Atelier Booking vs Phorest
Phorest is a salon-focused platform with strong roots in the UK and Europe. Here's how the trade-offs play out against Atelier.
| Dimension | Atelier | Phorest |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Free plan · paid from $29/mo ($49 BYO processor) | Quote-only — no pricing published |
| Grows with team size? | No — same at any size | Unlimited staff; tiered by features |
| Per-location fees | $25/mo per extra — full plan at each | Higher tier |
| Cut of your bookings | Never — $0 per booking, no commission | None — no marketplace |
| Features | Unlimited staff on every plan; higher plans fold the add-ons in | Two-way SMS, memberships & branded app are top tier |
| Your own domain | Day one — no upgrade fee | No — no website product; booking on their domain |
| Your own texting number | Yes — two-way; with text reminders on every paid plan | Yes — top tier or add-on (clients can't text first) |
| AI receptionist for texts | $39/mo — books by text, staff approve by text | Yes — Front Desk AI over text, top tier or add-on |
| Booth renters paid directly | Included — each pro's own account, no extra % | Yes — own Stripe, no surcharge (card terminal required) |
| Whose website ranks? | Yours — full site on your domain, structured data from live booking data | Neither — their booking pages are kept out of search |
| Payment processor | Atelier Payments (Stripe), or your own Stripe/Square/Clover | Integrated payments |
What Phorest does well
Phorest is purpose-built for salons and has deep integrations specific to that industry: client journey management, staff productivity reporting, online reputation tracking, and a well-developed mobile app. The brand and the support presence in the UK and Ireland are particularly strong.
How they price
Phorest's public pricing is tiered, with the entry plan supporting smaller teams and higher tiers unlocking advanced features and supporting larger team sizes. Total cost depends on tier and team size.
How Atelier prices
Free Starter plan; paid plans from $29 a month ($49 with your own processor), published on the pricing page. Phorest pricing is quote-only and scales with team size and tier. For small teams the entry plan can be comparable; for larger teams the per-staff scaling tips toward Atelier.
Where Atelier is different
Atelier covers any service industry, not just salons — chiropractors, dog groomers, music teachers, fitness coaches all use the same platform without category-specific pricing. Your booking URL is brand-fit from day one (a vertical-branded subdomain), with a one-click move to a domain you own at no upgrade cost, and multi-location support comes standard — a flat $25/month per additional location — rather than gated to a higher tier.
The clearest gap is the website. Phorest doesn't build one: your booking lives on their domain, that page is deliberately kept out of search results, and their own vanity subdomain redirects back to them — so nothing you do there earns your business a search ranking. Atelier is the website, on your domain, with your services, prices, reviews and staff published as structured data search engines can read. Two smaller differences worth knowing: on Phorest a client can't start a text conversation with you (the salon has to message first), and their contractor payment routing requires their card terminal, so a renter can't take deposits or online payments into their own account.
Where Phorest might fit better
If you operate a salon in the UK or Ireland specifically and value Phorest's deep regional support and salon-only focus, it's a credible specialist choice for that profile. Credit where it's due on two points: they run no consumer marketplace, so your client list is genuinely yours — the same position we take — and their self-employed payment routing is well built, with each renter's sales settling to their own account, mixed tickets and tips split automatically, and no extra fee from Phorest for it.
Who each is best for
Phorest fits salons in regions where their support and ecosystem are strongest, especially those who want salon-specific reporting deeply baked in. Atelier fits any service business — salon or otherwise — that wants flat pricing, multi-location support, and a booking experience on a URL you control.
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Free to start — and your first month of any paid plan is free. Paid plans from $29 a month, every team size.