Scheduling & payment software for appointment-based business
4.8/5 (40 reviews)Fons is a scheduling and payment automation solution for appointment-based businesses, particularly music teachers, academic tutors, coaches, trainers, massage therapists, and other client-based businesses with a regularly returning student or client base.
Fons connects clients and business owners to streamline the appointment scheduling and payment process via a web based platform and native mobile apps for Android & iPhone. Business owners simply set up a Fons account, invite their clients to join, and begin scheduling appointments.
Business owners can select their availability, set lesson/session pricing, and choose a suitable cancellation policy window before sending personalized appointment invites to clients. Clients can then sign the billing policy, select a session time, add their payment details, and are automatically billed at the end of each confirmed appointment, eliminating invoicing hassle and avoiding late payments.
Business owners can also generate and share a personal booking link via email, text, social network, or on their website so further streamline the appointment booking process for clients/students. Each client’s information, appointment and billing history is kept in a simple profile, for access at any time. Family management features lets parents add and manage multiple kids' schedules and keep track of payments with a single payment method.
Pros
As a vocal Coach I struggled for YEARS with working out a convenient way to bill people, especially in the event of having to hold students accountable for my 24 hour notice cancellation policy without just losing the student altogether or having an awkward conversation with them. (I am very non-confrontational) Fons has COMPLETELY fixed that for me! I have never heard a complaint for my policy since using Fons and never missed receiving a payment because Fons retrieves it for me. Also never lost students over it. I honestly make $300-$400 from cancellations a month that I would not have been paid prior to using it. Fons is the middle man for me and it makes everything so easy!
Cons
I honestly have no real complaints. Customer service is always asking how to improve the product and they have actually taken and worked with multiple suggestions I’ve given!
Hey Brittney,
While we do have a ton of great easy to use features, everyone does love the automated cancellation policy. Whoa, $300-$400 a month from cancellations, you are now able to capture, that's amazing! We've had others tell us the same thing, but until you really start adding it up it's hard to imagine it would ever be that much. Great job & glad we could help! Also, thanks for the great review!
¿ Mica ~ Customer Success Team
It was a big switch for me, to bring all my clients aboard this system. I knew it would take some time, and there would likely be questions along the way. Let's just say it took significantly less effort than I was expecting. The chat support has been phenomenal. I don't know how they do it, but the Fons team seems to always be ready to answer my questions, no matter what time of day/night. If they didn't quite know the answer instantly, they got back to me ASAP.
Pros
The overall look is simple, clean, and is very user-friendly. Probably 95% of the clients I work with LOVE it, and found it very easy to change over to for payments and scheduling. The other 5% are the ones who generally dislike technology as a whole, and/or find it difficult.
I've especially noted the praise I've received from employing Fons in my business (thanks for making me look good!) from those clients I know work in the tech industry themselves. They have seemed impressed.
Cons
I work with a large variety of clients in a number of ways, and ultimately would love to be able to do just a couple more specific things with different sets of client lists, etc. However, I know Fons is a young company; I've been assured that some of those things are coming down the pike.
Hey Allison,
Thanks for the great review and glad we made you look so good, so awesome to hear:)
We are loving all of your feedback and great ideas for new feature enhancements and are working on them as quickly as possible, so keep them coming!
¿ Mica ~ Customer Success Team
I've invested time into getting my Fons account set up and running... but now, it's ready to run. Less time at the bank, less awkward money talks with clients. More of doing what I love.
That's what Fons is for me, and the peace of mind and professional front it gives my business is worth 5 times what they're charging.
Pros
What I love most about fons is that my clients love it. It's easy and straightforward for them, and looks super professional.
For me, Fons has given me so much more peace of mind. Happier clients=happier me.
Cons
I have run into a few bumps, but there's a great support team that will stick with you and help you figure everything out. Most of my minor problems come from me not being able to see what my clients see. When they run into problems, it's more difficult to resolve the issue.
Hey Ruth, thanks for the review! So glad to have you as a part of our Fons family! Since, reading your review we have added some videos to our help center, so you can at least see what their signup and appointment scheduling & confirmation looks like. We are always looking to improve, so if you have anything in-particular you would like to see for your clients just let us know:) Also, have them reach out to us because they have the benefit of the same great support as you and if it something we think may be helpful to you from your clients we will pass it along to you as well.
I love teaching guitar, but I hate the tedious administrivia part of running your own business, and until recently the worst part was scheduling and billing my students. I tracked their lessons with pencil and paper, and used email to schedule and bill. Looking back on it, the whole process was incredibly inefficient and prone to miscommunication and mistakes. Now my calendar is synced with my students, and the billing happens behind the scenes.
When I first signed up with Fons I think it had just opened for business, and I'd occasionally encounter bugs. Their customer service is AMAZING. Like, "how do you stay in business with this level of service?" amazing. Not only did they genuinely care if I had a problem, often things I reported got fixed within a few days. The app now feels solid and I recommend it without reservation.
Pros
Not spending six hours at the start of every month calculating and emailing invoices to each of my students.
Cons
A minor gripe: I'd like to have access to a record of each email Fons sends on my behalf.
After reviewing several scheduling options, this one did not make the cut due to low integration options and lack of 2-way google sync.
Pros
It's always refreshing to see a scheduling service that acknowledges coaches. The client and program management features are particularly helpful. It's great to be able to invoice clients up front for services, and streamline and automate things such as cancellation policies and billing. Very intuitive and easy.
Cons
Doesn't offer the level of customization available from some similarly priced services. Fees are somewhat higher than other services. However, the biggest issue is 2-way sync with google calendar.
Hey there! Thanks so much for the review and the feedback. It sounds like the big feature you are wanting is integrations with other services. We'll be offering a robust suite of integrations very soon! We opted to hold off on integrations until we pinpointed exactly how our platform would best serve our customers, and could identify which integrations would be most beneficial. We'll hope to chat with you again in the near future!
A 14-day free trial is available, after which Fons costs from $9.95 per staff member per month, plus 2.9% + $.30 / credit card transaction or 1.8% / ACH transaction.
A 20% discount is offered for yearly subscriptions.
Below are some frequently asked questions for Fons.
Fons offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: $10/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
A 14-day free trial is available, after which Fons costs from $9.95 per staff member per month, plus 2.9% + $.30 / credit card transaction or 1.8% / ACH transaction.
A 20% discount is offered for yearly subscriptions.
Fons offers the following features:
Fons has the following typical customers:
Freelancers, Mid Size Business, Non Profit, Public Administrations, Small Business
Fons supports the following languages:
English
Fons has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
We do not have any information about what devices Fons supports
Fons integrates with the following applications:
Google Calendar
Fons offers the following support options:
FAQs, Forum, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
Awesome.. can’t say that enough.