Great Clips runs more than 4,400 salons in the United States and Canada, and not one price list covers all of them. We pulled the posted menus from eight of its US salons in November 2026: a basic adult haircut ran from $20 in Oak Grove, Kentucky, and Barstow, California, to $29 in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. Kids 10 and under and seniors 65 and over paid $2 to $3 less at every one of them.
That puts a typical Great Clips cut at about $20 to $29 for 2027 planning, before tip and before any add-ons. The add-ons are where the bill quietly grows, and the questions below follow the order most people ask them, from “why is my salon different?” to “should I tip on a $22 cut?”
Why doesn’t Great Clips have one national price?
Because Great Clips, Inc. doesn’t own the salons. The company is 100 percent franchised, with nearly 600 franchisees and more than 31,000 stylists, according to its October 2026 Veterans Day announcement. Each owner sets prices for the local market, much as two franchise burger restaurants in different towns can charge different amounts for the same sandwich.
“Each location is independently owned and operated by a franchisee who decides which coupons they offer and accept.”
Great Clips salon pages, FAQ section, 2026
The upside is transparency. Every salon publishes its menu on its own page at greatclips.com under “Salon Services,” so you can see the exact number before you leave the house. Every page also carries the same footnote: prices may vary by location and may change, and taxes and fees may apply.
As for 2027, Great Clips has not announced any national price change, and given the franchise model it isn’t likely to. Increases happen salon by salon, usually a dollar or two at a time, so the figures below are current prices to plan with, not a forecast.
What will my salon charge for a basic cut?
Probably something close to one of these. The sample mixes small towns, suburbs and pricey Bay Area and Los Angeles neighborhoods so you can see how far local rent and wages push the menu.
| Salon (posted menu, Nov. 2026) | Adult haircut | Child (10 and under) / Senior (65+) | Neck, bang or beard trim | Shampoo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove, KY | $20 | $18 | $10 | $10 |
| Barstow, CA | $20 | $17 | $8 | $8 |
| Mound, MN | $22 | $20 | $10 to $13 | $10 |
| Lehi, UT | $22 | $20 | $15 | $10 |
| Menlo Park, CA | $25 | $23 | $12 | $12 |
| Bakersfield, CA | $26 | $24 | $10 to $15 | $10 |
| Foster City, CA | $27 | $25 | $17 | $27 |
| Los Angeles (Eagle Rock), CA | $29 | $26 | $10 | $10 |
Two patterns stand out. First, California is not uniformly expensive: Barstow, in the high desert, matches the cheapest salon in Kentucky, while Eagle Rock costs 45% more. Second, the haircut itself moves less than the extras. Adult cuts in the sample spread across $9; shampoos spread across $19.
Older roundups that quote a $13 to $18 average are working from figures several years old. Among the salons we checked, nothing posted an adult cut below $20.
How much do kids and seniors save?
Usually $2, sometimes $3. Every salon in our sample listed a child price for ages 10 and under and a senior price for ages 65 and over, and the two were always identical. Great Clips’ national seniors page says the discount needs no coupon: tell the stylist at checkout and it is applied.
- Ages that count: 10 and under for the child price, 65 and over for the senior price. An 11-year-old pays the adult rate.
- What it covers: the haircut only. The company says styling and hair products are not eligible for the senior discount.
- Where it applies: most salons, not all. The national page notes that senior discounts may vary by salon, so check your location’s menu.
For a family with two young kids, that $2 adds up modestly: at a $22 salon, three cuts come to $62 instead of $66.
Which add-ons quietly double the ticket?
The shampoo. At most of our sample salons it costs $8 to $12, which turns a $22 cut into a $32 visit, a 45% jump for a few minutes at the sink. In Foster City the shampoo costs $27, the same as the haircut. When the stylist offers a wash, the right reply is a question: how much?
The other extras on a standard Great Clips menu:
- Neck, bang or beard trim: $8 to $17 as a standalone service. A quick bang trim between full cuts is the cheapest visit on the menu.
- Styling (blowout or updo): regular styles ran $18 to $50, long styles $26 to $75, and formal styles $45 to $100 across our eight salons. Online Check-In can’t be used for formal updos or perms.
- Perms: offered at some salons only; the menus mark availability as varying by location, so call first.
- Color: not offered. Great Clips’ salon FAQ states plainly that its salons do not provide hair coloring.
A man who adds a beard trim every visit at a $22 salon with a $10 beard price pays $32 before tip, which moves him into Sport Clips and Supercuts territory. More on that comparison below.
Are those $8.99 and $9.99 coupons real?
Some were, at some salons, for limited windows. Great Clips runs promotions, but each franchise owner chooses which coupons to honor. ThePricer reported a $9.99 haircut offer tied to the College Football Playoff in 2025, and deal sites have tracked $8.99 and $9.99 offers at select salons in past years. None of those deals is a standing price.
Great Clips’ own FAQ says legitimate coupons arrive through printed postcards, Facebook and Instagram ads, email, and messages in its app, and it warns that some coupons circulating online are not authorized by the company. A printable “$8.99 coupon” from a random coupon site is the one most likely to be refused at the counter. Signing up for the salon’s email list or app notifications is the reliable route.
