You've got a paper diary, a shared Google Calendar, or a booking app you signed up for years ago and now resent. Bookings come in by phone, WhatsApp, Instagram and walk-in, and one of them gets double-booked every couple of weeks. You know you need something better. This post is about how to choose booking software without trading one set of problems for another.
The short version: start from how your customers actually book, work out the real monthly cost including fees, and check you can leave with your data. The rest of this post explains each of those, with a checklist at the end.
Start with how your customers book now
Before looking at any product, spend a week counting. For every booking, note where it came from:
- phone call
- WhatsApp or Instagram message
- your website
- Google (your Business Profile)
- a marketplace app
- walk-in or rebooked at the desk
Many businesses find that more bookings start as a conversation than they expected. That matters because most booking software is built around a form: the customer picks a service, a time and a staff member, and types in their details. That works well for people who know what they want. It doesn't help the caller who wants to ask whether you can fit in a colour correction this week, or the WhatsApp message that says "anything Saturday?".
So the first question is: what share of your bookings could a form handle on its own? If it's most of them, focus on the form. If it isn't, you also need a plan for the conversations.
Know which kind of booking you take
Booking software splits into types, and the wrong type is painful.
| Kind of booking | Examples | What the software must handle |
|---|---|---|
| Appointments with a person | Salons, barbers, physios, dentists, tutors | Staff calendars, service lengths, buffers between appointments |
| Tables | Restaurants, cafes | Covers, table layouts, turn times, walk-ins and waitlists |
| Classes and sessions | Gyms, yoga, dance and music schools | Capacity, recurring classes, memberships and passes |
| Resources | Courts, rooms, vehicles, equipment | The resource, not the person, is what's booked |
| Jobs at the customer's address | Cleaners, trades, dog walkers | Travel time, areas covered, quotes before booking |
Appointment software rarely does tables well, and restaurant reservation software rarely does appointments. If you take more than one kind, such as a spa with treatments and classes, check both before you sign.
The features that matter, and the ones that don't
Every product claims dozens of features. For a small business, these are the ones worth testing properly.
Availability rules
The software should know your opening hours, each service's length, which staff can do which service, and the gap you need between appointments. Check it handles minimum notice (no bookings for 20 minutes from now) and how far ahead people can book. Ask how it handles holidays and one-off closures.
Calendar sync
If staff live in Google Calendar or Outlook, ask whether the booking software reads those calendars to block busy times, writes bookings into them, or both. "Syncs with Google Calendar" can mean any of the three.
Reminders and no-show tools
Reminders by email or text, deposits, card-on-file and no-show fees are the main tools for cutting no-shows. If no-shows cost you money, these may matter more than anything else on this list. Ask what's included and what costs extra per message. Our guide on reducing no-shows at a salon covers what works.
Payments
Many booking systems also process payments, at their own rates. That's convenient, but it ties you in. Compare the processing fee with what you pay now.
Channels
Where can customers book? Your website, your Google Business Profile, Instagram, a marketplace app? If Google matters, check whether the software is a Reserve with Google provider. Google's page on setting up bookings through a provider explains how that works, and our post on the Google Business Profile booking link covers the alternative.
Features you can probably skip
Loyalty schemes, gift cards, built-in email marketing and stock control are nice, but they're rarely why a booking system succeeds or fails. Don't pay for a higher tier to get them unless you'll use them this year.
Understand the pricing model
This is where most small businesses get caught. Booking software is priced in five main ways, often combined.
- Per staff member per month. Cheap for one person, expensive as you grow.
- Flat monthly fee. Predictable. Check what the limits are.
- Per booking or per cover. Common in restaurant software. Costs rise with your busiest weeks.
- Marketplace commission. A fee when a "new" customer finds you through the platform's app or website.
- Payment processing. A percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction.
Two real price lists, as of October 2026
From the vendors' own pages:
- Fresha's pricing page shows an Independent plan at €12.95 a month for one person, and a Team plan at €8.95 per team member per month. Card payments are 1.29% plus €0.20 per transaction. Fresha also charges a one-time fee for brand-new clients who find you through its marketplace.
- Booksy's US pricing page shows $29.99 a month plus $20 a month for each additional team member. Its Boost feature has no monthly fee, but takes 30% of a Boost client's first visit, capped at $100.
Prices vary by country, so check the page for yours. Restaurant platforms such as OpenTable typically combine a monthly plan with per-cover fees for bookings made through their network, so ask for a quote based on your covers.
A worked example
Assumptions: a salon with 4 stylists takes 400 bookings a month, 20 of them from new clients found through a marketplace. The average first visit is £50.
- On a per-member plan at £8 a member: £32 a month.
- On a flat £30 plan plus £18 per extra member: £30 + (3 × £18) = £84 a month.
