Email software for salons & spas: pricing and picks for 2026.
For most independent salons and spas, Brevo is the best place to start. Its free plan covers up to 100,000 contacts with 300 sends a day, and the Starter plan begins at $9 a month for 5,000 emails with no daily sending limit. Because it is priced by monthly volume, a small salon pays for the messages it actually sends, not for every client on the list.
By the editorial team · Prices checked on October 7, 2026 from each vendor's pricing page
What salon email has to do
Salon email is different from most small-business email because the client's next visit is set by the service, not by a sales calendar. A colour client is usually due again within a few weeks, a facial client on a different rhythm, and a massage client on another. A useful email program therefore starts with rebooking messages tied to the service a client actually had, then adds the smaller jobs: confirmations, reminders for pre-service instructions, post-visit care notes, and a short winback sequence for clients who have lapsed.
Three jobs decide which tool fits. The first is rebooking: the tool needs to send a message at a chosen interval after a visit, and to stop sending once the client books again. The second is list handling: most salons keep a few thousand clients at most, but they often import the list from a booking system and need to keep it clean. The third is retail and aftercare, where product reminders and routine guides sit alongside appointment messages.
Reminders by text message are a separate problem. Email is good for rebooking and newsletters, while the fastest confirmation for a same-day appointment is usually the booking system's own reminder. Read each vendor's SMS pricing before you assume you can text clients from the email tool, because SMS is often a separate line item or a credit pack.
The comparison at a glance
Each row lists the plan that best matches a salon, the starting price with its billing view, and the limitation to weigh before committing. Prices are the figures shown on each vendor's pricing page when we checked it.
Tool
Best for in a salon
Starting price (plan, billing)
Key limitation
Brevo
Independent salons that want a free start and volume pricing
Free: 300 sends a day, up to 100,000 contacts. Starter: $9/mo, monthly, from 5,000 emails a month
Not a booking system; membership billing sits elsewhere
MailerLite
Boutique salons with a small list
Free: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort: $12/mo monthly ($10.80/mo billed annually)
Free plan caps subscribers at 250
Mailchimp
Salons that want a familiar interface
Free: up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Standard: $20/mo at 500 contacts
Price steps up with contact count; 5,001–10,000 contacts is $135/mo
Constant Contact
Event-led salons: openings, VIP and charity nights
Lite: $12/mo monthly ($10.20/mo annually). Free trial, no free plan
No free plan; exact price depends on contact count
Moosend
Lean salons that want automation at low cost
Pro: $9/mo at 500 contacts ($7/mo billed annually)
30-day free trial, no ongoing free plan
ActiveCampaign
Multi-location groups that want pipelines
Starter: $15/mo, quoted at 1,000 contacts. Free trial, no free plan
Complexity and price grow with contacts and features
Kit
Stylists and educators building a personal following
Free: up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator: $33/mo billed annually
Visual automations and sequences need a paid plan
Drip
Salons that also sell product online
1–2,500 people: $39/mo, unlimited email sends
Price steps up by people band; 14-day trial only
Campaign Monitor
Design-led salons running seasonal campaigns
Lite: $13/mo monthly ($11.70/mo annually), 500-contact band
30-day trial with a 500-contact limit; no free plan
Klaviyo
Retail-heavy salons with product data to send from
Built around product and shopper data, with no appointment features
GetResponse and AWeber also appear in the wider market for salons. GetResponse starts at $19 a month billed monthly ($15.58 annually) for its Starter plan, with unlimited monthly sends, and it has no ongoing free plan. AWeber's Lite plan starts at $15 a month for 500 subscribers and 5,000 sends a month, with a 14-day free trial. Both are reasonable choices, but neither is as close to a salon's rebooking needs as the tools in the table above.
What it costs at three list sizes
Most salons fall between roughly 500 and 10,000 clients on file. The table shows the plan that applies at three list sizes: 500, 3,000 and 10,000 contacts. Where a vendor does not publish a price for a size on its pricing page, the cell says so rather than estimating.
