The best Timely alternative for salons that outgrow per-chair pricing

Let's start with the truth: Timely is good software. It came out of New Zealand, it was built specifically for hair and beauty, and its calendar is one of the nicest in the industry. If you're a solo stylist who lives inside your appointment book, Timely does that job well — and this article will tell you to stay put.

But most salons that search for a Timely alternative aren't unhappy with the calendar. They're reacting to two things: the bill that grows every time they hire, and the growing pile of jobs Timely doesn't do — retail stock, staff timesheets, commissions, invoicing. This is the honest comparison.

Why growing salons look for an alternative

• Per-staff pricing: Timely charges A$42–$79 per bookable staff member per month (Build / Elevate / Innovate). A 6-chair salon pays A$252–$474 every month before SMS top-ups
• SMS reminders draw from a per-tier credit allowance (roughly 100–350 messages/month), then cost extra — busy salons burn through it
• Retail is a side feature: you can sell products, but there's no real stock control — no counts, low-stock alerts, purchase orders, or supplier tracking
• No staff clock-in, timesheets, or dedicated team app — rosters live in the calendar, payroll happens somewhere else
• Business money is external: invoicing and expense tracking mean adding Xero or a spreadsheet on top
• Reports tell you what happened last week; there's no layer that tells you what to do about it

What Wemu does differently

One price per location — not per chair

Wemu Growth is A$49 per location per month with unlimited staff. Hiring a junior stylist, a receptionist, or three Christmas casuals changes your Wemu bill by exactly zero. On Timely's per-staff model, that same 6-chair salon pays A$252–$474 a month — every month — and every hire makes it worse.

A real POS with retail depth

Salons make 15–30% of revenue at the retail shelf, and that's exactly where booking-first tools get thin. Wemu is a full point of sale: product catalog with stock counts, low-stock alerts, purchase orders sent to suppliers, and retail + service rung up in the same transaction at the chair.

Your team runs on it, not just your calendar

Staff clock in with a PIN, timesheets build themselves, and the Wemu Team app puts schedules, shifts, and tasks in every stylist's pocket. Commissions are calculated automatically per service and per product — fixed rate or percentage, per staff member — so payday goes from an afternoon of spreadsheets to a few minutes of review.

Deposits and no-show protection, built in

Clients book online from your public page, pick their stylist, and pay a deposit or leave a card at booking. Timely does no-show protection well too — the difference is that with Wemu it's part of the same system that runs your register, your stock, and your payroll data.

An AI layer that works the desk for you

Ask Wemu AI "who hasn't rebooked in 60 days?" or "what do I need to reorder before Saturday?" and it answers from your real data — then drafts the win-back message or the purchase order. It's an add-on from A$9/month, and there's simply no equivalent in the Timely world.

Pricing compared

The pattern is simple: for one person, the two are in the same ballpark. For a team, the per-staff model multiplies while the per-location model doesn't. A 6-chair salon on Timely Elevate pays roughly A$4,680 a year; the same salon on Wemu Growth pays A$588.

When Timely is still the right choice

An honest list, because switching software is disruptive and sometimes wrong:

• You're a solo stylist or chair renter who retails almost nothing — Timely's calendar-first design is exactly what you need
• You lean heavily on Timely's consultation forms and client photo documentation, which are genuinely mature
• Your Timely + Xero workflow is set up and humming, and your team isn't growing

If that's you, stay. If you're hiring, retailing, or tired of stitching four tools together, keep reading.

Switching from Timely to Wemu

1. 1Export your client list and service menu from Timely as CSV
2. 2Start a Wemu trial and import the CSVs — Wemu's AI import handles messy columns, duplicates, and formatting automatically
3. 3Connect Stripe for card payments, deposits, and Tap to Pay
4. 4Recreate your staff, rosters, and commission rules (a 6-chair setup takes about an hour)
5. 5Run both calendars in parallel for a week, then point your booking links at your Wemu page

Frequently asked questions