- Marketplace fees on 20 new clients, at an assumed 20% of a £50 first visit: £200 a month.
The made-up figures matter less than the shape: for many salons, marketplace fees on new clients cost more than the subscription. Find out exactly how a platform decides a client is "new", and whether a client who books through your own link counts. Our Fresha alternative and Booksy alternative comparisons go into this for each platform, and the OpenTable alternative comparison does the same for restaurants.
Check you can leave
Switching booking software is hard, so check the exit before you enter.
- Data export. Can you export customers, future bookings and booking history as a spreadsheet, yourself, at any time?
- Customer ownership. On marketplaces, are the customers yours or the platform's? Can the platform market other businesses to them?
- Contract length. Monthly, or 12 months that renew automatically?
- Your booking link. If you leave, every link on Google, Instagram and your website breaks. Keep a list of where you've posted it.
Data protection is your job too
Your booking software holds your customers' names, phone numbers and sometimes health details (allergies, medical history for treatments). You're the controller of that data; the software company processes it for you. Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, you need a written contract with them covering how they handle it. The ICO's guidance on contracts between controllers and processors lists what it should include. Most vendors publish a data processing agreement. Ask for it, and check where the data is stored and who their sub-processors are.
Plan for the bookings that start as conversations
Back to that first week of counting. If a lot of your bookings start as a call or a message, a booking form alone won't catch them. You have three choices: answer every one yourself, hire someone to, or have an assistant that can talk and book.
That's what Klugon does. Klugon's AI receptionist answers phone calls, website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, and books appointments while it talks. Our page on AI appointment booking has the detail. Be clear about what it is and isn't:
- It books into Klugon's own built-in calendar, using your opening hours, service lengths, staff, buffers, minimum notice and closed dates.
- On voice or social Business plans and up, it can also check Google, Outlook and Apple calendars for busy times, after setup. See the Google Calendar integration.
- It doesn't send confirmations, reminders or text messages, and it doesn't take deposits or no-show fees. The customer gets a booking reference in the conversation.
- It has no point-of-sale, gift cards or loyalty scheme.
So Klugon isn't a like-for-like replacement for full salon or restaurant management software. It suits businesses whose bookings mostly start as conversations, and who are happy for the assistant's calendar to be the diary. If you rely on automatic reminders or deposits, keep a booking system that does those.
A sample phone booking. The business is made up.
Questions to ask in a demo
Sales demos show the best case. Bring your awkward cases instead, and ask the vendor to show each one live:
- A client who books two services back to back with different staff.
- A stylist who works Tuesdays and alternate Saturdays.
- A closure for a bank holiday, and a booking request that lands on it.
- A customer who wants to move their appointment by text or message at 9 pm.
- Exporting every customer and future booking to a spreadsheet, right now.
If the answer to any of these is "we're working on that", treat it as a no. Type-specific needs differ too: our pages for salons and restaurants cover what those businesses ask about most.
How to choose booking software: a checklist
- Count a week of bookings by source.
- Identify your booking type: appointments, tables, classes, resources or jobs.
- List your availability rules and test each in a trial.
- Decide whether you need reminders, deposits or no-show fees.
- Check the channels: website, Google, social, phone.
- Work out the real monthly cost, including marketplace and payment fees, for a typical month.
- Check data export, contract length and customer ownership.
- Ask for the data processing agreement and sub-processor list.
- Plan for bookings that start as calls or messages.
- Run a two-week trial with real bookings before you move everything across.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for in booking software?
Availability rules that match how you work, the channels your customers use, reminders if no-shows cost you money, clear pricing and an easy way to export your data.
Is free booking software really free?
Often the subscription is free or low, and the platform makes money from payment processing, marketplace fees on new clients or paid add-ons. Work out a typical month's total.
What's the difference between appointment and reservation software?
Appointment software books people's time, like a stylist or a physio. Reservation software books tables and covers for restaurants. Few products do both well.
Should I use a marketplace like Fresha or Booksy?
It can bring new clients, but check the fee for new clients and how "new" is defined. Many businesses use the marketplace for discovery and push repeat clients to a direct link.
Can an AI receptionist replace booking software?
For some businesses. Klugon books into its own calendar by phone, chat and messaging, but it doesn't send reminders or take deposits, so businesses that rely on those should keep a booking system.
How long does it take to switch booking software?
It depends on how many future bookings you need to move. Many businesses run both systems for a few weeks, taking new bookings in the new one until the old diary empties.
Do I need a data processing agreement with my booking software?
Yes, under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR. The software company processes your customers' data for you, so you need a written contract covering it.
If your bookings mostly start as conversations, the pricing page shows Klugon's plans, and the 7-day trial lets you test the assistant in your browser with your own services.