AI chatbots for beauty salons: which one fits your salon
Yevhen Kurapov, co-founder · Updated Oct 5, 2026
Salons on Fresha, Booksy, Vagaro or Treatwell should first try the AI their booking system sells, which mostly answers the phone or texts. If clients write on Instagram or WhatsApp, you need a chatbot that answers there. If the phone is the problem, look at a voice receptionist.
We make ChatPal, one of the tools below, and list its limits on the same terms as everyone else's.
Most messages a salon gets after closing are the same few questions: how much is it, are you free on Saturday, where are you, can I move my appointment. If nobody answers until the morning, the client may have booked somewhere else by then.
This page compares six tools that answer those questions for you.
What a salon chatbot has to handle
Four jobs come up again and again:
- Prices and service details. "How much is balayage?" is rarely one number. A useful answer gives the starting price, what it includes and how long it takes.
- Availability and booking. Either the tool reads your calendar and books, or it takes the client's name and preferred time and your team confirms. Both work. What goes wrong is a bot that sounds as if it booked when it only took a request.
- Knowing when to stop. Colour corrections, complaints and anything about an allergic reaction should go to a person.
- Reminders. Every booking system on this list sends them, and ChatPal can send reminders in the chat for the bookings it makes.
None of them can judge a photo of someone's hair and quote for it, or talk a nervous client through a big change. Keep those for your team.
How we chose
We started from how salon clients get in touch: Instagram and WhatsApp messages, phone calls, and the booking apps' own listings. For each tool we checked four things on 27 September 2026: where its AI answers, what it books into, what it costs a salon with one to five chairs, and whether an owner can set it up without a developer.
We read each tool's own pricing and help pages; we did not test the other five tools hands-on. Where a price comes from a third-party breakdown, the card says so. The tools are grouped by the situation they suit, not ranked.
Six tools, by situation
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Fresha | Salons already on a booking system | £14.95 a month for one person or £9.95 per team member; AI Concierge £79.95 per location, all + VAT (third-party UK figures) |
| Booksy | Salons already on a booking system | £40 a month in the UK plus £5 per extra staff member |
| Vagaro | Salons already on a booking system | $23.99 a month in the US plus $10 per extra employee calendar, up to seven |
| Treatwell | Salons already on a booking system | Subscription not listed; AI Receptionist from £69 a month |
| ChatPal | Clients who write on Instagram or WhatsApp | Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500 and $50 for 1,500, billed monthly |
| BookingBee.ai | Salons where the phone rings most | $99 a month for up to 8 staff, billed monthly |
Salons already on a booking system
Fresha
Price: £14.95 a month for one person or £9.95 per team member; AI Concierge £79.95 per location, all + VAT (third-party UK figures)
Good at
- AI Concierge reads your Fresha services and calendar and handles calls and messages
- Facebook and Instagram booking buttons at no extra cost
Keep in mind
- Instagram messages are not in Fresha's inbox yet
- 20% fee on new clients who find you through the Fresha marketplace (third-party figure)
Booksy
Price: £40 a month in the UK plus £5 per extra staff member
Good at
- AI Receptionist answers calls in English and Spanish, free for at least 12 months for the first 500 businesses in the beta
Keep in mind
- The AI answers phone calls only and is still in beta
- If you turn on Boost, a 30% one-time fee on the first visit of each client Booksy's marketplace brings you, minimum £5
Vagaro
Price: $23.99 a month in the US plus $10 per extra employee calendar, up to seven
Good at
- Its chatbot, Vera Receptionist, answers from the services and details already in your account
Keep in mind
- Vera Receptionist costs $10 or £10 a month extra
- It answers on your Vagaro listing page, and by SMS only with a Text Marketing plan; not in Instagram or WhatsApp
Treatwell
Price: Subscription not listed; AI Receptionist from £69 a month
Good at
- The AI Receptionist takes your services, staff and hours from Treatwell
- No commission on repeat bookings
Keep in mind
- 35% commission on the first booking of each new client from the marketplace
- The AI answers the phone for now; WhatsApp is promised later
Clients who write on Instagram or WhatsApp
ChatPal
Price: Free for 100 replies a month; $20 for 500 and $50 for 1,500, billed monthly
Good at
- Answers Instagram DMs, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and your website chat from your own price list, 24/7
- Books the visit right in the chat: the client taps a free time, and it lands in Altegio, Google Calendar or Calendly
- Sends appointment reminders, and booking works on the free plan too
Keep in mind
- Chat only: it doesn't answer phone calls
- Books into Altegio, Google Calendar or Calendly, not Fresha, Booksy, Vagaro or Treatwell
Salons where the phone rings most
BookingBee.ai
Price: $99 a month for up to 8 staff, billed monthly
Good at
- Answers calls and books straight into Meevo, Booker, Phorest, Mindbody or Square
Keep in mind
- Phone calls only, no Instagram or WhatsApp
- No integration with Fresha, Booksy, Vagaro or Treatwell
Where the AI answers, and what it books into
Two things separate these tools: where the AI talks to your clients, and whether it can put the booking in your diary. Fresha launched its AI Concierge in May 2026, and Treatwell its AI Receptionist in September, so this is changing fast. For now, most booking systems answer by phone, by text or on their own listing pages, not in Instagram.
