Looking for better, cheaper alternatives to Zenoti Salon and Spa software in 2024?
Then you’re in the right place. Let’s talk about it.
Zenoti, originally founded in 2010 as ManageMySpa, is one of the most popular salon and spa software systems in the world. With over 25,000 business customers and “unicorn” status as a billion-dollar organization, Zenoti is hard to ignore.
But there are a handful of reasons I might not recommend Zenoti for your business in particular.
Zenoti falls into the category of what I would charitably classify as “legacy software” alongside established brands like Booker and Mindbody. These software suites were designed in the late 90s and 2000s and still look and feel a bit like they are rooted in that era today.
I had a lot to say about Zenoti in our full review, so if you want the nitty-gritty details of my experience testing it out for a month, definitely go check that article out.
But for the sake of today’s look at the best alternatives to Zenoti, I’ll touch briefly on the areas where Zenoti misses the mark and show you how and where their competitors do better.
There are good reasons why you may want to consider the handful of alternatives I’ll share with you today. I’ll break down some of those reasons along with an overview of each alternative below.
Let’s dive in!
Why Consider a Zenoti Alternative?
Some of the reasons you may want to choose an alternative to Zenoti are:
- Pricing is not transparent: Zenoti doesn’t display pricing on its website. To obtain pricing information, you must schedule a demo call and sit through an hour-long demo and presentation. Toward the end of this presentation, you’ll be provided with a “custom pricing” slide, offering various options loosely tailored to your business requirements.
- The clunky, confusing, & outdated interface: This is a recurring theme with the legacy software options we’ve reviewed, but it’s just as relevant here. While newer competitors in the salon and spa software space have innovated greatly on their app design, Zenoti feels ancient in real-world use. Menu systems are unintuitive and complicated, and training your staff on Zenoti will undoubtedly take longer than any other major platform.
- Poor mobile app ratings: Again, this is a common issue with older salon and spa software apps. Reviews across both iOS and Android state that the app is glitchy, permissions make navigating the app a mess, and managing large teams is a frustrating experience. Likewise, many reviewers report that appointment notifications fail to send when they book clients through the mobile app and that the app lacks some basic screen reader functionality for those with visual impairment.
As with any system, there are pros and cons of Zenoti. Let’s dive into my top recommended alternatives.
Zenoti Alternatives
We’ll start with a quick summary my recommended Zenoti alternatives. Following this, I’ll dive into each one in a bit more depth.
Mangomint
Read my detailed Zenoti vs. Mangomint comparison
Who is it for
The highest-rated software for salons & spas. Designed for businesses with a team who want the best design experience, smart automations, and the flexibility to integrate with other systems.
Note
Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.
$245 per month
Supported countries
U.S. and Canada
Note
The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.
GlossGenius
Read my detailed Zenoti vs. GlossGenius comparison
Who is it for
For independent professionals who want to start accepting payments and get appointment scheduling, a website and marketing up fast without compromising on the experience of their brand
Note
Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.
$48 per month
Supported countries
U.S.
Note
The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.
Square Appointments
Read my detailed Square vs. Zenoti comparison
Who is it for
For solopreneurs or small teams in any type of local service business (salon, spa, fitness, repair, cleaning, and professional services) who want access to Square’s broad range of products.
Note
Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.
$45 per month
Supported countries
U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK.
Note
The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.
Vagaro
Read my detailed Vagaro vs. Zenoti comparison
Who is it for
For cost conscious solopreneurs or smaller teams who are looking for an all-in-one software, with a lot of features, to support their salon, spa, or fitness business.
Note
Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.
$120 per month
Supported countries
U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK
Note
The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.
Boulevard
Read my detailed Zenoti vs. Boulevard comparison
Who is it for
Established beauty and wellness businesses with several service providers who want flexible reporting options and need an all-in-one marketing suite baked right into the software
Note
Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.
$425 per month
Supported countries
U.S.
Note
The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.
Alternative #1: Mangomint | The Highest Rated Sofware for Salons and Spas
Mangomint offers a much more modern and intuitive approach to salon and spa software than Zenoti.
Mangomint is purpose-built for salons and spas and offers clever innovations on classic features to make your day-to-day more efficient. Better yet, its app is considerably easier to use and train your team on than Zenoti’s while still offering a deep level of customization.
Mangomint is the fastest and most well-designed platform currently available on the market. With their newly expanded feature set, they’ve brought email marketing tools, making them a feature-for-feature competitor with Zenoti at a much more attractive price point.
Zenoti, like most salon and spa software suites, only offers the ability to export payroll reports into separate third-party payroll processing software. Mangomint has a major leg-up over Zenoti when it comes to payroll, offering fully integrated payroll processing for multiple compensation types and unlimited payroll runs.