Tool
Plan used
500 clients
3,000 clients
10,000 clients
Brevo
Free, then Starter or Standard
Priced by monthly sends, not by contacts. Free covers up to 100,000 contacts at 300 sends a day. Starter from $9/mo from 5,000 emails a month. Standard from $18/mo from 5,000 emails a month, adding automation, A/B testing and advanced reports.
MailerLite
Comfort (monthly)
$12/mo ($10.80/mo billed annually)
Pricing on request
Pricing on request
Mailchimp
Standard
$20/mo
$100/mo (2,501–5,000 contact band)
$135/mo (5,001–10,000 contact band)
Constant Contact
Lite, Standard or Premium
Exact price is set by contact count. Lite from $12/mo, Standard from $35/mo, Premium from $80/mo, each with monthly billing. Annual billing lowers each figure.
Moosend
Pro
$9/mo ($7/mo billed annually) at 500 contacts
Pricing on request
$88/mo ($70/mo billed annually)
ActiveCampaign
Starter, Plus or Pro
Starting prices are quoted at 1,000 contacts: Starter $15/mo, Plus $49/mo, Pro $79/mo. Enterprise is priced separately.
Kit
Free, then Creator
Free covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, landing pages and forms. Visual automations and sequences need Creator at $33/mo billed annually.
Drip
People band plan
$39/mo (1–2,500 people)
$49/mo (2,501–3,000 people)
$154/mo (9,001–10,000 people)
Campaign Monitor
Lite or Essentials
$13/mo Lite ($11.70/mo annually); $31/mo Essentials ($27.90/mo annually)
Pricing on request
Pricing on request
Klaviyo
Email plan
$20/mo (500 profiles)
Pricing on request
$150/mo (10,000 profiles)
Worked example: a salon with 3,000 clients that sends two rebooking emails a month to each client is mailing 6,000 messages. On Brevo that volume sits above the Starter band's 5,000 emails and needs a plan that covers 6,000, so check the Brevo pricing page for the band that fits. On Mailchimp the same list sits in the $100 a month contact band. The gap is the reason to count sends and contacts together before you choose.
Brevo is the strongest default for a salon that wants to start without a bill. The free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts and 300 sends a day, which is more room than most salon lists will use. Paid plans are priced by monthly sending volume, so the cost tracks the rebooking messages you actually send rather than the number of clients you have on record.
For a salon, the practical advantage is that the plan has no daily sending limit once you move to Starter. A rebooking push after a busy month or a holiday offer can go out in one day without hitting a cap. Standard adds automation, A/B testing and advanced reports at $18 a month from the same starting volume, which is the step to take once you run timed rebooking sequences.
Where Brevo falls short is the booking side. It does not schedule appointments or hold membership payments, so the tool needs to be fed from your booking system. Ask whether your booking software can export clients with their last visit date, because that field drives every rebooking flow. Text reminders are a separate product line, so price them before you assume they are included.
Where it fits
→ Free start with generous contact limit
→ Volume-based paid pricing
→ No daily cap on Starter
Where it falls short
→ No booking or membership billing
→ SMS priced separately
Boutique salons
MailerLite
Free up to 250 subscribers · Comfort from $12/mo · Pricing page
MailerLite suits a boutique salon or a single-chair spa with a modest list. The free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, which is enough to try seasonal offers and a basic rebooking note before paying. The Comfort plan starts at $12 a month billed monthly, or $10.80 a month billed annually, for a 500-subscriber tier.
The builder is one of the easiest to learn for a front-desk team that has never run email. For a salon, this is a real asset: the person who writes the monthly note is usually the person who answers the phone, and the tool should not need a training week.
The limitation is depth. The free plan's 250-subscriber cap rules it out for any salon past that size, and the paid tiers are priced by subscriber band, so the cost steps as the list grows. Timing-based rebooking across several services needs more setup than a single monthly broadcast. Plan to move up or change tools once the list passes the band you chose.