| Tool | Where its AI answers | Instagram messages | Books into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | Calls and messages (AI Concierge add-on) | Not yet | Fresha |
| Booksy | Phone calls (beta) | No | Booksy |
| Vagaro | Vagaro listing page and SMS | No | Vagaro |
| Treatwell | Phone calls; WhatsApp promised | No | Treatwell |
| BookingBee.ai | Phone calls | No | Meevo, Booker, Phorest, Mindbody, Square |
| ChatPal | Website, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram | Yes | Altegio, Google Calendar, Calendly |
If you use Booksy or Fresha and want Instagram messages answered by AI today, you need two tools: your booking system, and a chatbot that answers and passes the booking to your team. Fresha does include an Instagram booking button at no extra cost, which helps with the booking but not with the questions.
What it costs a small salon
Take a three-stylist salon in the UK that gets about ten message threads a day, with three replies in each.
- Fresha: about £30 for three team members plus £79.95 for the AI Concierge, so around £110 a month before VAT, plus 20% on new marketplace clients (third-party UK figures).
- Booksy: £40 plus £5 for each of two extra staff, so £50 a month. The AI Receptionist is free for the first 500 businesses in its beta and only answers calls.
- Vagaro: in the US, $23.99 plus $10 for each of two extra calendars and $10 for the Vera Receptionist chatbot, so about $54 a month. Replies by SMS also need a Text Marketing plan.
- Treatwell: no public subscription price. The AI Receptionist starts at £69 a month, plus 35% on each new client's first booking.
- BookingBee.ai: $99 a month for up to eight staff, on top of your booking system.
- ChatPal: ten threads a day with three replies each is about 900 replies a month, which fits the $50 plan (1,500 replies). The free plan's 100 replies last about three days at that pace, enough to see how it handles real questions. ChatPal does not replace a booking system, so if you keep Fresha or Booksy, add the two costs together.
Prices were checked on 27 September 2026. Fresha's pricing page shows prices for the visitor's country and we checked from Spain, so its UK figures come from a third-party breakdown.
Setting one up
Tools built into your booking system take services and hours from it. For the rest, the work is the same:
- Write your price list the way a client asks about it: service, starting price, what's included, how long it takes.
- Add opening hours, address and parking, and your rules: deposits, patch tests, late cancellations.
- Decide what always goes to a person, and who gets notified.
- Test it with ten real questions from last month's messages before you switch it on.
Here is ChatPal with the price list of a demo salon we set up for this page. The demo has no calendar connected, so the assistant takes the request instead of booking; with Altegio, Google Calendar or Calendly connected, it offers free times and books.
If your clients write on Instagram, the ManyChat alternatives comparison covers more tools for that channel. For ChatPal itself, see how it works for salons.
For the Instagram setup step by step, see how to answer Instagram DMs automatically.
To let it book appointments, see how to book from your messages, and for what those messages cost you in time, the cost guide.