Great Clips vs. Supercuts: Which Is Cheaper, Faster, and Better?
Both chains do the same job, but they aren't identical. Here's how they actually compare across price, services, and the in-store experience.
Great Clips and Supercuts are the two largest no-appointment haircut chains in the United States, and most U.S. metros have several of each. They look interchangeable from the strip-mall sign — but the real differences matter once you sit down in the chair.
Price: Great Clips is consistently cheaper
Across most U.S. markets, an adult haircut at Great Clips runs roughly $17 to $24, while Supercuts typically charges $22 to $32 for the same cut. The gap is widest in higher-cost metros (think Boston, Seattle, the Bay Area) where Supercuts can push past $30 for a basic cut while Great Clips holds the line in the low twenties. Kids' cuts follow the same pattern: Great Clips is usually three to five dollars cheaper.
Speed: similar wait, but different tools
Both chains push customers toward online check-in, and both estimates are usually accurate to within five minutes. Great Clips' Online Check-In is the more polished of the two — the in-app countdown is reliable enough that you can leave the house when there are three names ahead of you and walk straight into a chair. Supercuts' check-in works but the wait estimates run slightly more conservative.
Services: Supercuts has more menu
If you only ever get a basic cut, this doesn't matter. But Supercuts offers color and highlights at many locations, while Great Clips deliberately stays out of color. Supercuts also leans harder into add-ons — beard trims, hot-lather neck shaves, conditioning treatments — that Great Clips either doesn't offer or treats as an afterthought.
Consistency: Great Clips wins on operations
Great Clips is more rigorously systematized. Stylists go through a standardized training program and the in-store workflow is nearly identical from one location to the next. Supercuts varies more by franchise: some stores feel like a polished salon, others feel like an under-staffed Great Clips knockoff.
Bottom line
If you want the cheapest predictable adult cut and the fastest in-store experience, choose Great Clips. If you want a slightly more involved cut, color services, or a more salon-like vibe, choose Supercuts and book by stylist via the app. For most people, Great Clips wins on the math; Supercuts wins when you want anything beyond a clipper-and-shears trim.
What about the other chains?
If you specifically want sports-bar atmosphere and the MVP shoulder-massage upgrade, jump to Sport Clips. If you're inside a Walmart anyway, SmartStyle is genuinely the cheapest option in the chain world. If you have kids who hate adult salons, Pigtails & Crewcuts is worth the premium.
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