Bella Booking
Bella Booking
vs
S
Simple Salon

Bella Booking vs Simple Salon

One plan price for the team, with SMS included.

Simple Salon publishes a price per bookable operator, from A$25 a month plus GST. Bella Booking publishes a price per plan, from A$25 to A$99 a month including GST, with SMS included on every plan.

Last updated: November 2026
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Quick facts at a glance

A side-by-side overview of key differences

Prices shown in AUD (inc. GST)

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Founded
2021
20+ years in business, by its homepage
Headquarters
Sydney, Australia
Australia (Simple Salon Group Pty Ltd)
Best for
Beauty, Wellness & Health Practices - solo practitioners to multi-location groups
Hair, beauty, health, fitness and tattoo businesses, from a single operator at home to multi-location chains
Monthly Pricing
Starter/Professional
Per their pricing model
Solo (1 team member)
A$25You save
A$27.50+A$2.50/mo
6 team members
A$99You save
A$165+A$66/mo
12 team members
A$99You save
A$192.50+A$93.50/mo
Commission
0% (never)
0% on your own booking page; 3.9% on bookings accepted through the Slick marketplace

Bella Booking: Starter plan for 1-3 team members, Professional for 4+ (unlimited). Competitor pricing from official sources, verified November 2026.

Which is right for you?

An honest look at when each platform makes sense

Consider Bella Booking if...

  • Prices include GST in Australia, and a team on Starter or Professional pays one plan price instead of a price per operator
  • SMS reminders included on every plan, 50 to 500 a month, where Simple Salon's Starter includes none
  • No marketplace and no acceptance fee: clients book on your own booking page
  • Client reviews tied to a completed appointment, published on your booking page (Professional)
  • A waitlist that matches open slots to waiting clients and tells your team
  • An AI Assistant that answers questions about your own schedule, clients and revenue, and a weekly and monthly AI digest
  • A two-way inbox on your own number, with Suggest with AI drafting replies (Messages Plus)
  • Prerequisite services, so a treatment cannot be booked online before its consultation
  • Treatment plans published to the client's booking portal (Professional)
  • Afterpay and Clearpay online, on deposits, gift cards and packages
  • Native online booking analytics: traffic sources, drop-off and conversion
  • A 14-day free trial with no credit card
  • Free onboarding on every plan, with free data migration on Starter and Professional
  • Dark mode, dyslexia-friendly reading fonts, colour themes and density settings

Consider Simple Salon if...

  • You want an EFTPOS terminal that takes the amount straight from the POS
  • Your accountant wants end of day figures sent to Xero or QuickBooks
  • You pay your team on commission and want it calculated in your booking software
  • You want to confirm and remind clients by WhatsApp
  • You want a team app from the App Store or Google Play
  • You want a marketplace listing and are happy with its acceptance fee

We believe in helping you find the right fit, even if it's not us.

Detailed feature comparison

A comprehensive look at what each platform offers

Available
Partial / Limited
Not available

Plans, Pricing & Contract

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Published pricingBoth publish their prices. The difference is what the number multiplies by: Simple Salon charges for each bookable operator, Bella charges for the plan.
Available in Bella Booking. Every plan price published, no sales call needed.
Available in Simple Salon. Starter, Pro and Max published per operator, monthly or yearly, with a staff count picker on the pricing page.
Price includes GST
Available in Bella Booking. AUD pricing, GST inclusive.
Not available in Simple Salon. Its plan comparison page says "All prices listed ex Tax/GST", so A$25 is A$27.50 once GST is added.
A team on one plan price
Available in Bella Booking. Solo for 1 team member, Starter for up to 3, Professional for unlimited, each at one monthly price.
Partly available in Simple Salon. Each bookable operator is charged, and the bill is capped at 7 operators however many you have.
SMS reminders included in the plan
Available in Bella Booking. 50-500/month included.
Partly available in Simple Salon. None on Starter (14c a message). 200 a month per operator on Pro and 300 on Max, shared across the business.
No lock-in contractCredit where it is due: neither of us ties you to a term.
Available in Bella Booking. No lock-in contract. Cancel any time. Professional can also be billed yearly..
Available in Simple Salon. "No contracts. No fixed-term. No sign-up fees." Cancelling is done in the account at least 24 hours before the next payment date.
Free trial
Available in Bella Booking. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Available in Simple Salon. 14-day free trial on every plan. The terms charge your chosen payment method when the trial ends unless you cancel 24 hours before.