Where it fits
→ Free plan for small lists
→ Easy builder for non-specialists
→ Clear starting price
Where it falls short
→ 250-subscriber free cap
→ Lighter timing logic for many services
Familiar interface
Mailchimp
Free up to 250 contacts · Standard from $20/mo · Pricing page
Mailchimp is the tool most people already know, which makes it a sensible choice for a salon whose owner has used it for a personal newsletter or a previous business. The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a limit of 250 sends a day, so a brand-new salon can send its first letters at no cost.
The main cost issue is that Mailchimp's pricing is set by contact count. A salon with 500 clients pays $20 a month on the Standard tier, while the 5,001–10,000 band is $135 a month. A salon that grows through referrals will watch that line rise. Check the band each time your list crosses a threshold, and archive contacts who have not visited in a long time to keep the count honest.
For rebooking logic, Mailchimp is a serviceable broadcast tool but not a deep timing engine for appointment-driven sequences. Use it for newsletters and seasonal offers, and let the booking system drive the messages that depend on visit dates.
Where it fits
→ Familiar to most owners
→ Free plan to start
→ Good for newsletters
Where it falls short
→ Price steps up with contacts
→ Limited visit-timing logic
Event-led salons
Constant Contact
Lite from $12/mo · Free trial, no free plan · Pricing page
Constant Contact is built for event invitations, which makes it a fit for salons that run openings, bridal previews, charity nights or seasonal open houses. The tool has a free trial with no card required, but no ongoing free plan, so the first paid month starts when you decide to commit.
Its Premium plan includes 500 SMS a month, which is one of the few places on these pricing pages where text messaging is bundled with a plan. For salons that want to send event reminders by text alongside email, that is worth comparing against the booking system's own reminders.
The limitation is that the exact price depends on your contact count, so you need to know your list size before the figure is meaningful. Rebooking automation is shallow compared with the timing-based tools, so Constant Contact works best as the event tool next to a booking-led rebooking flow, not as the only system.
Where it fits
→ Event invitations
→ 500 SMS on Premium
→ Simple to run for front-desk teams
Where it falls short
→ No free plan
→ Price tied to contact count
→ Shallow rebooking timing
Lean budgets
Moosend
Pro from $9/mo at 500 contacts · 30-day trial · Pricing page
Moosend gives a lean salon access to automation workflows at a low monthly price. The Pro plan at 500 contacts is listed at $9 a month, or $7 a month billed annually, and the plan includes unlimited emails for that contact count. That combination makes it one of the cheapest ways to run a rebooking workflow on a small list.
The trade-off is that there is no ongoing free plan, only a 30-day free trial with no credit card needed, and prices climb with contacts: the 10,000-contact tier is $88 a month, or $70 billed annually. Set up the trial around a real rebooking flow, with one service and a short interval, before you commit to a band.
Where it fits
→ Low monthly price at small lists
→ Unlimited emails on Pro
→ Automation included
Where it falls short
→ No ongoing free plan
→ Price steps up with contacts
Multi-location groups
ActiveCampaign
Starter from $15/mo at 1,000 contacts · Free trial · Pricing page
ActiveCampaign is the choice for a salon group or med-spa with several locations that wants pipelines, a CRM view of clients and fine-grained journeys. Its Starter plan includes email marketing, marketing automation, standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, starting at $15 a month at 1,000 contacts. Plus at $49 and Pro at $79 add segmentation, landing pages and advanced segmentation.
For an independent salon, most of that depth is unnecessary. The learning curve is real, and the price moves with contact count, so a single-location business usually gets more value from a simpler tool. The free trial is the place to check whether a multi-location workflow is worth the setup time.
Where it fits
→ CRM and pipeline views
→ Deep journeys for several locations
→ Standard CRM and ecommerce integrations
Where it falls short
→ Overkill for one location
→ Learning curve
→ No free plan
Stylists and educators
Kit
Free up to 10,000 subscribers · Creator $33/mo billed annually · Pricing page
Kit suits a stylist or colour educator who builds a personal following and sells classes or digital guides. The free plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages, forms and email broadcasts, plus audience tagging and segmentation. For a salon whose main audience is a stylist's own clients, this is a useful place to start.
Visual automations and email sequences begin on the Creator plan at $33 a month billed annually, so the rebooking flows you need will require a paid plan. The tool is strongest for audience building and education, not for running the salon's booking-driven messages.
