GlossGenius vs StyleSeat: their app books your clients.
Ours delivers them.
GlossGenius costs $28, $56 or $168 a month, depending on the plan, and it has no client marketplace.
StyleSeat is $19 a month after a 21-day free trial, with $0 card fees during the trial, then 1.9% + 30¢ for six months.
The short answer
You get polished software, but no marketplace to find you clients
You grow the business you want
GlossGenius pricing vs StyleSeat, side by side
GlossGenius figures come from its own pricing page and help center, checked in September 2026. (Scroll left to right on your phone)
| FEATURE | GlossGenius | StyleSeat |
|---|---|---|
| THE BASICS | ||
| Monthly subscription | $28 Standard · $56 Gold · $168 Platinum | $19/mo after trial |
| 24/7 Online booking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payments | ✓ | ✓ |
| Client profiles, notes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deposits, cancel policies | ✓ | ✓ |
| MARKETING & AI | ||
| Email marketing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reserve with Google | Gold+ ($56+/mo) | Available |
| Google review requests | Gold+ ($56+/mo) | Available |
| AI email & SMS | Gold+ ($56+/mo) | Available |
| AI social post builder | Social media templates (not AI) | Available |
| Text/SMS marketing | 500 credits on Gold, 2,500 on Platinum | 500 free, then 750 credits for $5 |
| Client loyalty & rewards | Not built in | Included at $19 |
| GROWTH & TRUST | ||
| New client acquisition | None: no marketplace | 30% of first visit, $50 cap, $0 during trial |
| Smart Pricing | Not offered | Included (5.5% per smart-priced appointment) |
| Waitlist | Gold+ ($56+/mo) | Available |
| Payment processing | 2.6% flat | $0 in trial, 1.9% + 30¢ for 6 months, then 2.5% + 30¢ in person, 2.6% + 30¢ online |
| App Store rating | 4.5★ (4.3K ratings) | 4.91★ (289K+ ratings) |
Is StyleSeat cheaper than GlossGenius?
At list price, a solo pro's StyleSeat subscription costs $444 less a year than GlossGenius Gold ($228 vs $672), and the six months after your trial run at 1.9% + 30¢.
Even on Gold, GlossGenius has no built-in client loyalty & rewards program, and no AI social post builder on any plan, including Platinum ($168/mo).
Marketing tools, loyalty & rewards and a marketplace listing come with the plan. New clients from the marketplace cost 30% of the first visit, up to $50.
Year one: solo pro, $6,000 a month in card sales, $120 average ticket, all in person
What pros say about StyleSeat
“I love the fact that stylist will promote you and help you get new clients. I was a new braider when I signed up and it help bring a lot of NEW people.”
“StyleSeat is literally like my personal / online assistant. Clients can find me easily, StyleSeat does the marketing part while I just sit back and see my schedule fill up. Thank you for helping me grow my business.”
“I love waking up to new bookings overnight and when my gaps get filled without me having to do a thing. It's kept my books full even in this difficult economy. Highly recommend.”
“You guys have built my barber clientele tremendously by bringing me new clients! I can't thank you enough! I greatly appreciate you!”
“Before I started using StyleSeat, I spent a lot of time texting back and forth to confirm appointments… Once I got on StyleSeat, clients could see my availability in real time and book themselves. It's helped me raise my prices confidently over time because clients see the value clearly.”
“I have been using StyleSeat for over 10 years and I can honestly say it has truly 100% grew my business!”
“Been using StyleSeat for three years. My clientele has expanded far beyond my expectations. Not to mention the innovative tools to help my business become what it is today. Highly recommend.”
“Being a Top Pro on Styleseat has been extremely beneficial to my business. I've been connected to over 40 new clients since the beginning of the year.”
“I recently had a situation with a client who complained to StyleSeat about a deposit, which is non refundable. I like how StyleSeat supported me and made me feel confident about my business policies. I have gotten 38 new clients from January to July 1st.”
“I love that I can require deposit, it is super easy for my clients to book… I absolutely love that I can link it to my Instagram or any social media.”
“Client history and reminders are fantastic.”
What does GlossGenius do better?
GlossGenius charges a flat 2.6% with no fixed fee, so after your first six months it costs less per payment than StyleSeat's 2.5% + 30¢ on any ticket under $300. It also moves your data for free, and one Gold subscription covers a team of up to 9. StyleSeat has no salon plan or seat fees. Each pro has their own account and plan. If you want new clients from a marketplace, $0 fees for your 21-day trial and 1.9% + 30¢ for six months after it, StyleSeat is likely the better fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
GlossGenius has three plans: Standard at $28 a month, Gold at $56 and Platinum at $168, or less when billed yearly. The waitlist, Google booking and full use of the AI marketing assistant start on Gold. StyleSeat is $19 a month after a 21-day free trial, with marketing tools, loyalty and a marketplace listing included.
