9 Shortcuts Salon Software Alternatives & Competitors December 2023

If you're a salon owner or hairstylist searching for alternatives to Shortcuts, then you're in luck. We've done the hard work and created a list of options for you to choose from, offering a variety of features to optimize your salon business.

Top Alternatives For Shortcuts

1. Zolmi
2. Mangomint Salon Software
3. Boulevard Salon Software
4. Vagaro
5. Mio Salon
6. Mindbody
7. DaySmart Salon
8. Booksy
9. Hairware

Compare Sites Like Shortcuts

Zolmi

Zolmi Salon Software & Mobile App, next to Shortcuts is amongst the top salon management software, offering a wide range of solutions to manage your salon on the go smartly.

If you are a single-person salon, Zolmi's free salon software features will meet most of your requirements by offering:

• simplify salon scheduling, including one-click checkout and fast rebook functions
• inventory management with salon POS
• free (completely!) unlimited email appointment reminders
• staff rostering

To give your salon management a boost, check out Zolmi's premium functions:

• automated solutions for increasing positive customer reviews on your Google My Business
• SMS reminders
• robust inventory management features: automated ordering, minimum stock level alerts, stock take to name a few
• back bar management allows you to review and improve your margins
• customized salon marketing solutions from emails to SMS
• online payments - your clients making payments or deposit during booking, ability to automatically charge no-show fees
• a robust reporting suite with staff payments and performance

Zolmi also delivers very dedicated, friendly, and available support, considering your individual needs: assistance with importing your client database and adding a custom-made report for your salon business.

Mangomint Salon Software

Mangomint has an intuitive and visually-appealing interface to help salon owners and team members stay on top of daily tasks. Let's take a closer look at some of the unique features.

Their automated waiting room lets clients check themselves in when they arrive, and automatic notifications send out a message when their stylist or treatment room is ready for them.

They offer good customer support, with live people available to respond to your questions and an easy-to-navigate online learning center to help you set up and address any issues.

A few areas where they might improve in the future include allowing group bookings for salons that take these (this would come in handy for significant events like weddings, etc.) and creating a single dashboard where you can access and view everything as needed.

Boulevard Salon Software

Boulevard focuses primarily on appointment scheduling and delivers advanced features to help busy salon owners and staff and self-booking and communication tools to make the client experience smoother.

They provide a mobile checkout on their iOS Professional App, which lets staff members close out their appointments using their phones. This can make a big difference in saving time and reducing lineups at the front desk.

Boulevard's Precision Scheduling shows clients the time slots you'd prefer first, before showing them everything else available. They also have the option to join the automated waitlist when needed. Boulevard might improve some things, including adding more details to their analytical reporting so that salon owners can gain more insight into clients' preferences and make the appointment confirmation and Google calendar sync work more smoothly.

Vagaro

Vagaro is a platform that allows customers to find salons, fitness studios, and spas in their localities. Vagaro salon booking software lets them make bookings and pay in advance.

Clients can reschedule or cancel their appointments with much ease using Vagaro. Vagaro also makes it easy for salon owners to effectively manage appointments and their daily calendars.

This application is a good option for salon and spa owners who want to boost their productivity since it has automated reminders and SOAP notes features.

Another incredible thing about Vagaro is that it's accessible via iOS and Android devices. This means that there are no accessibility limitations, no matter the type of device in use.

This system gives valuable insights, such as customer retention reports. The salon software is customizable to suit your business's needs and adaptable.

Mio Salon

Mio Salon is a versatile tool that can help you automate your salon's administrative functions, including appointment scheduling, client and employee management, POS and payroll.

Mio Salon offers 23 different automation to help free up you and your team and save time. Some of their most exciting features include automatic staff reminders so that people are always prepared for a booking, and the ability to create and track multi-sitting packages. Mio Salon offers a free fourteen-day trial, but their website is not transparent with their pricing policies, asking you to email them if you want more information. Additionally, while their reports do look very user-friendly, they do not have a lot of complex functions to let you really dig into your salon's data.

