The best e-signature app for salons and spas: consent forms, waivers and booth rent

Two kinds of paperwork

• Client intake and consent: allergies, medications and skin history before a facial; consent before color, a relaxer, lash extensions or a peel; a patch test acknowledgment.
• Policies: cancellation and no-show rules, deposits and late arrivals, acknowledged once and kept on file.
• Before-and-after photo releases: written permission before a client's face goes on your feed. A photo release form is a good start.
• Booth and suite rental agreements: weekly rent, what's included, product rules and notice periods, signed by each renter.
• Staff agreements: commission splits, client non-solicitation and new-hire paperwork.

At a glance

Strengths and gaps

GlossGenius: forms from the Gold plan

GlossGenius is booking, payments and marketing for beauty businesses, with Forms & Waivers listed as a Gold feature. Gold is $48 a month billed annually or $56 monthly, for businesses up to 9 staff; Platinum, for teams of 10 or more, is $148 annually or $168 monthly. Its Practice plans for medical and wellness businesses show HIPAA compliance in the comparison table, from $148 a month billed annually. The Standard plan doesn't clearly list forms, so if consent forms are the point, budget for Gold.

Mangomint: forms that live on the client profile

Mangomint prices by the piece: $120 a month per location and $10 per user, with phone, marketing and payroll as optional extras. Its forms page describes custom forms with signatures, multiple choice and toggles, requested automatically from new clients or when specific services are booked, and filled in without a client login. Completed waivers, consent forms and contracts save to the client profile next to SOAP notes, image markup and before-and-after photos, all with HIPAA compliance in Mangomint's words. For a spa that charts, it's the strongest fit here.

Boulevard: polished, with forms as an add-on

Boulevard prices per location: Essentials $143 a month with up to 5 bookable calendars, then Premier at $293 and Prestige at $410 at regular prices, with lower limited-time rates for new customers. Forms are an add-on from $65 a month per location and come included on Prestige. The pricing page describes Forms as handling client documentation and photo storage but doesn't spell out signatures, so confirm consent signing in a demo. It's aimed at multi-provider salons and spas that care about the client experience.

Vagaro: low entry price, automated forms

Vagaro shows $30 a month for one location, with $23.99 as an introductory rate for the first six months, plus $10 for each bookable calendar up to seven. Its forms page describes web-based client forms and waivers, sent automatically by service type or membership, required for certain bookings and completed before the visit. Forms isn't on the pricing page's included-with-every-plan list, which does include SOAP notes, so ask whether it adds to your bill.

SignMaster: the business side of the salon

SignMaster doesn't book appointments or keep client profiles, so it replaces none of the four. It covers what they don't. Booth and suite rental agreements go to each renter with their own rent filled in, through bulk send on paid plans. A consent or release template becomes a public signing link with a QR code to print for the desk, and each client signs their own copy; or hand over the iPad, locked in in-person signing until you take it back. Signing pages come in 6 languages, Vietnamese, Spanish and Chinese among them. SignMaster doesn't claim HIPAA compliance, so keep health histories and chart notes in a system that does.

Which one fits

• A spa or med spa that charts and keeps photos: Mangomint, or GlossGenius's Practice plans.
• A small salon that wants booking, payments and forms for little money: GlossGenius Gold or Vagaro.
• A multi-location group focused on the client experience: Boulevard with the Forms add-on.
• Booth or suite rentals, staff agreements and releases, next to any booking app: SignMaster.

A consent form on the front desk, in SignMaster

1. 1

   Make the form a template

   Upload your salon client consent form and add fields: name, phone, allergies as text, a checkbox for each service and a signature.

2. 2

   Turn on the public link

   Copy the link into your booking confirmation and download the QR code to print for the desk. Each client who signs gets their own envelope and copy.

3. 3

   Read the answers before the appointment

   On paid plans, the Responses table lists every client's answers in one place, so you can check allergies without opening each PDF.