Phorest
Phorest is built specifically for salons and spas: online booking, client cards, staff performance, marketing automation and retail in one system. Its focus on rebooking and client retention is why it leads our beauty rankings.
Editorial score by industry
Overall score out of 100 and rank in each industry where we rate this system
Category scores in Beauty & Wellness
Where this system earns and loses points in its strongest industry
Best for
Salons, spas and barbershops from independents to multi-site groups.
Walk away if
Any business where inventory, invoicing or field work is the core.
Pricing
Custom pricing by salon size and locations. Checked September 2026.
After the trial or intro: Quote-based subscription on a contract term.
Quote-based monthly subscription with integrated payments. Verify current pricing.
Type
Salon and spa management softwareWhat Phorest is
Phorest is salon and spa software built around one number: how many clients come back. Online booking, client cards, automated marketing, review generation and staff performance tools all point at retention, and that focus is why it leads our beauty ranking.
It is a serious platform with a serious onboarding, and it costs more than the lightweight booking apps. For salons that treat rebooking as the business, that is the point.
What it does
- 1Online booking and branded client app
- 2Client cards with history, notes and photos
- 3Automated SMS and email marketing
- 4Staff performance, targets and commissions
- 5Retail, gift cards and memberships
- 6Multi-location and franchise management
Who it fits
- 1A salon with eight chairs and a retention problem
- 2A multi-site salon group
- 3A day spa with packages and memberships
What customers say.
Public review scores are a signal, not a verdict: profiles mix merchants with end customers, and unhappy buyers write more often than happy ones. We read them for patterns.
★★★★☆ · 82 Trustpilot reviews · September 2026
69% five-star. Account managers and training are repeatedly named; negatives are cost and contract length.
Read on Trustpilot ↗Who uses it
Salons, spas, barbers, aesthetics clinics; 12,000+ businesses
Hardware
Front-desk tablet and card reader
Integrations & payments
Integrated payments, marketing automation, branded client app
Trustpilot scores, all systems
Every system we track on one chart.
What happens after you sign.
How the vendor supports customers, how onboarding works, and what buyers report when something goes wrong.
Customer service scorecard
Editorial scores out of 100 · overall support score 84
What buyers report
Phorest's support and training are among the best-regarded in the beauty category in our review, with an emphasis on coaching salons on retention rather than only answering tickets. Criticism focuses on cost and contract length rather than service.
Overall customer service score · ranked #4 of 23 systems
Support channels
Phone, chat and email support with training resources and a dedicated onboarding team. Verify hours for your region.
Onboarding
Structured onboarding with data migration and staff training over several weeks.
Customer service rankings
All 23 systems scored on support.
Strengths, weaknesses, risks.
What our analysis found and the questions we would ask before signing.
Strengths
- 1Booking, client records and marketing designed for salons
- 2Staff performance and commission tools
- 3Strong client retention features
Weaknesses
- 1Cost above simpler booking apps
- 2Retail inventory is adequate rather than deep
- 3Onboarding takes effort
Buying risks to check
- 1Contract term
- 2Processing rates
- 3Add-on costs for marketing features
What to test in the demo
- 1Book, reschedule and take a deposit for a service
- 2Review a stylist's rebooking rate
- 3Send an automated reminder and see the client history
Comparisons
Phorest vs Mangomint ↗Scores are Point of Sale Rankings editorial judgments. Product capabilities, pricing and terms change; verify final details with the vendor.
Tell us how you run your business. We'll narrow it down.
The POS Finder matches your industry, size, workflow and priorities to the systems worth a demo.