No. GlossGenius lists no automatic peak pricing on any plan. StyleSeat's Smart Pricing raises your price automatically when demand peaks, and StyleSeat's fee is 5.5% of the full price of each smart-priced appointment, and $0 during your trial.
No. GlossGenius is booking and payments software, so it can't send you clients you don't already have, and it charges no new-client fee. Gold and Platinum add Google booking. On StyleSeat, your profile shows in our marketplace and you pay only when it brings you a new client: 30% of the first visit, capped at $50. Their return visits have no new-client fee.
In your first year, yes, in our comparison of a solo pro doing $6,000 a month in card sales at a $120 average ticket, all in person: about $1,878 on StyleSeat vs $2,208 on GlossGenius Standard, before new-client fees. After your first six months it is close, because GlossGenius's flat 2.6% costs less per payment than StyleSeat's 2.5% + 30¢ on tickets under $300.
It depends on timing and ticket size. GlossGenius charges a flat 2.6% on card payments. StyleSeat charges $0 for 21 days, then 1.9% + 30¢ for six months, then 2.5% + 30¢ in person and 2.6% + 30¢ online. After the first six months, GlossGenius costs less per payment on tickets under $300, and on every online payment.
What GlossGenius Professionals are saying
Excerpts from reviews on Google Play, the App Store and Reddit, dated and sourced. Ellipses mark cuts.
“It is very slow to operate. Charging extra to change settings that can’t be disabled. Example: You have to pay for gold membership to be able to manage that your reviews go to Google. If not, they send automatic text to each client to leave a review on Glossgenius app where nobody sees it. And you can’t disable this option. Besides that, the response from the help center takes about a week. And mostly it is an automated one. Looking for a better option.”
“I’m getting extremely frustrated with this app. The app has been glitching a lot more lately. Today the app doesn’t open at all. I’ve tried restarting my phone, uninstalling, then reinstalling, and when it finally opens up, it freezes and says there’s no internet connection which is inaccurate. Checkout doesn’t go smoothly at all anymore. I don’t know if it’s the app or the reader, I can’t modify services at checkout. It’s frustrating and embarrassing when the client is ready to check and go.”
“This app would show that I had availability, but when I filled the time slot, it suddenly showed I was already booked. I brought this issue to Customer Service, and they replied, “this doesn’t happen with Apple phones.” I ended up switching to another service. Within a week, 5 people went missing from my books, yet they had received notifications from GlossGenius.”
“It’s convenient to have everything in the same app. That’s all the good I can say. In order for me to get some of my features back, I have to switch to gold and pay more for an app that crashes way too often. I had to let at least 5 clients leave without paying today. This is not the first time. I’ve texted, emailed, chatted and called with zero answer or resolution. In fact, my call was disconnected twice after a lengthy wait both times! The quality of the app and customer service has plummeted.”
“The app was easy to use at first and easy to learn. In the last few months the system has been crashing more frequently and customer service isn’t prompt at all. I’ve had major issues with payroll and found out they haven’t been paying my payroll taxes properly. No one will respond or fix the issue. It’s been months of battling with them, and it’s effecting my business status. I’m not sure if they got too big too fast, but the issues keep piling up. Payroll crashes frequently, as does booking.”
“Don’t refer this app to anyone because they don’t wanna give you any discount on it, they just wanna make you fool waste of time! It’s says refer and get 30 discount that’s it there is no terms and conditions written where it says whom you are referring that person ha…”
“i love the app and i’ve been using it for the past 4 years, but this new update is atrociou…”
“I currently have GlossGenius and have used it for the last 2 years with minimal complaints. My lease at my suite is about to end and I will lose my Legacy membership with them that had grandfathered me into a couple features they’ve since decided you can only have if you pay for a Gold membership vs standard. My biggest complaint is how often the site crashes. I can’t tell you how many times I haven’t been able to access the app at all to look at my books or check my clients out in the middle of my day. They never acknowledge the outages until hours later with an “oops, our bad!” I swear it feels like it happens once a month and it’s incredibly inconvenient. I haven’t personally had any issues with my clients disputing charges but have seen countless others complain that GG does nothing to help the stylist.”
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Start free trialPrices checked on each company's website in September 2026: glossgenius.com/pricing and the GlossGenius help center for GlossGenius, StyleSeat's signup pricing for StyleSeat. Reviewed by the StyleSeat data team.