Comparison

SalonHQ Console 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

SalonHQ Console

Features
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Welcome to SalonHQ - your ultimate retail companion! Designed exclusively for beauty professionals, SalonHQ offers a seamless online storefront where you can curate and sell top-quality beauty products to your clients, effortlessly boosting your revenue. Say goodbye to the limitations of a brick-and-mortar salon and hello to the convenience of online shopping. With SalonHQ, your clients can shop for their favorite beauty products anytime, anywhere, and you'll earn a commission on every sale! You can extend your salon's reach beyond its physical location and serve your clients beyond the chair. And now you can stock your backbar too with products direct shipped to you at Salon-direct prices.

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
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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

SalonHQ Console4 screens
BackBar Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BackBar Pro at every 10 days against SalonHQ Console's every 5 weeks. BackBar Pro also leads on chart position (#209 vs unranked). SalonHQ Console's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SalonHQ Console ships an update every 5 weeks, BackBar Pro every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
SalonHQ Console versus BackBar Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSalonHQ ConsoleBackBar Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
Best chart rank—#209 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB117 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBarber Directory, Inc.Backbar HQ LLC

In-app purchases

None

SalonHQ Console

No in-app purchases

None

BackBar Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SalonHQ Console free?
SalonHQ Console is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BackBar Pro free?
BackBar Pro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SalonHQ Console or BackBar Pro have ads?
Neither SalonHQ Console nor BackBar Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SalonHQ Console or BackBar Pro?
SalonHQ Console ships an update every 5 weeks, and BackBar Pro every 10 days. Most recently, SalonHQ Console was updated on October 12, 2026 and BackBar Pro on October 6, 2026.

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