Booking app
for barbers.

What is the best booking app for a barber?

The best booking app for a UK barber lets regulars pick their barber, shows clients the real free times so nobody has to message to ask, keeps walk-ins in the same diary and charges a flat monthly fee, not a cut of your new clients. Covered Beauty, which we make, does all of that from £9 a month if you work alone, or £19.99 for a shop of up to five, with no commission. If you want a marketplace to bring you new clients, Booksy, Fresha and Treatwell are built for that. If nobody ever books and the queue does the work, you may not need a booking app at all.

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 barber need from a booking app?

• Their barber, or anyone. Regulars want the same pair of hands. Others don’t mind who. A client should be able to pick either in one tap.
• Free times they can see. Nobody wants to message and wait to hear when you’re free. Show the real free times for the barber they want and they can book one there and then.
• Walk-ins and bookings in one diary. A walk-in in the chair has to block that time online, or you’ll double book yourself on a Saturday.
• Short slots with no dead gaps. A fade, a clipper cut and a beard trim don’t take the same time. Each needs its own length and price, so the day stays full.
• A bill that doesn’t grow with every chair. Per-barber pricing looks small at one chair. Work it out at five before you pick.
• Clients that stay yours. If you rent a chair, your clients, your booking page and your takings should come with you when you move.

How does Covered Beauty work in a barber shop?

A barber menu from the first day

Pick Barbering when you sign up and your page starts with ten services, from a skin fade, a scissor cut and a clipper cut to a beard trim, a hot towel shave, a shape up and cuts for kids and over 65s. Every length is a multiple of 15 minutes, so a cut never leaves a gap nobody can book. Each comes with our suggested price as a draft for you to check. Want time to sweep up? Add a gap after each treatment, up to two hours.

Picking a barber

On the Team plan, add each barber to your team, up to five, and give them their own working hours. With two or more, clients pick a barber and see that barber’s own free times. Or they pick Any available, which offers the times when nobody’s booked in, and we choose who does it.

Free times clients can see

Clients pick from your real free times, offered every 15 minutes, and when a day is full they can join its waiting list. If you work alone, each service on your booking page also shows when you’re next free, like Next: Today 16:00.

Walk-ins

Add a walk-in to the diary yourself and online clients can’t take that time. There’s no queue screen, so it suits a shop that takes bookings and walk-ins, not a shop that only takes walk-ins.

Cash, card and deposits

Mark each visit paid by cash, card or bank transfer and your takings stay in one place. Want a deposit on your busiest slots? Card deposits go straight to your own Stripe account, and you can leave them off.

Regulars back on time

Recurring visits run every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 weeks, and each visit is created 14 days before it’s due.

On Pro and the Team plan, smart rebooking also emails clients who are due back, every morning.

If you do colour or hot towel shaves, the one-off health questions for a new client are in What to put in a client medical history form.

What comes with every booking

Clients can add up to three more to the same visit and pay one deposit. They get reminder emails three days before, the day before and two hours before, and any form you link to the treatment, with a reminder 48 hours before if it isn’t done. A private form link works for 14 days and only for that client. Worried about people not turning up? Read How to stop no-shows at a UK salon.

What does it cost?

Solo is £9 a month, Pro £14 and the Team plan £19.99 for up to five people. There is no booking commission on any plan, deposits go into your own Stripe account and Stripe’s card fees apply, and consent forms are on every plan. You get 7 days free to try it, with no card needed to start. See the plans.

When isn’t Covered Beauty the right fit for barbers?

• You only take walk-ins. Covered Beauty has no queue screen, so if nobody books, you don’t need it.
• You want a marketplace to bring you new clients. Booksy, Fresha and Treatwell are built for that and charge a one-off fee on some new marketplace clients.
• You don’t want beauty in your link. Your address is yourname.beauty.covered.technology, unless you use your own web address on Pro or the Team plan.
• You have more than five people, or several branches each with their own staff. The Team plan stops at five people.
• You need drawn signatures or photos inside a form. Forms are signed with a typed name, and the ready-made forms are starting points to check with your insurer.

For every option side by side, read the best salon booking software in the UK.

What are the other options for barbers?

These are the systems most often weighed up for this work, with what each one publishes.

Booksy

£40/month plus VAT for one, and £5/month plus VAT for each extra user. For five: £60/month plus VAT, which is £72 with 20% VAT added by us. None on standard bookings. Optional Boost: 30% once on a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5, plus VAT. Best for: barber shops that want a consumer booking app as well as a diary. Covered Beauty vs Booksy.

Source: Booksy UK pricing, checked 3 November 2026.

Fresha

Independent: £14.95/month excluding VAT, for one person. Team: £9.95 per team member a month excluding VAT, so £49.75/month excluding VAT for five, or £59.70 with 20% VAT added by us. 20% once on a brand-new client from its marketplace, minimum £4. Nothing on returning clients. Best for: barbers who want a consumer marketplace to help new clients find them. Covered Beauty vs Fresha.

Source: Fresha UK pricing, checked 3 November 2026.

Nearcut

Free to you, with each client paying a booking charge at checkout, refunded if they cancel. Its own example is £1.50 on a £20 haircut. A flat monthly subscription, plus VAT, is priced by quote. None. It says always zero commission. Best for: barbers happy for clients to pay a small charge to book.

Source: Nearcut pricing, checked 3 November 2026.

Slick

Essential: £22/month plus VAT for the owner, and £14/month plus VAT for each staff member or chair renter, so £78/month plus VAT for five, or £93.60 with 20% VAT added by us. Advanced: £37/month plus VAT, and £21/month plus VAT for each one after. No new client fees, its pricing page says. Best for: hair and barber shops that want unlimited text reminders and stock management in one system.

Source: Slick pricing, checked 3 November 2026.

Which should you choose?

• Regulars book you by name and you want one flat bill? A direct booking system with no commission, such as Covered Beauty.
• You’d rather your clients paid for the booking? Nearcut’s free plan puts a small charge on the client at checkout.
• You need a stream of new clients? Booksy or Fresha, if what a new client is worth to you is more than the fee.
• You already take payments with Square? Try Square Appointments’ Free plan first.