The short answer

DaySmart Salon is the better choice for a maturing salon that needs payroll, commissions, marketing campaigns, reputation management and integrated hardware, and is comfortable paying per user. Maravoa is the better choice for a salon that wants a flat team price that does not rise with every professional added inside the band, plus portable professional records and focused chair workflows.

  • Pricing shape. This is the real difference. Maravoa charges a flat band per salon: $59/month for up to five working professionals, $119/month for up to ten. DaySmart charges per user, and its team tiers include three users with additional users at $9/month each.
  • Where the gap widens. Adding a professional inside a Maravoa band costs $0. Adding one to a DaySmart team tier costs $9/month, every month, for as long as they work there.
  • Texting. Two-way client texting rides the flat band on Maravoa. On DaySmart it is listed as an add-on at the Deluxe tier and included from Deluxe Growth at $149/month upward.
  • Depth. DaySmart reaches further into mature salon operations, with payroll, commission tools, QuickBooks Connect and a broad hardware catalog. Maravoa is narrower and priced accordingly.

The worked examples below show how the two pricing models diverge for a growing salon and for a single professional.

How Maravoa and DaySmart Salon differ

Maravoa and DaySmart Salon both combine scheduling and business tools, but they price teams very differently. Maravoa charges a team a flat monthly band no matter how many professionals work under it, so a growing salon's software cost does not climb with each new chair. DaySmart prices by user: its team tiers include three users and add a published per-user charge above that. Maravoa also keeps small, explicit entry paths for a single professional, and DaySmart's higher tiers reach into deeper payroll, marketing and operations features.

DaySmart prices below were checked against DaySmart's own public pricing page on Sep 1, 2026.

Audience: flat band versus per-user operation

Maravoa is priced for a salon that wants its software bill to be predictable. The band covers the location, team access is included, and a professional invited into a band works on a sponsored seat at $0 to them. Underneath the bands, a single professional has explicit small entry paths, so a booth renter and the salon they rent in can both be on the same platform without either paying twice.

DaySmart is priced for an operation that is already staffed and growing into back-office depth. Its tiers ladder upward through payroll, commissions, expense tracking and QuickBooks Connect, and the user count is the meter. That model suits a salon that wants those tools and accepts a bill that tracks headcount.

Pricing and fees

The clearest difference is how a team is billed. Maravoa charges a salon one flat band; DaySmart charges per user above its included base.

Maravoa team bands

Maravoa's public pricing describes two flat team bands, with team access included and no per-seat charge:

  • Studio: $59/month. One location, up to five working professionals. Invited professionals do not pay a second Maravoa subscription.
  • Salon: $119/month. One location, up to ten working professionals. Teams above ten contact Maravoa for assisted pricing.

Because the band is flat, adding a professional inside the band does not change the monthly price. A professional invited into one of these bands can work on a sponsored seat at $0 to them.

DaySmart team tiers

DaySmart's published US tiers, as checked on Sep 1, 2026, price by user:

  • Basic: $29/month for one user, with 500 text messages per month.
  • Deluxe: $69/month for three users, with additional users at $9/month each. It adds tools including gift cards, digital forms, client loyalty, basic payroll, email marketing and 1,000 text messages per month. DaySmart lists text marketing and two-way texting as add-ons at this tier.
  • Deluxe Growth: $149/month for three users, with additional users at $9/month each. It includes text marketing, two-way texting, reputation management and 1,000 text messages per month.
  • Premium: $199/month for six users, with additional users at $9/month each, adding QuickBooks Connect and a 2,500 message allowance.
  • Premium Growth: contact DaySmart for pricing. Unlimited users, expense tracking, advanced payroll, commission tools and 5,000 text messages per month.

DaySmart's public page does not list a separate per-location price, so a multi-location buyer should ask DaySmart for a written quote covering every location and user.

The practical difference is shape: Maravoa's team cost is a flat band, so it stays predictable as the team grows, while DaySmart's team cost rises with each user above the tier's included count.

Maravoa's individual entry paths

Maravoa also prices a single professional by how they sign up, not by where they work. This ladder supports the team story: a professional invited into a Studio or Salon band pays $0, while a professional signing up on their own has two small plans.

