Comparison

Square vs Salon Formulator

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

Head to head
About

Square

Monitor your business performance, finances, team, and customer interactions in real time from anywhere. Track sales, manage cash flow, and streamline operations with integrated tools for scheduling and payroll.

Highlights
  • Real-time business monitoring
  • Financial tracking and budgeting
  • Team management and payroll
  • Sales and performance reports
  • Customer management
  • In-app notifications
Read full description

Have peace of mind with the new Square Dashboard app. Get a unified look at your business and manage essential tasks from anywhere in real time. Track business performance, monitor your finances, manage your team, and connect with your customers, all while you’re on the go. Stay on top of your business. Get alerts with in-app notifications. Track your business with multilocation reporting and sales reports. Plus, get data on your top sellers and performers. Understand and control your cash flow. Integrate your sales and spend reports, automate your budgeting, pay your bills, and manage your linked credit cards. Maintain smooth operations with team management tools. Make updates to schedules, view and edit timecards, and run payroll all in real time.

About

Salon Formulator

Manage client records, bookings, and product inventory for hair stylists. Track costs, profits, and reorder levels with customizable themes. Offers a free version with an optional pro subscription for data backup and syncing.

Highlights
  • Client record management
  • Booking and scheduling
  • Product inventory tracking
  • Cost and profit breakdown
  • Customizable themes
  • Data backup and sync (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Tired of keeping manual records of your clients? Wish you could see your stock levels at a glance? Salon Formulator is the app for you! Salon Formulator has been designed and purpose built for hair stylists. Whether you just want to keep track of your bookings and snap a quick photo of the results, or log your products, formulas, orders and more, Salon Formulator is for you. - Create comprehensive bookings, entering as much (or as little) information as you like. - See a breakdown of your costs and profits for each and every booking, and keep track of when bookings are invoiced, due for payment or overdue. - Easily import clients from your device contacts. - Keep a record of your clients and easily see their latest bookings at a glance. - Organise your products, including stock levels, instructions, and reorder levels. - Customise the app with various themes. Virtually all features of the app are free, without an account required. If you would like to backup and sync your data between an unlimited number of devices, a pro subscription is available for purchase. Privacy Policy: https://salonformulator.com.au/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use: https://salonformulator.com.au/terms.html

Screenshots

Square4 screens
Salon Formulator4 screens

Verdict

The call

Square and Salon Formulator both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Salon Formulator's written reviews are positive against 26% of Square's. Salon Formulator also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.1). Square's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months). On price, rating and ads 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. Salon Formulator sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Square asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Salon Formulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Square has 3.6K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Square's written reviews are positive against 100% of Salon Formulator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Square ships an update weekly, Salon Formulator every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Square versus Salon Formulator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSquareSalon Formulator
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.6K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.6K — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size315 MB74 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBlock, Inc.Jackson Tempra

Customer experience

Square

All ratings3,626 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews218 reviews
Positive25.7%
Neutral11.0%
Negative63.3%

Salon Formulator

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Square

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes after updates
  • Login issues after updates
  • Widget stopped working after updates
  • Freezing and not loading data

Requested features

8 requests
  • Make 52 weeks the default comparison
  • Add iPad version
  • Projections and estimated future income
  • Ability to control what clients see
  • Sound notifications for orders
Show 3 more
  • More detailed reporting and breakdowns
  • iPhone X support
  • Ability to track net sales instead of just gross

Salon Formulator

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Square

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Salon Formulator

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Square free?
Square is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Salon Formulator free?
Salon Formulator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Square or Salon Formulator?
Salon Formulator is rated higher. Square averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.6K ratings, while Salon Formulator averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Square or Salon Formulator have ads?
Neither Square nor Salon Formulator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Square or Salon Formulator?
Square ships an update weekly, and Salon Formulator every 5 months. Most recently, Square was updated on November 11, 2026 and Salon Formulator on November 3, 2026.

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