Boulevard Review

Boulevard is booking, point-of-sale and client-management software for appointment-based salons, spas, barbershops and medspas, built by Boulevard Labs, Inc. in Los Angeles. Card payments run through its own Boulevard Payments, which uses Adyen for Platforms underneath and is sold only to Boulevard software customers. As of October 2026, Boulevard's pricing page lists plans from $143 to $416 a month per location, depending on tier, billing period and whether you run a salon or a medspa. It says card processing starts at 2.65%, and the exact rate is set in your order. With its Offset surcharge program, the business's share falls to about 1%, because clients pay a 3% credit-card fee. Deposits arrive in about two business days, and Instant Payouts cost 1.75%. The catch is the contract. Boulevard's Main Services Agreement defaults to a 12-month term that renews automatically. If you leave mid-term, you owe the rest of the term, and fees are non-refundable. Software reviewers rate it highly, at 4.6 from 390 reviews on Capterra. However, its small Trustpilot profile is mostly one-star reviews about technical and checkout problems, support and the one-year commitment.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Boulevard’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What Boulevard is

Boulevard is business software for appointment-based self-care businesses: hair and nail salons, day spas, barbershops, massage studios and, increasingly, medical spas. It covers online booking, a point of sale, client profiles, memberships and packages, inventory, staff scheduling and commissions, text and email marketing, reporting and, for medspas, forms, charting and ePrescribe. Payments are built in through Boulevard Payments. The company, Boulevard Labs, Inc., is based at 626 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was founded in 2016 by Matt Danna, the CEO, and Sean Stavropoulos, the CTO, and the BBB records a business start date of February 2016.

In July 2025 Boulevard announced an $80 million Series D led by growth-equity firm JMI Equity, with Index Ventures and VMG Partners participating. Danna told Crunchbase News the round valued the company at about $800 million post-money, nearly double its 2022 Series C valuation, and that it had raised about $188 million in total. These are minority investors, not owners. At the time, Boulevard said it served more than 40,000 professionals in over 5,000 businesses, booked more than 2 million appointments a month and processed nearly $5 billion in payments a year, and that it powered 15% of the US medspa market. Those are the company's own figures from July 2025. We found no newer funding round or ownership change as of October 2026.

Why we list Boulevard as a POS system

Boulevard's Payment Processing Terms describe it as a payment facilitator that contracts on behalf of its acquirer, and the processor named in them is Adyen, through its Adyen for Platforms service. Each approved merchant also enters a direct contract with Adyen N.V., with Boulevard acting as the platform. In payments terms, then, Boulevard is a software-led payment facilitator. We list it as a POS system because the thing a salon or spa actually buys is the Boulevard subscription, which is the system it runs its bookings and checkout on. Processing is available only to subscribers, as part of that platform, and is not sold on its own.

What processing costs

Boulevard publishes one processing figure. The plan comparison on its pricing page says card processing starts at 2.65%, as of October 2026. It does not say whether a per-transaction fee is added or whether online and keyed payments cost more. The real rate is written into each customer's order. Boulevard says it gives volume-based discounts and invites prospects to bring a current processing statement. Its help centre shows that some accounts are billed a flat rate and others interchange-plus. Card-network and assessment fees are billed monthly as adjustments under interchange-plus. Because the starting rate is all that is public, we cannot tell you what a typical salon pays. Ask for the full schedule, including any per-transaction fee, in writing.

• Chargebacks: a chargeback fee is charged whenever a dispute becomes a full chargeback, win or lose. Boulevard's help centre says the amount is defined in your merchant agreement, and it is not published.
• Multi-merchant checkouts: when a sale is split between the business and independent stylists with their own merchant accounts, every merchant pays an extra 1% on its share.
• Refunds: Boulevard charges no fee to refund, but the original processing fee is not returned.
• Pass-through charges: the Main Services Agreement lets Boulevard pass on interchange, network and other third-party charges at cost.
• Gift cards: by default each card is capped at $500, which Boulevard can raise to no more than $2,000.

Boulevard Offset is a credit-card surcharge program. When a client pays by credit card, a 3% fee is added to the subtotal, and Boulevard charges 4% on the full total in place of your usual rate. That leaves the business paying a little over 1%, because the 4% also applies to tax and to the fee itself. Debit cards are not surcharged. Offset can cut card costs substantially, but surcharging is restricted in some states and comes with card-network signage and disclosure rules. Boulevard puts the compliance burden entirely on you, and clients see the fee on every credit-card payment, which may not suit a luxury brand.

