Boulevard Review: Boost Client Retention & Level Up Your Salon Business

Tired of juggling scattered bookings and payments?

If you’re managing a self-care business, picking software that actually fits your workflow and keeps your front desk sane is a real struggle.

And here’s the real pain—you end up with frustrated staff and lost appointments daily, simply because most tools don’t connect scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place.

Boulevard steps in by offering a platform built alongside self-care business owners, combining Precision Scheduling™, detailed client management, an all-in-one POS, and smart marketing—each thoughtfully designed to solve workflow headaches you deal with every day.

In this review, I’ll break down how Boulevard streamlines daily management and helps you grow, so you see exactly what’s fixed.

Throughout this Boulevard review, I’ll cover real product capabilities, pricing transparency, hidden limitations, and how Boulevard matches up against SpaFinder, Mindbody, and Acuity—so you can evaluate with confidence.

You’ll walk away knowing the features you need to run smoother, impress clients, and boost revenue—no guesswork required.

Let’s dive into the details.

Boulevard Overview

Based in Los Angeles, Boulevard has been operating since 2016. I found their clear mission is to empower the self-care industry with a modern, user-friendly platform that actually understands its unique operational frustrations.

What I noticed is their sharp focus for premium salons, spas, and medspas, from ambitious single locations to modern, multi-site franchises. You can tell their platform was designed with direct input from actual business owners.

Their recent $70 million funding round signals a major investment in platform innovation. We’ll explore the impact of these developments more deeply through this Boulevard review.

Unlike competitors such as Mindbody, Boulevard avoids a one-size-fits-all approach by prioritizing a premium client experience above all. Their platform feels like it was genuinely built by people who have run a busy spa.

Today, they work with over 30,000 professionals across the U.S., serving growth-oriented single locations and large multi-location enterprises. This demonstrates their ability to scale with your business as you grow.

From my perspective, their strategy centers on combining an intuitive user interface with powerful back-end business automation. This directly addresses your need for a platform that’s both easy for staff to learn quickly and sophisticated enough for your future growth plans.

Now let’s examine the features.

Boulevard Features

Tired of juggling separate tools for your self-care business?

Boulevard features offer an integrated platform designed to optimize every aspect of your operations. Here are the five main Boulevard features that truly transform how you manage your self-care business.

1. Precision Scheduling™ Technology

Struggling with empty appointment slots?

Inefficient scheduling can lead to lost revenue and frustrated staff, making it hard to maximize your daily potential.

This intelligent scheduling system is designed to fill your books efficiently, optimizing appointment spacing to reduce downtime. From my testing, it smartly handles add-ons and even fills last-minute gaps, ensuring your team stays productive. This core Boulevard feature truly maximizes your available time.

What you get instead is a fully optimized schedule, leading to higher revenue and happier staff, which is a big win.

2. Integrated Point of Sale (POS) System

Is your front desk bogged down by transactions?

A disconnected POS system can slow down checkouts, divert staff from client interactions, and complicate sales reporting.

Boulevard’s comprehensive POS system integrates payments and transactions seamlessly. Here’s what I found: the Duo POS App makes checkouts incredibly smooth on an iPad, freeing up your team to focus on client hospitality and upselling products.

This means you can streamline your sales process, improve the client experience, and empower your staff to drive more revenue.

3. Detailed Client Profiles & Management

Wish you knew more about your clients?

Generic client records mean you miss opportunities for personalized service and building lasting relationships.

This feature provides secure, in-depth client profiles, allowing you to track preferences, service history, and purchases. What I love about this approach is how you can tag VIPs and add scheduling alerts, ensuring every client receives tailored attention.

So, you can finally understand client behavior, boost retention, and deliver personalized experiences that keep them coming back.

4. Comprehensive Marketing Suite

Struggling to re-engage past clients?

Manual marketing campaigns are time-consuming and often fail to reach the right clients with relevant offers.

Boulevard’s marketing suite automates email and text campaigns, with audience segmentation based on client data. This is where Boulevard shines, letting you target messages for rebooking or filling open spots, even triggering based on staff availability.

This means you can efficiently engage your client base, drive more bookings, and ensure your schedule stays consistently full.

5. Forms & Charts

Do you still use paper for client intake and medical charting?

Manual forms and charts are prone to errors, hard to store securely, and don’t integrate with your client data.

This add-on feature allows you to create custom digital intake forms and provides advanced charting capabilities for services like medical aesthetics. From my evaluation, the photo markup and sign-off features are invaluable for detailed client records and consent.

So, as a self-care professional, you can maintain comprehensive, secure client records digitally, enhancing compliance and efficiency.

You’ll appreciate how these Boulevard features seamlessly work together to create a cohesive, integrated operational system for your self-care business.

