An honest, line-by-line comparison. Their strengths included.
Timely is good software. This isn’t a hit piece — it’s the table we wish we’d had when we were choosing. One thing you won’t find below: Timely’s dollar prices. Their tiers vary by region, so describing the model is the only honest option.
| SalonOS | Timely | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat plans on the page: Solo $79 · Salon $279 (every stylist, up to 20) · +$199/extra location · Enterprise POA | Per bookable staff member, per month — the bill grows with every hire |
| Texts / SMS | 200/mo included, then 12c | Capped per plan (100–350/mo), excess charged per text |
| 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 | TimelyPay processing fees apply |
| Free trial | Side-by-side pilot — we run SalonOS alongside Timely for a month | 14-day trial |
| Migration | Free, we do it for you | Free data migration |
| Contract | Month to month, leave with your data | No contracts — credit where it’s due |
| Support | Answered by salon owners who ran a floor this week | Help centre + support team |
| AI | Ask SalonOS: “who’s due a rebook?”, “quiet Tuesday — who can we win back?” | — |
| Ownership | Independent, NZ, owner-run | EverCommerce (US) |
Swipe the table to compare →
Accurate to the best of our knowledge as at July 2026. Timely’s per-staff tiers and text allowances vary by region and plan — their pricing page has the current detail. Please verify with them before deciding.
Timely is polished and easy to live with. It started in Dunedin, and the product still shows that care. Free data migration, no contracts, and right now they’re offering up to 12 months free to salons who switch. That’s real, and you should know about it before you read another word of ours.
One flat price that ignores headcount. Texts that don’t hit a plan cap mid-month. A colour bar built in, not a $350/mo bolt-on. Your own card rates, an AI assistant that knows your book, and a pilot month running alongside Timely so the switch is proven before it’s made.
We won’t price-match it, and here’s the honest why. A free year is a discount on year one — per-staff billing is the price of every year after. If you’re six stylists on a per-staff plan, the offer delays the bill, it doesn’t change it. Our answer is a flat plan plus a free pilot month running both systems, so you’re choosing on proof, not on a promo. If year one is all you’re solving for, take their offer. If you’re building a salon for the next five years, do the maths on years two to five.
Per-staff plans typically land somewhere around $40–65 per stylist 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 Timely for a month. If our numbers don’t beat your numbers, you keep Timely and you’ve lost nothing.