Salon booking system with deposits: UK options compared (2026)

A deposit only protects you if the software takes it at the right moment and handles the awkward cases well: the client who books and never pays, the one who cancels a day early, and the one who simply does not turn up. That is where systems differ, far more than in whether they take deposits at all.

We make Daviana, so read our view with that in mind. Everything below about another company comes from its own pages, checked on 4 November 2026, with links under the table. If you are still deciding what your policy should say, start with our salon no-show policy template; this guide is about the software that enforces it.

What should a booking system do with deposits?

A rule by service or booking value. Colour, extensions and long treatments usually need a deposit. A fringe trim usually does not.
A percentage, a fixed amount, or both. A percentage scales with the booking. A minimum amount stops a deposit on a cheap service being too small to matter.
A deposit, or a card saved for later. Some systems let you save the card instead and charge it only if the client does not show.
Unpaid bookings that clear themselves. A booking held for a deposit nobody paid should not block a Saturday slot for days.
Keep or refund, decided by a person. When a client cancels, someone on the desk should choose, and the system should record who chose what and why.
The deposit off the bill on the day. It should come off the total at the till, without anyone working it out by hand.
Reporting. No-shows and late cancellations by client, so you can see who has missed before.

How do the main UK systems handle deposits?

	How the deposit is set	Card saved for a later charge	Booking nobody paid for	Worth knowing
Fresha	A deposit at booking, or card details captured instead. A no-show fee is set as a percentage of the appointment value	Yes, as an alternative to a deposit	Can cancel team-made bookings not paid within 1 to 72 hours	Cancellation terms are generated from your payment policy; you can't write your own
Booksy	No-Show Protection: you pick which services need a deposit or a cancellation fee, as a percentage of the service price	Yes, for cancellation fees; you charge or waive, or set it to charge automatically	Not stated	Its help article for this is on the US help centre
Phorest	Online booking deposits, in-house deposits through PhorestPay, and payment links. A no-show is charged as a percentage of the appointment or a custom amount	Yes, the card used for the deposit, if it is still stored	Not stated	Clients agree to the no-show terms on the booking confirmation screen
Timely	A deposit or the full amount before the visit, depending on your settings; it comes off the final bill	Yes, stored through Stripe to charge a cancellation fee	Not stated	The page doesn't say whether deposits can be a percentage or fixed
Vagaro	A percentage or fixed deposit on online bookings above a minimum price you set, for new or existing clients, or both. Manual deposits from the calendar too	Yes, you can require a card on file to book instead	Not stated	Its support pages are written for all markets, not the UK only
SalonIQ	A set value or a percentage per service	Not stated	Not stated	The source is a SalonIQ article from January 2022
Daviana	Taken at online booking into the same diary the desk uses, set by percentage, minimum amount and booking value	Not part of the deposit rule; the deposit is paid up front	The hold expires on its own and the slot goes back into the diary	The desk chooses keep or refund on cancellation, and it is recorded

Sources, all checked 4 November 2026: Fresha: set up payment policies, Fresha: charge no-show and cancellation fees, Booksy No-Show Protection, Booksy: deposits and cancellation fees, Phorest: charging a no-show, Timely online payments and deposits, Vagaro: require a deposit for online booking, Vagaro: require a card on file, SalonIQ: deposits in your salon (11 January 2022).

Two things stand out. First, most systems now offer a saved card as an alternative to a deposit, and say so plainly. Second, very few of them say on their public pages what happens to a booking that was made but never paid, so ask that question on any demo.

Should you take a deposit or save a card?

A deposit is money already in the bank. If the client does not come, it is kept, and nothing has to be charged afterwards. That is the main reason we lean towards deposits for expensive work.

A saved card is easier for the client at booking, because nothing is taken. The cost comes later: you have to charge someone who did not turn up, they may dispute it, and the conversation is harder. Phorest, for example, can only charge the card if it is still stored, and its terms rely on the client having agreed to them when booking.

Plenty of salons mix the two: a deposit on colour and long treatments, and a saved card, or nothing at all, on short services and regular clients.

What does a deposit cost to take? A worked example

Use your own figures. Say you take 40 colour bookings a month at £140, with a 25% deposit. That is £35 per booking, paid online.

Online card payments cost more than a card in the salon. At Stripe's standard UK online rate of 1.5% + 20p, each £35 deposit costs about 73p, so 40 deposits cost about £29 a month. Our guide to salon card machine fees lists the rates for other providers, dated.

Now set that against your no-shows. If 3 of those 40 clients would not have turned up, the deposits keep 3 × £35 = £105 that month, against about £29 in fees. Put in your own number of colour bookings, your price, your deposit percentage and your usual no-shows; if the kept deposits are smaller than the fees, a deposit on that service is not worth it.

Which one fits your salon?

You want a card saved rather than money taken. Booksy, Fresha, Phorest, Timely and Vagaro all describe this option on their own pages.
You want a fixed deposit on some services. Vagaro and SalonIQ both say you can set a fixed amount or a percentage.
You are on Phorest already. Its online, in-house and payment-link deposits cover most cases. Our guide to switching from Phorest covers notice dates if you are thinking of moving.
You want the deposit, the diary and the till in one record. Daviana's salon booking system with deposits takes the deposit at online booking into the same diary, clears unpaid holds on its own, and lets the desk keep or refund it on cancellation, with the reason recorded. It runs in six working salons, far fewer than the larger systems above, so weigh that too.

Questions salon owners ask

Which salon booking systems take deposits in the UK?

Fresha, Booksy, Phorest, Timely, Vagaro, SalonIQ and Daviana all describe taking a deposit at booking on their own pages. They differ on whether the deposit can be a fixed amount or a percentage, whether a card can be saved instead for a later no-show charge, and what happens to a booking that is never paid.

Is it better to take a deposit or save a card on file?

A deposit is money already paid, so there is nothing to chase after a no-show. A saved card is gentler at booking but means charging the client afterwards, which is harder and can be disputed. Many salons use a deposit for long or expensive work and a saved card, or nothing, for short services.

What happens to a booking if the client never pays the deposit?

That depends on the system. Fresha can cancel bookings made by the team if the deposit is not paid within a time you choose, from 1 to 72 hours. In Daviana an unpaid deposit hold expires on its own and the slot goes back into the diary. Ask any supplier how long an unpaid booking blocks the diary.

Does Daviana take deposits?

Yes. Daviana takes the deposit when the client books online, into the same diary the desk uses, with the rule set by percentage, minimum amount and booking value. When a client cancels, the desk chooses whether to keep or refund the deposit, and the choice is recorded. The diary and online booking are free for any team size, with no commission on bookings.