Salonnare vs Phorest - which salon software fits you?

Pricing and cost model

Salonnare starts at EUR 0 per month. The free plan covers 1 team member and 50 bookings per month, with no credit card and no strings attached. As you grow, Starter is EUR 9.99 per month (EUR 99.90 per year) and Pro is EUR 14.99 per month (EUR 149.90 per year). There is no marketplace commission (Salonnare's platform fee of 0.5%, min. EUR 0.30, per transaction still applies).

According to their pricing page, Phorest has four plans (Starter, Grow, Ultimate and Elite), all with unlimited staff and devices and aimed at salons with 3+ staff; prices are only available via a quote, and Phorest does not offer a free trial^[1]. That model suits larger teams, but a starting or small salon cannot see up front what it will pay and has no free way in. Salonnare lets you start risk-free and only pay once you grow.

See the full pricing or jump straight into the free plan.

Built for the Netherlands and Belgium

Salonnare is NL/BE-first. The software runs on EU servers in Germany and is GDPR compliant. You take payments with iDEAL (native via Stripe Connect and Mollie), Bancontact, SumUp and card, all on your own Stripe or Mollie account. On top of that, Salonnare charges its own platform fee of 0.5% (min. EUR 0.30) per transaction, alongside the standard provider fees.

The point of sale calculates Dutch VAT (21% and 9%, set per treatment and product) and offers an accounting export for your bookkeeper. Phorest is also active in the Netherlands, with a Dutch website and Dutch-language phone support, and its point of sale applies VAT automatically. The difference is in the payment setup: Phorest processes payments through its own PhorestPay, while with Salonnare iDEAL runs natively through your own Stripe or Mollie account and an accounting export is part of Starter and Pro.

Features and ease of use

Online booking with Salonnare works through an embeddable widget on your own website and a dedicated booking page with your own logo and branding. Clients pick one or more treatments, see time slots per team member and book in a few clicks. The modern interface makes onboarding fast: trainees are productive within an hour.

You also get client records, inventory management, email marketing and campaigns, recurring memberships (SEPA/iDEAL), gift cards, loyalty, no-show fees and deposits, forms and intake, a GDPR Article 9 health-data vault, GDPR export and CSV import. It is all included in the price, with no add-on cost per module. You also keep 100% of your own branding and data ownership, with your data kept separate per salon and no marketplace pushing competitors to your clients. Browse all features for the full overview.

Switching to Salonnare

Migrating does not have to be a hurdle. With CSV import you bring your existing client database across in one go, so you never have to retype anything by hand. You start on the free plan, test at your own pace and upgrade only when you are ready.

You always own your data. Dutch-language support from a Dutch developer helps you with any questions during the switch.

Conclusion: why Salonnare wins

Phorest has a longer track record and a broadly proven marketing and loyalty platform. With the Treatcard loyalty programme and, according to their own website, more than 12,000 salons, spas and clinics and 155,000 professionals as users, Phorest has years of experience with client retention at scale. For a larger salon or chain with multiple locations looking for a well-rehearsed loyalty programme, Phorest is therefore worth considering.

But for Dutch and Belgian salons, Salonnare wins on the points that truly matter. You start free instead of on a quote-based subscription without a trial period. You take payments natively with iDEAL and Bancontact on your own Stripe or Mollie account, with Salonnare's platform fee of 0.5% (min. EUR 0.30) per transaction and no marketplace commission. Your point of sale handles Dutch VAT from the start, with an accounting export for your bookkeeper. You get a complete suite (online booking, POS, inventory, marketing automation, memberships, gift cards, loyalty, forms) at no extra cost, on EU servers and GDPR compliant, with Dutch-language support and 100% data ownership. For this audience, Salonnare is the better choice.

Frequently asked questions