Finally, Their support page has multiple troubleshooting topics organized by category, but no images or explanations to go with the instructions they provide, which may be confusing for anyone who isn't tech-savvy or at least comfortable with computers.

Mindbody

Mindbody is a cloud-based appointment and management app appropriate for small and medium-sized salons and fitness studios. Email and text campaigns, marketing management, staff management, and payment processing are among the other features.

Clients will have no trouble finding your company using the application. Mindbody makes it simple to track critical business insights like sales, client retention, revenue, and attendance. It also assists in reactivating inactive clients, organizing marketing campaigns, and developing business strategies to increase profitability.

You can also use the app to promote your services by posting images and giving out press releases showing potential clients what they would benefit from by choosing your services. The application also allows clients to redeem and buy gift cards.

DaySmart Salon

DaySmart Salon is a salon scheduling software that functions seamlessly taking you a step further from your competitors. With this business management software, you can choose to be paying per month or as a one-time subscription.

DaySmart Salon is one of the valuable tools for hairstylists and barbers with powerful features such as stock controls, salon POS and staff management. This salon software has text and email notifications and online booking features and is customizable to suit individual salons or barber shops' requirements.

DaySmart Salon is accessible using iOS and Android devices, and you can also access it via a browser. Its reporting feature helps keep track of employees' performance and the whole business as well.

DaySmart Salon is one of the easiest to use alternatives to Shortcuts. Its structure is logical, and statistics are excellent. Another incredible thing about it is that it helps you key clients' information and analyze it to keep up with trends.

Booksy

Booksy is a comprehensive salon management software that offers a wide range of useful features. Their platform and app are easy to use, and they provide customer support just in case.

One of Booksy's most interesting features is its "Boost" option that lets you promote your salon's services and gain more visibility during slower times. By using Booksy, clients can also search for service providers in their area- this can help bring in new business easily.

You can keep detailed client history records including appointment information and even a before and after image gallery, making it easy to get up to date before a client shows up. Speaking of clients, their SMS appointment reminders come with pre-made message templates to save you and your team time, too.

Some things to look out for when using Booksy include their customer service- there can sometimes be longer than ideal delays when responding to questions or concerns. Any deposits you take need to go through their payment system, which can be inconvenient for some salons.

Additionally, Booksy does not offer a free version of their software, although they do offer you the option of a free trial before you decide to purchase it.

Hairware

Hairware's software combines financial administration and reporting features like STP integrated wages, GST management and BAS printouts with more standard features like online booking, inventory management, staff scheduling and a client database.

This makes them a great option for salon owners running multi location businesses who want to cut down on finance-based admin work while also keeping their salon running smoothly.

Hairware provides a customized app for salon owners and staff and one for clients to use. They also let you update your services and accept deposits online to guarantee bookings when necessary.

Although they offer online booking and can link directly with your salon's social media pages, they don't provide a "Book Now" button. Hairware offers you a free trial to test out their software, but not a free version that you can use long-term.

Finally, some of their more advanced functions like client cards and financial statements might be challenging to understand at first, but they provide onsite training if you book a training package.

Top Salon Apps Like Shortcuts & Their Cost

Every application has its own cost depending on its functions and the size of your business. Some of the applications have a free trial period, free versions, basic versions, and premium packages. However, the premium package is the best option if you want unlimited features to suit your salon needs.

Conclusion

There are many Shortcuts alternatives to choose from; there's something out there that meets the needs of each salon owner or independent stylist.

Before making a decision, take your time and figure out precisely what your salon's business needs are and the direction that you'd like to take in the future. One great strategy is to sit down with your team and ask them for suggestions.

Some critical "must haves" are online booking, customer tracking and data management, staff scheduling, inventory management, salon website integration and email marketing to help grow your business.

Our top Shortcuts competitor is Zolmi.