Tilavon vs Phorest

For a nail salon, usually yes. Phorest is a capable enterprise platform, but it is built around hair salons: it has no walk-in turn management for technician rotation and no Vietnamese language support. It also publishes no pricing, so you cannot compare it without booking a sales call, and an annual contract is standard. Tilavon publishes its price, has no contract, and is built for how nail salons actually run. A typical salon saves roughly $2,912 in the first year.

Phorest does not publish a price list. Third-party review sites report roughly $150 per month for a single location, plus a setup fee of $500 to $1,500, around $1 per online booking in the US and Canada, and separate charges for a branded app and SMS. Tilavon is $39 to $119 per month, published on the pricing page, with no setup fee and no per-booking charge. Our comparison uses the reported Phorest figures and labels them as estimates, because that is the only number anyone outside their sales team has.

Phorest is strong on hair-salon depth and multi-location group reporting, and it does track client colour formulas. What it does not have is walk-in turn management for fair technician rotation, live service timers, or Vietnamese. If you run a nail salon those three are daily essentials, and they are the main reason salons move to Tilavon.

Yes, and it is free. We import your client database, appointment history, service menu and inventory. Most migrations finish in under five business days with no downtime. Check your Phorest contract end date first, since an annual term is standard and you may want to time the switch to it.

Yes. Tilavon offers 20+ exclusive features that Phorest lacks, including color and formula tracking, live service timers, smart tip suggestions, turn management, AI business assistant, and win-back automation. Plus, switching from Phorest to Tilavon saves approximately $2,912/year based on a salon processing $15,000/month.

Tilavon includes nail-salon-specific features no competitor offers: color and formula tracking per client per visit, live service timers for efficiency tracking, smart tip suggestion screens, fair turn management for walk-ins, QR code check-in, dynamic pricing rules, floor control dashboard, payroll tracking with export to QuickBooks/ADP/Gusto/Paychex, win-back automation, AI business assistant, and a client-facing mobile PWA.

Tilavon Pro costs $69/month with all features included. By comparison, Phorest often costs significantly more once you factor in add-ons, premium features, and hidden fees. Based on total cost of ownership for a salon doing $15k/month, you save approximately $2,912/year by switching to Tilavon.

Yes. Tilavon offers free data migration assistance to import your client records, appointment history, and inventory from Phorest. Most salons complete the transition in under a week with zero downtime. Our team guides you through every step.

Yes. Color and formula tracking is built in on every plan, at no extra cost. Record exact polish colors, gel brands, and formulas for each client on every visit. Technicians can instantly look up what was used last time — ensuring consistency and saving time.

No. Phorest does not offer Vietnamese language support. Tilavon is fully translated in Vietnamese, English, Spanish, and Chinese — built specifically for the US nail salon industry where over 50% of salons are Vietnamese-owned.

Phorest has several fees beyond their advertised price, including add-on charges, per-message SMS fees, and premium feature surcharges. Tilavon includes all 60+ features in every plan with no setup fees, no contracts, and no hidden charges.

Yes. Tilavon includes payroll tracking with commission calculations, tip distributions, hours worked, and W-2/1099 classification tracking. You can export payroll data to QuickBooks, Paychex, Gusto, or ADP in CSV, Excel, or PDF formats. You can also auto-sync payroll journal entries with QuickBooks and email reports to your accountant. Most competitors either lack payroll tracking entirely or charge $39-50+/month extra for a basic payroll add-on.