Free hair salon software: what it includes and when it falls short

Is there free hair salon software?

Yes, but only a few. Of the eight programs in our comparison, Koibox and Wilapp have a free plan, designed mainly for keeping the appointment calendar. The others offer a free trial of 7 to 30 days or a demo. Neither free plan invoices in line with VeriFactu or sends WhatsApp reminders.

Checked on 9 November 2026 on each program’s pricing page, linked from its name. What each one costs with your team is in the guide to hair salon software pricing.

What the free plans of Koibox and Wilapp include

Both are for keeping the appointment calendar. Koibox Free adds the customer record, services and stock, for a single user; Wilapp Free adds time tracking and clock-in for the team, and its mobile app.

When you outgrow it, each one grows in its own way. Koibox goes up by users and features: Lite, €15 with 1 user; Basic, €30 with 3; Gold, €40 with 5, and Platinum, €55 with 8. Wilapp has a single paid plan, Básico, €30 a month with unlimited users. You have the detail in how much Koibox costs and how much Wilapp costs.

Sources: Koibox pricing and Wilapp pricing, consulted on 9 November 2026.

Free trials and demos: how to make the most of them

A free trial is not a free plan: it lets you use the paid program for a few days and, when it ends, you pay or you leave. It is for checking, before paying, that the program fits your salon.

1. Start the trial when you can give it time. Seven days go by quickly; a normal week is better than a holiday one.
2. Use your real data: your services with their length and price, and the people who look after clients.
3. Book as if you were a client, from your phone, and see what message arrives to confirm or remind them of the appointment.
4. Ring up a sale and check the receipt or invoice it produces.
5. Export your customers to know you can take them with you if you switch.
6. Check the conditions when it ends: Booksy, PeluGest and Wilapp do not ask for a card for the trial; DunaSoft has a minimum term of 3 months on Start and 6 on the other plans, and Treatwell, a minimum contract of 12 months.

What to ask in each trial is in how to try software before deciding.

Free and without software: WhatsApp Business and a calendar

Many salons start without software: the diary on paper or in the phone’s calendar, and appointments by WhatsApp Business, which is free. It works while one person keeps the diary and there are few messages; it falls short when several people need to be coordinated or appointments reminded one by one.

• WhatsApp Business. It is WhatsApp’s free app for businesses: it has an away message, a greeting message and quick replies. It does not check your calendar or book appointments: you still do that. How to set it up, in the guide to the away message in WhatsApp Business.
• A calendar on your phone. It is free and you can share it with your team, but it does not keep each client’s technical record or send them WhatsApp reminders. The messages to do it by hand are in the appointment confirmation and reminder templates.
• If you invoice with software, it will have to be adapted to VeriFactu. The Spanish Tax Agency says it will offer a basic invoicing application free of charge on its online portal. Dates and cases, in VeriFactu in hair salons.
• If you have employees, recording daily working hours is compulsory (article 34.9 of the Spanish Workers’ Statute). Wilapp Free includes clock-in.

What you pay even when the software is free

A free plan charges no fee, but some things are paid anyway or force you to move up a plan.

• More people on the calendar. Koibox Free is for one user; with three, Basic costs €30 a month.
• Automatic reminders. Neither free plan sends them by WhatsApp. On paid plans, WhatsApp may have a quota or Meta charges: Fresha includes 150 SMS or WhatsApp messages a month and then charges €0.04 to €0.10 per WhatsApp message.
• Invoicing. Invoicing in line with VeriFactu comes from Lite (€15) at Koibox and from Básico (€30) at Wilapp.
• Card payments. Card or online payments usually carry a percentage on each charge.
• Customers from a marketplace. Booksy, Fresha and Treatwell charge for the new customers who reach you through their platform: Treatwell, 25% of the first booking; Booksy, with Boost, 30% of the first visit (up to €50 + VAT), and Fresha, a fee for each new customer.
• What the software does not do, you do: confirming and reminding each appointment, noting down payments or answering messages out of hours.
• Switching later. If the software does not let you export customers and appointments, moving to another one takes work.

When free software stops being enough

A free plan is usually enough for someone who works without a team and only needs the calendar. It stops being enough when the salon needs any of these things.

If you want to compare the features calmly, you have the guide on how to choose hair salon software, and each program’s AI reception, in the comparison.

Kairox is not free: when it pays off

Kairox has no free plan or trial period. It has a free interactive demo, with a sample hair salon, which you can use without creating an account.

If you only need one person’s calendar and you do not invoice with software, a free plan may be enough for you, and there is no point paying for features you will not use.

Sources and date checked

Every figure for the other programs comes from its official website, consulted on 9 November 2026. Names and trademarks belong to their owners.

• Booksy: biz.booksy.com/es-es/precios and its VeriFactu page.
• DunaSoft: www.dunasoftpc.com/planes and its AI assistant page.
• Fresha: www.fresha.com/es/pricing and its AI virtual receptionist page.
• Koibox: koibox.cloud/pricing.
• PeluGest: pelugest.es/precios.
• Treatwell: www.treatwell.es/partners/precios.
• Wilapp: wilapp.com/precios and its AI virtual assistant page.
• Kairox: kairoxdigital.es/en/precios and kairoxdigital.es/en/peluquerias-barberias.