If you already run a WordPress site for a hair salon, barbershop or spa, you do not need another marketplace to take an appointment. You need a booking form on your URL that understands a chair: a colour that processes while the next cut starts, two services on one ticket, two people on one client.
That is what a WordPress salon booking plugin is for. Salon Booking System lives on the site you already host, charges 0% commission, and keeps client records in your WordPress database. The free plugin has unlimited bookings, staff and services (no card payments). Pro starts at €89/year with a 15-day trial.
This is the commercial hub for that plugin — not a “top 7.” Full comparisons: Salon Booking System vs Amelia and Salon Booking System vs Bookly.
A WordPress plugin is not a marketplace
Fresha and Square Appointments are hosted products. The calendar lives on their servers. Clients often book on a URL that is not yours. New-client traffic can sit next to competing salons. Fresha’s published model charges around 20% on new marketplace clients (minimum $6) plus subscription tiers. We already ran that maths in Fresha alternatives. Square is a different hosted stack; the review is Square Appointments.
A WordPress salon plugin is the other model:
- The booking page is a page on your domain. Your SEO, your brand, no marketplace chrome beside the form.
- 0% commission on the appointment. You pay a licence — or nothing, if the free build covers you. The 100th new client from Google costs the same as the first.
- Client data stays on your site, in your WordPress database, on the hosting you already pay for. You export it. You are not renting the diary.
That is the switch people mean when they search for a salon booking plugin after a year on Fresha. They are not asking for another app. They are asking to own the booking again.
Salon Booking System has been on the WordPress.org directory since 2015. Public listing, 27 August 2026: 4.4/5 from 180 reviews, 750,000+ downloads, 2,000+ active installs. Italy-based; support in English, Spanish and Italian. Those are directory facts, not a ranking.
If you do not have WordPress, this plugin is the wrong product. Use a hosted system and be honest about the commission. If you do have WordPress, the next fork is not a feature checklist. It is whether the plugin was built for chairs or for every industry that books a slot.
Why a salon-shaped plugin, not Amelia or Bookly
Amelia and Bookly are the two WordPress names salon owners actually compare. Both keep bookings on your site. Neither takes a marketplace cut. Both are still general appointment engines.
Amelia is appointments and events: clinics, photographers, gyms, ticketed workshops — plus a salon landing that calls it “the only WordPress salon plugin.” It is not the only one. It is a general plugin with a salon page. WordPress.org: 90,000+ installs, 4.6/5 from 785 reviews. Lite is one employee. There is no paid trial; there is a 15-day money-back. If events and tickets are a first-class product, Amelia is built for that. If your week is cut, colour, blow-dry and two basins, you are adapting a generic wizard.
Bookly is generic WordPress appointments — salons, tutors, dentists, events. 60,000+ installs. Free is limited to 5 services and 1 staff. Pro is $39/year. In their own alternative posts they name Salon Booking System as the vertical specialist. That frame is theirs, not a slogan we invented.
A salon-shaped plugin starts from the floor:
- Processing time. Colour is not a 90-minute block on one chair. The dye processes; the stylist is free; the client comes back for the rinse.
- Colour + cut on one ticket. One visit, two services, sometimes a treatment on top. That is a salon checkout, not three appointments.
- Multi-assistant. A colourist and a cutter on the same client, or a four-hand spa treatment. One booking, two people.
- Staff app. The floor does not live in wp-admin. Basic includes a staff mobile app.
- Free unlimited staff. Not Amelia Lite’s one employee, not Bookly free’s one staff and five services. You can run a three-chair diary before you pay.
Those settings decide the week. A polished events admin does not replace them. A $39 generic Pro does not either, if colour-plus-cut is still an add-on puzzle. The long versions: vs Amelia and vs Bookly — same WordPress box, different product idea.
