StyleSeat: Scheduling & Marketing Service for Salons

What is StyleSeat?

StyleSeat provides scheduling, payment and marketing services for beauty salons.

How it works

Salon owners who want to sign up pay a $35 monthly fee. The site also charges a fee to clients who book your services through the app.

StyleSeat review

When we first reviewed StyleSeat, the site was well-loved by both cosmetologists and customers. It provided an inexpensive marketing and scheduling service that all parties said was well worth the price.

But, when we came back for a periodic update in January of 2025, thing looked far less rosy. (All reviews on SideHusl.com are updated every few years to ensure their accuracy.) StyleSeat increased its prices and appears to have developed a number of glitches with its app.

Now some salon owners and their clients complain that the service has become expensive and inefficient.

What they do

But we’re getting ahead ourselves.

StyleSeat is a beauty salon management service that handles scheduling, payments and marketing for salons. A few years ago, salons could sign up and pay only a payment processing fee. All other fees were paid for by their clients.

Now StyleSeat charges a $35 monthly fee to salons, plus a 3% payment processing fee. Clients also pay an additional fee when they book through the app. Additionally, where clients used to be able to pay the salon in cash, if they wished, the service now requires that everyone pay via credit card.

The site collects a deposit for every appointment and imposes cancellation fees on anyone who cancels at the last minute or doesn’t show up. That would normally be a valuable service. But clients maintain that glitches in the app can stop them from cancelling appointments with plenty of notice. Thus, the fees rankle.

Salon owners also say they sometimes have trouble accessing information about their upcoming appointments on the app.

Some owners still love it

That said, some salon owners still love the site because it eliminates the need to hire a receptionist or cashier to make appointments and collect for services. StyleSeat does all that automatically.

StyleSeat also does not manage your pricing. You decide what to charge for a haircut, blow-out, color, manicures, threadings and the like. The site simply lets people know where they can find these services; provides photos of your past work; schedules appointments and collects payments.

Beauticians who are trying to build up a clientele — or who offer a specialized service that people might not know about — may benefit from the advertising.

However, if you have a well-establish salon, you’d have to seriously consider whether StyleSeat adds enough value to make it worth your while.

What they do

People who go to the site can However, it does provide marketing by listing your salon whenever a consumer in your geographic area searches for a relevant service. These listings include your prices and reviews, as well as photographs of your services/clients.

When new customers book your salon through StyleSeat, StyleSeat takes a deposit. If that client cancels at the last minute, the site will also charge the client a cancellation fee. Cancellation fees amount to 25% of the booking — in other words, if the client booked a $100 hair cut, the cancellation fee is $25. If the customer doesn’t show up at all, the cancellation fee is 50% of the booking amount.

This can be a benefit, allowing you to get compensated for no-shows. But it may be something you’ll want to warn existing clients about, if you end up directing them to book through StyleSeat.

Building business

Charging $35 monthly isn’t much, if this site helps you build your business or eliminate the need for clerical staff. However, it might not be necessary for salons that have a strong repeat clientele.

Moreover, beauticians complain that their clients get hit with additional fees, which makes booking through the app expensive. And, because the site adds cancellation fees — even when you might not — you might want to warn your regular clients about them to avoid negative surprises later.

Getting paid

StyleSeat offers instant pay for those who want it. Otherwise, the site will pay you by direct deposit once daily, assuming your account has accumulated more than $10.

Recommendations

If you need the scheduling service and don’t like having people pay in person, we think $35 a month isn’t an exorbitant cost to outsource this job. But because of the at least occasional app issues, we consider this just an average opportunity now.

Another site you might want to consider, if you’re willing to travel to do hair and/or make-up/nails, etc. for special occasions: Priv, which offers high returns for cosmetologists.

If you want to sign up with StyleSeat, you can find them here.

What their users say (from GooglePlay)

Recently, the problems escalated. I stopped receiving appointment reminders. And the app claimed my phone number was invalid, even though all my account info was correct. After tried so many way, finally I reached out to their live chat for support, I was met with unhelpful advice: they suggested I change my phone number instead of checking their system for issues. I’ve decided to stop using StyleSeat entirely, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Do not use the app for this it is unreliable and will cancel your appointments within 24 hours because it didn’t connect it to the salon.

Terrible! Attempted to cancel an appointment after text sent 72 hours.Went to app, not showing appointment. Contacted my stylist who cannot access account either. Then tried to remove my credit card, it isn’t showing which is an issue for me. Then it just charged me for a service that “didn’t” show on screen. This is a horrible app and has been circling for 2 days even after I uninstalled and re-installed. Don’t Subject your clients to this app. Too much work to get your hair done. Aauuuggghhh!

from GetApp

Not only do you pay a monthly fees, your clients pay booking fees. If a client cancels last minute and another clients books that spot, they’ll pay $10 that goes to THEM, NOT YOU.

Extremely convenient for both myself and my client. They can book an appointment and see availability from nearly anywhere their phone, their computer etc. I can see what exactly they need done and make my schedule work better for me so everyone is happy.

I love that I can require a deposit. It is super easy for my clients to book an appointment and it gives me the choice of putting up pictures which is a great help for my clients. I absolutely love that I can link it to my Instagram or any social media.

I stopped using it when StyleSeat started charging stylists to use the software. Didn’t feel like it was worth it at the time.

(Google Play)

Great app, works well, my clients like it. The only thing is that for $35 a month this app loads very slow. I have a note 9 so it it’s not because of my side. Please work on the quickness of the app.