Spa software built around the booked slot, not the walk-in
A no-show on a 90-minute massage costs more than an empty chair anywhere else in this list, and most of your calendar is booked days ahead, not filled by whoever's next through the door. JotSchedule fits that shape first — turn fairness for the walk-ins you do get, and reminders for the appointments you can't afford to lose.
Reminders that keep an expensive slot from sitting empty
ProA booked client gets an automatic text about a day before their session, so fewer 90-minute slots go empty because someone simply forgot. It goes out on its own — nobody at the desk has to remember to send it.
This matters more here than at a walk-in-heavy shop: a missed lash fill costs a few minutes of a tech's day, but a missed massage or facial is an hour or more of a room and a therapist that can't be filled on short notice.
A 90-minute massage and a 30-minute add-on aren't the same turn
Treating every session as one turn makes the therapist doing a run of quick add-ons look equal to the one tied up on a 90-minute deep tissue, and nobody on the floor believes that.
So every service carries its own turn value, 0 to 9, in half steps. A 90-minute massage can be worth 2, a 30-minute add-on half a turn. Set a service to 0 and it's booked, billed and completed normally without moving that therapist's place in line at all. The count moves when the therapist starts the session, not when it finishes, and goes back if the session is cancelled.
Same-day bookings and walk-ins share the floor
An appointment holds a time with a particular therapist. A same-day booking or walk-in joins the live queue and is put with whoever will be free soonest, falling back to your spa's own running order. Both show on the same board, on that therapist's own column, so nothing gets dropped on top of a booked session.
The board updates in real time as the front desk works through it, so everyone watching it sees the same picture without refreshing.
When someone gets passed over
Sometimes a client wants a specific therapist, or the next opening doesn't work for them, and the front desk moves the booking on — a front-desk decision, with a reason attached, since a therapist can't skip their own turn from their phone.
The therapist who was passed over keeps their place, and if it happens to the same person twice in a row, the next opening goes to them ahead of the normal order.
Every therapist's schedule is on their own phone
No account, no email, no password. You generate a one-time code, they enter it once on their own phone, and that phone stays signed in. It shows their own schedule for the day and week — never anyone else's — and it installs to the home screen like an app.
This is on both plans, and the page says Massage Therapist, Esthetician, or whatever your team actually calls itself.
Clients with an appointment can check themselves in
ProOpen the check-in page on a tablet at the front desk. Someone who booked ahead types their name, finds their appointment and taps to check in, and it lands on your board straight away.
This is for people who already have an appointment. Walk-ins are still added by whoever is at the desk.
Questions owners actually ask
Do reminder texts go out automatically?
Yes, on Pro. A booked client gets a text about a day ahead of their session without anyone at the desk sending it — the point being fewer expensive slots going empty because someone forgot.
Can a longer session count as more than one turn?
Yes. Every service has a turn value from 0 to 9, moving in half steps — a 90-minute massage might be 2 turns and a 30-minute add-on half a turn. A service set to 0 is billed and completed normally without moving the therapist's place in the rotation. The turn is credited when the therapist starts the session and handed back if it's cancelled.
What if a client asks for a specific therapist?
Booking online, the client picks their therapist or leaves it to you. At the desk, you add a same-day booking straight onto that therapist's column, which puts them with the person they asked for instead of the next one up. Either way that therapist is credited the full turn for the session.
What happens when a therapist skips a turn?
A therapist can't skip their own turn — passing a client to someone else is done at the front desk, with a reason recorded. The therapist who was passed over keeps their place, and if it happens twice in a row the next opening goes to them ahead of the normal order.
Do walk-ins and appointments mix in one queue?
They share a board, not a single list. An appointment holds a specific time with a specific therapist; a walk-in joins the live queue and is served in rotation order. Both appear on that therapist's timeline for the day, which is what stops a walk-in being started on top of a booking.
Something not answered here? Email us at support@jotschedule.com
Try it with your own shop
Fourteen days free. Set up your services and turn values, put the board on a tablet, and see whether the rotation argument stops.