Online Booking & Marketplace

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Online booking (24/7)
Available in Bella Booking. 24/7 self-service.
Available in Simple Salon. A booking mini-site with its own URL that embeds in your website, Book Now on Facebook and Instagram, and Reserve with Google.
Deposits at booking
Available in Bella Booking. Fixed amount or percentage; part and full payments before the appointment.
Available in Simple Salon. A deposit from 5% to 100% of the service, or full payment, through Stripe.
Consumer marketplace listingA marketplace can bring clients you would not otherwise meet. Simple Salon lets you untick the listing if you would rather not pay the acceptance fee.
Not available in Bella Booking. No marketplace: clients book on your own booking page.
Available in Simple Salon. Listed on the Slick app automatically once online bookings are set up. Bookings accepted through Slick carry a 3.9% acceptance fee.
Waitlist that fills cancellations
Available in Bella Booking.
Partly available in Simple Salon. A Wait List column on the appointment book (Pro and Max). You drag a waiting client into a free slot yourself.
Booking gap control
Available in Bella Booking. 3 modes: Show All, Reduce Gaps, Eliminate Gaps - per location.
Available in Simple Salon. The Booking Gap Minimiser offers online times that sit close to existing appointments.
Prices by team member level
Available in Bella Booking. Customisable pricing tiers (e.g. Junior/Senior/Master).
Available in Simple Salon. Operator Levels set a price and duration for each level.
Rooms & equipment
Available in Bella Booking. Capacity controls, auto-assignment, scheduler resource view.
Available in Simple Salon. Resources for treatment rooms and specialised equipment, with their own appointment column.
Prerequisite services (consultation first)
Available in Bella Booking. Require a consult (or any service) before a treatment books online - Completed or Booked mode, Any/All, same-cart unlock in Booked mode; the team can override on the dashboard.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.
Family and dependant booking
Available in Bella Booking. Book for children, partners, parents, pets, and more.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.
Online booking analytics
Available in Bella Booking. Native: traffic sources, drop-off funnel & visit-to-booking conversion - all plans, no Google Analytics.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.

Payments & Point of Sale

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Integrated card terminal (EFTPOS)Simple Salon wins this. If you want the sale to land on the terminal without typing the amount, take it seriously.
Partly available in Bella Booking. Software-based checkout - cash, card, or card on file (charge saved cards); no integrated card reader.
Available in Simple Salon. Tyro, KPay and ANZ Worldline terminals link to the POS, and Stripe Terminal readers pair with it.
Fee on top of the card processorSimple Salon's fee on a Stripe payment is the smaller of the two.
Available in Bella Booking. Bella's 1% platform fee on online card payments, on top of Stripe's standard rate for your country, both on the pricing page.
Available in Simple Salon. A 0.25% Simple Salon service fee per Stripe transaction in the POS, on top of Stripe's own fees.
Buy now, pay later
Available in Bella Booking. Afterpay / Clearpay BNPL for deposits, gift cards, and packages (AU, NZ, US, CA, UK).
Partly available in Simple Salon. Zip Pay connects to the POS. Afterpay is taken in the salon as a card on your EFTPOS terminal.
Gift vouchers
Available in Bella Booking. Digital gift cards for an amount, a service or a bundle, sold at the till or paid online through your connected payment provider, and a promo code can take money off them (Professional plan).
Available in Simple Salon. Cash and mix and match vouchers with expiry, sold online and in the salon.
Prepaid packages
Available in Bella Booking. Session bundles with online purchase, online redemption, auto-apply at checkout, adjust sessions and expiry with a reason, bring in part-used packages.
Available in Simple Salon. Mix and match packages with expiry, sold online and in the salon.
Memberships with recurring billing
Available in Bella Booking. Recurring plans with Stripe billing, 9 billing cycles, benefits with session tracking, online purchase, pause/resume.
Available in Simple Salon. Weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments through Stripe or Payleadr, with check-ins and gate access control (Pro and Max).
Loyalty programme
Available in Bella Booking. Professional plan.
Available in Simple Salon. Loyalty points on every plan.
Tips
Available in Bella Booking. Clients tip team members after appointments via Stripe (Professional plan, via the review-and-tip flow).
Available in Simple Salon. A tip added to the sale at the POS and tracked per operator.
Retail and professional stock
Available in Bella Booking.
Available in Simple Salon. Retail and professional stock with vendors, plus stock ordering on Pro and Max.
Accounting integration
Not available in Bella Booking. No Xero or MYOB sync. Reports export to CSV for your accountant.
Available in Simple Salon. Xero and QuickBooks receive your end of day figures.

Marketing & Communication

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Automated messages (reminders, rebook, birthday)
Available in Bella Booking. Recurring automated messages - birthday greeting and post-appointment follow-up (sending either requires Messages Plus), rebook reminder, review request - email and SMS.
Available in Simple Salon. Reminders, confirmations, rebook reminders, follow-up, birthday, new client, first booking and lost client messages on every plan.
SMS and email campaigns
Available in Bella Booking. SMS and email campaigns with audience filtering (incl. birthdays on file, this week, this month or any month, and address area) and scheduling (Messages Plus add-on).
Available in Simple Salon. SMS and email campaigns on every plan, plus Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor.
Two-way SMS
Available in Bella Booking. Dedicated number, threaded inbox, auto-handling replies (Messages Plus add-on).
Partly available in Simple Salon. A client's reply to an SMS shows in the Campaign Report's response column, with an email alert if you turn it on.
WhatsApp messages
Not available in Bella Booking. SMS and email only.
Available in Simple Salon. Confirmations and reminders by WhatsApp: a paid extra per operator on Pro, included on Max.
Client reviews on your booking page
Available in Bella Booking. Verified appointments, AI moderation, Professional plan.
Not available in Simple Salon. No built-in reviews. Simple Salon's help centre suggests a Google Form linked from the First Visit message.
AI assistant for the business
Available in Bella Booking. All plans.
Partly available in Simple Salon. Aidan, an in-app support assistant, answers how-to questions from Simple Salon's help articles.
AI business digest
Available in Bella Booking. Weekly and monthly AI-generated performance summaries with actionable insights.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.

Team, Reporting & Your Data

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Commission calculationSimple Salon wins this. Bella reports each team member's sales and leaves the commission maths to you.
Partly available in Bella Booking. Team member sales report (Professional plan): each team member's sales after discounts and refunds, to pay commission from. No commission rates or payouts.
Available in Simple Salon. Commission structures per operator with a Commissions report, KPI tracking and a Wages report.
Team mobile app
Partly available in Bella Booking. Installs on your phone from the browser: home-screen icon, full screen, push notifications. Not listed in the app stores.
Available in Simple Salon. iOS and Android apps for bookings, approvals and stock.
Multi-location
Available in Bella Booking. Per-location databases, copy services between locations.
Available in Simple Salon. The Dome sits over each location: shared clients, services, packages and vouchers, global appointments and stock transfers. Priced through sales.
Reporting
Available in Bella Booking. core reports all plans; 32 total with advanced reports on Professional; custom reports upon request (Professional).
Available in Simple Salon. A reporting dashboard and report list with CSV export, and the ADLA add-on for Power BI or Tableau.
Public API
Available in Bella Booking. Professional plan.
Available in Simple Salon. A documented API. Access is by application.
Export your own dataBoth make leaving straightforward, which is how it should be.
Available in Bella Booking. CSV export from the tables themselves, on clients, appointments, sales, gift cards, packages, forms and reports.
Available in Simple Salon. Self-serve exports of clients, appointments, services, operators, products, sales and the balances clients are owed.
Treatment plans
Available in Bella Booking. Living, phased plans on the client record - recommended services & homecare, published to the client portal to book & buy from, updated each visit.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.
Accessibility & personalisation (themes, fonts, density)
Available in Bella Booking. Dark mode, dyslexia-friendly reading fonts, colour themes, density modes, reduced-motion, focus mode.
Not available in Simple Salon. Not in Simple Salon's published feature set or help centre.