Mangomint At a Glance
Overall score
Mangomint is the most modern and well-designed salon and spa software platform in the United States & Canada.
It’s the platform with the most buzz around right now that beats all competitors on user review websites.
Every little detail of this software has been designed to perfection – making it incredibly intuitive and easy to use. It also offers intelligent automations that reduces time spent managing your appointments and business operations.
Mangomint’s vision is to make salon software invisible—so smart and easy to use that it essentially disappears into your day-to-day operations. And boy, is this software a pleasure to use for both you and your clients, which is why it is now, in 2023, my #1 recommendation.
Pros and Cons
- Modern, easy-to-use, interface
- Smart automations that help cut down on time spent managing business operations
- Open data ownership and no contracts (you’re not locked into anything)
- Can integrate with any other platform that allow for integrations
- Highest-rated customer service on the market
- Not for solopreneurs. Only teams.
- Higher entry-level price than most other salon & spa software
- Only available in the United States & Canada
Alternative #2: GlossGenius | The Easy-to-Use Alternative for Independent Professionals
If you’re a solo business owner who cares about aesthetics and ease of use, consider GlossGenius. It’s incredibly apparent how much more advanced GlossGenius is than Zenoti in terms of its app design and mobile capabilities.
Since GlossGenius is a mobile-focused salon software, you can handle the majority of business functions directly in the mobile app, but the flipside of this is that you have fewer features overall in comparison to Zenoti.
In our experience, GlossGenius‘ feature set is most likely more than adequate if you are a solo business owner. And the headaches saved with its much more modern app make GlossGenius an easy recommendation.
Zenoti is considerably more expensive for single service providers, so if you’re on a budget and want to run your business easily from your phone, give GlossGenius a look.
GlossGenius At a Glance
Overall score
GlossGenius is an all-in-one appointment, payment, and marketing app for salon and spa professionals in the USA.
It offers rich support for independent professionals. Teams can also use the app but it’s primarily designed for solopreneurs.
Here you manage your total business out of an easy-to-use, beautifully designed, mobile app.
In my opinion, it’s the design and premium beauty experience that GlossGenius delivers that makes this tool truly unique. You can even adapt the design of their credit card reader to fit your brand.
Pros and Cons
- Interface design that signals beauty (and not tech)
- Intuitive features that are easy-to-use
- Professional looking website in just a few clicks
- Integrated payments with beautiful hardware
- Affordable and transparent flat fee pricing
- Limited flexibility (you need to follow pre-defined standards)
- Can only be managed via app (only calendar can be accessed in web browser)
- No booking widget to integrate on existing website (need to link to your GlossGenius website)
Alternative #3: Square Appointments | The Complete POS & Appointment Software with a Subscription-Free Plan for Individuals
Square Appointments, and Square’s offer as a whole, makes a compelling counter to Zenoti’s messy kitchen sink approach to software.
Whereas Zenoti is specifically designed for larger salon and spa businesses and franchises, Square Appointments (along with Square’s suite of other business tools and apps) offer a well-integrated solution for smaller businesses, regardless of industry.
Square offers a subscription free option, making it also far less expensive than Zenoti at its entry price point, so it may be a better fit for small businesses on a tighter budget.
Square is also considerably more aesthetically pleasing than Zenoti, and you get access to better-designed point-of-sale hardware as well.
However, I would argue that both apps are potentially just as complicated to get fully set up.
Zenoti is notoriously customizable and complex, often a better fit for businesses with complex management structures and multiple locations due to the labyrinth of nested settings and menus you will have to navigate through to dial in your settings.
Because aspects of Square‘s ecosystem are distributed across multiple apps, you may need to connect several apps to integrate all the functions you want to use for your business.
This can be seen as a pro or a con. On one hand, you can use only the apps you need. On the other, there is a potentially higher requirement for your involvement in the setup process because every tool you need is not necessarily bundled into the base application.
Zenoti is primarily targeted at salons, spas, and wellness businesses, so it has a potentially more straightforward setup process, but there are valid arguments for both sides.
Square Appointments At a Glance
Overall score
Square Appointments is a cloud-based appointment scheduling software for salons, spas and really any other local service businesses.
It integrates with the full suite of local business solutions from Square which makes it one of the most complete business management solutions on the market.
At the same time, it is free for individuals and has therefore quickly become one of the most popular platforms for one-person businesses like beauty booth renters and individual professionals.
