The best salon inventory apps in the UK (2026): an honest comparison

The short answer

What is the best salon inventory app in the UK?

There is no single best salon inventory app. If you want stock inside your booking system, look at the stock tools in Phorest, Booksy, Fresha, Square or SalonIQ. If you want a stock app beside your current booking system, compare Stocktend (ours) and Zigstock. Salons that weigh every bowl of colour should look at SalonScale and Vish.

• Stock tools inside booking software: Phorest, Booksy, Fresha, Square Appointments, SalonIQ, Vagaro, Zenoti and Salon Tracker.
• Stock apps beside your booking system: Stocktend (ours) and Zigstock.
• Colour weighing with scales: SalonScale and Vish.
• Free to start: Square Appointments’ free plan includes stock counts and low stock alerts.
• Several sites: Phorest and Zenoti both list transfers between branches.

What are the main types of salon inventory app?

Salon inventory management software comes in three kinds. Booking systems with stock tools built in, such as Phorest, Booksy and Square. Stock apps that sit beside your booking system, such as Stocktend and Zigstock. And colour weighing apps with scales, such as SalonScale and Vish, which focus on the colour bar.

• Built into your booking system. Simplest if your current system already does what you need: one login, and retail sales can come off stock at checkout.
• A stock app beside your booking system. For salons whose booking system has no stock tools, or tools the team does not use. You keep your bookings where they are.
• Colour weighing. Scales measure the grams in every bowl, which suits salons that want to cost each colour service precisely.
• General inventory apps such as inFlow Stockroom are not made for salons, but show what a simple scan in, scan out app looks like.

How do the salon inventory apps compare?

The two tables below set out what each app says it does for stock, its published price and who it suits best. The first covers booking systems with stock tools; the second covers stock and colour apps you add alongside your booking system. Each app name links to the page we read.

Prices as published on each company's website, checked 14 October 2026. Some exclude VAT, and prices change often, so follow the links for the latest. We have left out star ratings; see the questions at the end.

What should salon inventory software do?

Good salon inventory software makes stock quick to record at the moment it moves: when a delivery arrives, when a product is used on a client and when one is sold. From those records it should tell you what is running low, help you reorder and make a stocktake fast. Look for these eight things.

1. A fast way to book deliveries in. Reading the supplier's invoice or delivery note, scanning barcodes or importing a file all beat typing every line.
2. A quick way to record what goes out. At the backwash and the till, a scan or a tap has to take seconds, or it will not happen on a busy day.
3. Backbar and retail kept apart. Products used on clients and products sold behave differently. Our guide to backbar and retail stock explains why.
4. Low stock alerts from levels you set. A full level for each product, and a warning before it runs out. See what a par level is.
5. Stocktakes on a phone. Counting shelf by shelf with a phone in your hand is quicker than paper. Here is a stocktake routine that fits in an hour.
6. Help with reordering. A list of what to order from each supplier, ready to send.
7. The whole team on it. Check whether you pay per user, and whether juniors can record stock without seeing everything.
8. Your data, yours to take. An export of products and stock movements, so you are never locked in.

Do I need a separate stock app if my booking system has inventory?

Not always. If your booking system's stock tools cover deliveries, backwash use, low stock alerts and stocktakes, and your team actually uses them, stay with one system. A separate stock app makes sense when those tools are missing, too slow for the salon floor, or only work at a desk.

Stay with your booking system's stock tools if

• it already records retail sales against stock at checkout, and you rely on that;
• it handles backbar (professional) stock the way you work;
• your team counts and receives stock in it without being chased.

Consider a separate stock app if

• your booking system has no stock tools, or they live on a desktop the team never opens;
• deliveries are typed in by hand, or not at all;
• you run out of colour, developer or backwash products and only find out mid-service;
• you are happy with your booking system and do not want to move.

The case for one system is fair. Booksy, for example, argues that juggling separate platforms means manual data entry. With a separate app such as Stocktend, a retail sale at the till is not taken off stock automatically, so the product is scanned in the app as well. Weigh that against how much stock your current system really tracks today.

How much does salon inventory software cost?

Published UK prices we found start at £0: Square Appointments' free plan includes stock counts and low stock alerts. Monthly paid plans include Square at £29 or £69 per location, Booksy at £40 plus VAT, SalonIQ from £47, inFlow Stockroom at £59 and Zigstock from £99. Phorest and Zenoti do not publish prices. Extras can add more.

Stocktend (ours) is £8.99 a month or £90 a year for one salon and the whole team, paid through the App Store or Google Play, and every new salon gets a 2-month free trial. See Stocktend pricing for the plans.

Which salon inventory apps work on iPhone and Android?

Here is what each company's own pages say about phones: Stocktend has apps for iPhone and Android, on the App Store and Google Play; Suplery has iOS and Android apps on all plans; Phorest uses its PhorestGo app for stock takes; Zenoti mentions a mobile app for counts; Vish's scales need an iPad or Android tablet.

Booksy lists inventory management under its web and tablet app. When you compare, ask each vendor which stock jobs work on the phones your team already carries: receiving a delivery, recording backwash use, and counting.

What does Stocktend do, and what does it not do yet?

