Make a free salon website in about ten seconds

What should a salon website show before a client books?

Photos of your own finished work, each service with a price or a starting price, the town you work in and how to find you, a way to request a time or ask a question, and reviews your clients wrote themselves. With those, a new client can judge your work and your prices without calling first.

Onelios drafts the words from three answers: your business name, that you run a salon, and your city. The first draft starts from six common salon services, listed further down this page, and you can rename, remove or add services yourself, up to eight, each with a line of up to 220 characters. The AI is instructed to leave out any price, license, award, years in business or review you did not give it; it can still slip, so read the draft line by line before it goes live.

There is no street-address field and no map: the site names your city, and your phone number if you give one. If clients need your street address or parking directions, type them into the line under your headline, which you can edit yourself, up to 240 characters.

Photos go up straight from your phone, with a caption of up to 160 characters. A caption that says what was done, such as “balayage on shoulder-length dark hair”, helps a client find the result closest to their own hair. For a service that needs more explaining, such as bridal or extensions, ask for a page in plain words (“add a page for bridal hair”); Onelios writes and publishes it with an introduction, what's included, common questions, a Request a quote button and a link back to your home page.

Should a salon website list prices, and which price laws apply?

List a price or a starting price for each service if you can, and price by the work, not by the client's gender. California requires hair salons and barbers to post a written price list of their standard services and bans gender-based pricing for similar services. New York bans gender-based pricing for substantially similar services too.

California's Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, Civil Code section 51.6, says no business may charge a different price for services of similar or like kind because of a person's gender, though differences based on the time, difficulty or cost of the service are allowed. Barbers and hair salons, along with tailors and dry cleaners, must also post a price list of their standard services, meaning their 15 most requested, in at least 14-point bold type where customers can see it, give a complete written price list to anyone who asks, and display a sign in at least 24-point bold type stating the law. A business that does not fix a violation of these price-list rules within 30 days of written notice is liable for a $1,000 civil penalty. The law asks for the list to be posted where customers can see it and does not mention websites, so keep the posted list in the salon and make your website match it.

New York's Department of State, which licenses the state's appearance enhancement businesses and barbershops, issued guidance on General Business Law section 391-u, which took effect on September 30, 2020. A price difference for substantially similar services based only on gender is unlawful; time, difficulty, cost, labor and materials are legitimate reasons. Listings such as “Men's Haircuts” are not expressly prohibited but are not recommended, customers are entitled to a complete written price list on request, and a gender-neutral list is advised. On a website that means naming services by the work: short cut, long cut, cut and blow-dry.

California's Honest Pricing Law (SB 478, Civil Code section 1770(a)(29)), in force since July 1, 2024, covers most services sold to consumers. The Attorney General's guidance says a price you advertise or list must include every mandatory fee other than government taxes, so a compulsory service charge belongs inside the price on your website, not added at checkout. Optional extras need not be included, a card fee need not be if clients can pay another way, and tips are not affected.

The AI is instructed not to add prices you did not give it, so the dependable way to show one is to type it yourself: open your services in the editor and add your starting price, and what changes it, such as length or thickness, to that service's line, where it is saved as you typed it. This is a summary of what these laws and agencies say, not legal advice, and other states set their own rules.

How does booking work on a salon website built with Onelios?

On a salon site built with Onelios, clients pick a start time from your saved hours and leave a name and a phone number or email; you confirm each request. A requested time is not offered again, even if you mark the request Lost. The whole salon shares one appointment per start time and one appointment length.

You set the days you open, your opening and closing times, your time zone, your days off and one appointment length, from 30 minutes to four hours. The site then offers the open start times in the next two weeks, up to 60 of them: with 30-minute appointments and a ten-hour day, that is about the next three working days. A client chooses a time, can pick a service from your list and add a note, and leaves a phone number or email.

Only the exact start time a client picked is blocked. With a one-hour appointment length, a three-hour color requested for 10:00 does not stop someone else requesting 11:00, and once one client has 10:00 no second client can request 10:00, even if another stylist is free. Onelios does not check Google Calendar or any other calendar, so read each request against your own book before you confirm it, and keep the appointment length the same once requests have arrived.

The email alert to you can fail or arrive late, so treat the inbox as the record. Once your account email is verified, pressing Confirm emails the client their time and your phone number, if you gave one; if a client left only a phone number, you call or text them yourself. Onelios sends no appointment reminders and no text messages, takes no deposits or no-show fees, and has no calendar per stylist. Its contact form and the button on each service are worded as quote requests, the same as on a plumber's site.

When is salon booking software the better choice?

Salon booking software fits better when you need a calendar per stylist, deposits, no-show fees or appointment reminders. Square Appointments' free plan lists unlimited staff calendars, appointment deposits, reminders and a booking website; GlossGenius Standard is $24 a month billed annually and includes a booking website, deposits and reminders. Both were read on their own pages on September 23, 2026.

