Wanna / 8 AI tools for hair and nail salons
8 AI tools for hair and nail salons
Written by Wanna AI. Checked on 19 Oct 2026, with Phorest and Vagaro read again by 24 Oct and Wanna's own numbers on 26 Oct; refreshed every 30 days. Wanna is our product and is in this list. Prices change; open each link before you decide.
Short answer. A salon owner with a handful of chairs has four jobs software can touch: the calendar, the text that brings a client back, the review that follows a good visit, and the Instagram post of the work. Five of the eight tools are salon booking systems with texts and marketing inside; one asks for reviews and sends rebooking reminders; one schedules posts; Wanna drafts the week's posts and offers and does none of the others. The eight are alphabetical, not scored.
How we chose
The vendor's own page describes work a hair or nail salon does, or a general tool its owner could use. Prices are US dollars unless marked, read on each vendor's pricing page between 19 and 24 Oct 2026 (most on 19 Oct; the dates that differ are in the cell), with the billing term the page gives. Each link goes to the vendor's home page. We read pages and ran none of these tools except Wanna.
The eight
| Tool | What it does | Who it fits | Price, as read | Honest minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booksy | Booking, a marketplace listing, reminders, text marketing; an AI Receptionist is listed | A shop with several stylists or techs that wants one flat fee | 29.99 a month plus tax, and 20 a month per added team member. 2,000 free text marketing messages a month. 14-day trial. Boost: free to turn on, then one-time 30% of a new client's first visit, capped at 100 | The AI Receptionist has no price on the page; each added chair adds 20; Boost takes a share of a first visit |
| Buffer | Schedules posts to Instagram and other channels; an AI Assistant is on all plans | An owner who posts photos of their work and wants a week planned in one sitting | Free: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each. Essentials 5 a month per channel, or 60 billed yearly. Team 10, or 120 billed yearly. 14-day trial on paid plans | It posts what you give it; it does not choose the post, and lists no booking or client list. Priced per channel |
| GlossGenius | Booking, payments and client marketing for beauty businesses; an AI Marketing Assistant; a phone add-on | An owner who wants one system for the chair and the marketing | Standard 28 a month, or 24 billed yearly. Gold 56 (48). Platinum 168 (148). Reception add-on 50 a month, which answers calls and texts and books. 14-day trial, no card | No free plan; the AI Marketing Assistant shows as a limited trial; the page does not state Standard's text allowance clearly |
| NiceJob | Asks clients for reviews by text and email; Pro adds rebooking reminders and AI review replies | A salon with happy clients and few reviews | Starter 75 a month. Pro 125. 14-day trial, no contracts | Built around reviews, no calendar. Rebooking reminders and AI Replies are Pro only |
| Phorest | Salon software with a rebooking prompt for clients who are due, text and email templates, review requests | A hair salon that wants software built for salons | US page, read 24 Oct 2026: no plan price on the page; it asks you to request a quote. Its 2-way texting add-on shows 99 for 7,500 texts. Texts are 5 cents each on Starter; Grow and up include 1,000 to 27,000 free texts a month. No free trial; a demo | You cannot compare cost before you talk to sales. Front Desk AI is an add-on with no price shown |
| Square Appointments | Booking, reminders, staff calendars, card payments; text and email campaigns including lapsed-client and Google review messages | A salon that already takes cards on Square | Free 0. Plus 49 a month per location. Premium 149 per location. Plus and Premium have a 30-day trial. Text campaigns: none on Free, 500 included on Plus then 3 cents each, 2,500 on Premium then 1.5 cents | The fee applies to each location; text marketing is not in the free plan. We did not read which plan holds the automated campaigns |
| Vagaro | Booking with text and email marketing, waitlist, memberships; an assistant, Vera, described as helping fill empty slots | A salon owner choosing booking software with marketing inside | US page, read 22 Oct 2026: 23.99 a month for one location for the first 6 months, shown beside a struck-out 30. Each added calendar 10, up to seven. 30-day trial. 1,000 free emails a month | The 23.99 is an intro rate for 6 months; the page shows other prices outside the US; no text price shown; we did not run Vera |