Software and hardware prices

As of October 2026, the salon and spa plans cost $143 a month for Essentials (one location, up to five bookable providers), $234 a month per location for Premier and $328 for Prestige, with annual billing. Monthly billing costs $159, $260 and $364. Medspa plans, which add charting, photo markup and HIPAA support, cost $179, $328 and $374 on annual billing, or $199, $364 and $416 monthly. The Premier and Prestige prices are a limited-time fall offer for new customers. The list prices are $293 and $410 a month for salon plans and $410 and $468 for medspa plans on annual billing. Add-ons include forms from $65 a month per location, QuickBooks sync at $45, ePrescribe at $45 per prescriber, email blasts at $0.01 each beyond the allowance, and automated campaigns at $2 per completed appointment. Enterprise pricing is quoted. To take cards you need an iPad and the Boulevard Duo reader, which costs $149, carries a one-year warranty and can be returned within 30 days if unused.

Payouts, reserves and holds

Boulevard batches each business day's card sales and deposits them on a two-business-day schedule. Sales made before the 11:00 PM ET cutoff on Monday reach your bank on Wednesday, net of fees. The Payment Processing Terms describe the default as payouts initiated within two to three business days. Instant Payouts move available funds within minutes for 1.75% on top of processing fees, provided your bank is on the FedNow or RTP network. The terms let Boulevard delay or suspend payouts when disputes or refunds are pending or excessive, or when activity looks suspicious. They also let it hold a reserve sized to its own view of your risk, funded from your sales, by debiting your bank account or by asking you to pay within one business day. Under section 29.1 Boulevard can end payment processing at any time, "for any or no reason", and the terms require payouts to a business checking account at a US bank.

Contract terms

The contract is the part to read most closely. Under the Main Services Agreement (last updated 8 July 2026), the initial term is whatever your order states, or 12 months if it states none (section 6.1). It then renews automatically, for whatever renewal term the order sets or 12 months if it sets none, unless either side gives written notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the term ends, or a different notice period if the order specifies one. Ending the agreement mid-term does not end the bill, and section 6.5 says you cannot reduce the number of location licences or add-ons in your order during the term. You remain responsible for all fees for the whole term and keep being charged monthly. The agreement says fees are non-refundable and orders cannot be cancelled, and Boulevard says it will treat a billing-error claim made only to get out of an order as not in good faith. Prices can rise at renewal, or mid-term on 30 days' notice, in which case you may terminate and pay the rest of the term at your original price. After you leave, Boulevard may keep a reserve, sized partly on your outstanding gift card and account credit balances, for at least 180 days (MSA section 6.3). The Payment Processing Terms (section 23) put it at at least 180 days after termination plus a further reasonable period for late disputes. Your data is available for export for no more than 30 days after a notice of termination or non-renewal. Disputes go to individual arbitration in Los Angeles County with a class-action waiver. Monthly billing on the pricing page does not by itself mean a month-to-month contract, so check the term on your order form.

Reputation and complaints

Software buyers rate Boulevard highly. As of October 2026 it has 4.6 out of 5 from 390 reviews on Capterra, with 4.6 for ease of use, 4.7 for customer support, 4.4 for features and 4.5 for value. The BBB rates Boulevard Labs A+, and it has been accredited since September 2025, with no closed complaints in three years. Its Trustpilot profile is small, at 2.4 from eight reviews as of October 2026, seven of them one-star, one of which is from a job applicant rather than a customer. The customer reviews describe technical problems and missed revenue, card-reader and checkout friction, slow or hard-to-reach support, text-messaging charges and the one-year contract.

Who should use Boulevard

Boulevard suits an established US salon, spa, barbershop or medspa that wants booking, checkout, memberships and payments in one system, and particularly a multi-location group or a salon with booth renters who need their own deposits. For those businesses, the integration is worth more than a small difference in card rates. It suits a business that wants to choose its own processor, a solo provider for whom $143 a month or more is a large fixed cost, or an owner who is not ready to commit for a year less well. Before signing, get the processing rate, any per-transaction and chargeback fees, and the term length in writing on the order form. Diarise the renewal date, because notice of non-renewal must reach Boulevard at least 30 days before it.