Comparison

Comb Works vs BackBar Pro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Comb Works

This app helps beauty professionals manage their business with easy scheduling, personalized marketing tools, and inventory tracking. It automates reminders and client communication, offering insights to foster business growth. Access your business information securely from any device.

Highlights
  • Easy appointment scheduling
  • Personalized client marketing
  • Real-time inventory tracking
  • Automatic text reminders
  • Secure client information storage
  • AI-powered business tools
  • Business analytics and reports
Features
Read full description

Hive Built. Pro Run. Comb brings the business of beauty into one place, so you can spend more of your day doing the work you love. Made for all independent beauty pros: hairstylists, barbers, estheticians, nail artists, lash and brow specialists, makeup artists, and the multi-talented people who do a little of everything. YOUR DAY, YOUR WAY Keep appointments, working hours, breaks and booking rules together. Let clients book through a website that feels like your business, with your services, portfolio and personality out front. EVERY CLIENT, REMEMBERED Pick up where you left off with preferences, visit history, photos and notes in one client profile. Keep forms, waivers and signatures close to the appointment. CARE THAT CARRIES FORWARD Build client treatment-note templates around your work. Record observations, treatment areas, aftercare and next-visit plans. Use voice drafts for review and face or body maps to keep the details clear. YOUR CRAFT, DOWN TO THE DETAIL Save lash, brow, extension, head and face maps. Keep color bowls, shades, amounts and adjustments in Formula Management, currently in beta, ready to revisit and refine. A REASON TO COME BACK Create loyalty rewards with your personality. Offer prepaid packages and gift certificates, keep in touch with messaging and campaigns, and make your regulars feel like regulars. A LITTLE BACKUP FROM YOUR HIVE Choose from 14 Worker Bees to help with follow-up, rebooking, waitlist openings and more. Set the preferences that fit your business. Ask Sage for help with client context, first drafts, service descriptions and creative ideas, with the final decisions yours. THE BUSINESS BITS, TOGETHER Manage services, products, supplies, expenses and reports alongside your calendar. Bee Paid brings payment processing into Comb so you can move from the appointment to checkout. Thousands of beauty pros. Over one million appointments in Comb. A whole lot of independent businesses doing things their own way. Independent. Never on your own.

About

BackBar Pro

Manage client information, hair formulas, and appointments for your salon business. Streamline booking, payments, and track expenses and income to understand your business's financial health.

Highlights
  • Unlimited client profiles with history
  • Digital intake forms and waivers
  • Formula vault for color mixing
  • Online booking page
  • Integrated payment processing
  • Expense and income tracking
  • Appointment reminders
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Your clients, your services, your money. One app that remembers all of it. BackBar Pro is for the beauty pro who is also the front desk, the bookkeeper, and the one who remembers every client's last visit. Hairstylists, estheticians, and lash and brow artists each get the records their craft needs, plus booking, payments, and money tools that work the same for everyone. CLIENTS YOU ACTUALLY REMEMBER Every client gets one profile: visit history, allergies and sensitivities, before and after photos, and notes from every appointment. Send intake forms, waivers, and consent forms by text or email, and clients sign on their phone. Switching from another app? Send us your export and we will load your client list for you. FOR HAIRSTYLISTS: A FORMULA VAULT Build a formula the way you mix it: color, lightener, developer, timing, and weights, with the finish photo attached. Every visit keeps its exact formula, so you can pull up exactly what you used last time. Extension sets and maintenance dates are saved on the client's hair profile. FOR ESTHETICIANS: YOUR PROTOCOL BOOK Save the exact steps of each facial, peel, or treatment once, with contraindications, peel details, and aftercare. Run a treatment step by step with timers, keep a skin profile for every client, and send a home care routine after the visit. FOR LASH AND BROW ARTISTS: MAPS THAT REMEMBER THE SET Map lashes zone by zone, and save brow shapes with your lamination and tint details and a live timer. Every client keeps their saved maps, and you file them under categories you make yourself. BOOKING THAT PROTECTS YOUR TIME Your own booking page with your services, hours, and rules. Take deposits at booking, approve requests, and let clients reschedule or cancel from a link inside the window you set. Keep a waitlist and fill a cancellation in one tap. Charge no-show and late-cancel fees when you need to. GET PAID, HOWEVER THEY PAY With Tap to Pay on iPhone, there's no need for additional card readers or terminals. Take card on file, payment QR codes for Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App, cash, and gift cards. Sell memberships and packages, send invoices, and text or email the receipt the moment you close out. REMINDERS THAT CUT NO-SHOWS Automatic appointment reminders by text and email, booking confirmations, and change notices. When a client is due, a rebook nudge puts a ready-to-send text on your to-do list, and a follow-up email goes out if they have not booked. Your phone alerts you to new bookings and cancellations. INVENTORY THAT KNOWS WHAT IT COSTS Track your retail shelf with stock counts and your markup. Premium adds back bar shelves for color, lash and brow, skincare, and supplies, scanning a bottle or an invoice to add products, and for color, the live cost of every bowl added to the ticket. MONEY AND TAXES, HANDLED Track expenses by deduction category, see income and profit by month, and set money aside for taxes. Premium adds receipt scanning from a photo, a full federal and state estimate, reminders before quarterly deadlines, and a year-end package your accountant can use. REPORTS WORTH READING Revenue, average ticket, and rebook rate, plus a monthly goal with your pace against it. Premium adds where to improve, chair time, color cost per service, and top clients. BUILT FOR HOW YOU WORK iPhone, iPad, and the web, all on one account. See your appointments in Google Calendar or Apple Calendar. WHO IT IS FOR Independent hairstylists, estheticians, lash and brow artists, booth renters, and solo studio owners who want one calm system instead of five apps, a group text, and a notes file. New accounts start with a 14 day free trial, no card needed. When the trial ends, everything you saved stays yours. Tap to Pay on iPhone requires a supported payment app and the latest version of iOS. Privacy policy: https://backbarhq.com/privacy Terms of service: https://backbarhq.com/terms Questions: support@backbarhq.com BackBar Pro is made by Backbar HQ LLC.

Screenshots

Comb Works4 screens
BackBar Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BackBar Pro at 5.0 against Comb Works's 4.4. BackBar Pro also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Comb Works's advantage is ratings volume (50 vs 5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BackBar Pro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comb Works has 50 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Comb Works's written reviews are positive against 100% of BackBar Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Comb Works ships an update monthly, BackBar Pro every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Comb Works versus BackBar Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterComb WorksBackBar Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (50 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings50 — better5
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#209 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.416.4
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperComb Works, LLCBackbar HQ LLC

Customer experience

Comb Works

All ratings50 ratings
Positive86.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.0%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive86.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.2%

BackBar Pro

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Comb Works

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Cannot input receipts
  • App glitches when closing or creating appointments
  • Free trial cancellation not working
  • Live chat link expired
  • Huge glitch preventing account setup

BackBar Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Comb Works

No in-app purchases

None

BackBar Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Comb Works free?
Comb Works is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BackBar Pro free?
BackBar Pro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Comb Works or BackBar Pro?
BackBar Pro is rated higher. Comb Works averages 4.4 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while BackBar Pro averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Comb Works or BackBar Pro have ads?
Neither Comb Works nor BackBar Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Comb Works or BackBar Pro?
Comb Works ships an update monthly, and BackBar Pro every 10 days. Most recently, Comb Works was updated on October 17, 2026 and BackBar Pro on October 6, 2026.

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