Support & Onboarding

Feature
Bella Booking
Simple Salon
Support
Available in Bella Booking. Sydney-based team, with responsive support across multiple timezones.
Available in Simple Salon. A knowledge base, the Aidan assistant and support requests from the help centre.
Free onboarding
Available in Bella Booking. Free setup help on every plan; data migration on Starter and Professional.
Partly available in Simple Salon. Training videos are free. A personal training session is from $199 for 2 hours, by phone.
Help moving your data in
Available in Bella Booking. Starter and Professional.
Available in Simple Salon. Its pricing FAQ says it helps businesses move from Shortcuts, Timely, Kitomba, Fresha, Square and others.

Pricing breakdown

What you'll actually pay

Prices shown are starting prices and include GST. Bella Booking Starter includes up to 3 team members; Professional includes unlimited team members. Competitor pricing may vary based on team size.

Bella Booking

Solo (1 team member)A$25
6 team membersA$99
12 team membersA$99
Commission on bookings0%
Payment processing (when used)
2.65% + A$0.301.65% + A$0.30 (Stripe) + 1% (Bella Booking)
SMS reminders50-500/mo included

Solo (1 team): A$25/month AUD โ€ข Starter (1-3 team): A$67/month AUD โ€ข Professional (4+): A$99/month AUD

Simple Salon

Solo (1 team member)A$27.50
6 team membersA$165
12 team membersA$192.50
Pricing modelStarter, Pro or Max per bookable operator, billed for at most 7 operators
Commission0% on your own booking page; 3.9% on bookings accepted through the Slick marketplace
Payment processing (when used)Stripe for POS, online bookings and memberships, plus a 0.25% Simple Salon service fee per Stripe transaction in POS. Tyro, KPay and ANZ Worldline terminals at their own rates

Additional costs to consider

  • โ€ข Every published price excludes GST: Starter is A$25 per operator a month before tax and A$27.50 after
  • โ€ข Priced per bookable operator, with the bill capped at 7 operators
  • โ€ข Starter includes no SMS, so every message costs 14c. Pro includes 200 a month per operator (10c after that) and Max 300 (9c)
  • โ€ข Bookings accepted through the Slick marketplace carry a 3.9% acceptance fee outside the subscription, and online booking set-ups are listed on Slick automatically
  • โ€ข Card payments through Stripe in the POS carry a 0.25% Simple Salon service fee on top of Stripe's fees

Pricing information based on publicly available data as of November 2026. Visit each provider's website for current pricing.

Cost comparison by team size

Team Size Pricing Comparison

Monthly cost for different team sizes

Note: how team member limits work

Plan limits count the team members on your Bella roster who are on the scheduler or bookable online: front desk, managers and bookkeepers don't count. The comparisons in this table assume everyone listed takes appointments.

Team SizeBella BookingSimple SalonSavings with Bella
1 person
A$25/mo(Solo)
A$27.50/mo

A$27.50 incl. GST (Starter, 1 operator)

Save A$2.50/mo
3 people
A$67/mo(Starter)
A$82.50/mo

3 ร— A$27.50 = A$82.50 incl. GST (Starter)

Save A$15.50/mo
6 people
A$99/mo(Professional)
A$165/mo

6 ร— A$27.50 = A$165 incl. GST (Starter)

Save A$66/mo
12 people
A$99/mo(Professional)
A$192.50/mo

7 ร— A$27.50 = A$192.50 incl. GST (Starter, billed for at most 7 operators)

Save A$93.50/mo

Annual savings with Bella Booking

For a team of 6-12 members

Up to A$1122

per year

Sources:

Bella Booking: Official pricing (Starter A$67/mo, Professional A$99/mo)

Simple Salon: Official pricing page โ€ข Last verified: November 2026

Pricing may change. Please verify current prices on official websites before making decisions.

What Simple Salon does well

We believe in honest comparisons. Here's what Simple Salon excels at:

  • 1More than 20 years in business and 4,000+ salons and spas, by its homepage
  • 2Integrated EFTPOS through Tyro, KPay and ANZ Worldline, plus Stripe Terminal readers
  • 3End of day figures sent to Xero or QuickBooks
  • 4Commission structures, KPI tracking, rostering and a wages report for the team
  • 5WhatsApp confirmations and reminders, included on the Max plan
  • 6iOS and Android apps for the business
  • 7Memberships billed weekly, fortnightly or monthly through Stripe or Payleadr, with check-ins and gate access control
  • 8Published prices with no contracts, no sign-up fees and a 14-day trial
  • 9Self-serve exports of clients, appointments, services, products, sales and the balances clients are owed
  • 10The Dome for multi-site businesses, with shared clients, packages and vouchers across locations
  • 11Servers in Australia, by its pricing FAQ

Simple Salon might be better if...

