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Comparison · CRM
Phorest vs Less Annoying CRM
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Phorest and Less Annoying CRM — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Phorest vs Less Annoying CRM: at a glance
| Feature | Phorest | Less Annoying CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | CRM | CRM |
| Velocity score | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | salon-software, booking, staff-management, pricing | small-business-crm, customer-requests, contact-records, search |
| Last editorial update | 2mo ago | 9d ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is Phorest?
Phorest keeps handing salon owners the settings they used to phone support about
Phorest is salon and clinic management software shipping small, well-scoped changes every week or two, written in the voice of the front desk. The recent run is dominated by giving owners control they previously had to request: adding product brands without contacting Phorest, per-staff-per-service pricing, per-staff online booking visibility, and finer permissions on who may edit service versus retail prices. Around that sit operational tools like geofenced clock-in on the mobile app.
What is Less Annoying CRM?
Less Annoying CRM lets users pin notes to the top of a contact
LACRM ships slowly and from user requests. Two weeks after October's bundle of six features (scratchpad widget, custom contact labels, event and task search, history filters), it added pinned notes that stay at the top of a contact or company record. Earlier in the year came configurable task views, rich text fields, undo merge and relative date filters.
Phorest vs Less Annoying CRM: editorial side-by-side
Phorest
5.0CRM
Phorest keeps handing salon owners the settings they used to phone support about
◆ Current state
Phorest is salon and clinic management software shipping small, well-scoped changes every week or two, written in the voice of the front desk. The recent run is dominated by giving owners control they previously had to request: adding product brands without contacting Phorest, per-staff-per-service pricing, per-staff online booking visibility, and finer permissions on who may edit service versus retail prices. Around that sit operational tools like geofenced clock-in on the mobile app.
◆ Where it's heading
The through-line is decentralising configuration to the salon and making the booking model match how these businesses actually run. Nearly every recent release either removes a support ticket or lets one staff member be treated differently from another — different price, different online availability, different qualifications. The multi-service booking flow extends the same thinking to the client-facing side, where a visit involving two practitioners was previously modelled as an edge case.
◆ Prediction
Per-staff settings have now landed for price, online visibility and qualifications separately; the obvious next step is a single staff-level view that shows all three together, since the release notes already admit owners are hopping between screens to check them.
Less Annoying CRM lets users pin notes to the top of a contact
◆ Current state
LACRM ships slowly and from user requests. Two weeks after October's bundle of six features (scratchpad widget, custom contact labels, event and task search, history filters), it added pinned notes that stay at the top of a contact or company record. Earlier in the year came configurable task views, rich text fields, undo merge and relative date filters.
◆ Where it's heading
The work stays on the daily record view: making the current state of a client easier to see as history grows. No AI, pricing or integration moves appear in the entries.
◆ Prediction
More small record-view and search features, either one at a time or as another bundle, are the likely next step.
Alternatives to Phorest and Less Annoying CRM
Other CRM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Phorest or Less Annoying CRM.
Twenty
Twenty 2.58.1 stops existing accounts from joining a workspace through SSO alone.
Twenty
Twenty 2.58 rebuilds CRM permissions down to the row and adds MCP workflow steps.
GroupOffice
GroupOffice patches its 25.0 and 6.8 lines again, still with no notes.
Folk
folk adds a command panel and quick-add tasks after its agent-era repositioning.
Folk
folk now pitches itself as the CRM for the agent era.
See all Phorest alternatives → · See all Less Annoying CRM alternatives →
Recent activity from Phorest and Less Annoying CRM
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 9d agoLess Annoying CRMPinned Notes
- 24d agoLess Annoying CRM6 New CRM Features
- 2mo agoPhorestBooking multiple services with multiple staff? Now way easier to mix up who's doing what 💇
- 2mo agoPhorestChoose which team members show up for online bookings — service by service
- 2mo agoPhorestPermissions to change service / retail prices
- 2mo agoPhorestAdd New Brands
- 2mo agoPhorestPricing just got personal
- 3mo agoPhorestGeofencing Clock In/Out on Phorest Go
- 7mo agoLess Annoying CRMWorkspace task customization: see future tasks and other users' tasks on the workspace
- 7mo agoLess Annoying CRMRich Text for Text Area Fields
- 8mo agoLess Annoying CRMUndo Merge Button
- 8mo agoLess Annoying CRMTwelve user-requested CRM features shipped in one release
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Phorest and Less Annoying CRM?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Phorest and Less Annoying CRM are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Phorest better than Less Annoying CRM?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Phorest and Less Annoying CRM are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other CRM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Phorest?
Top Phorest alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Phorest alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/phorest for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Less Annoying CRM?
Top Less Annoying CRM alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Less Annoying CRM alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/less-annoying-crm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.