Migrating from Davinci in 2026: honest comparison and step-by-step guide

When to stay with Da Vinci

Honesty first: there are good reasons not to switch. **You are happy and well settled in Da Vinci** Da Vinci is the market leader in the Netherlands with an extensive, mature feature set. If everything runs smoothly and your team works comfortably with it, there is no reason to switch for the sake of switching. **You rely on specific Da Vinci features or integrations** Have you set up workflows, reports or integrations that work exactly the way you want? Then carefully weigh whether another system covers that one-to-one before you move. **Your team has limited IT affinity** Switching takes adjustment. If your staff currently navigate the familiar interface smoothly, the learning curve of a new system is a real investment of time. Allow one to two weeks per team member. **Your appointment book is still building and your client base is small** Fewer than 100 active clients and still building your regular clientele? There is no urgent reason to switch now. Build your base first. **You work entirely in Dutch and do not need a multilingual interface** Da Vinci is fully in Dutch. If you only work with Dutch-speaking clients and colleagues, a multilingual interface is not a reason to switch.

When switching does make sense

There are concrete situations where the balance shifts. **You want to be able to start for free** Da Vinci offers a free trial, but after that a paid subscription from €27.95 per month. Salonnare has a permanently free tier (€0): one staff member and 50 bookings per month. Ideal if you are just starting out or want to test calmly with no end date. **You want an interface in several languages** Salonnare is available in Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish - handy for international clients or a multilingual team. Da Vinci is Dutch-language. **You want payments directly into your own account** Salonnare connects via OAuth directly to your own Mollie or Stripe account. Payments land directly in your business account - no platform intermediary, no waiting times. **You want a fixed monthly price with no commission per booking** Salonnare charges a flat monthly amount - Free €0, Starter €29 or Pro €59. No commission, no percentage of revenue, no per-booking fees. The price you see is the price you pay. **You want to set deposits and no-show fees per service** In Salonnare you set a deposit amount or no-show fee per treatment. Clients who book online immediately see the policy for that specific service, and on a no-show Salonnare collects automatically via Mollie or Stripe. **You want to be able to export client data at any time** In Salonnare you export all client data whenever you want as CSV. That keeps your data fully in your own hands and means you are never locked in.

What Salonnare offers that you already know from Da Vinci

Not losing valuable features during the switch is the minimum requirement. Here is what you will find. **POS with VAT split** Salonnare has a full point-of-sale system with native VAT splitting. You sell services and products from the same checkout, with receipt printer support. **Loyalty programme** Rewarding regular clients with a points system is fully configurable in Salonnare: points per euro spent, redemption threshold, expiry date. **No-show fees per service** Set a deposit amount or no-show fee per treatment. Clients who book online immediately see the policy for that specific service. Salonnare collects automatically via Mollie or Stripe on no-show. **Inventory management and product sales** Create products, track stock levels and set low-stock alerts - all standard in Salonnare. Products are sold directly from the POS. **Staff management and schedules** Add staff members, set availability per day, and link services to specific stylists. Clients choose their preferred stylist when booking. **Gift cards** Generate gift cards, send them by email and process them directly at checkout - fully built in, no extra subscription needed.

Exporting client data from Da Vinci and importing into Salonnare

Migrating client data is one of the most practical hurdles. Here is how to handle it. **Exporting from Da Vinci** Da Vinci is online software with a client and export function. Via the client section you export your client database to CSV or Excel. The data you want to bring over: name, email address, phone number, date of birth and where possible treatment history. If you cannot find it, check the help function or contact the Da Vinci helpdesk. **What you may not get** Internal treatment notes stored per stylist are sometimes not exportable in a generic format. Before you migrate, manually spot-check your top 100 clients: are all relevant notes included? If not, export those manually before switching. **Importing into Salonnare** Salonnare's CSV import tool accepts the standard columns name, email and phone number. Upload the file via Settings - Import clients, map the columns in a visual step, and all clients are immediately in your new system. **Historical appointments** Historical appointments are not transferable as calendar items. They are not needed for the daily operation of your new system. Your clients simply book again via the new link.

Migrating from Da Vinci to Salonnare in 6 steps

The migration process is manageable if you tackle it in the right order. Budget three to six hours spread over a working week. **Step 1: create a free account** Go to salonnare.com/en/free and create a free account. No credit card needed. Your salon runs immediately on its own subdomain. **Step 2: enter services and prices** Enter your treatment menu. This is a good moment to clean up: remove services you no longer offer, set VAT rates per service, and set the correct duration per treatment so that automatic scheduling works correctly. **Step 3: add staff and set schedules** Add your staff members and set working hours. Salonnare links availability directly to the booking page: clients can only book in open slots. **Step 4: import clients** Export from Da Vinci and upload the CSV into Salonnare. Map name, email and phone. After the import, spot-check ten clients for completeness. **Step 5: connect payment methods** Go to Settings - Payments and connect your Mollie or Stripe account via OAuth. iDEAL, credit card and other payment methods work immediately. **Step 6: set no-show policy and go live** Set a deposit or no-show fee per service. Then copy the URL of your Salonnare booking page and put it on your website, Google Business profile and social media. Send a short email to your regular clients: "Our booking system has been updated - please use this link going forward." Keep Da Vinci active for 30 days for historical lookups, then cancel your Da Vinci subscription - it is cancellable monthly.

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