Your shop shouldn't need five different systems
The diary is in one app. Client information is somewhere else. Staff send availability through WhatsApp. Payments go through different accounts. Marketing happens on Facebook when someone remembers. Then, when you want to understand how the shop is performing, you're pulling information from everywhere. Encorra replaces that with one connected system:
- Your appointments connect to your clients
- Your staff calendars connect to availability
- Your completed visits connect to revenue
- Your empty appointments connect to marketing
- Your client history flags who should be coming back
Everything starts working together.
A complete online booking system for barbers
Clients get a professional booking experience — and the appointment lands in the right barber's calendar automatically:
- 1Choose their service
- 2Select their preferred barber
- 3Pick an available date
- 4Choose a suitable time
- 5Enter their details
- 6Confirm the appointment
Your booking page stays open when the shop is closed. Share the link anywhere your clients already are:
One booking diary for the entire barbershop
One diary for the whole shop
See who's working, who's fully booked, where appointments are free, breaks, blocked time, holidays, sick days and walk-ins. Switch between individual barbers or the shop-wide view.
A calendar for every barber
Each barber gets their own hours, breaks, services, durations, availability, holidays, calendar, permissions and Stripe connection. Staff can be limited to their own bookings.
Prevents double bookings
Availability is calculated from existing appointments, service duration, working hours, breaks, blocked time and holidays — a 30-minute service only fits a genuine 30-minute gap.
Manage without rebuilding
Move an appointment, change its time or duration, reassign the barber, update the service, add a walk-in or block time — no deleting and starting again. Freed time can reopen for another booking.
Confirmations & reminders
Automatic booking confirmations plus SMS and email reminders reduce genuine forgetfulness and give clients time to rearrange — so early cancellations can be refilled.
Client self-service
Depending on your settings, clients can review details, cancel, choose another time, rebook after a closure or claim an earlier waitlist slot — without messaging the shop.
Family bookings
One parent manages several family members on one account — their own cut, one child, several children or back-to-back appointments — with reminders to the parent.
Holidays & sick days
Pick a date range; Encorra closes those dates, finds affected appointments, notifies clients and sends a rebooking link. Handle a barber's sick day as one event, not one client at a time.
Protect your chairs from no-shows
Enable card-on-file for selected barbers, ask new clients to save a card, release unconfirmed appointments, charge for no-shows or late cancellations, and waive or refund when it's fair — each barber on their own Stripe account. Apply protection where it makes sense, not one rigid rule for everyone.
Stop fake appointments
Email verification, disposable-detail detection, rate limiting, repeated-IP monitoring, suspicious-booking flags and bot protection keep someone from reserving every Saturday slot with fake details. Real clients still book in a few taps.
Fill cancellations with a Smart Waitlist
When someone cancels, Encorra offers the open time to suitable waiting clients — they get a link, claim it, and the diary updates. No ringing around, no interrupting a cut, no social post that reaches the right person too late.
Bring overdue clients back
Encorra learns how often each client normally visits and flags who's due, overdue or at risk of going inactive — so a regular who books every three weeks gets a relevant nudge instead of quietly disappearing for three months.
Connect Google to your diary
Add your booking link to your Google Business Profile so people move from Google Search or Maps straight into your available appointments — and Encorra can track which bookings arrived through Google.
Marketing that knows your availability
Because booking and marketing are connected, the Marketing Agent can promote empty slots, fill quiet days, win lapsed clients back, spotlight a barber, turn five-star reviews into posts, send SMS/email and publish approved posts to Facebook — then track opens and clicks.
Ask Cora what needs attention
"Where are our empty spaces this week?", "who's overdue?", "what were our top services this month?" Cora analyses and prepares suggestions — but sensitive actions like cancelling, charging or sending campaigns stay behind your confirmation.
Turn your client list into a business asset
A client record should hold more than a name and number. Encorra can bring together:
- Contact details
- Appointment history
- Completed visits
- Preferred barber
- Services booked
- Total spend
- Client notes
- VIP status
- Predicted return date
- No-show information
- Marketing preferences
- Family members
Your team understands the person before they sit in the chair — and the owner sees who's active, valuable or disappearing.
Understand how the shop is performing
Monitor revenue, completed and upcoming appointments, available slots, new, returning and overdue clients, no-shows, popular services, barber performance and 7-, 30- and 90-day trends — so you can see where the shop is growing and where revenue might be leaking, and make decisions with real numbers.
Barber booking system vs a paper diary
| Paper diary | Encorra |
|---|---|
| Only available inside the shop | Accessible from supported devices |
| Clients call or message | Clients book themselves online |
| Availability checked manually | Suitable times shown automatically |
| A separate page for each day | Searchable barber calendars |
| No automatic reminders | SMS and email reminders available |
| Cancellations leave blank spaces | Smart Waitlist helps refill them |
| Client history stored elsewhere | Appointments connect to client records |
| No business reporting | Revenue and appointment analytics |
| Staff changes handled manually | Individual schedules and permissions |
| Can't market empty slots | Booking data connects to campaigns |
The paper diary records what somebody wrote in it. Encorra helps manage what happens next.
