Phorest is one of the more substantial salon platforms — strong on client marketing, review generation, and the retention mechanics that keep a chair full. Mako is the business platform underneath a salon: bookings, payments, stylist pay, retail, and the financial reporting that tells you which services and which chairs carry the business. Both are credible. They differ on what you can find out before you talk to anyone.
Phorest: No pricing is published. Plans are quoted per salon after a conversation with sales. We are not going to invent a figure — you will need to ask them, and you should ask for it in writing.
Mako: Pulse is free. Basic at $139/month — the complete operational platform with three team members. Team at $249/month — fifteen team members, extra locations at $75/month each, advanced reporting, QuickBooks sync. Enterprise at $999/month — unlimited clients across three locations. Roughly 20% off annually, no contract.
When you do get a Phorest quote, pin down all of it: the monthly platform cost, whether it is per location or per stylist, any marketing or SMS credits charged separately, setup or onboarding fees, contract length, and the renewal rate. A quote that covers only the first year is not a price.
Campaign tooling, review generation, and reactivation flows are a real strength and have been for years. For a salon whose growth problem is filling gaps in the diary, that is the thing you are buying.
Built for this trade rather than adapted to it. Colour history, service cards, and the front-desk workflow reflect how a salon actually runs.
A long history in the category and a large installed base. That counts when you are trusting a system with your client list.
The number is on the page and it is the same for everyone. You can budget today rather than after a demo, and there is no negotiation to lose.
Profit per service after stylist pay and colour cost, cash-flow forecasting, unit economics, LTV. A balayage at $220 that takes three hours and $40 of product is a different business to a $60 cut — Mako shows you which one is actually funding the rent.
Tiered commission rules that vary by service and by stylist, tips, timesheets and payouts — native, and calculated at the rate that applied on the day of the appointment, not today's rate.
Stock levels, low-stock alerts, back-bar consumables tied to services, and margin per product — so retail is a profit line rather than a guess.
Month-to-month. If it is not working you leave, which is a meaningful difference from an annual salon-software agreement.
Pick Phorest if:
Pick Mako if:
Your salon is a business. Not a hobby, not a side project, not a calendar with a cash register. It deserves software that treats it accordingly. If your platform cannot tell you whether you are financially healthy, it is not doing its job. And in 2026, you have better options.
See Mako in action — no sales call required
Mako is built for independent salon owners who would rather spend their time behind the chair than on demo calls. Open the live demo, poke around, and see exactly how booking, payments, and financial intelligence come together in one place.
Try the demo: https://app.makocrm.so/demo
Self-serve. Instant access. No forms, no calendars, no "talk to sales."
