Booksy vs Fresha
An independent, review-free comparison compiled by the SaaSTracker editorial team. Both products are profiled in full, and neither can pay for placement here.
The short answer
Both sides assessedBooksy compared with Fresha
The head-to-head that most salon owners actually run. Booksy is $29.99 plus $20 per extra head with a 30 percent Boost fee capped at $100. Fresha is $14.95 per bookable member with a 20 percent fee, a $6 floor, and no cap. Booksy is cheaper for one or two people and better known in barbering; Fresha is cheaper for larger teams and has a deeper commerce, inventory, and membership layer. On a $500 first visit, Boost costs $100 and Fresha costs $100 as well; on a $1,000 one, Boost still costs $100 and Fresha costs $200.
Fresha compared with Booksy
The closest direct comparison: both are salon software with a consumer marketplace. Booksy is $29.99 a month plus $20 per extra staff member with Boost taking 30 percent of a new client's first visit, capped at $100. Fresha is $14.95 per member with a 20 percent fee and a $6 minimum but no cap. Booksy's app has stronger mindshare in barbering; Fresha's commerce and inventory layer is deeper and its per-head cost is lower for larger teams.
Choose Booksy if
Independent barbers, barbershops, and small beauty and grooming businesses who want every feature on one flat price and want to be discoverable in the app their clients already have installed.
Choose Fresha if
Salons, spas, barbershops, nail bars, and wellness clinics that want a full operating system for the business and are actively trying to fill empty appointment slots with new clients from a consumer marketplace.
Side by side
13 attributes| Attribute | Booksy | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Scheduling | Scheduling |
| Starting price | $29.99 per month plus tax (free plan available) | $19.95 per month (Independent, one bookable calendar) (free plan available) |
| Pricing model | Single flat monthly subscription with every feature included, plus a per-staff-member fee, plus published card processing rates. The Boost marketplace channel is opt-in and charged as a one-off commission on new clients only. | Per bookable calendar or per bookable team member subscription, plus a one-off percentage commission on new clients acquired through the Fresha consumer marketplace, plus published card processing rates. Priced per market, so local currency figures vary. |
| Free plan | None. There is one paid plan, month to month, with no free tier. | None. Fresha retired its long-running free subscription model in 2025 and now requires a paid plan. |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card required | 7 days |
| Best for | Independent barbers, barbershops, and small beauty and grooming businesses who want every feature on one flat price and want to be discoverable in the app their clients already have installed. | Salons, spas, barbershops, nail bars, and wellness clinics that want a full operating system for the business and are actively trying to fill empty appointment slots with new clients from a consumer marketplace. |
| Setup time | A few hours to a day for a single provider. Service menu, hours, staff, and a marketplace profile with decent photos are the work. Payments onboarding adds identity and bank verification. | One to three days for a small salon: service menu, staff, hours, and client import are the bulk of it. Payments onboarding adds identity and bank verification, and a marketplace profile worth publishing needs photos and copy, which takes an afternoon on its own. |
| Learning curve | Low. The mobile app is the primary interface and is designed for people who are on their feet with a client in the chair. Owners need an hour on cancellation policy configuration and reporting. | Low to moderate. The calendar and checkout are approachable for staff with no software background. Owners need time on the reporting, memberships, and marketing automation, which are where the value beyond a basic diary sits. |
| Platforms | Booksy Biz iOS and Android app, Web dashboard, Consumer Booksy iOS and Android app, Hosted booking page and website widgets, Card reader hardware | Web dashboard, iOS and Android partner app, iOS and Android consumer marketplace app, Hosted booking page and website embeds |
| Compliance | PCI DSS for payments, GDPR, CCPA | PCI DSS for payments, GDPR, UK and EU data protection obligations as a London-headquartered operator |
| Founded | 2014 | 2015 |
| Headquarters | United States, with major operations in Poland | London, United Kingdom |
| Ownership | Venture-backed | Venture-backed and private-equity-backed |
Strengths and limitations
Booksy
Strengths
- One flat price with no feature tiers, so cancellation policies, no-show fees, marketing blasts, gift cards, and reporting are all included from $29.99.
- Real consumer mindshare in barbering and grooming, where clients search the Booksy app by name rather than searching the web.
- Boost is capped at $100 per new client and charged only once, which is materially cheaper than Fresha's uncapped 20 percent on high-ticket first visits.
- Genuinely mobile-first: the Booksy Biz app is a complete interface, not a companion to a desktop dashboard.
Limitations
- The $20 per additional staff member fee compounds badly. Ten staff is $209.99 a month, which is expensive next to Fresha or Square for the same job.
- Boost at 30 percent has the highest headline commission rate of the marketplace players, even though the cap softens it at the top end.