Boulevard Pricing

What’s the real cost of a smooth operation?

Boulevard pricing offers a tiered model with public plans and custom options, providing transparency for small businesses while catering to the complex needs of larger enterprises.

Plan	Price & Features
Essentials	Starts at $195/month per location • Online booking with Precision Scheduling™ • Business dashboard & integrated POS • Client profiles (tagging, basic reporting) • Professional mobile app • Email confirmations & text reminders
Premier	$325/month per location • All Essentials features • Manage check-ins, walk-ins, groups in Duo app • Inventory support (PO processing, prepaid units) • Multi-merchant transactions
Prestige	Starts at $455/month per location • All Premier features • Forms add-on • 2,500 free texts • 10,000 free email blasts
Aesthetics Starter Bundle	$369/month per location (monthly) • Unlimited professionals, 250 free texts • 1,000 free email blasts, 50 GB storage • Powerful forms & charting • Photo markup & sign-off, HIPAA coverage
Aesthetics Bundle	$421/month per location (yearly) • Unlimited professionals, 2,500 free texts • 10,000 free email blasts, 100 GB storage • Powerful forms & charting • Photo markup & sign-off, HIPAA coverage
Enterprise	Custom pricing – contact sales • Multi-location management tools • White-labeled experiences & API access • Enterprise-level integrations • Dedicated partner manager & SLA

1. Value Assessment

Real value for your budget.

From my cost analysis, Boulevard’s tiered pricing offers a clear path for growth, preventing you from overpaying for unused features. The per-location model ensures that your costs scale predictably with your expansion, directly aligning expenses with your operational footprint.

Budget-wise, this means you can confidently plan your monthly software expenditure as your business grows.

2. Trial/Demo Options

Evaluate before you commit.

Boulevard generally requires a demo call to explore their platform, as free trials are rare. This personalized approach means you can get a tailored walkthrough of features relevant to your specific business needs before considering the full pricing commitment.

This helps you understand the platform’s fit and value, ensuring a well-informed decision before purchasing.

3. Plan Comparison

Matching needs to cost.

For single locations, the Essentials or Premier plans offer robust features. However, MedSpas will find the Aesthetics bundles provide crucial specialized tools, and for chains, the custom Enterprise plan is essential. What stands out is the comprehensive feature set at each tier, ensuring solid value.

This helps you match pricing to actual usage requirements, ensuring your budget aligns with specific business functionalities.

My Take: Boulevard’s pricing is on the higher end but justified by its comprehensive features and industry-specific solutions, making it a strong fit for established beauty and wellness businesses.

The overall Boulevard pricing reflects premium value for specialized beauty and wellness businesses.

Boulevard Reviews

What do real customers actually think?

To help you understand real-world experiences, I’ve analyzed numerous Boulevard reviews, focusing on user satisfaction, common praise points, and frequent complaints to give you a balanced perspective.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users seem quite happy with Boulevard.

From my review analysis, Boulevard generally receives high satisfaction ratings. What impressed me about the user feedback is how specific customers get about both strengths and weaknesses, highlighting a clear pattern of satisfied users. These reviews often point to an intuitive interface and reliable performance.

This suggests you can expect a positive core experience from the software.

2. Common Praise Points

Users consistently love the interface and scheduling.

Review-wise, the most frequently praised aspects include Boulevard’s modern and intuitive interface, and its smart Precision Scheduling™ technology. From customer feedback, the ease of use and efficient booking stand out, contributing to faster staff training and optimized schedules.

This means you’ll likely see improvements in both staff efficiency and booking rates.

3. Frequent Complaints

High price point is a common frustration.

The most frequent complaint among users is Boulevard’s high cost, particularly for smaller businesses. What stands out in user feedback is how some feel lower-tier plans offer minimal value, with additional costs for features like Forms and Charts adding up quickly.

Consider your budget carefully; these costs might be a deal-breaker for some businesses.

Overall, Boulevard reviews reveal a highly capable system, though cost and specific mobile functionality are common areas for improvement.

Best Boulevard Alternatives

Which Boulevard alternative truly fits your business?

The best Boulevard alternatives include several strong options, each better suited for different business situations and priorities. From my competitive analysis, I’ve identified key differentiators to help you decide.

1. Mindbody

Do you serve fitness classes or a broader wellness clientele?

Mindbody excels if your business extends beyond traditional salon/spa services into areas like fitness or yoga studios, needing comprehensive employee management. From my competitive analysis, Mindbody offers tools for diverse wellness businesses, making it a versatile alternative for a wider market scope.

Choose Mindbody when your business has a broad wellness focus or requires extensive employee management.

2. GlossGenius

Are you an independent stylist or small salon?