Square's pricing page, read September 23, 2026: Square Free costs $0 a month per location, and you pay processing fees only when you take a payment, 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online. It includes unlimited staff calendars, an online booking website, deposits and prepayments, and automatic text and email appointment reminders. Text and email appointment confirmations, processing time for services such as hair color, one appointment with services from several staff members, cancellation and no-show fees, and a waitlist start at Square Plus, $49 a month per location.

GlossGenius's pricing page, read September 23, 2026: Standard is $24 a month billed annually, or $28 month to month, with a custom booking website, built-in deposits, cancellation and no-show policies, appointment reminders and confirmations, processing time and a portfolio gallery, and every plan has a flat 2.6% card processing rate. Booking across several service providers and synced staff calendars start at Gold, $48 a month billed annually or $56 month to month, which it describes as for businesses of up to 9 staff.

You can use either and keep Onelios as your public website. Onelios has one outside link, shown in your site's footer; the editor labels it for a Google Business or social link, and it can point to your booking page instead. If you take bookings elsewhere, do not save hours in Onelios: the site's Appointments section then says no online times are open and points clients to your request form, which keeps you to one appointment book.

Onelios has no point of sale, gift cards, retail stock, payments or staff logins, sends no appointment reminders, and does not send text messages (SMS). Our What it does page lists what works today and what is not available, and the pricing section of the home page says what is free.

How should a salon ask for reviews without breaking the rules?

Salons should ask every client in the same words and let them write what they want. The Federal Trade Commission bans rewards conditioned on a positive or negative review. Google's review rules go further: no discount or free service for any review, no pressure to review in the salon, and no asking for specific content, such as a stylist's name.

The Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 21, 2024, makes it unlawful to give compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned on, a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative. An owner or manager may not write a review of the business without clearly disclosing that relationship, and the rule limits asking employees and relatives for reviews. A business also may not suggest that the reviews it shows are all or most of those it received while holding back ones for being negative.

Google's policy for reviews on Maps goes further. Reviews posted because of an incentive, such as payment, a discount or a free service, are removed, and merchants may not offer one for any review. Merchants may not discourage negative reviews or ask only happy clients, should not require or pressure clients to review while on the premises, and should not ask for specific content; Google's own example is staff asking for reviews that identify a staff member. What Google does allow is asking for reviews of a genuine experience, with no incentive and no attempt to influence the rating or the words.

In Onelios you choose clients from your inbox, up to 50 at a time, and each gets an email with a private one-time link. They pick a rating from one to five stars and write the review themselves, and it publishes on your site right away with their first name, whatever the rating. You can remove a review, and you can type in one a client gave you elsewhere; the site does not mark which is which, so only add reviews a client really wrote. Requests go by email only, you cannot reply to reviews from Onelios, and it does not post to Google.

Can Onelios bring salon clients back for their next appointment?

Onelios brings clients back only through an announcement email you approve and send. Campaigns drafts one for all clients who left an email address, clients you marked Won, or clients whose requests are still open. Onelios sends no rebooking reminders, no texts and nothing on a timer, and cannot pick clients by service or last visit.

Each announcement is drafted from what you tell it, shown to you, and sent only when you press send, under your business name, with an unsubscribe link, and replies go to you. It is instructed to use only the offers and prices you give it, so if you want a quiet-weekday offer, say exactly what it is.

The Monday email counts the quote requests, bookings and new reviews that came through your site in the past seven days, or says plainly that nothing came in, and lists what happened on your account. It suggests a few things worth doing, including a post for your Google Business Profile based on the week, such as a new review or a photo you added, which you post yourself. It then names one thing that needs you: requests still unanswered after 48 hours, asking past clients for a first review, adding photos, or connecting your own domain. When none of those applies it suggests a bridal-styling promotion, and in a quiet week a Bridal & Events page; both suggestions are the same for every salon, not drawn from your bookings. Phone calls, texts and walk-ins are not counted.

Sources

• California Civil Code section 51.6: Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, read September 23, 2026
• New York Department of State: Important guidance regarding gender-neutral pricing and services, read September 23, 2026
• California Attorney General: SB 478, hidden fees, read September 23, 2026
• Federal Trade Commission rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465 (eCFR), read September 23, 2026
• Federal Register, 89 FR 68034: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, effective October 21, 2024, read September 23, 2026
• Google Maps user-generated content policy: prohibited and restricted content, read September 23, 2026
• Square Appointments: pricing, read September 23, 2026
• GlossGenius: pricing, read September 23, 2026
• Onelios: what it does and does not do, read September 23, 2026
• Onelios: pricing, read September 23, 2026