The one free haircut that is on the calendar: on Veterans Day, November 11, 2026, veterans and active military members can get a free haircut or a card for a later visit at Great Clips salons in the US. Other customers who come in that day get a free haircut card to pass to a service member, redeemable through December 4, 2026. The program has run every year since 2012, but 2027 terms have not been announced.
Do you tip at Great Clips, and how much?
Tipping is customary, though optional. Great Clips doesn’t publish a tipping policy, so the usual salon guideline applies: 15% to 20% for a good cut. On a $22 haircut, that is about $3.30 to $4.40, and plenty of regulars simply round up to $5. Some price guides suggest closer to 10% if the service was poor.
Tip on the services you got, not the discount. If a senior price brings the cut from $22 to $20, a $4 tip still reflects the same work.
Is it cheaper than Supercuts or Sport Clips?
Usually by a few dollars, not always. All three chains are franchised and price locally, so the honest comparison is store by store. Published samples give a sense of the gap:
- Great Clips: $20 to $29 for an adult cut in our November 2026 sample; MoneyDigest found $22 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in mid-2025.
- Supercuts: $22.75 to $32 at sampled stores, according to ThePricer’s October 2025 survey; MoneyDigest found $24 in Elyria, Ohio, and $26 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- Sport Clips: $20 to $25 for a standard cut, plus $5 to $8 for the MVP upgrade, which adds a shampoo, per MoneyDigest’s 2025 review.
- Independent salons and booked stylists: far higher. StyleSeat data cited by MoneyDigest put the national median haircut at $58.
The fairest comparison for men is a Great Clips cut plus shampoo against a Sport Clips MVP, since both include a wash. At our $22 sample salon with a $10 shampoo, Great Clips comes to $32; a $22 Sport Clips cut with a $6 MVP upgrade lands near $28. Without the wash, Great Clips usually wins.
What does a year of Great Clips add up to?
The per-visit price is small enough to ignore; the annual figure is not. These hypothetical examples use a $22 adult cut, a $20 senior cut and a $10 beard trim, all from the middle of our sample.
| Example customer | Visit every | Per visit, with tip | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short cut, haircut only | 4 weeks (13 visits) | $22 + $4 = $26 | $338 |
| Short cut plus beard trim | 4 weeks (13 visits) | $32 + $6 = $38 | $494 |
| Longer hair, haircut only | 6 weeks (9 visits) | $22 + $4 = $26 | $234 |
| Senior, haircut only | 6 weeks (9 visits) | $20 + $3 = $23 | $207 |
The beard trim costs the second customer $156 a year, nearly half again the haircut-only bill. Stretching from four weeks to five cuts about two and a half visits, roughly $65 to $100 a year, which is the biggest lever most people have.
Smaller questions regulars ask at the front desk
Do I need an appointment at Great Clips?
No. Great Clips works on walk-ins and Online Check-In, which adds your name to the salon’s wait list from the website or app before you arrive. Check-in is not available at every salon at every moment, and it cannot be used for perms or formal updos, so call ahead for those.
What are Clip Notes at Great Clips?
Clip Notes is the company’s record of your previous haircuts. Your stylist adds technical details about the cut to your profile, so a different stylist at the same or another salon can repeat the cut. There is no charge for it.
Can I get a free haircut at Great Clips for donating my hair?
At participating salons, yes. Great Clips salon pages say customers donating hair to Wigs for Kids can receive a free haircut. Participation varies, so confirm with your salon and check the charity’s length and condition requirements first.
What if I don’t like my Great Clips haircut?
Great Clips does not publish a national redo policy, and because salons are franchised, practices can differ. Ask the salon manager directly and go back promptly, while the problem is easy to see and fix.
Is tax added to a Great Clips haircut?
It can be. Each salon page notes that additional taxes and fees may apply, and whether services are taxed depends on your state and city. Expect the register total to differ slightly from the posted price in some places.
Other beauty bills that repeat every few weeks
- Pedicure prices, upgrade by upgrade
- Acrylic nails: the full set and the fills
- Piercing fees vs jewelry prices
- What a tattoo costs, from small to sleeve
- Gym membership prices, budget to luxury
Every health and beauty price in one place: The complete 2027 guide to healthcare, dental, cosmetic and beauty costs
Find your exact price in about a minute
- Open the salon finder on greatclips.com, pick the location you actually use, and tap “Salon Services.” That menu is the price you will pay, before tax.
- Decide on the shampoo before you sit down. At most salons it adds $8 to $12; at a few it costs as much as the cut.
- Join that salon’s email list or turn on app messages. Franchise owners send their own coupons, and those are the ones the front desk will accept.
Pricing method: prices were researched in November 2026 for 2027 planning and may change. Salon prices come from the menus posted on eight individual Great Clips salon pages; program details come from Great Clips’ October 2026 Veterans Day announcement and its seniors page; competitor figures come from ThePricer (October 2025) and MoneyDigest (June 2025). Great Clips salons are independently owned and set their own prices, so always confirm with your location. This site is not affiliated with Great Clips, Supercuts or Sport Clips. See our disclaimer.