- Inventory and retail product management is thinner than Fresha's or Vagaro's, so a business with real stock control needs may outgrow it.
- Class-based and membership businesses are poorly served; there is no serious class pack or membership engine of the kind fitness studios need.
Fresha
Strengths
- The consumer marketplace is a genuine demand channel rather than a directory, and no flat-fee competitor offers an equivalent.
- The commission is charged once per new client rather than on every booking, so a marketplace client who becomes a regular is acquired very cheaply.
- Commerce depth is strong for the price: memberships, prepaid packages, gift cards, inventory, and stock control are native rather than add-ons.
- Team pricing at $14.95 per bookable member is competitive, and cheaper per head than the solo plan.
Limitations
- The marketplace lists your competitors alongside you and encourages clients to think of Fresha as the brand they book with, which is a strategic cost as well as a financial one.
- The 20 percent new client fee with a $6 minimum bites hardest on low-priced services, where the commission can be a large share of the ticket.
- The free plan is gone, so the reason many businesses originally chose Fresha no longer exists, and the 2025 change damaged trust with part of the installed base.
- The economics assume Fresha Payments; using an outside processor undercuts deposits, no-show fees, and much of the automation.
Pricing compared
Booksy
Single flat monthly subscription with every feature included, plus a per-staff-member fee, plus published card processing rates. The Boost marketplace channel is opt-in and charged as a one-off commission on new clients only.
- Booksy Biz$29.99
- Additional staff members$20
- Boost (optional marketplace channel)$0 per month plus 30 percent of a new client's first visit
For one to four people, Booksy is well priced and unusually honest: $29.99 to $89.99 a month with nothing held back behind a tier, and the no-show enforcement that Square charges $49 for is included from the first dollar. Above about six staff the per-head fee starts to hurt, and Fresha at $14.95 per bookable member or Square at a flat $49 per location becomes cheaper on pure software. Boost is best understood as a customer acquisition line, not a software cost, and the $100 cap plus one-off structure makes it genuinely competitive against local advertising. The real value, though, is distribution: for a barber, being in the app clients already search is worth more than any feature comparison.
Fresha
Per bookable calendar or per bookable team member subscription, plus a one-off percentage commission on new clients acquired through the Fresha consumer marketplace, plus published card processing rates. Priced per market, so local currency figures vary.
- Independent$19.95
- Team$14.95
- EnterpriseCustom
As pure software, Fresha at $14.95 to $19.95 a calendar is fair, roughly in line with Vagaro and cheaper than Booksy per head, and the commerce layer (memberships, packages, gift cards, stock) is deeper than Square's. The real question is the marketplace. If you take 20 new marketplace clients a month at an average $70 first visit, you are paying about $280 in commission, which is a lot next to a $49 flat fee at Square, and a bargain if those clients rebook. The commission is a customer acquisition cost, not a software cost, and it should be judged against what you would otherwise spend on local ads. A full book makes Fresha expensive; an empty Tuesday makes it cheap.
Editorial verdict on each
Booksy
Booksy is the most honestly priced product among the salon marketplace platforms and the one with the strongest consumer pull in barbering. One flat $29.99, everything unlocked, no-show fees and marketing included, and a Boost commission that is capped at $100 per new client rather than running uncapped. For an independent barber or a shop with two to four chairs, it is close to the right answer, and the app distribution is a genuine competitive asset you cannot buy elsewhere. The case weakens as you grow: $20 per extra head means a ten-person salon pays over $200 a month for software that is thinner on inventory, memberships, and classes than Fresha or Vagaro, both of which will cost less. Judge it on headcount and on trade. Under five people cutting hair, buy it. Over eight people running a multi-service spa, look at Fresha, Vagaro, or a free Square calendar instead.
Read the full Booksy profileFresha
Fresha is two purchases wearing one price tag: competent, commerce-heavy salon software, and a marketplace that will introduce you to strangers for 20 percent of their first visit. Judged as software it is good value, with memberships, packages, inventory, and multi-location included at $14.95 per bookable team member and card rates below Square's. Judged as an acquisition channel, the commission is either the cheapest local marketing you will ever buy or a pointless tax, and which one it is depends entirely on whether your Tuesdays are empty. Buy it if you are growing and need demand. Do not buy it if you are full, have a waiting list, and would resent a platform standing between you and your clients, in which case Square Appointments costs nothing and Trafft never takes a cut. The 2025 removal of the free plan is worth remembering as evidence of how the commercial terms can change under you.
Read the full Fresha profileBooksy profile last reviewed 2026-08-22; Fresha last reviewed 2026-08-22. Pricing is compiled from public sources and can change without notice. See our methodology.