Timely vs Simple Salon

Calendly

Google Calendar

Vagaro

Calendly connects your entire meeting workflow with industry-leading scheduling and AI-powered tools like Callie and Notetaker, handling the work before, during, and after meetings so individuals and teams can get more from every conversation.


Google Calendar is an online calendar solution that enables users to manage business and personal schedules. The platform offers calendar migration options, allowing users to integrate existing calendars, including those from Microsoft and IBM. Google provides comprehensive tools and resources to facilitate data migrations into the Google Workspace ecosystem.

Vagaro is all-in-one software for beauty, wellness, and fitness professionals. Manage appointments, accept payments, run marketing campaigns, and grow your business all from one easy-to-use platform designed to help you save time and boost revenue.

Manager

It only integrates with a few third-party tools and services, which may limit its usefulness for some users.

Massage therapist

I am a paying customer and I haven’t had the help that I have needed.

Owner, RMT

It was excellent, from the system itself to their customer service, always fantastic.

Skin therapist 

I love all the customisations you can do and the customer service is very responsive.

Run your salon like a pro with easy-to-use booking software that puts you in control of the whole client experience.


Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Address Book

Alerts/Notifications

Appointment Management

Appointment Scheduling

Automated Scheduling

Availability Indicator

Availability Management

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Before & After Pictures

Billing & Invoicing

Booking Management

Calendar Management

Calendar/Reminder System

Calendar Sync

Class Scheduling

Client Database

Client Management

Client Portal

Client Profiles

Color Codes/Icons

Confirmations/Reminders

Contact Database

Credit Card Management

Credit Card Processing

Customer Accounts

Customer Database

Customer History

Customer Mobile App

Customer Surveys

Customizable Branding

Customizable Forms

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Data Import/Export

Debit/Credit Card Processing

Discount Management

Drag & Drop

Electronic Forms

Electronic Payments

Email Management

Email Marketing

Email Reminders

Employee Management

Employee Scheduling

Facility Scheduling

Faculty/Staff Management

For Barbershops

For Medical Spas

For Salons and Spas

Gift Card Management

Group Scheduling

HIPAA Compliant

In-Person Payments

Inventory Management

Inventory Tracking

Loyalty Program

Marketing Automation

Member Communication

Mobile Access

Mobile Alerts

Multi-Location

Multiple User Accounts

Online Booking

Online Payments

Online Store

Payment Processing

Performance Metrics

Point of Sale (POS)

Practice Management

Promotions Management

Ratings/Reviews

Real-Time Data

Real-Time Notifications

Real-Time Reporting

Real-time Scheduling

Real-Time Updates

Recurring Appointments

Referral Tracking

Reminders

Reporting/Analytics

Reporting & Statistics

Rescheduling

Resource Scheduling

Room Booking

Sales Reports

Scheduling

Self Service Portal

SMS Marketing

SMS Messaging

SMS Reminders

SOAP notes

Social Media Integration

Staff Management

Task Management

Task Scheduling

Team Calendars

By industry, Timely reviewers are most commonly professionals in health, wellness and fitness (32%). The most frequent use case for Timely cited by reviewers is appointment scheduling (65% of reviewers).

Users and use cases

Most reviewers indicate Timely offers strong value for money, as they appreciate its affordability and wide range of features. Some reviewers feel costs rise sharply with more users or add-ons, and some users report frustration with unused features or price hikes.

Value for money

Timely is an appointment scheduling solution with key features that include confirmations/reminders, online booking, and more.

Timely

Web-based

iPad

Android

Windows

Linux

iPhone

Chromebook

Phorest

Kitomba Salon and Spa Software

Acuity Scheduling

Shortcuts

Fresha

Simple Salon

Zanda

QuickBooks Time

Ovatu

Square Appointments

ZENOTI

Build

Elevate

Innovate

Data Analyst

Timely's automated time tracking has greatly benefited the management of research projects, allowing me to precisely track time spent on various grants without the hassle of manual entry.

Scientist

It also includes budget tracking and timesheets.

The Timely app has some bugs which should be fixed in next updates.

Not offering clients slots that are available, booking clients in slots that aren’t supposed to be available and open times in the diary are not showing to customers.

Commercial Advisor

Functional and remembered my data so I could quickly and easily re-book appointments

Owner

Easy online booking and staff management.

Beauty Therapist

When the updates happen as I'm a bit slow to adjuy

My overall experience using Timely was very exciting and very informative and useful to me because, it just works for me.

Beauty Therapist 

One thing for me is that I wish I could choose to have deposits taken for only new clients when they book online, not every client when they book online, as once they are on my books and a regular I don't have a need to charge the deposit

As a customer utilizing this platform for booking was easy and efficient.

Owner operator of Trim n Shape Hairdressing

I would like to have multi bookings for the same app be able to be put through on a recurring app. And also, when their next app comes up after finishing their payment, I would like to be able to click on their next app and be taken to the calendar at this point.

Assistant director

We used this to track projects that employees said were taking to much of their time.

Web designer

For example, it could be used to issue invoices directly when working at an hourly rate.

It has an intuitive user interface which is very clear and easy.

The software is relatively expensive compared to some other time-tracking and scheduling tools on the market. While Timely provides some basic reporting features, it doesn't offer as many advanced reporting options as some other tools.

This has boosted my productivity and improved the clarity and accuracy of our grant reports.

The software generates invoices based on the time tracked, which helps to streamline the invoicing process.

Beauty / laser therapist 

Love timely - few issues lately which were adding vat to vouchers which I can’t take off so have stopped selling online and a booking fee which disappeared with no invoice - were resolved quickly and efficiently by the timely team

Beautician 

I love timely in all aspects but the ones that stick out to me are TimelyPay - it is so seamless and gives me peace of mind if a client no shows, my clients also find it so handy when they don’t have to bring their purse.

The calendar is very clear and customizable, which allows me to organize and schedule appointments efficiently.

It automatically tracks the time users spend on various tasks, which helps to accurately capture billable hours.

Chef / Content Creator

International clients have trouble booking with us - since you can only allow clients with the same phone country code as the business to book in online.

Great for keeping track of the time you spend working.

They won’t speak to you on the phone unless you are an upgraded member.

Cosmetic Tattooist / Brow Artist

I find the marketing link to mailchimp isn’t as user friendly and that I need to just manage my email marketing in mail chimp directly.

We were able to see how much time was actually spent on projects

Permanent make up artist & Aesthetics

Amazing booking system Which has massively reduced the amount of time spent dealing with client enquiries.

Having some difficulty with Mailchimp integration - we've switched to Timely > Zapier > Mailchimp instead of Timely > Mailchimp directly.

Owner 

Staff can easily navigate the functions and pairs well with XERO and most clearing houses

The mobile app is not so much, one needs to navigate through several screens to find the necessary tools.

Lash Technician

Takes a while to set up at the start, calendar syncing took a while to sync at the start also

Hairdresser 

Being able to stop clients moving small appointments to other days eg fringes trim

Managing director 

The tracking & reporting is clear & gives insight to everything we need.

We love that the online booking is easy and seem less for clients with step by step customisation.

Director

Awesome tool for letting clients book in with you automated.

Businessman

The software sends timely notifications before appointments.

Please work on better syncing with Outlook Calendar.

we can find it tricky with refunds and credits on account.

Expensive, I use basic functions and use it daily but I would think a cheaper plan might be helpful

Timely vs Simple Salon Comparison (2026)

Timely

Simple Salon

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives