Salon Client CRM for a US Nail Salon

Contents · 7 sections

1. What a salon CRM is
2. What to store on each client
3. How the record drives rebooking
4. Common options as of October 29, 2026
5. How to pick
6. Final verdict
7. FAQ

What a salon CRM is

A salon CRM is the client file that sits next to the appointment. In a US nail salon, that file answers three questions before anyone picks up a drill: Who is this person? Which tech do they ask for? What did we do last time? The book tells you she's due at 2:00. The CRM tells you it's a short almond, builder gel from a specific bottle, and that the cuticle oil irritated her in March.

Salon client management software is what holds that file, the visit history, and a way to reach the client again. A nail salon CRM does the same job with a nail menu in mind: fills, full sets, dip, gel, and pedicures, usually with the same tech on a two-to-three-week cycle. It isn't payroll. It isn't the card terminal. It isn't an answering service.

Most owners already keep part of this somewhere: a notebook, a camera roll, or the notes field in whatever book they use. The real question is whether that information lives on the same record as the next appointment, and whether the tech who's about to sit down can see it. For the booking side of that question, see booking software for salons. For the bigger "which layer am I actually buying" question, see nail salon management software.

What to store on each client

Write this list before you start comparing logos. If a product can't hold a line, you'll end up keeping a second notebook, and that notebook is exactly what the Saturday tech never sees.

• Contact. Name and a mobile number they actually pick up. Add a second number if a partner books for them.
• Visit history. Date, service, duration, what you charged, and which tech did the work. A fill is not a full set.
• Preferred tech. The person they ask for by name. "Next available" is a different appointment.
• Shape, length, color, and gel system. Almond or square, short or long, the color name, and the gel or dip system if switching causes lifting. When the usual tech is off, a photo from the last visit beats a paragraph.
• Allergies and sensitivities. Gel, monomer, dust, fragrance, or a product that burned last time. Put it where the tech sees it before the service starts.
• Photos. Only shots the client agreed to keep on file. Before-and-afters help with a correction. They aren't marketing material unless the client said so.
• Consent. What they signed for the service, and when. Keep the form with the client record, not in a drawer labeled Saturday.
• Text opt-in. Whether they agreed to appointment texts and to marketing texts. Those are two separate yeses. Agreeing to a refill note doesn't give you license to blast the whole book.

Ask every vendor which of these are real fields and which are just a blank note you type into. A blank note still works if the tech opens it. A field that only exists on a sales slide doesn't.

On Bukkii, the pricing comparison marks Customer CRM in the Calendar $20 column and on AI Receptionist. The download page says techs use the iOS or Android app to see that day's schedule and customer notes. This page doesn't claim a separate Bukkii field for shape, gel system, photos, or consent. If you need those as structured fields, confirm them in the product before you rely on them. Free includes the booking website for up to 3 staff. Reserve with Google is not on Free.

How the record drives rebooking

On a nail floor, retention mostly comes down to the next fill, not a new stranger from a marketplace. A client who liked her set comes back when someone notices the date. For gel and dip, the useful cadence is about two to three weeks. Wait longer and the grow-out shows, and she may try the shop that answered the phone.

• Refill. The last visit date plus two or three weeks is the moment to offer the same tech and the same service. On the homepage, the AI Marketing add-on texts clients already in the book: a welcome after the visit, a refill around day 21, and a win-back when they've been gone, each with a booking link. This page doesn't invent a price for that add-on.
• Win-back. Someone who hasn't visited in many weeks is a lapsed client, not a stranger. The note should mention what she used to book, not a generic coupon with no name on it.
• Birthday offer. A date of birth on file is what makes a birthday note possible. Send it only if she opted in.
• Review request. Ask after a visit that went well, from the same record, and stop if she already left one. This page does not claim Bukkii sends that request.

No-shows are the other leak. A reminder helps once the appointment exists. For tactics, see how to prevent salon no-shows. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. Calendar does not answer the phone, so it won't take the "running late" call.

Texting the appointment after a booking is a phone-layer job. AIVA is $200 one-time. No monthly fee. No contract. No free trial. That payment covers a dedicated number, training on your menu and policies, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. Packs never expire. She answers callers in English only. She does not speak Spanish or Vietnamese to callers. She texts the appointment once it's on the book. She doesn't auto-text a caller who already hung up. Setup is just forwarding. The number on your door stays with your carrier. Hear the English voice at (215) 791-6766.

Common options as of October 29, 2026

This table is a snapshot of pages opened on October 29, 2026. It isn't a ranking. A cell says see vendor pricing when the vendor's own page didn't show a plan price we could quote. Card rates and add-on menus stay on their sites unless a figure below comes from the page we opened.

Sources, opened October 29, 2026: vagaro.com/pro/pricing, squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing, fresha.com/pricing, biz.booksy.com/en-us/pricing, glossgenius.com/pricing, mangomint.com/pricing, phorest.com/us/pricing, hubspot.com/pricing/crm, and bukkii.ai/pricing. Where a vendor page described a trial, that trial is theirs. AIVA has no free trial. If a page changes after this date, trust the live page.

We do not claim a native two-way sync into Vagaro, Square, Fresha, Booksy, GlossGenius, Mangomint, Phorest, or HubSpot. Keeping the register you already close tickets on is a normal setup. The phone, if that's where the hole is, is a separate problem.

How to pick

Use this as a checklist. Stop as soon as a line fails.

1. Name the job. Client file, public booking page, register, marketplace, or the phone. One contract rarely does all five well.
2. Walk through the record. Contact, visit history, preferred tech, shape, length, color, gel system, allergies, photos, consent, and text opt-in. Ask which of those are actual fields.
3. Check the cycle. Can you see who's due in two to three weeks, who's gone quiet, and who has a birthday on file? Can you text only the people who opted in?
4. Read the dated price. Start with the table, then open the vendor page. If a cell says see vendor pricing, the dollar figure wasn't on the page we fetched.
5. Treat the phone separately. A calendar can't pick up a call in the middle of a fill. If you add AIVA, she answers callers in English only.
6. Leave the register alone if checkout already works. Don't migrate your POS just to get a notes field.

Final verdict

A salon that needs a full point of sale, staff licenses, and a marketplace for new clients may prefer Vagaro, Fresha, or Square. Those pages publish checkout details and, for Fresha and Booksy, a marketplace fee. Square Free is a genuine $0 location price on the page we opened. It's still Square's register and appointment product, though, not a notes-only file.

Booksy, GlossGenius, Mangomint, and Phorest are salon platforms with client tools on the pages above. Read the row for the job you need done. Phorest's US pricing page didn't show a monthly plan price in the text we fetched, so the honest answer is see vendor pricing. HubSpot suits a team that wants a general CRM outside the chair. Its price grid didn't load, so see vendor pricing, and don't expect a nail menu there.

Bukkii Calendar suits a salon that wants a booking website and a client list while keeping the register it already trusts. Calendar is free for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. Reserve with Google is not on Free. $20 a month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. It does not answer the phone. Start at get-started.

If the hole is the ringing phone, that's AIVA at $200 one-time. No monthly fee. No contract. No free trial. She answers callers in English only. She does not speak Spanish or Vietnamese to callers. Included usage is 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS, then $0.35 a minute and $0.035 per SMS. Packs never expire. Get AIVA — $200. Both cards are on the pricing page.

FAQ