Best 5 Platforms for an Appointment Booking Chat for Barbershops

Booksy has emerged as a popular appointment‑booking platform for beauty and barber professionals worldwide. The service focuses on providing an intuitive mobile and web interface where customers can view real‑time availability, book appointments, and receive automated reminders. Booksy’s standout feature is its emphasis on the customer experience: the app offers a personalized booking flow that can recommend complementary services (e.g., beard grooming with a haircut) and allows shops to set up custom pricing and promotions. For barbershops, Booksy provides a flexible inventory management system that tracks services, staff, and location. It also integrates with payment gateways such as Stripe and PayPal, enabling clients to pay online at the time of booking. The platform supports marketing tools, including email campaigns, social media sharing, and loyalty programs. Booksy’s analytics dashboard gives shop owners insight into booking patterns, revenue streams, and customer retention metrics. Pricing for Booksy is structured around a commission model. The app is free to use for customers; however, barbershops pay a 10% fee per booking. For advanced features—such as custom branding, advanced analytics, and priority support—shops can upgrade to Booksy Pro, which costs $79 per month. Key features include real‑time appointment scheduling, staff allocation, payment integration, marketing automation, loyalty rewards, mobile-friendly booking experience, and analytics reporting.

Calendly is a widely used scheduling platform that has grown beyond its original focus on meeting coordination to become a versatile appointment management tool. For barbershops, Calendly offers a clean, web‑based booking interface that can be embedded on a shop’s website or shared via a link. The platform allows owners to define multiple event types—such as a 30‑minute haircut or a 60‑minute beard trim—and set availability, buffer times, and minimum scheduling periods. Calendly’s integration ecosystem is extensive: it connects with Google Calendar, Outlook, iCloud, Zoom, and many other tools. For payments, Calendly offers a partnership with Stripe, enabling customers to pay at the time of booking. The platform also supports automated email confirmations, reminders, and follow‑up surveys, which help maintain engagement. Pricing tiers: a free Basic plan supports one user and one event type; the Premium plan at $8 per seat per month adds multiple event types, custom branding, and advanced notifications; the Pro plan at $12 per seat per month includes advanced reporting and integrations; and the Teams plan at $16 per seat per month offers shared calendars and advanced admin controls. Calendly’s main draw for barbershops is its simplicity and reliability. The platform is known for its minimal setup time and strong customer support.

Acuity Scheduling, now part of Squarespace, is a robust online booking solution that caters to a wide range of service‑based businesses, including barbershops. The platform offers a highly configurable booking page where clients can see real‑time availability, select services, and receive instant confirmations. Acuity allows barbers to set custom intake forms, collect payment via Stripe, Square, PayPal, or Apple Pay, and even integrate with Zoom for virtual appointments. One of Acuity’s strengths is its focus on client intake: the platform can ask pre‑booking questions (e.g., preferred barber, hair length, or special requests) and store this data for future visits. The system also supports automated text and email reminders, follow‑up surveys, and a client portal where customers can view past appointments and reschedule. Pricing tiers: the free plan supports one user and one site; the Plus plan at $15/month includes advanced intake forms and automation; the Premium plan at $50/month adds priority support, multiple staff accounts, and custom branding; and the Enterprise plan is available by contact. Acuity’s interface is user‑friendly, and its integration with Squarespace makes it a natural fit for shops that host their own websites.

Square Appointments is a comprehensive scheduling solution that is tightly integrated with Square’s suite of point‑of‑sale and payment products. Designed for small to medium businesses, the platform offers a web and mobile booking interface that customers can use to schedule haircuts, beard trims, or other grooming services. The appointment calendar syncs seamlessly with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar, ensuring no double‑booking. Square Appointments provides a built‑in payment system where clients can pay online at the time of booking via Square, PayPal, or Apple Pay. The platform also handles automatic email reminders, SMS notifications, and a client portal for rescheduling. For barbershops, the ability to set staff availability, allocate specific services to particular barbers, and offer retail product upsells during booking is a significant advantage. Pricing: Square Appointments offers a free plan for individual practitioners, but the paid plan—Square Appointments Pro—costs $50 per month and includes unlimited staff accounts, advanced reporting, and priority support. Team plans are available for larger shops. Its all‑in‑one nature, especially when combined with Square’s POS, makes Square Appointments a reliable choice for barbershops that rely on in‑person payments and want a unified system.