Pros and Cons
- Free for individuals
- Well-designed, easy to use, interface
- Integration with the full suite of Square applications for endless possibilities
- Robust core business management (inventory, reports, and client data)
- Limited flexibility when designing online booking page, booking widget, e-mails and other aspects that you may want to adapt
- It gets a bit expensive for the growing team that expands with more locations
Alternative #4: Vagaro | The Feature-Rich and Affordable Salon Software
Vagaro needs to be mentioned in the alternative comparison conversation. It is similarly rich in features and has an established client marketplace that Zenoti simply does not offer.
Branding capability is an interesting comparison.
Both Zenoti and Vagaro offer branded mobile app creation services, so whether you are a larger business with multiple locations or a new salon just starting out, this is a clear benefit to unify booking and branding.
Vagaro offers a website builder as well as the option to embed a booking widget on your existing website, two options Zenoti does not provide.
Vagaro is an overall less expensive option than Zenoti, and considering the broad feature set, it makes much more sense for a lot of smaller businesses on tighter budgets.
Vagaro At a Glance
Overall score
Vagaro, headquartered in the US, is one of the most popular salon software options. It is a complete system for salons, spas, barbershops, health, and fitness businesses.
It’s one of the most feature-rich platforms on the market and comes with POS, online appointment scheduling, email/SMS marketing, credit card processing, subscription payments, video streaming, website builder, eCommerce, payroll, hardware, and advanced business reporting just to name a few.
Despite the large amount of built-in features, it’s one of the cheapest platforms on the market. So if you want to spend as little as possible for as much as possible, Vagaro could be the right platform for you.
Pros and Cons
- Rich in features
- Affordable price
- Client marketplace that could help you attract more new clients
- Integrations with other software (QuickBook, Xerox, Facebook, Zoom)
- Pages could load faster, and you may find some glitches as you use it
- Clients need to create a Vagaro account when booking, which some find annoying
- There is a slight learning curve in the beginning, as a lot of features
Alternative #5: Boulevard | The Marketing-Focused Salon Management Software for Larger Businesses
Both Zenoti and Boulevard have impressive reporting features that allow you to take advantage of the data you gather from your customers to give you better insight into your business.
This information, alongside the integrated marketing tools for each software suite, can be used to benefit business growth and better targeting via your marketing efforts.
Likewise, both options have integrated payment solutions, email builders, two-way messaging features, and mobile apps.
On the flip side, there are definitely cons to both platforms.
Zenoti has a pretty high cost of entry, and its mobile app has a low-to-mixed rating on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Boulevard has similarly mixed app ratings, with many reviews describing a buggy experience. Likewise, staff settings and schedules are noted to be fiddly and a bit overly tedious to set up.
The way I see it, the two brands both have a focus on data utilization in different ways. Boulevard excels in client data management and marketing capabilities, while Zenoti capitalizes on advanced reputation management tools.
Both brands have deep reporting customization and utility, so it’s simply a matter of which strengths make a bigger impact on your operations.
Boulevard At a Glance
Overall score
Boulevard is an up-and-coming cloud-based beauty and wellness software that offers a strong toolset of core features like appointment booking and POS, as well as advanced marketing features and two-way messaging.
It natively integrates with over a dozen apps, including Quickbooks, Instagram, Shopify, and more.
It is quite a pricey option, however, coming in at a starting price of $175 for the lowest-tier plan, which we (and Boulevard themselves) don’t recommend as it lacks some of Boulevard’s best reporting, marketing, and inventory features.
Boulevard offers a free trial, but they require a 12-month minimum contract to sign up, so make sure you are 100% sure about your choice before signing up.
Pros and Cons
- Client data that you can actually use to boost client retention and sales
- Can integrate with a large number of third party applications
- Precision Scheduling™ tech to fill the best gaps on the calendar first
- Well designed & easily-searchable help center
- High price-point across all plans
- Essentials plan lacks many of the best features Boulevard offers
- Boulevard Professional mobile app is buggy & has low ratings on iOS & Android
- Marketing suite can’t differentiate between bookings from emails vs other factors (you may end up paying more)
Choosing the Best Zenoti Alternative
I hope this list was helpful in determining if any of these Zenoti alternatives are a better fit for you.
If it’s a better price-to-performance ratio you’re looking for, Mangomint offers the best features and support for businesses with more than a couple of stylists or estheticians.
If you run a new or growing salon or spa, are on a budget, and want access to a client marketplace, Vagaro is the clear choice.
If you’re looking for a great option as a solopreneur, GlossGenius is your best bet, but you should also consider Square Appointments.
If you run a chain or franchise business and need support for multiple locations with complex management needs, Zenoti is a great choice, but you should also consider Boulevard for its stellar reporting and marketing tools.
Still unsure which software is the best for you? That’s OK! We’ve reviewed a whole bunch more.
Check out our list of the best salon software in 2024 right now and see how each competitor stacks up in our in-depth comparisons!
