What a salon waitlist needs
- Per-stylist queues. A client waiting for Maria must not be called for Ana. A single list with a notes field is a restaurant tool.
- Self check-in. A kiosk on a tablet, a QR sign on the door, or both, so the front desk is not the bottleneck.
- A TV display. The waiting room should see the order without asking.
- A text when it is their turn, so clients can wait in the car.
- What happens after: waivers before the service, checkout after it, a booking for next time, a review request that evening. The line is the start of the visit, not the whole of it.
- Flat pricing. A busy Saturday should not cost more than a quiet Tuesday.
The apps, compared
Plans change; check each site for current prices. Compared in October 2026. 'Not listed' means the feature is not on the company's site as of that date. Below, a paragraph on each.
| Feature | Ozync | Waitwhile | Waitlist Me | Quevo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Salons, barbershops, spas | Any line: retail, government, education, healthcare | Restaurants: tables, servers, floorplans | Barbershops and salons |
| Per-stylist queues | Yes, default | Resources and services, configured | Table and resource assignment on higher plans | Yes |
| Self check-in kiosk | Yes, iPad and Android | Yes, by plan | Kiosk mode on paid plans | Yes, iPad |
| TV display | Yes, with your videos | Yes, by plan | Public waitlist page on paid plans | Yes |
| Waivers at check-in | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Online booking | Yes, with deposits | By plan | Reservations on paid plans | On paid plans |
| Checkout and payments | Yes: Stripe, Square, Clover | Not listed | Not listed | Through a Square Stand |
| Gift cards, loyalty, wallet pass | Yes | Not listed | Loyalty reports only | Not listed |
| Pricing | Free for 100 clients, then $15/mo flat, unlimited visits and staff | Free plan with a monthly visit cap, then tiers by visits and locations | Free account, then tiers with a notification allowance | Free tier with a monthly check-in cap, then per location with a check-in allowance |
Ozync
Ozync is salon software with the waitlist at the centre. Clients check in on a kiosk, a QR sign or your website, pick a stylist and service, sign a waiver if the service needs one, see the queue on the TV and get a text when it is their turn. Mark them served and checkout opens through Stripe, Square or Clover. Around that: online booking with deposits, a website with ten templates, gift cards, memberships, a wallet pass, staff accounts and a time clock, and add-ons for automatic review requests and an AI phone receptionist. Free for your first 100 clients, then $15 a month billed annually or $20 month to month, flat. The limitation is scope: it is only for salons, barbershops, spas and studios.
Waitwhile
Waitwhile is the strongest general-purpose waitlist, used by retailers, government offices, schools and clinics. The queue, kiosk, TV display, texts and appointments are mature, and there is an API on the higher plans for enterprise deployments. What it lacks is the salon around the line: no waivers, checkout, gift cards or website are listed. Pricing is a free plan with a monthly visit cap, then tiers by visits and locations. Best for a business that is not a salon, or a salon that already has booking and payments elsewhere and wants only the line.
Waitlist Me
Waitlist Me is simple and inexpensive, which is why barbershops pick it. It is restaurant software at heart: party sizes, quoted waits, table and server assignment, floorplans on the top plan. Kiosk mode, a public waitlist page and reservations are on the paid plans, and texts are metered against a monthly allowance. It does not know what a stylist is, and no waivers, checkout or gift cards are listed. Best for a restaurant, or a one-chair shop that wants the least possible software.
Quevo
Quevo is the closest cousin: an iPad check-in kiosk for barbershops and salons with a QR sign, texts, a TV queue, pick-your-barber, and online booking on the paid plans, in English and Spanish. It has a free tier with a monthly check-in cap, then per-location plans with a check-in allowance and a charge above it. Card payments go through a Square Stand rather than a built-in checkout, and no waivers, gift cards or website are listed. Best for a shop that wants the kiosk and the line and already has the rest.
The booking suites
Booksy, Vagaro, GlossGenius, Fresha, Square Appointments and Mangomint are appointment software. Some have a 'waitlist', but it usually means a list of clients hoping for a cancellation, not a walk-in queue, and none lists a self check-in kiosk or a TV display for walk-ins. If your shop is appointment-only they may fit; if your day is walk-ins they are the wrong shape. The comparison pages for Booksy, Vagaro, GlossGenius, Fresha, Square and Mangomint go through each.
How to choose
- 1Count your walk-ins. If they are most of your day, you need per-stylist queues, a kiosk and a TV, and the booking suites are out.
- 2Decide what happens after the line. If you want waivers, checkout and booking in the same place, a general waitlist tool means two or three other subscriptions.
- 3Check the price on a busy month. Per-check-in caps and tiers punish success; flat pricing does not.
- 4Try it on a Saturday. Every app here has a free tier or trial; put a tablet at the door and see whether the desk gets quieter.