What is the best booking software for a tanning salon?
A UK tanning or sunbed salon needs software that sells minutes packages, books beds with cool-off time between sessions and won’t book a sunbed for anyone without a date of birth showing they’re 18 or over. Covered Beauty, which we make, does all three on its Salon plan at £19 a month, with spray tans booked like any other treatment. If you need the software to switch your beds on through a T-Max or Sigma timer, or to run your till, look at tanning salon systems such as Salon Tracker or Envy Tech.
We make Covered Beauty, so we’ve also set out the alternatives and who they suit. Every figure about another provider links to its own page, with the day we checked it.
What does a tanning salon need from booking software?
- Minutes packages. Sunbed clients buy minutes up front and use them over several visits, so the software has to keep count.
- Beds, not just people. A booking ties up a bed, with time to cool down and clean it before the next session.
- The 18+ rule, every time. UK law says nobody under 18 can use a sunbed on your premises (the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 in England and Wales, with matching laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland), so the system should refuse to book them.
- Online buying and booking. Clients who can top up their minutes and book a bed from their phone don’t need to ring you.
- A record of skin type and risks. A consent form that asks about skin type, medication and any history of skin cancer.
- Spray tans too. If you do spray tans as well, they should book like any other treatment.
How does Covered Beauty work for a tanning salon?
Beds and packages
Add each bed or booth with the session lengths clients can choose, its price and the cool-off time after each session. Then add the minutes packages you sell, at your prices. A package can be just for one type of bed, such as lay-down only, and can have a number of days to use it in. Each package a client buys keeps its own minutes, and a session uses the minutes that run out soonest first.
The client portal
Clients sign in to your client portal from your booking page with their email address. There they buy a package by card, see what’s left and when it runs out, and book a bed with their minutes. They can also pay for a single session without buying a package. Package and session payments go into your own Stripe account. If a client cancels in good time, their minutes go back into their wallet automatically.
The 18+ check
Nobody can be booked onto a UV bed without a date of birth showing they’re 18 or over, online or in the salon. Clients can only buy minutes online once their date of birth is on their record. Someone new can join your portal with their name, email, mobile and date of birth, and until you’ve seen their photo ID, their record, their sessions and the bed calendar say Check ID.
In the salon
Book anyone onto a bed from the bed calendar, and sell a package from their client record. Someone you book in for later gets the same confirmation as an online booking. The ready-made sunbed consent form asks about skin type, medication that makes skin sensitive to UV, skin cancer history and sunburn, and reminds clients to wear eye protection. Reports show the packages you’ve sold, online and in the salon.
Sunbed packages and the client wallet come with the Salon plan, £19 a month for up to five people. You get 7 days free to try it, with no card needed to start. See both plans.
What doesn’t Covered Beauty do for tanning salons?
- It doesn’t switch beds on or connect to T-Max or Sigma timers.
- It doesn’t run a till for retail sales such as lotions.
- It doesn’t do fingerprint check-in.
If your beds run from a timer controller and you want minutes sent straight to the bed, a tanning salon system that lists timer integration is the better fit.
What are the other options for tanning salons?
Salon Tracker
UK tanning salon software that lists fingerprint recognition, minute tracking, integration with T-Max and Sigma timer managers to send minutes straight to the beds, and a signature pad for your salon agreement, alongside online booking and payments.
Source: Salon Tracker tanning software, checked 12 October 2026.
Envy Tech
A tanning salon till system that combines bookings, sunbeds, retail, memberships and payments, with optional T-Max and Sigma integration for bed control. It comes with its own hardware, installation and UK support.
Source: Envy Tech tanning salon EPOS, checked 12 October 2026.
Fresha
Fresha has a tanning studio page that lists bookings for stand-up and lay-down beds, session limits and timed packages, and selling packages, memberships and drop-in sessions. Its Independent plan is £14.95 a month for one person and Team is £9.95 a month per team member, both excluding VAT, with a one-time 20% fee, minimum £4, excluding VAT, on each brand-new client from its marketplace. Covered Beauty vs Fresha.
Source: Fresha tanning studio software and Fresha UK pricing, checked 12 October 2026.
Which should you choose?
Want clients to buy minutes and book beds online, with the 18+ rule built in, for a set monthly price? Covered Beauty’s Salon plan. Run your beds from a T-Max or Sigma controller and want a till as well? Salon Tracker or Envy Tech. For every option side by side, read the best salon booking software in the UK.
Questions from tanning salons
What is the best booking software for a tanning salon in the UK?
A UK tanning or sunbed salon needs software that sells minutes packages, books beds with cool-off time between sessions and won’t book a sunbed for anyone without a date of birth showing they’re 18 or over. Covered Beauty, which we make, does all three on its Salon plan at £19 a month, with spray tans booked like any other treatment. If you need the software to switch your beds on through a T-Max or Sigma timer, or to run your till, look at tanning salon systems such as Salon Tracker or Envy Tech.
Can clients buy sunbed minutes online?
Yes. Clients sign in to your client portal from your booking page, buy a minutes package by card and book a bed with their minutes. They can also pay for a single session by card. Online sales only go to clients whose date of birth on their record shows they’re 18 or over, and the money goes into your own Stripe account.
How does Covered Beauty keep under-18s off sunbeds?
Nobody can be booked onto a UV bed without a date of birth showing they’re 18 or over, whether they book online or you book them in. Someone who joins your portal online types their own date of birth, and until you’ve seen their photo ID their record, sessions and the bed calendar say Check ID. Spray tans aren’t covered by these sunbed laws, so they don’t need the check.
Does Covered Beauty work with T-Max or Sigma timers?
No. Covered Beauty books beds and keeps track of minutes, but it doesn’t switch beds on or connect to bed timers, and it doesn’t run a till. If you need those, look at tanning salon systems that list timer integration, such as Salon Tracker or Envy Tech.
Do sunbed minutes run out?
Only if you set them to. Each package can have a number of days to use it in, and can be limited to one type of bed. Leave those as they are and the minutes work on any bed and never run out. Clients see both before they buy.
What else should you read?
Best salon booking software in the UK (2026)
Twelve booking systems compared on price, commission, deposits and consent forms, and who each one suits.
Read the guide ↗Best booking software for aesthetics clinics in the UK
Medical history and consent signed before the appointment, kept with the record, and deposits on longer treatments.
Read the guide ↗How to choose salon booking software
A practical checklist for your diary, client records and monthly costs, to take into any free trial.
Read the guide ↗Setting up? The help pages on sunbeds and tanning go step by step.