Where it fits
→ Free to 10,000 subscribers
→ Audience and education focus
→ Unlimited broadcasts on free plan
Where it falls short
→ Automations need Creator
→ Not built for appointment rebooking
Salons with online retail
Drip
From $39/mo for 1–2,500 people · 14-day trial · Pricing page
Drip prices by people band and includes unlimited email sends on each paid tier, with dynamic segments, onsite campaigns and up to 50 workflows. For a salon that sells homecare products online, the workflow count and segmentation can support a product reminder sequence built on a client's purchase history.
The price is the limit. At 1–2,500 people the plan is $39 a month, and the 9,001–10,000 band is $154 a month, so the cost rises steeply for a growing list. There is no ongoing free plan and the trial is 14 days. A salon that does not sell online can skip Drip without losing much.
Where it fits
→ Unlimited email sends
→ Dynamic segments and workflows
→ Good for product reminders
Where it falls short
→ Steep price per band
→ No ongoing free plan
Memberships and retail: what email can and cannot do
Memberships are the part of salon business that changes the email question most. A monthly membership is a recurring payment, and the payment itself is usually handled by the booking or point-of-sale system, not by the email tool. Email's role is the surrounding communication: a note before renewal that recaps what the member has used, a message after a failed card so the member can update details, and a winback sequence for members who have paused or left.
Before you buy any email tool for memberships, confirm three things with your booking software: whether it exposes membership status to other systems, whether it can export a list of active and lapsed members, and whether renewal dates are available as a field. If it cannot provide those, the email tool will have nothing to trigger from, and the flow will fall back to manual broadcasts.
Retail works differently. Product reminders should follow the life of the product: a homecare bottle has a rough usage window, and a message sent when it should be running low feels like service, while a message sent too early feels like a sales push. Keep product email to replenishment and routine guidance, and reserve promotions for members or for a specific launch. Salons that sell heavily online may need a tool built around shopper data, such as Klaviyo or Drip, while service-first salons can keep retail email simple.
How to choose: a decision table
Match your main need to a tool, then check the price at your real list size. The table lists the pick for each situation and the reason it fits.
If you need
Pick
Because
A free start for a new salon
Brevo
Free plan covers up to 100,000 contacts at 300 sends a day, and Starter has no daily sending limit once you pay.
The lowest cost for a very small list
MailerLite or Moosend
MailerLite's free plan covers 250 subscribers; Moosend's Pro is $9 a month at 500 contacts.
Event invitations and VIP nights
Constant Contact
Simple event sends, with 500 SMS a month on Premium, for front-desk teams with no training time.
A familiar tool for the owner
Mailchimp
Free plan for up to 250 contacts lets you start at no cost, but plan for the contact-band steps.
Several locations with pipelines
ActiveCampaign
Pipeline and journey depth fits a group, though it is more than a single salon needs.
Building a stylist or educator audience
Kit
Free to 10,000 subscribers, with automations on the Creator plan.
Product reminders for online retail
Drip or Klaviyo
Segments and workflows built for shopper-style sends; check the band price for your list.
Seasonal campaigns with strong design
Campaign Monitor
Lite is $13 a month for a 500-contact band, with a 30-day trial for testing.
Setup checklist for the first 30 days
Whichever tool you choose, the first month decides whether the list stays clean and the rebooking messages reach the right people. The checklist below is ordered so each step depends on the one before it.
Step
What to do
Why it matters
1. Export
Pull clients from the booking system with first name, email, last visit date and main service.
Rebooking timing needs the last visit date, not just the email address.
2. Clean
Remove duplicates, bounced addresses and anyone who has asked not to hear from you.
Your contact count sets the plan band, so duplicates raise the bill.
3. Consent
Confirm marketing consent for each imported client, and keep the source of that consent.
Only consented contacts should receive marketing email.
4. Sender
Set a recognisable sender name and a reply address the front desk reads.
Replies to a rebooking email often arrive as a phone call.
5. Rebooking flow
Build one flow for your most common service with a single interval, then add more later.