GlossGenius shines for independent beauty professionals and smaller salons prioritizing affordability and a highly-rated mobile-first experience. What I found comparing options is that GlossGenius provides an affordable, mobile-first solution, making this alternative perfect for running your business from anywhere.

Consider this alternative if you’re an individual or small team seeking simplicity and a lower price point.

3. Zenoti

Do you operate a large chain or franchise?

Zenoti is ideal if you manage multiple locations or a franchise, requiring extensive customization, deep reporting, and a very broad feature set. Alternative-wise, Zenoti provides enterprise-grade customization and reporting for complex, multi-location needs, though its interface is less modern.

Choose Zenoti when you need a highly scalable, feature-rich platform for large, intricate business operations.

4. Fresha

Is your budget tight, or do you prioritize a free basic plan?

Fresha is a great option for solo practitioners or small businesses on a tight budget, offering a free basic plan and access to a client marketplace. What I found comparing options is that Fresha is highly accessible and cost-effective, serving as a strong alternative for budget-conscious users.

Choose Fresha if you are a solo practitioner or small business with cost-effectiveness and marketplace exposure as top priorities.

The best Boulevard alternatives depend on your business size, budget, and specific operational needs, not just features.

Boulevard Setup

Concerned about software setup complexity?

This Boulevard review provides practical guidance on the deployment process, helping you understand what it takes to get this platform up and running efficiently in your business.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

Is Boulevard a quick plug-and-play solution?

Boulevard aims for an easy setup experience, with many users reporting high satisfaction in this area. From my implementation analysis, the process is often intuitive for new users, especially since Boulevard offers a full data import service for migrations, handling the heavy lifting for you.

You’ll need to plan for initial data collection and access provision for seamless migration, even with their support.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

What infrastructure does Boulevard demand?

Boulevard is cloud-based, so core technical requirements are minimal beyond reliable internet. The Duo POS App specifically needs an iPad and a card reader. What I found about deployment is that Boulevard’s API access enables custom integrations, allowing you to connect with existing systems like QuickBooks or Shopify, minimizing manual data entry.

Your IT team should review existing hardware for POS compatibility and plan for any specific integrations your business requires.

3. Training & Change Management

How easily will your team adapt to Boulevard?

Boulevard’s intuitive interface is designed to minimize training time and reduce staff turnover. From my analysis, the modern and clean design significantly lowers the learning curve, allowing your staff to become proficient quickly without extensive external training programs.

You’ll want to prepare a basic internal training session to familiarize your team with new features and workflows specific to your business.

4. Support & Success Factors

What kind of implementation support can you expect?

Boulevard receives high praise for its responsive and helpful support team, which is a major advantage during implementation. What I found about deployment is that their “high-touch service” approach provides peace of mind, ensuring you have expert assistance for any setup queries or challenges.

Plan to leverage their support actively and ensure clear communication with their team to optimize your deployment and ongoing success.

Overall, Boulevard setup is designed to be straightforward and user-friendly, allowing for relatively quick adoption and operational readiness for most businesses.

Bottom Line

Is Boulevard the right choice for your business?

My Boulevard review shows a robust client experience platform that excels for established, growth-oriented self-care businesses seeking a premium solution.

1. Who This Works Best For

Growing, multi-location self-care businesses.

Boulevard is ideal for salons, spas, and medspas that prioritize a premium client experience, operational efficiency, and data-driven growth. What I found about target users is that businesses investing in automation and client data will maximize its value for scaling operations effectively.

You’ll succeed if your business needs intelligent scheduling, comprehensive client management, and robust marketing to grow.

2. Overall Strengths

Intelligent scheduling and client experience stand out.

The software excels with its Precision Scheduling™, comprehensive client management, and intuitive, modern interface, boosting efficiency and client satisfaction. From my comprehensive analysis, its focus on automation and data utilization significantly helps businesses aiming for sustained growth and streamlined operations.

These strengths translate into optimized bookings, personalized client service, and effective marketing campaigns for your business.

3. Key Limitations

Premium pricing and contract terms are notable.

The high cost and typical 12-month contract without a free trial can be barriers for smaller businesses or those on tight budgets. Based on this review, the mobile app also has limited functionality compared to the desktop version, which might impact on-the-go management for some users.

I’d say these limitations are manageable if you prioritize feature richness and commitment over initial cost flexibility.

4. Final Recommendation

Boulevard earns a strong recommendation for its niche.

You should choose this software if your established self-care business is ready to invest in a sophisticated platform for growth and efficiency. From my analysis, your success depends on aligning your budget with its comprehensive features and commitment requirements, not just basic needs.

My confidence level is high for premium, scaling businesses but lower for independent professionals or startups with limited funds.

This Boulevard review provides strong value for the right business profile, offering a clear path for self-care businesses ready to invest in premium technology for growth.