.
What a salon booking system costs in the UK
A salon booking system in the UK is priced in one of three shapes: per staff member, commission, or flat. The headline number matters less than which shape you are in.
- Per staff member. A monthly charge per person who can be booked. The bill grows every time you hire.
- Commission. Free or cheap to start, with a percentage taken from bookings, usually on each new client the platform sends. The bill grows every time you are busy.
- Flat. One price for the salon, whatever the team size, with nothing taken from a booking.
Price each shape for a busy month with your real team size. A five-person salon on a per-person plan at £10 a head pays £50 before any fees. The same salon on a commission model with eight new clients a month at £45 and a 20% fee pays £72 in fees alone. On Revyfy it pays £39.99 flat, with every staff member included and nothing taken from any booking. For the full picture see our guide to what salon software costs in the UK.
Live by tonight: setting it up
- Add your services. Names, prices and durations. If a stylist charges a different price for the same service, set it against their role. About ten minutes.
- Add your team. Each person gets their own column and their own online availability. Decide who can be booked for what.
- Set your rules. Deposits on the services that need them, the cancellation policy, the notice period for self-service changes, and when reminders go out.
- Share the link. Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, website. Text it to your regulars.
If you are moving from another system, the Revyfy team moves your staff, clients, notes, services, future appointments, gift cards and stock across during the trial, so the diary is full on day one rather than empty.
The flat-price option: Revyfy
Revyfy gives you a booking page at your own link, with your branding, for £39.99 a month for the whole salon. Clients choose a stylist or the earliest slot, pay a deposit if you ask for one, get a text confirmation and a reminder, join the waitlist when you are full, receive any form the service needs, and move their own appointment inside your rules. Bookings land in the same diary the till and the client records use, so nothing is typed twice. Unlimited staff, zero commission, no app for anyone to install.
Frequently asked questions
One that gives you a booking page you own, at your own link, with deposits, reminders, a waitlist and forms built in, at a price that does not grow with your team or take a cut of your bookings. Revyfy does that for £39.99 a month flat.
Systems marketed as free are usually paid for through commission on your bookings or fees on new clients. Once you count those, they are rarely the cheapest option for a busy salon. Revyfy is £39.99 a month with a 14-day free trial, no card and no commission, so the price you see is the whole price.
No. Your booking page opens in any phone browser from your link. Clients book in under a minute, and returning clients are recognised without signing in.
Yes. Set a deposit on any service and the client pays it by card before the booking is confirmed. Your cancellation policy is shown before they confirm, and the deposit comes off the bill at the till.
Yes, from the link in their confirmation, inside the notice period you set. Outside it, they have to contact you, and your policy applies.
The same day. Services, prices, durations and staff take about ten minutes to enter. Share the link and you are live. Moving from another system takes longer only because the Revyfy team moves your data across for you during the trial.
No card. No commission. Cancel anytime.
See everything Revyfy does on the homepage