Booking app
for self-employed hairdressers.

What is the best booking app for a self-employed hairdresser?

The best booking app for a self-employed UK hairdresser lets you book someone else in while a colour develops, gives every cut, colour and blow dry its real length, takes a deposit on the long appointments and keeps your clients yours, whether you rent a chair, work from home or visit clients. Covered Beauty, which we make, does all of that from £9 a month if you work alone, or £19.99 for a team of up to five, with no commission. If you want a marketplace to bring you new clients, Fresha, Booksy and Treatwell are built for that.

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 do self-employed hairdressers need from a booking app?

• Colour time that isn’t wasted. While a colour develops your client waits and you’re free. Your booking app should offer that time to other clients, without a clash.
• The right length for every service. A cut, a full head of colour and a blow dry don’t take the same time. Give each treatment its own length and price, and clients only see times that fit.
• A deposit on colour and long appointments. A morning held for a colour is a morning you can’t sell again. A deposit taken at booking means the people who book turn up, or you’re not out of pocket.
• A skin test on record. Hair colour can cause allergic reactions, so ask about past reactions and record any skin test before you start.
• Clients that stay yours. If you rent a chair, your clients, your booking page and your deposits should be yours, whichever chair you move to next.
• Regulars back on time. Cuts and colours come round every few weeks, so getting clients booked in for the next one matters.

How does Covered Beauty work for self-employed hairdressers?

Booking someone else in while a colour develops

On Treatments, open a colour, tick This treatment has processing time, then say when it starts and how long it lasts. While it develops, online booking offers that time to other clients, and you can book someone in yourself without a clash. Two colours can overlap, as long as you’re never needed for both at once.

On the calendar, the processing time shows as a paler striped band inside the appointment. With more than one treatment in a visit, the first treatment’s processing time is used. Clients still see the full length of their appointment.

Bookings, deposits and where you work

Clients choose a treatment and can add up to three more to the same visit. They pick one time and pay one deposit. You set the deposit for each treatment: a fixed amount, a percentage of the price, or none. It goes straight into your own Stripe account, and Covered Beauty takes no commission on any booking. Rent a chair on some days and work from home on others? Add each place as a venue with its own address and opening days, and clients only see the times you’re at each one.

Add a gap after each treatment, up to two hours, to tidy your station. Set a cancellation window too. Clients who pay a deposit online save their card, so if someone doesn’t turn up you can charge your no-show fee, in line with your terms.

Forms and skin tests

Start from the ready-made new client form and make it your own, with a question about reactions to colour. Write a question about a skin test or an allergy alert test, as hair dye makers call it, and it is treated as a patch test question: asked fresh every visit and never carried over from last time. Link a form to your treatments and it goes out with the confirmation, with a reminder 48 hours before if it isn’t done. Clients sign on their phone, and the signed form stays on their record, ready to print or save as a PDF. You can also email a private link without a booking. It works for 14 days and only for that client.

Reminders and rebooking

Clients get a confirmation, then reminder emails three days before, the day before and two hours before. Text reminders come from the texts included each month (50 texts a month on Solo, 150 on Pro and 300 on the Team plan), with more available if you need them. For regulars, make an appointment recurring, every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 weeks, and each visit is created 14 days before it’s due. Smart rebooking spots who’s due back, and on Pro and the Team plan it emails them a nudge for you every morning.

The one-off health questions for a new client, and how often to ask them again, are in What to put in a client medical history form.

What does it cost?

Solo is £9 a month, Pro £14 and the Team plan £19.99 for up to five people. Pro adds 150 texts a month instead of 50, rebooking emails sent for you every morning, win-back campaigns, your own web address and your logo at the top of your booking page instead of ours. 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 self-employed hairdressers?

• You want a marketplace to bring you new clients. Fresha and Treatwell are built for that and charge a one-off fee on some new marketplace clients.
• You travel to clients most days. Covered Beauty doesn’t ask for the client’s address when they book, work out travel time or charge travel fees.
• 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 self-employed hairdressers?