Short comparison (published facts only)
Figures below are from official pages and WordPress.org as of 27 August 2026. Amelia’s checkout often runs first-year discounts, so no Amelia list price is quoted — check their pricing page before you buy. Bookly Pro is the published $39/year figure. Fresha commission is the published new-client model.
| Salon Booking System | Amelia | Bookly | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | WordPress plugin for salons, barbers, spas | WordPress plugin for appointments + events | Generic WordPress appointments | Marketplace / hosted SaaS |
| Commission | 0% | 0% (plugin) | 0% (plugin) | ~20% on new marketplace clients / min. $6, plus subscription tiers |
| Client data | Your WordPress site | Your WordPress site | Your WordPress site | Their platform |
| Free version | Unlimited bookings, staff and services. No card payments | Lite = 1 employee | 5 services / 1 staff | Free core software; marketplace + processing fees apply |
| Paid, one salon | Basic €89/year (1 site, Stripe/PayPal, staff app). Business €169/year (2 sites, all add-ons, multi-location, white label, WooCommerce) | Uncertain — live page is often a first-year sale. Not quoted as a list price | Pro $39/year | Subscription tiers on top of commission |
| Trial / refund | 15-day trial of the paid plugin | No paid trial. 15-day money-back | See Bookly’s site (not quoted here) | Hosted signup; not a WordPress plugin |
| WordPress.org (27 Aug 2026) | 4.4/5 from 180 reviews; 750,000+ downloads; 2,000+ active installs; directory since 2015 | 4.6/5 from 785 reviews; 90,000+ installs | 60,000+ installs | Not a plugin |
Those ratings are public WordPress.org scores, not a league table.
Free vs Pro: when the free plugin is enough
The free plugin on WordPress.org is a working salon diary, not a three-booking teaser. Unlimited bookings, staff and services. No card required to install it.
Stay on free if you take payment at the till or by transfer, you need the calendar on the site this month, and you are not asking for a card deposit yet. A solo barber, a two-chair colour studio, a spa that still takes cash at reception — that is the free build.
Trial Basic (€89/year, 1 site) when you want Stripe or PayPal, a deposit against no-shows, or the staff app so the floor is not sharing the admin login.
Trial Business (€169/year, 2 sites) when you need all add-ons, multi-location, white label and WooCommerce in one licence. Two URLs — or one salon plus a second brand — is the usual reason, not “more bookings.” Bookings are already unlimited.
The paid plugin has a 15-day trial. Use it on a real Saturday, not as a second research tab.
Start here
Primary: Start the 15-day trial — paid plugin, Basic or Business, on your WordPress site.
Secondary: Install the free plugin from WordPress.org — unlimited bookings, staff and services, no card payments.
Leaving a marketplace? Trial first. Replacing a paper book? Install free and see whether the diary holds.
Comparisons already on this site
These four pages are live. Read the one that matches the tool you are on today:
- Fresha alternatives — commission, marketplace, when to leave
- Square Appointments review — hosted POS + booking vs a plugin on your site
- SimplyBook.me pricing — booking caps, feature slots, annual cost
- SimplyBook.me alternatives — hosted schedulers vs WordPress
WordPress plugin peers sit under this hub:
- Salon Booking System vs Amelia — appointments and events vs a salon plugin
- Salon Booking System vs Bookly — generic appointments, add-on stacking, lifetime licences
FAQ
Do I need WordPress?
Yes. Salon Booking System is a WordPress plugin. It needs a WordPress site and hosting. If you do not want to run WordPress, use a hosted product and budget for their fees.
Is there a commission on bookings?
No. 0% on the appointment. Free is free. Basic is €89/year for one site. Business is €169/year for two sites. Stripe or PayPal processing fees are the gateway’s, not a marketplace cut. Fresha’s published new-client commission is a different model — see Fresha alternatives.
How is this different from Amelia?
Amelia is a general appointments-and-events plugin with a salon landing. Lite is one employee; no paid trial, 15-day money-back. Salon Booking System is built for chairs: processing time, colour + cut, multi-assistant bookings, a staff app on Basic, unlimited staff on free. If events and tickets are the product, Amelia is closer. If the product is a salon floor, start here. The long comparison is Salon Booking System vs Amelia.
How is this different from Fresha?
Fresha is a marketplace. You get their discovery channel; they take a published ~20% (minimum $6) on new marketplace clients, plus subscription tiers. A WordPress salon booking plugin has no marketplace and no commission. Clients book on your site. Data stays on your site. That trade-off is the Fresha piece.
What are the limits of the free plugin?
Unlimited bookings, staff and services. You do not pay to add a third stylist. You do not get in-plugin card payments (Stripe/PayPal). That is the line. Need a deposit, the staff app, or WooCommerce? Take the 15-day trial. Bookly free is 5 services and 1 staff; Amelia Lite is 1 employee. Those are not the same free.
You already have the website. Put the diary on it. Trial the paid plugin if you need cards and the staff app. Install free if you only need the calendar this week.
