The question is usually framed wrong
The question usually sounds like "will a bot replace the front desk", and that framing already hides a mistake. A booking bot and a front desk solve different parts of the same problem, and for a small salon in Tbilisi, Batumi or Dubai the right question isn't "which one to pick", it's "what should each one actually be doing".
Here's an honest comparison of what a bot does well and what a person does well, no invented statistics, no vague "studies show".
What a front desk does better
A person at the front desk is needed wherever the conversation isn't just about picking a time: calming a nervous client before a procedure, offering an extra service in person, handling an unusual situation when a client is running late or wants to reschedule outside the standard flow. A front desk also greets people when they actually walk into the salon, and that's a separate, important job a bot doesn't do and shouldn't try to.
What a bot does better
A booking bot works without days off and without sleeping, it doesn't get tired, doesn't mix up a time in a notebook, and doesn't forget to confirm a booking. For a salon, that means a message sent at 1am or on a Sunday doesn't sit unanswered until Monday. A bot starts at $190 upfront plus $9.90 a month, and unlike a person, it doesn't need a salary, paid leave, or a sick day in the middle of a busy season.
The price difference doesn't mean a bot is "better value" as a replacement for a person. It means a bot pays off exactly where nobody was answering before: outside business hours, on weekends, in the moments when the front desk is physically busy with a client in the salon and can't reply to a DM right away.
Where the choice actually matters
A small salon with one front desk person who both greets clients and answers messages loses bookings exactly in the moments when they're doing one thing and can't do the other at the same time. In that case, a bot doesn't compete with the person, it takes over part of the work the front desk simply can't get to, leaving more time for talking to the people who already walked in.
A salon with several front desk staff and a large client flow benefits from a bot for a different reason: it removes the routine of confirmations and reminders, which takes up time but doesn't require a person's actual judgment.
When the front desk can't be removed
A bot shouldn't be treated as a way to remove the front desk entirely if a salon offers complex, expensive services that need a consultation before booking, or if a large share of clients come by referral and expect personal contact right from the first message. In those cases, a bot works well as a first filter: it handles the simple bookings on its own and hands anything with questions to a person.
How to decide for your salon
The most honest way to figure out what you actually need is to count how many messages the salon gets outside business hours and how many of those are lost. If there aren't many, a bot won't make a noticeable difference. If a meaningful share of bookings come in at night or on weekends, a bot pays for itself within the first month, while the front desk keeps doing what it does best.
Browse the studio's demo bots in the library or talk through an option for your salon.