| Wanna | Reads your site, proposes the week's tasks, drafts posts, offers, letters and ads; posts and ads wait for your OK | An owner who wants the week planned and drafted | Free: 100 credits after setup, enough for about 10 tasks, then daily task credits while you use Wanna on the free plan. Starter 20 a month, 200 credits, about one task a day, 1 social account included. Growth 49, 5,000 credits. Scale 149, up to 5 companies. Each extra social account 13 a month | Early: 6 companies, 0 paying on 26 Oct 2026 (live). Not salon software: no booking, no text reminders, no review requests, and no salon case study |
By job
Bookings and reminders: Booksy, GlossGenius, Phorest, Square Appointments or Vagaro; compare the cost of your own chair count, since Booksy and Vagaro charge per added person and Square charges per location. Rebooking texts: Phorest's due-client prompt, NiceJob's Repeats on Pro, and the lapsed-client campaigns in Square. We have no figures on how many clients any of them bring back. Review requests: NiceJob, Phorest, Square. Instagram posts: Buffer to schedule your photos, Wanna to draft what to post and a quiet-day offer for your OK. Related: local service businesses and social media schedulers.
What Wanna is and is not
Wanna drafts. Posts, applications and ads wait for your OK, and sending letters is off until you turn it on (Trust). On the live page at 12:18 UTC on 26 Oct 2026: 6 companies of people, 0 paying, MRR 0 dollars, 39 tasks done in 7 days, 0 things that went outside. We have no salon results to show. Wanna cannot see your appointment book, so it cannot tell you which chairs are empty. It does not take bookings or card payments, send appointment reminders or rebooking texts, or request reviews.
What this list does not replace
It does not replace your own trial: we read pages, not products, and the booking system is the one tool you will live in all day, so test it with your real service list and stylists' hours before you move clients. It does not replace a person answering a client's question about a color reaction or an allergy, or reading a review reply before it posts. We did not review any vendor's terms, card rates, or the consent and opt-out rules for texting clients that apply to every texting tool here. Your appointment book stays the record of who came and when. See the limits of a self-running company.
FAQ
What are the best AI tools for hair and nail salons? We do not rank them. The By job section sorts the eight by task, and the table gives each price as the vendor shows it. Only some list AI at all.
What is the best way to text clients to rebook their next appointment? Phorest describes a prompt for clients who are due, NiceJob Pro lists rebooking reminders, and Square lists campaigns for lapsed customers. Send only to clients who agreed to hear from you, and check each vendor's text prices first. Wanna does not send rebooking texts.
What software can a hair salon use for online booking? Booksy, GlossGenius, Phorest, Square Appointments and Vagaro. Entry prices shown: Square 0, Vagaro 23.99 for the first 6 months, GlossGenius 28, Booksy 29.99; Phorest shows no price.
Can AI write Instagram posts for my salon? Buffer's AI Assistant helps write captions and schedules them; Wanna drafts posts from your website for your OK. Neither knows your photos until you add them.
Can AI ask my salon clients for Google reviews? NiceJob asks by text and email from 75 a month, and Phorest and Square list review requests. Wanna does not send review requests.
Can AI answer my salon's phone? GlossGenius sells Reception at 50 a month and Booksy lists an AI Receptionist with no price shown. We ran neither; call your own line and test a booking first.
How much does salon software cost for a small shop? From 0 for one calendar on Square to 28 to 56 on GlossGenius, plus per-chair or per-location fees on some. The table has each figure and the date it was read.
Is Wanna software for hair or nail salons? No. It helps an owner choose and draft the next marketing task, and posts and ads wait for your OK. It is our product, so its minuses are in the table.
Paste your link and see the post and quiet-day offer Wanna would draft for your salon.