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

Fresha

• What it costs: Independent: £14.95/month, excluding VAT. Team: £9.95 per team member a month, excluding VAT.
• Commission: 20% once on a brand-new client from its marketplace, minimum £4, excluding VAT. None on returning clients or your own booking links.
• Deposits: Upfront payments and no-show fees through its optional payments. Online card payments 1.40% + 25p.
• Consent forms: Consultation forms and patch tests are listed among its features.
• Best for: Salons of any size that want a consumer marketplace to help new clients find them.
• Look elsewhere if: Most of your clients already book with you and you’re paying for every team member.

Covered Beauty vs Fresha.

Source: Fresha UK pricing, checked 12 October 2026.

Booksy

• What it costs: £40/month plus VAT. Extra users £5/month each.
• Commission: None on standard bookings. Optional Boost: 30% once on a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5, plus VAT.
• Deposits: No-show protection is included. Its card processing fees apply.
• Consent forms: Custom forms and liability waivers are included.
• Best for: Salons and barbers who want a consumer booking app as well as a diary.
• Look elsewhere if: You work alone and want the smallest monthly bill.

Covered Beauty vs Booksy.

Source: Booksy UK pricing, checked 12 October 2026.

Treatwell

• What it costs: Not published. Ask Treatwell for the price of your plan.
• Commission: 35% on a new marketplace client’s first booking, plus VAT. 0% on repeat bookings and bookings made directly with you.
• Deposits: Online prepayment, with a 2.5% processing fee plus VAT.
• Consent forms: We couldn’t confirm this from its pricing page. Ask Treatwell.
• Best for: Salons that want a marketplace to bring in new clients and are happy to pay for each one.
• Look elsewhere if: You don’t need help finding clients, or you want to see a monthly price before you sign up.

Covered Beauty vs Treatwell.

Source: Treatwell UK pricing, checked 12 October 2026.

Phorest

• What it costs: Price on request. Its plans are pitched at salons and clinics with 3+ staff.
• Commission: None listed on its pricing page.
• Deposits: Online bookings with deposits on every plan.
• Consent forms: Consultation forms sent before a visit, from its Grow plan.
• Best for: Established salons and clinics with three or more staff who want marketing and retention tools.
• Look elsewhere if: You work alone, or you’d rather not price your software through a demo.

Covered Beauty vs Phorest.

Source: Phorest UK pricing, checked 12 October 2026.

Timely

• What it costs: From £4/week. The bill changes with the bookings you take each week.
• Commission: No new-client fees.
• Deposits: Online deposits on every plan. Cancellation fees from its Boost plan.
• Consent forms: Consultation forms sent before an appointment, from its Boost plan.
• Best for: Salons, spas and clinics with a team that want unlimited staff and a full business system.
• Look elsewhere if: You’d rather your bill stayed the same in a busy month.

Covered Beauty vs Timely.

Source: Timely pricing, checked 10 October 2026.

Square Appointments

• What it costs: Free: £0 for one location. Plus: £29/month per location.
• Commission: None listed.
• Deposits: Prepayments on every plan. No-show and cancellation fees need Plus.
• Consent forms: Contracts sent to clients when they book, on every plan. Custom contract fields on Premium.
• Best for: Businesses already taking card payments with Square’s readers or till.
• Look elsewhere if: You want no-show fees without paying for Plus.

Covered Beauty vs Square Appointments.

Source: Square Appointments UK pricing and Square UK waitlist page, checked 12 October 2026.

Which should you choose?

• Your clients follow you and book you every few weeks? A direct booking system with deposits and no commission, such as Covered Beauty.
• You need a stream of new clients? Fresha, Booksy or Treatwell, if what a new client is worth to you is more than the fee.
• You have a team of three or more and want marketing tools? Phorest or Timely, which price differently from a flat monthly fee.
• You already take payments with Square? Try Square Appointments’ Free plan first.