How to Set Up Online Booking for Your Nail Salon (Step-by-Step)

Setting up online booking for a nail salon comes down to four things: what you offer, who performs it, when they're available, and the rules around booking it. Once those are in place, clients can book you directly from your Nailterest profile or a shareable link, with no phone tag and no double-booked chairs.

What you'll set up

• Employees: your team, so clients can pick the person they want
• Services: what you offer, with a price, a duration, and who can perform it
• Availability: working hours per employee, plus time off
• Settings: notice period, how far ahead clients can book, cancellation cutoff, and whether bookings need your approval
• Google Calendar (optional): one calendar per employee, kept in sync with their bookings

The screenshots below walk through a demo salon, Luna Nail Studio, setting this up for the first time. Your dashboard looks exactly the same, just with your own services and team.

Step 1: Add your employees

1. 1
   Add each team member

   A name and a photo are enough to start; a short bio helps clients choose when they don't have a preference yet.

2. 2
   Set how many clients they can take per slot

   Most solo nail services are one client at a time. Group settings (like a nail art class) can allow more.

Step 2: Add your services

1. 1
   Open the Services tab and add a service

   Give it a name clients will recognize, like "Gel Manicure" or "Full Set Acrylic", not an internal shorthand.

2. 2
   Set the price and duration

   Duration is what actually blocks time on the calendar, so round up rather than down if a service sometimes runs long.

3. 3
   Add a category and a photo

   Categories group services on your public booking page (Manicures, Pedicures, Add-ons); a photo helps clients pick with confidence.

4. 4
   Choose who performs it

   Assign it to the employees you just added, so clients can't book someone who doesn't do it.

Step 3: Set your availability

1. 1
   Set weekly working hours per employee

   Each technician can have their own schedule, so a part-time employee only shows open slots on the days they actually work.

2. 2
   Add time off for specific dates

   Holidays, vacations, or a single afternoon off, without touching that employee's regular weekly hours.

3. 3
   Open an exception for extra hours if you need to

   The same screen also lets you open up a normally-closed day, like a holiday rush weekend.

Step 4: Configure your booking settings

1. 1
   Set your minimum notice

   Clients can't book a slot that starts sooner than this from now, so last-minute walk-ins don't show up as a surprise booking.

2. 2
   Set how far ahead clients can book

   A shorter window keeps your calendar predictable; a longer one captures clients planning around an event.

3. 3
   Set your cancellation cutoff

   How close to the appointment a client can still cancel without having to call you directly.

4. 4
   Choose instant booking or approval

   Instant booking confirms automatically. Approval mode lets you review each request first, useful while you’re still trusting the system.

Step 5: Connect Google Calendar (optional)

If your technicians already keep their lives in Google Calendar, connect it. Each employee gets their own calendar, because availability belongs to the person, not the salon. A salon with one technician connects one calendar; a salon with three connects three.

1. 1
   Open Employees and tap Edit on a team member

   Scroll to the Google Calendar section at the bottom of their editor.

2. 2
   Tap Connect Google Calendar

   Sign in with that employee's own Google account, not the salon owner's, and allow calendar access. If they aren't next to you, they can do this step on their own device while signed in to the salon account.

3. 3
   Check which calendar is being watched

   Their primary calendar is selected automatically. Use the picker to choose a different one, for example a dedicated "Work" calendar.

4. 4
   Repeat for every employee who uses Google Calendar

   Employees without a connection keep working exactly as before, using only the hours you set on the Availability tab.

What the sync does

• Busy times in Google Calendar block those slots on your booking page within about a minute, so a dentist appointment or a school pickup never gets double-booked.
• Every confirmed booking appears as an event in that employee’s Google Calendar, and it moves or disappears when the booking is rescheduled or cancelled.
• Nailterest only reads when someone is busy. Event titles, locations, and guests stay private.
• You can disconnect at any time from the same screen, and access is revoked at Google straight away.

Turn bookings on

Once your services, team, and availability are in place, go to Settings and switch "Accept bookings" on. Your profile immediately shows a Book button, and your public booking link works for clients who don’t have an account yet, no app download or sign-up required on their end.