all in one salon software

Phorest vs Vagaro

Phorest and Vagaro are both all-in-one platforms, but they win different arguments. Phorest is built around client retention: rebooking prompts, lapsed-client reactivation, a branded client app, and marketing that targets the right people automatically. Vagaro is built around breadth and price: booking, POS, payroll, forms, and marketing across salons, spas, barbershops, and even fitness, plus a consumer marketplace that puts you in front of new clients. For an independent owner the choice usually comes down to whether your bottleneck is keeping the clients you have or finding new ones, because retention is where the money quietly lives: a 5% retention gain lifts profit 25% to 95%, and one extra visit per client per year can raise revenue by up to 30%.

Pricing tells the rest of the story. Vagaro starts near $24 a month for one bookable calendar and scales per staff member, which keeps it genuinely accessible for solos and small teams. Phorest is custom, typically in the $99 to $139 a month range, and asks you to invest in a heavier retention and marketing engine. Given that acquiring a new client costs five to 25 times more than keeping one, Phorest's premium is really a bet on lifetime value, while Vagaro's marketplace is a bet on discovery. This page compares them on the axes that decide it.

Phorest compared with Vagaro, dimension by dimension.
Dimension	Phorest	Vagaro
Pricing model	PhorestCustom, typically around $99 to $139/mo. A single retention-and-marketing platform priced as an investment.	VagaroFrom about $24/mo for one bookable calendar, scaling per staff member. Genuinely accessible for solos and small teams.
Core strength	PhorestClient retention, rebooking, and lifetime value. The rebooking and reactivation tooling is its signature.	VagaroBreadth and value: a complete toolkit across salon, spa, barbershop, and fitness, at a low entry price.
New-client discovery	PhorestNo consumer marketplace. Growth comes from your own audience, referrals, and Phorest's marketing tools.	VagaroBundled Vagaro consumer marketplace and app, so clients can discover and book you directly. Real exposure, at the cost of sharing a marketplace.
Marketing and retention tools	PhorestDeep: smart campaigns that auto-target the right clients, reactivation of lapsed clients, and rebooking prompts. Automated software can push rebooking rates past 75%.	VagaroPractical and add-on style: AI-drafted marketing emails and captions, smart review requests, reminders, and waitlist fill. Useful, but less of a single retention engine.
Branded client app	PhorestA branded client app is a core part of the offering, keeping you in front of regulars between visits.	VagaroClients use the shared Vagaro app rather than an app branded to your salon.
Reviews and reputation	PhorestBuilt-in reputation and review generation as part of the marketing engine. Responding to reviews is worth it: it can lift revenue about 35%.	VagaroAutomated review requests are included as one of many tools rather than a dedicated reputation engine.
Business types covered	PhorestFocused on hair salons, spas, and clinics that prioritize repeat visits and lifetime value.	VagaroBroad: salons, spas, barbershops, nail studios, and fitness, which suits multi-service or hybrid businesses.

Phorest profile Vagaro profile All all-in-one

The verdict

Which one, and the catch either way.

Bottom line

Choose Phorest if your growth problem is retention: you have steady demand but want a serious engine for rebooking, reactivating lapsed clients, and building lifetime value, and you are willing to pay for it. Choose Vagaro if you want a complete, affordable toolkit and value the marketplace exposure to win new clients, especially as a solo or small team watching every dollar. Both cover booking, POS, and marketing competently, but neither builds you a marketing site that ranks, nor stitches every channel into one operation you can see at a glance. That is the layer SalonAI adds on top of either platform, so your retention or discovery advantage actually compounds instead of sitting in a dashboard you rarely open.

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Questions

What buyers ask.

Is Vagaro's marketplace worth it, or does it just share my clients?

Both are true. The marketplace genuinely surfaces you to nearby searchers looking to book, which is real discovery a solo operator cannot easily buy. It also lists you alongside competitors, so you compete on the platform's terms. If new-client flow is your bottleneck it is a plus; if retention is your issue, Phorest's owned-audience approach fits better.

Does Phorest justify its higher price?

It depends on whether you will use the retention engine. With a 5% retention gain lifting profit 25% to 95% and repeat clients retaining at 75% versus 35% for first-timers, the tools pay for themselves if you actually run the campaigns. If you will not, the premium is wasted.

Can I switch from Vagaro to Phorest later?

Yes, though migrating client history, appointment records, and payment setup between any two platforms takes planning and usually vendor support. It is easier to pick based on your real bottleneck now than to move mid-growth. SalonAI's layer sits on top of either, so switching the underlying tool does not mean rebuilding your whole digital operation.

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Pricing model

PhorestCustom, typically around $99 to $139/mo. A single retention-and-marketing platform priced as an investment.

VagaroFrom about $24/mo for one bookable calendar, scaling per staff member. Genuinely accessible for solos and small teams.

Core strength

PhorestClient retention, rebooking, and lifetime value. The rebooking and reactivation tooling is its signature.

VagaroBreadth and value: a complete toolkit across salon, spa, barbershop, and fitness, at a low entry price.

New-client discovery

PhorestNo consumer marketplace. Growth comes from your own audience, referrals, and Phorest's marketing tools.

VagaroBundled Vagaro consumer marketplace and app, so clients can discover and book you directly. Real exposure, at the cost of sharing a marketplace.

Marketing and retention tools

PhorestDeep: smart campaigns that auto-target the right clients, reactivation of lapsed clients, and rebooking prompts. Automated software can push rebooking rates past 75%.

VagaroPractical and add-on style: AI-drafted marketing emails and captions, smart review requests, reminders, and waitlist fill. Useful, but less of a single retention engine.

Branded client app

PhorestA branded client app is a core part of the offering, keeping you in front of regulars between visits.

VagaroClients use the shared Vagaro app rather than an app branded to your salon.

Reviews and reputation

PhorestBuilt-in reputation and review generation as part of the marketing engine. Responding to reviews is worth it: it can lift revenue about 35%.

VagaroAutomated review requests are included as one of many tools rather than a dedicated reputation engine.

Business types covered

PhorestFocused on hair salons, spas, and clinics that prioritize repeat visits and lifetime value.

VagaroBroad: salons, spas, barbershops, nail studios, and fitness, which suits multi-service or hybrid businesses.