Stocktend is a stock app made only for hair salons, for iPhone and Android. It reads supplier invoices, records products as they are used or sold, and shows what is running low. It is not a booking or payments system and does not connect to one, so it works alongside the system you already use.

Checked and on the shelf

What Stocktend does

• Reads a supplier invoice or delivery note from a photo or PDF. You confirm each line before it goes on the shelf.
• Records products out with a scan: used on a client, or sold at the till.
• Keeps Colours, Backwash and Retail apart, plus Sundries (gloves, foils, cotton wool, blades) if you want to track them.
• Flags what is running low with one salon-wide rule, and keeps a restock list.
• Gives the whole team the same live count. You invite them with a link.
• Exports your stock and every stock movement to CSV at any time.

What it does not do yet

• No bookings, payments or till. It does not connect to booking or till systems, so retail sold at the till is scanned in Stocktend too.
• Ordering straight from your suppliers inside the app is coming soon.
• There are no reviews or ratings yet.

Stocktend is built alongside a working salon in London. You can see how Stocktend works on our homepage.

Which salon inventory app suits which salon?

Start from the system you already use. If your booking software has stock tools your team will use, try those first. If it does not, or you want stock handled on the phone without changing anything else, add a stock app. If colour cost is your main worry, look at a weighing system.

• You book with Phorest, Booksy, Fresha, Square or SalonIQ: switch on and test its stock tools for a month before adding anything.
• You run several sites: look for branch transfers and stock by location (Phorest and Zenoti both list them).
• You want stock sorted without changing your booking system: a stock app such as Stocktend or Zigstock.
• Colour waste is your biggest cost: SalonScale or Vish, if you are happy to weigh every bowl and buy the scales.
• You only need a simple count: a spreadsheet can do, at first. Our salon stock control guide covers when it stops being enough.

How did we compare these apps?

We read each company's own product, pricing and help pages on 14 October 2026 and wrote down only what they say, with links. We quote prices exactly as shown, with the currency. Where a page would not load for us, we left the facts out rather than guess.

1. Vendor pages only. Every competitor fact comes from the company's own site. The one exception is Zigstock's launch date, from a trade magazine.
2. Nothing from search snippets. Timely has a stock and inventory page, but we could not read it in full, so Timely is not in the tables.
3. No ratings. Star ratings come from different review sites and change often, and Stocktend has none yet.
4. Rechecked before each update. We recheck prices before each update and change the Updated date when something changes.

Questions salons ask

Is Stocktend available now?

Yes. The Stocktend apps for iPhone and Android are on the App Store and Google Play. Stocktend is £8.99 a month or £90 a year, and every new salon gets a 2-month free trial.

Does Stocktend connect to Fresha, Booksy or Phorest?

No. Stocktend works alongside your booking system but does not connect to it. You keep your bookings where they are, and your team scans products in Stocktend when they are used on a client or sold.

What is the top salon inventory app for a small salon?

It depends on what you already use. If you take bookings and payments with Square, its free plan includes stock counts and low stock alerts. Booksy includes inventory tools in its £40 a month plan, plus VAT. If you want a stock app beside your current booking system, Stocktend (ours) is £8.99 a month, and every new salon gets a 2-month free trial.

Which salon inventory app has a free plan?

Of the apps in this comparison, Square Appointments has a free plan (£0 for a single location) that includes stock counts and low stock alerts. Several others offer free trials, including Booksy (7 days), Fresha (7 days for teams), inFlow Stockroom (14 days), Vagaro and Zigstock (30 days). Stocktend (ours) gives every new salon a 2-month free trial.

Do I need scales to track colour stock?

No. Scales such as SalonScale and Vish measure the grams in each bowl, which helps you cost every colour service. Counting tubes and bottles in and out needs no extra hardware and tells you what to reorder, but not how much colour each client used.

Why are star ratings not in this comparison?

Ratings come from different review sites, change often and are hard to compare fairly. Stocktend is new and has no ratings yet, so a ratings column would not be a fair test either way.

Sources

Each page was read on 14 October 2026 unless a date is given.

1. Booksy: pricing (UK), features (UK), "The best salon inventory management software options" and "Salon inventory management software: why it’s not enough" (21 March 2025).
2. Fresha: pricing; low stock notifications (updated 28 October 2022); "Five ways Fresha can help you stay on top of your inventory" (updated 5 September 2023).
3. Phorest: salon stock management software (UK).
4. Square: Square Appointments pricing (UK).
5. SalonIQ: pricing.
6. Vagaro: pricing (UK).
7. Zenoti: hair salon inventory management (UK).
8. Salon Tracker: salon management features.
9. Zigstock: zigstock.com (plans and prices); launch date from Creative Head, "AI-powered salon stock control launches" (19 November 2025).
10. SalonScale: pricing.
11. Vish: pricing and inventory.
12. Suplery: pricing.
13. inFlow: Stockroom pricing and inFlow Stockroom.

On the App Store and Google Play

Let Stocktend keep count

Stocktend is a stock app for hair salons. Snap a supplier invoice, check the lines and they land on your shelf, scan products out at the backwash or the till, and see what is running low before it runs out. It works alongside the booking system you already use.

See how it works

£8.99 a month for your whole team, and every new salon gets a 2-month free trial. See pricing.