We believe in helping you find the right solution, even if it's not us. Here are some scenarios where other options might serve you better:

  • 1Integrated EFTPOS terminals (Tyro, KPay, ANZ Worldline). Bella has no card reader
  • 2Xero and QuickBooks sync. Bella exports reports to CSV
  • 3Commission calculation and a wages report. Bella reports sales per team member
  • 4WhatsApp confirmations and reminders
  • 5Native iOS and Android apps in the app stores

Still not sure? - we'll give you an honest assessment of whether Bella Booking is right for your business.

Rated 5.0 on Capterra

โ€œTry Bella, You Won't Regret It!โ€
Emma W., Owner Operator ยท Capterra review
โ€œGreat support for small businessโ€
Jalpa P., Owner ยท Capterra review
โ€œUser-friendly and reliable booking system with quick supportโ€
Ricky K., Hair Salon Barber ยท Capterra review

Switching from Simple Salon?

We make it easy. Free onboarding on every plan, with free data migration on Starter and Professional.

Free data migration on Starter and Professional
Personal onboarding help
No credit card required
Start free trial

See the full guide to switching from Simple Salon

How to switch from Simple Salon

Step-by-step guide to export your data and move to Bella Booking. We offer free onboarding on every plan, and free data migration on Starter and Professional.

Estimated time: Same business day once we receive your files
  1. 1

    Export your client list

    Go to Marketing, click All Clients and choose Export. This is the file that matters most: names, mobiles and emails.

  2. 2

    Export your services and your team

    Go to Admin, open the Services tab and choose Export, then do the same on the Operators tab. If you use Operator Levels, note which level each team member is on so their prices come across too.

  3. 3

    Export your products

    Go to Reporting, open the Report List, run the Stock On Hand Report and choose Export.

  4. 4

    Save the balances your clients are owed

    In Reporting, open the Liability Report. It lists unredeemed gift vouchers, client account balances, deposits held and package items still to use. Click Show Details on each and use Export as CSV. The Bella team imports the vouchers as gift cards with their balances, and you can bring each part-used package across, but only from this list.

  5. 5

    Export upcoming appointments (optional)

    Run the Appointments Report from today to the furthest date you have bookings and choose Export as CSV. We recommend bringing across future appointments only, and our team imports them without sending reminders.

  6. 6

    Email everything to hello@bellabooking.com

    Send the files from the email address on your Simple Salon account. We validate, dedupe and import them for you, free on Starter and Professional.

A note on appointment history

We generally recommend not importing old appointment history. Importing past appointments can trigger unintended automated messages (reminders, review requests, reminders to rebook, follow-up messages) and cause data inconsistencies. Your clients and services are the essential data for a clean start. If you do want some history carried over, we recommend a tight recent range (e.g. the last 3 months), and our migration team will ensure no notifications are sent accidentally.

Good to know

Simple Salon documents a self-serve export for nearly everything a switch needs, and its terms ask you to take a copy of your data yourself when you leave. Run the exports while you still have access, and keep them somewhere safe. If you use the Dome across several locations, run the client export from each location as well.

Official export documentation: Simple Salon help centre

Can't export your data?

No problem, we can work with anything. Screenshots of your service list, a link to your public booking page, a photo of your price board, or even a typed-up list. Send us whatever you have and we will build your account from it.

Need help with the migration?

Our team will handle the data import, set up your services, and walk you through everything. Onboarding help is free on every plan, and data migration is free on Starter and Professional. We accept data in any format: CSV, Excel, screenshots, photos, links, or anything else you can send.

Sources: Information gathered from www.simplesalon.com, help.simplesalon.com. Last verified: November 2026.

Found an error? and we'll correct it promptly.

Important Notice

The information about Simple Salon on this page is based on publicly available data as of November 2026 and is provided for general comparison purposes only. Pricing, features, and policies may change at any time without notice. We make reasonable efforts to keep this information accurate, but we cannot guarantee its completeness or current accuracy.

Always verify directly with Simple Salon before making any business decisions. This comparison reflects our understanding and may not capture all nuances of their offerings.