  • Owner-sponsored professional: $0 to the professional. When a Maravoa salon owner invites them into a sponsored seat, the salon's flat team band covers that seat.
  • Stylist: $19/month for a self-signed account. A dedicated texting number is an optional $2/month add-on.
  • Solo: $29/month. This includes texting plus the full solo business toolset: booking, recurring appointments, client texting, payments and checkout, reports, client management, and a per-client color card that keeps each formula, developer, processing time, technique notes and before-and-after photos on a color history timeline. Compared with Stylist, Solo also adds checkout, gift cards, inventory, sales-tax tools, a service catalog and business settings.

Features and day-to-day operations

Texting and marketing

On Maravoa, a team's shared salon texting is part of the flat Studio or Salon band. For individuals, Solo includes texting at $29/month; a self-signed Stylist account is $19/month with an optional dedicated texting number for $2/month; and an owner-invited professional in a Maravoa salon can use a sponsored seat at $0 to them.

DaySmart includes monthly text message allowances across its published plans: 500 on Basic, 1,000 on Deluxe and Deluxe Growth, 2,500 on Premium and 5,000 on Premium Growth. Its plan grid distinguishes appointment messages from marketing and two-way texting: text marketing and two-way texting are listed as add-ons at Deluxe, and included from Deluxe Growth upward.

That makes the choice depend on the job. A salon that wants two-way client texting on DaySmart needs either the Deluxe add-on, whose price DaySmart does not publish, or Deluxe Growth. On Maravoa, two-way client texting rides the flat team band. A salon that wants large campaign allowances and reputation management may prefer DaySmart's Growth tiers. Ask DaySmart what happens after the published allowance and get any add-on price in writing, because its public pricing page does not show that amount.

Payments and money

Both platforms pass through card processing costs separately from the software subscription. Compare the complete processing quote for your own card mix rather than using one side's rate in isolation.

DaySmart publishes integrated payments on every plan. Its payments page describes next-business-day funding, deposits, no-show charges, recurring memberships, contactless checkout, tipping, and stationary or mobile salon hardware. Maravoa connects payments and checkout to each professional's own account and ledger, and a salon band uses a shared salon Stripe account for team-managed work.

If payment hardware and a mature front-desk point of sale are central to the decision, DaySmart offers the broader public hardware story. If keeping each professional's payments and records attached to their own business is the priority, inspect Maravoa's live workflow before deciding.

Built for the chair

Built with working stylists to make your Tuesday at 2 p.m. easier. Maravoa is shaped around the work at the chair, and around who owns it.

  • The portable book. A professional's clients, color history and revenue records belong to them: an owner-invited professional works on a $0 sponsored seat inside a Maravoa salon, priced by how they sign up rather than where they work, and their book stays theirs.
  • Color card timeline. Every client has a color card that keeps the formula, developer, processing time, technique notes and before-and-after photos on one color history timeline.
  • Recurring appointments in seconds. A standing appointment can be set to repeat, so a regular's future visits are scheduled together.
  • Rebooking at checkout. Checkout prompts booking the client's next appointment in the same motion as taking payment.
  • Texting included. Two-way client texting is included in the price, with a dedicated per-salon number.
  • Owner money tools. A month-close profit and loss view in plain language, and refunds that can be undone.

Portability and cancellation

Maravoa is designed around portable client records and supports client export. There is no long-term software contract on the plans described here.

DaySmart's public salon policies say software subscriptions can be canceled at any time with no further financial obligation. The same page says software purchases are non-refundable and restricts hardware returns, so ask which policy applies to the exact cloud plan and hardware in your quote.

DaySmart advertises free migration into its product. During this review we did not find a current public DaySmart Salon page promising a particular self-serve export format or post-cancellation access window. That is not proof that export is unavailable; it means a buyer should have DaySmart document the export fields, format, timing, cost and access period before signing.

What you would actually pay

These examples use the published prices above. Card processing costs are excluded on both sides.

A six-professional salon that texts clients

Maravoa Salon is $119/month, flat. Up to ten working professionals are covered by the one band, so six professionals cost the same $119 as three would. Shared salon texting is part of the band.

