Beauty & Salon · head to head
Squire vs Phorest
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Squire booking fees of $1-3 per appointment add significant cost beyond subscription, increasing total cost of ownership; Phorest no price is published for any of the seven plans, and every route ends at a quote request
- They diverge on capability: Squire covers Online booking, Phorest covers Appointment booking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Squire and Phorest actually diverge.
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Beauty & Salon).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Squire
- Online booking
- Walk-in queue
- Team management
- Instant payouts
- Client app
- Marketing tools
- Business analytics
Only in Phorest
- Appointment booking
- Client management
- Marketing automation
- Reputation management
- Staff management
- Inventory tracking
- Business reports
- Mailchimp
Both cover
- Point of sale
- PCI DSS
- SSL encryption
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Squire
- Barbershop managementnot Phorest
- Walk-in handlingnot Phorest
- Team payrollnot Phorest
- Client bookingnot Phorest
Phorest
- Salon and spa appointment booking with client recordsnot Squire
- Marketing, memberships and staff management for beauty businessesnot Squire
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Squire
- Booking fees of $1-3 per appointment add significant cost beyond subscription, increasing total cost of ownership
- Limited to barbershops and beauty salons; not suitable for other service industries
- Walk-in and waitlist features only available on higher-tier plans, limiting functionality for drop-in appointments
- POS system tightly integrated; cannot use with alternative payment processors or systems
- Customer data locked into Squire platform with limited export options
Phorest
- No price is published for any of the seven plans, and every route ends at a quote request
- There is no free trial at all, which the company states plainly
- The product is described as suited to 3 or more staff, so a solo operator is outside the intended range
- The branded booking app requires the Ultimate plan, and two way SMS, memberships, lead management and the ads manager are all Elite only
Pricing, plan by plan
Squire
$30/monthNo published plan breakdown. See the Squire review.
Phorest
$99/month- Grow$99/month
- Appointment booking
- Client management
- POS
- Elevate$179/month
- Everything in Grow
- Advanced marketing
- Online booking
- Innovate$299/month
- Everything in Elevate
- Multi-location
- Advanced analytics
Which should you pick?
Choose Squire if
- You need online booking.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want walk-in queue.
Choose Phorest if
- You need appointment booking.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- You also want client management.
Questions people ask
- Is Squire or Phorest better?
- Neither clearly leads. Squire starts at $30/month and Phorest at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Squire or Phorest?
- Squire starts at $30/month and Phorest at $99/month.
- Does Squire or Phorest run on more platforms?
- Squire runs on Web, Ios, Android. Phorest runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- What is Squire best used for?
- Squire is most often used for barbershop management, walk-in handling, team payroll, client booking. Of those, barbershop management and walk-in handling are not what Phorest is typically brought in for.
- What can Squire do that Phorest cannot?
- Squire covers Online booking, Walk-in queue, Team management, Instant payouts. Phorest covers Appointment booking, Client management, Marketing automation, Reputation management. Both handle Point of sale, Instagram, PCI DSS, SSL encryption.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Squire: What are Squire's pricing tiers?
Squire offers Pro plans starting at $30/month for independent barbers, Pro-Complete at $100/month for full shops, Executive tiers at $100-150/month, and Titan at $250/month. All include scheduling, POS, and customer management features.
SourceSquire: Does Squire charge booking fees?
Yes, Squire charges customers $1-3 per booking for online scheduling, in addition to the monthly subscription cost. This is a key cost factor beyond the base subscription.
SourceSquire: What integrations does Squire support?
Squire integrates with Square, QuickBooks, Google Calendar, and Stripe. It also offers an API for custom integrations and works with Zapier to connect to hundreds of other applications.
SourceSquire: What core features does Squire provide?
Squire includes online appointment scheduling, integrated POS system, customer relationship management, loyalty reward programs, promo codes, and automated text reminders.
SourceSquire: Does Squire support walk-in customers?
Yes, Squire supports walk-in booking through its waitlist feature, which is available on all plans except the basic Pro tier.
SourceSquire: Who founded Squire and how is it backed?
Squire was founded by Songe LaRon and Dave Salvant in 2016. The company raised $162M in funding as of February 2026 and achieved a $750M valuation in 2021.
Source