An honest, line-by-line comparison. Their strengths included.
We ran our own salons on Kitomba before building SalonOS, so we know both sides of this table. One thing you won’t find below: Kitomba’s dollar prices. They’re quote-only, so describing the model is the only honest option.
| SalonOS | Kitomba | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat plans on the page: Solo $79 · Salon $279 (every stylist, up to 20) · +$199/extra location · Enterprise POA | Per-user tiers, quote-gated — book a call to get a price |
| Texts / SMS | 200/mo included, then 12c | “Complimentary SMS” is a limited-time promo tied to user count |
| Colour costing | Native colour bar included | Needs a third-party add-on like Vish (typically ~$350/mo) |
| Card payments | Your own Stripe/EFTPOS rates, no padding | Kitomba Pay 1.7% + free EFTPOS — the bundle discount ties you in |
| Free trial | Side-by-side pilot — we run SalonOS alongside Kitomba for a month | No public trial |
| Migration | Free, we do it for you | No public migration offer |
| Contract | Month to month, leave with your data | Ask when you call |
| Support | Answered by salon owners who ran a floor this week | Free phone support — a genuine strength |
| AI | Ask SalonOS: “who’s due a rebook?”, “quiet Tuesday — who can we win back?” | REACH.ai marketing add-on |
| Ownership | Independent, NZ, owner-run | Jonas Software (Constellation Software, Canada) |
Swipe the table to compare →
Accurate to the best of our knowledge as at July 2026. Kitomba’s pricing is quote-gated, so the number you get is the number you negotiate — their pricing page has the current detail. Please verify with them before deciding.
Kitomba has been in NZ and Australian salons for over 20 years, and it shows. Their phone support is free and genuinely helpful. Their reporting runs deep — if you love your numbers, Benchmark is a real asset. If you’re on Kitomba and happy, we’re not going to pretend you’re being ripped off. This page is for owners who aren’t.
A price you can see without a sales call. A colour bar built in, not a $350/mo bolt-on. An AI assistant that knows your book. Month to month, free migration, and a pilot where we run alongside Kitomba for a month so the switch is proven before it’s made.
Most salon software is priced per stylist — typically somewhere around $40–65 each per month. That model punishes growth.
At roughly $40–65 per stylist — the typical shape of per-staff plans.
Every stylist you add raises the software cost. Your growth gets taxed.
6 stylists or 16 — same number. Hire freely.
We migrate your data free and run SalonOS alongside Kitomba for a month. If our numbers don’t beat your numbers, you keep Kitomba and you’ve lost nothing.