Choosing salon software comes down to your business structure and how you want to pay. Timely suits solo operators and small beauty workspaces, working well when you're running a simple calendar with one or two people.
Luminate's designed specifically for busy hair salons in the UK and Ireland. The system fits growing teams where stylists run multiple columns, manage colour clients, and need a flat rate. If you want a single, predictable monthly cost, Luminate's flat-rate structure is a direct fit.
How Timely prices it
Timely prices its software based on the number of staff members you have. They offer three plans: Build at £22, Elevate at £34, and Innovate at £39 per staff member each month. Keep in mind that part-time staff are charged at the same rate as full-time staff, so anyone who needs a column in your diary adds to your bill. Because features and plans change, you should check Timely's own pricing page to verify their current rates.
If you run a salon with six stylists, those per-staff costs add up. On the basic Build plan, six columns at £22 each comes to £132 a month. If you want the features on the Elevate plan, like waitlists and consultation forms, six staff members at £34 each brings your monthly bill to £204. For the top Innovate plan, six staff columns at £39 each will set you back £234 a month.
Some key costs are left off their main pricing page. Timely runs no consumer marketplace. They don't list their card transaction rates on the main pricing page, though their FAQ points to a help article that lists the rates. The same applies to commission tracking, which is absent from their feature checklist, meaning you'll have to ask their team if the system can handle staff commission calculations.
How Luminate prices it
Luminate charges a flat rate of £69 per month, with every feature included. Billing is monthly with no contract, no minimum term, and no exit fee, so you can cancel at any time.
This flat rate doesn't increase when your team grows. Add unlimited staff accounts and set up unlimited tills and terminals without paying extra. The monthly price includes 300 SMS credits, and all email and WhatsApp messaging is included. Taking online payments costs 2% plus 20p to cover card processing, with no setup costs or monthly gateway fees. For example, a £20 online payment costs 60p, and a £50 online payment costs £1.20.
Where Timely is the better choice
Timely's a strong choice if you're working as a solo stylist or running a team of one or two people. When you only manage one or two calendars, a per-staff structure keeps your monthly bill low. Paying a flat fee designed for larger salons doesn't make sense if you're the only stylist booking appointments.
The system's also built to handle beauty and wellness businesses that offer massage, therapy, or beauty treatments alongside hair. For single-chair operators who need a clean, straightforward diary without the specific tools needed for a busy colour salon, Timely works well and fits a tight budget.
Where Luminate fits better
Luminate's built around the daily realities of a busy hair salon, focusing on how hairdressers work.
For example, multi-service bookings let you build a timeline with processing time included. You can set up services with hands-on time, a colour processing gap, and finishing time. Because Luminate tracks that gap, the calendar remains open for online bookings during development, so stylists can fit in a second client.
Technical salons also need simple ways to handle colour formulas and compliance. Luminate lets you record colour formulas with overage billing to track extra product used. To keep you organised, skin test compliance tracks and flags records on customer profiles, so you'll see who needs a test before booking.
Staff management's also designed for hair. Organise your team with staff levels and use commission automation to calculate what stylists have earned. When managing a busy floor, view rosters and track hours using hours tracking to see how the team's performing.
What moving involves
Moving your data is straightforward because the support team runs the migration for you. You won't spend hours typing in client notes or roster settings.
To start, contact hello@luminate.salon with details of your current system. The team helps you prepare the data as a ZIP of JSON files. A validation pass checks every record before anything is written. The import runs inside a single database transaction that either completes or rolls back, so there's never partial data. Imports need a fresh salon with no data entered yet, other than your owner account. Plan the migration before entering anything by hand.
The migration brings across staff profiles and levels including commission bands, monthly targets and roster settings; customer records with preferences, badges and account credit; tags; services with deposit rules and online booking settings; products; the colour catalogue; appointments; transactions with items and payments; shifts, roster data and time blocks; colour test records including signed consent signatures; gift vouchers.
Afterwards, check two defaults: a service arrives bookable online and deposit-free, and a staff member arrives on the roster. Run both systems in parallel using Luminate's 30-day free trial, which doesn't require a credit card, to make sure everything's correct before you switch.
Questions to ask before you decide
When choosing between these setups, specific questions help you make the right choice.
If you're running a single chair or working alone, a per-user system like Timely keeps your costs low and gives you a reliable diary. But if you're building a team and running a busy hair salon, a flat-rate system with specific colour and staff tools is going to make your business much easier to manage.
- How will your monthly bill change as you hire more staff? If software charges per user, costs rise with every hire. With Luminate's flat rate of £69, your bill stays the same whether you have two stylists or twelve.
- Are message credits included in the subscription? Check if you'll need to buy extra SMS bundles for reminders. Luminate includes 300 SMS credits every month, and all email and WhatsApp messages are included in the flat rate.
- What happens to historical colour formulas and client notes? Moving systems is difficult if you lose history. Ask how much of your client database, including tags and signatures, can be moved across without manual typing.
- Can you set up a processing gap for colour services? A diary that doesn't let you book another client during processing leaves money on the table. Ask if the calendar can automatically open that gap for online bookings so stylists can fit in another client.
Luminate and Timely feature comparison
This table compares the features of both systems so you can see exactly what you get for your money. Timely charges per staff member across three different plans, ranging from £22 to £39 per month, whilst Luminate has a flat rate of £69 per month for unlimited staff. You can check how each setup handles features like automated rosters and client files. Timely includes an SMS allowance per staff member, offering 100 on Build, 200 on Elevate, and 300 on Innovate, whilst Luminate includes 300 credits a month for the whole salon.
Some features, such as commission automation, are built into Luminate but don't appear in the published details for Timely. If you need client consultation forms, Timely saves them to the client record on its Elevate plan at £34 or Innovate plan at £39. Luminate doesn't offer general consultation forms, but tracks and flags skin test records on client profiles, and handles colour formulas with overage billing.
| Feature | Luminate | Timely |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | £69 a month, whatever the size of the salon | Per staff member: Build £22, Elevate £34, Innovate £39 a month |
| Six stylists, a month | £69 | £132 on Build, £204 on Elevate, £234 on Innovate |
| Part-time staff | No charge per staff member, accounts are unlimited | Charged at the same rate as full-time staff |
| Free trial | 30 days, every feature, no card needed | 14 days, no card needed |
| Contract | Monthly billing, cancel any time, no exit fee | No contracts, paid month by month |
| Marketplace fee | No marketplace, so no fee on any booking | No marketplace and no new client fees |
| Online booking with card deposits | Included | Deposits and cancellation fees on every plan |
| Commission calculation | Included | Does not appear in the published feature comparison |
| Staff targets | Included, with commission bands set against them | Innovate plan only |
| Rota and timesheets | Included, with leave and hours tracking | Timesheets and rosters on every plan |
| Forms saved to the client record | Skin test records and colour formulas | Elevate plan and up |
| Colour formulas | Colour formulas with overage billing | Not published on their site |
| Skin test records | Skin test records tracked and flagged on the client profile | Not published on their site |
| SMS included | 300 credits a month, plus email and WhatsApp | Per staff member: 100 on Build, 200 on Elevate, 300 on Innovate |
| More than one salon | Included, with reporting per site | Included on every plan |
Where a supplier doesn't publish a feature, the table says so instead of guessing. Because suppliers frequently change their plans, you should check each website's own pricing page to confirm the current rates.
Checked 21 September 2026:Timely pricing, Timely features, Timely llms.txt