Barber booking system vs separate tools
| Separate tools | Encorra |
|---|---|
| Different logins | One connected platform |
| Duplicate client information | Central client records |
| Manual calendar updates | Booking information updates together |
| Marketing disconnected from availability | Campaigns informed by real appointments |
| Separate staff diaries | One shop-wide view |
| Reporting assembled manually | Business analytics in one place |
| More subscriptions to manage | Essential tools brought together |
The goal isn't to add more software — it's to remove the need for several disconnected systems.
Built inside a real working barbershop
I'm Craig Mariner. I opened my first barbershop at 17 and have spent more than 20 years behind the chair. Encorra wasn't created by developers imagining what a barbershop might need — it came from running one: answering messages mid-cut, losing money to no-shows, rearranging a full day after a sick call, watching cancelled slots stay empty, forgetting to follow up with regulars and doing marketing after a long day on my feet.
I didn't want another appointment diary. I wanted one system that helped run the whole shop. So I built Encorra — and it now runs my shop too.
Built for independent barbers and growing shops
Solo barbers
Start with online booking, a calendar and your client list.
Chair renters
Manage your own hours, services, clients and appointments.
Multi-barber shops
Control staff calendars, permissions and availability from one place.
Established barbershops
Use automation to cut admin and recover more revenue from existing demand.
New shop owners
Launch with a professional booking system from day one.
Shops changing providers
Import supported client data and rebuild services, schedules and rules in Encorra.
Choose the right Encorra plan
🔥 Launch offer: £10 off every month for your first 2 months
Starter
Free forever
For solo barbers who need the essential booking tools.
- Online booking page
- Barber calendar
- Client list
- One staff member
No long contract — cancel anytime. See current pricing, the free barber booking system, or how Encorra compares.
How to set up your barbershop booking system
- 1Create your Encorra accountChoose a plan based on the size of your shop.
- 2Add the teamCreate each barber's profile, access permissions and working hours.
- 3Add your servicesSet the name, duration, price and available barbers for every service.
- 4Import your clientsUpload supported client information by CSV, or collect it through new bookings.
- 5Configure booking rulesAdd breaks, notice periods, cancellation settings and available dates.
- 6Connect your booking pageShare it through your website, Google listing and social profiles.
- 7Start taking bookingsAppointments flow into the correct staff calendars automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What is a barber booking system?
A barber booking system helps barbershops accept and manage appointments digitally. More complete systems also include staff scheduling, client records, reminders, payments, no-show protection, analytics and marketing.
What should a barbershop booking system include?
Online booking, barber calendars, client management, service durations, working hours, reminders, staff permissions and reporting. Features like waitlists and no-show protection help reduce lost revenue.
Is Encorra an online booking system for barbers?
Yes. Encorra is built specifically for barbers. Clients choose a service, barber, date and available appointment through a mobile-friendly booking page.
Can Encorra manage an entire barbershop?
Encorra brings bookings, staff schedules, client records, reminders, payments, marketing and analytics together. The exact tools available depend on your plan.
Does Encorra support multiple barbers?
Yes. The Business plan supports up to 5 barbers for one price, each with their own hours, services, calendars and permissions.
Can barbers only see their own appointments?
Yes. Staff permissions can restrict barbers to their own bookings while owners keep access to the wider business.
Does Encorra prevent double bookings?
Encorra calculates availability from existing appointments, service duration, working hours, breaks and blocked time to help prevent conflicts.
Can clients book when the shop is closed?
Yes. Your booking page stays available outside opening hours, so clients can book whenever it suits them.
Do clients need to download an app?
No. Clients book through a normal web browser on any device.
Can Encorra send appointment reminders?
Paid plans support automatic SMS and email confirmations and reminders, which reduce forgotten appointments and give clients time to rearrange.
Does Encorra include no-show protection?
Yes. Encorra supports card-on-file protection and no-show or late-cancellation charges. The shop controls where it's enabled and whether a fee is charged, waived or refunded.
Can Encorra fill cancelled appointments?
Yes. The Smart Waitlist can notify interested clients when an appointment opens up and let them claim it through a link.
Can Encorra help bring clients back?
Yes. Encorra analyses appointment history to identify clients due or overdue for another visit, so you can send relevant reminders or win-back campaigns.
Can parents book for their children?
Yes. Family Bookings lets a parent manage several family members on one account and contact number.
Can every barber connect their own payment account?
Yes. Encorra supports individual Stripe connections so payments reach the appropriate barber.
Can I import clients from another booking system?
Yes, by CSV, when your current provider lets you export. Available fields depend on the original system.
Is there a free barber booking system?
Yes. Encorra has a Free Forever Starter plan for one barber, including an online booking page, calendar and client list. Advanced features and multi-barber management need a paid plan.
Is there a long-term contract?
No. Encorra doesn't require a long-term contract, and paid plans can be cancelled at any time.
Related guides
One shop. One team. One barber booking system.
Taking appointments is only the beginning. Encorra helps organise the team, protect the diary, manage clients, fill cancellations and show you how the shop is performing — less chasing, less switching between tools, fewer jobs falling through the gaps.
No contract. Cancel anytime.