A single flow is easy to check before you add the others.
6. Test on yourself
Send the flow to a staff address and check the links, the booking page and the unsubscribe line.
A broken booking link costs more than the price of the plan.
7. Review
After 30 days, check contact count against the band you chose and remove lapsed contacts.
Band steps are the main cost surprise on contact-based plans.
A workable salon email rhythm
A salon does not need a large calendar of campaigns. A reliable rhythm is one rebooking flow for each core service, a short monthly note with the season's offers, and a winback message for clients who have not visited within their usual interval. Keep the monthly note to one idea, one image and one booking link, because most salon clients read a message on their phone between tasks.
Rebooking flows work best when the interval is set by the service. Colour appointments often need a return date that matches regrowth, facial clients may follow a different rhythm, and massage clients usually book on a shorter cycle. Write the interval down for each service before you build the flow, and revisit it after the first few rounds of bookings so the timing matches what clients actually do.
Reviews and feedback are also part of the rhythm. Send a short thank-you after a first visit and ask for a review on a separate email, not in the same message as the offer. Respond to feedback quickly, because a visible reply is more useful to the next client than a generic thank-you.
How this page was built
The prices on this page were taken from each vendor's public pricing page and checked on October 7, 2026. Where a vendor's page gives a price only for a band, we show that band, and where it gives no price for a list size, we say pricing on request. Figures marked with a billing view show whether they apply monthly or annually.
The ordering in the comparison reflects salon fit: how well a tool matches rebooking, list size and the simple tasks a salon needs done. It is not a numerical score. The editorial team reads vendor pricing pages and documentation, and this page does not describe features we have not found on those pages. If a price or feature here is out of date, tell us through the corrections route on the how-we-evaluate page, and we will update the page and its date.
Salon questions, answered
The questions salon owners ask before they choose a tool.
Which email tool should a salon or spa start with?
For most independent salons and spas, start with Brevo. Its free plan covers up to 100,000 contacts with 300 sends a day, and the Starter plan starts at $9 a month for 5,000 emails a month with no daily sending limit. Because the price follows how many emails you send rather than how many clients you hold, a salon with a growing list can keep the plan that matches its real mailing pattern. Check the pricing page for the current plan that fits your monthly volume.
Do email tools send appointment reminders?
Email reminders are straightforward on almost every tool in this guide. Text (SMS) reminders are a separate channel. Constant Contact lists 500 SMS messages a month on its Premium plan, and other vendors price SMS on their own pages. Before you assume reminders by text are included, read the SMS line on the vendor pricing page and add it to your budget. Your booking software usually sends the appointment reminder itself, so the email tool is best used for rebooking and follow-up.
How should a salon plan for list growth?
Price the tool for the list you will have in twelve months, not the one you have today, but do not pay for a bigger band than you need. Contact-based tools such as Mailchimp, Moosend, Drip and Klaviyo step up at fixed bands, so a list that crosses a band costs more overnight. Volume-based pricing, as used by Brevo, shifts with how often you send. Review your count every quarter and move plans when the band changes.
Do memberships need an email-tool billing feature?
Usually not. Membership payments are normally taken by your booking or point-of-sale system, and the email tool handles the messages around them: a reminder before renewal, a note after a missed visit, and a winback email for members who lapse. Confirm with your booking software how it exposes membership status, then export or sync that list to the email tool. None of the vendors compared here is presented on its pricing page as a membership billing system.
Is free email software enough for a small salon?
It can be, for a while. Brevo offers a free plan for up to 100,000 contacts with 300 sends a day, MailerLite offers a free plan for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, Kit offers a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, and Mailchimp offers a free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Free plans are the right test for a salon with a small list that sends a few messages a month. Move to a paid plan when you need automation, which many free tiers limit.
How do I move my client list to a new email tool?
Export your client list from the booking system with only the fields you need, such as first name, email, last visit date and service type. Import it into the new tool, map the fields, and confirm that each client has consented to marketing email. Send a short notice to the list about the change of sender, and keep the old tool active for a month so you can answer replies. Remove clients who have unsubscribed rather than importing them again.