DaySmart Deluxe Growth is $176/month: $149 for the first three users plus three extra users at $9/month each, which is $27. We compare against Deluxe Growth rather than the cheaper Deluxe because two-way client texting on Deluxe is an add-on whose price DaySmart does not publish, so Deluxe Growth is the honest comparable that includes two-way texting outright.

Because Maravoa's band is flat and DaySmart charges per user, the gap widens with every professional added: a seventh professional adds $9/month on DaySmart and $0 on Maravoa until the band's limit.

The individual path comparison

For a single professional with texting, the entry plans compare like this.

Maravoa Stylist is $21/month: $19 for a self-signed Stylist account plus $2 for a dedicated texting number. If a Maravoa salon owner sponsors the professional instead, the seat costs that professional $0.

Maravoa Solo is $29/month. Texting is included, alongside booking, recurring appointments, client management, per-client color cards with before-and-after photos, payments and checkout, reports, gift cards, inventory, sales-tax tools, a service catalog and business settings.

DaySmart Basic is $29/month for one user, with online booking, appointment confirmations, integrated payments, online deposits, reports and 500 text messages per month. A DaySmart configuration with two-way texting requires either the unpublished Deluxe add-on quote or Deluxe Growth at $149/month.

Where DaySmart is better

DaySmart is the stronger fit when a salon needs more operational depth than Maravoa's flat bands are meant to provide.

  • Team administration: its higher tiers publish multi-user allowances, basic or advanced payroll, commission tools, overtime rules and employee reminders.
  • Marketing breadth: Deluxe Growth and above combine text marketing, two-way texting, reputation management, email marketing and larger message allowances.
  • Front-desk and point-of-sale maturity: DaySmart publicly documents deposits, no-show charging, memberships, integrated transaction reporting, next-business-day funding, tipping, and stationary or mobile payment hardware.
  • Larger operation tools: higher tiers add QuickBooks Connect, expense tracking, productivity dashboards, multi-ticket checkout, resource management, packages, memberships and unlimited users at the quoted Premium Growth level.

A growing salon that wants payroll, commission rules, marketing campaigns, reputation management and integrated hardware in one established system may reasonably choose DaySmart. Maravoa's advantage is a flat, predictable team price and an ownership model centered on the individual professional; it is not a substitute for every enterprise feature DaySmart has accumulated.

Common questions

How does Maravoa's team pricing compare with DaySmart's on shape?

Maravoa charges a flat band per salon: Studio is $59/month for up to five working professionals and Salon is $119/month for up to ten, and invited professionals do not pay a second subscription. DaySmart charges per user: its Deluxe and Deluxe Growth tiers include three users and add $9/month for each additional user, and Premium includes six. So Maravoa's team cost stays flat as the team grows within a band, while DaySmart's rises with each user above the included count.

What do the professionals inside a Studio or Salon band pay?

Nothing extra beyond the flat band. Team access is included, so invited professionals do not pay a second Maravoa subscription. Underneath the bands, an individual professional has three paths: an owner-invited sponsored professional pays $0 for their seat inside a Maravoa salon; a professional who signs up independently can choose Stylist at $19/month and add a dedicated texting number for $2/month; and a Solo shop is $29/month with texting plus the broader business toolset.

What does Maravoa Solo add beyond Stylist?

Solo includes texting and adds the fuller business surface: checkout, gift cards, inventory, sales-tax tools, a service catalog and business settings, alongside booking, client management, payments and reports.

Does DaySmart include texting?

DaySmart publishes monthly text allowances from 500 messages on Basic to 5,000 on Premium Growth. Text marketing and two-way texting are listed as add-ons at Deluxe and are included from Deluxe Growth upward. Ask DaySmart for written overage and add-on pricing.

Which is better for a larger salon?

DaySmart may be better when the salon needs published multi-user depth, payroll and commission controls, marketing campaigns, reputation management, QuickBooks integration or integrated payment hardware. Maravoa may be better when the priority is a flat, predictable team price and keeping each professional's client and payment workflow attached to them.

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