Do I need paid booking software as a solo beauty therapist, barber or stylist?
By Bruno Melani, founder of Gaplessly · · 5 min read
The short answer
Probably not yet.
A free plan is enough for a solo beauty therapist, barber or stylist doing about 40 bookings a month as long as its cap sits above that number, reminders are included and nothing you need sits behind a paywall.
Gaplessly's Solo plan is free up to 50 bookings a month and A$19 in a busier one, for one person, with a booking page you can link from Instagram, email reminders and a client directory.
What a one-chair business needs
- A calendar clients can book into, with your hours and your services.
- A link you can put in your Instagram bio, so you need no website.
- Reminders, so clients turn up.
- A client record: name, mobile, email and what you did last time.
- A way to take a deposit or hold a card when no-shows start costing you real money.
Anything beyond that is a nice extra until you are busy. The first four are what a free plan should carry. The fifth is where plans start charging.
The caps to check on any free plan
- Bookings a month, and what happens at the cap. Does booking stop, or do you just pay?
- How many people or calendars it allows. A free plan that is one person only is fine for you and a problem the day you hire.
- A limit on clients you can store.
- Whether reminders are included or metered, and who pays for texts.
- Whether a booking page is included, and what is on it.
- What the vendor has promised if the free plan changes.
Our terms: Solo is free up to 50 bookings a month and has no limit on the number of client records. Past that with no card on file, we warn you for 7 days by email and in the dashboard, and then online booking pauses. The booking page stays up saying to call, and bookings already made keep working. Adding a card moves you to the A$19 month instead. We email at least 30 days before a price changes and will not remove a core feature of a plan, such as taking bookings or your booking page, without 30 days’ notice.
What a month costs at your volume
At 40 bookings a month you are under the band, so Solo costs nothing. In a month with 55 bookings it costs A$19 for the whole month, excluding GST, and that is a flat fee, not a charge per booking. We take no commission on any booking or deposit either way.
What Solo includes and what costs extra
Booking page and link
- Included or extra
- Included
Email reminders
- Included or extra
- Included, unmetered
Client directory
- Included or extra
- Included
Deposits and no-show protection
- Included or extra
- A$14.99 a month on Solo, or from Growth up
Text reminders
- Included or extra
- Growth and Pro only, A$0.09 per text
Your own web address
- Included or extra
- A$14.99 a month on Solo and Growth
Intake and consent forms
- Included or extra
- A$14.99 a month on Solo and Growth
A second bookable person
- Included or extra
- Growth includes 3, from A$59 a month
Square’s free plan
Square Appointments has a free plan with unlimited staff and calendars, which is hard to beat on price. Its Australian pricing page lists cancellation policy and fees as not included on the free plan, only on Plus and Premium (read on 2 November 2026). If you take payments on Square already and do not need no-show protection yet, staying there makes sense. Our comparison page covers what Square’s no-show protection does and does not hold.
A booking link without a website
You do not need a website. Your booking page has its own link on gaplessly.com that you paste into your Instagram bio, your Google profile and your messages. Your own web address is the one paid extra here, A$14.99 a month on Solo and Growth. It is worth it when you want clients to see your name in the address, not before.
When to start paying
- You are regularly past 50 bookings a month.
- No-shows cost you more than a deposits add-on does. That is the usual first reason to pay.
- You want text reminders, which start on the paid plans.
- You hire, and need a second bookable person: Growth includes 3, and Pro goes higher.