Last Updated on September 17, 2026
Finding
The same new client costs a UK salon 20% of the first booking on Fresha and Vagaro, 30% with a £5 minimum on Booksy Boost, and 35% + VAT on Treatwell, at the platforms’ own published September 2026 rates, a near doubling for the identical event.
Source: Whito, whito.co.uk/for/salons/salon-booking-software-costs, September 2026. Free to quote with a link to this page.
Every booking platform will tell you what it does. What matters commercially is what it charges for a new client, because that is the event the whole industry is competing to own, and the published rates for it vary by nearly double.
The mistake is comparing monthly subscriptions and ignoring the commission line. The subscription is pounds. The new-client commission is a percentage of every first booking the marketplace sends you, forever.
The same event, four prices
| Platform | Published new-client charge | Source, read 2 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 20% one-time commission, £4 minimum per client; returning clients free | fresha.com/pricing, UK view |
| Vagaro | 20% one-time fee on the first marketplace appointment | vagaro.com/en-gb/pro/pricing |
| Booksy Boost | 30% one-time fee, £5 minimum, on a Boost client’s first visit | biz.booksy.com/en-gb/pricing |
| Treatwell | 35% commission on first bookings from the marketplace, 0% on repeats; commissions subject to VAT | treatwell.co.uk/partners/pricing |
Add VAT where the platform states it applies and the spread widens: Treatwell’s 35% is 42% in real money, a figure Whito first published in June 2026 and which its pricing page still supports. Whether any of these rates is worth paying depends on your margin on a first visit and how often that client returns, which is arithmetic worth doing before ticking the marketplace box.
The subscriptions underneath
| Platform | Published UK subscription | VAT | Source, read 2 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | £14.95 a month solo, £9.95 per bookable team member for teams | Not stated | fresha.com/pricing, UK view |
| Vagaro | From £20 a month, one calendar; £30 multi-location | Not stated | vagaro.com/en-gb/pro/pricing |
| Timely | £22, £34 or £39 per staff member a month | Not stated | Timely help centre plans page |
| Booksy | £40 a month plus £5 per extra user; VAT added | Plus VAT, stated | biz.booksy.com/en-gb/pricing |
| Phorest | Not published, quote only | n/a | phorest.com/gb/pricing |
Payment processing differs too, at published rates: Fresha 1.19% plus 20p in person and 1.40% plus 25p online, Booksy 1.29% plus 20p plus VAT on mobile payments and 0.99% plus 20p plus VAT on Tap to Pay, Treatwell 2.5% on online prepayments, subject to VAT. On a busy card book these fractions are real money by December.
How to choose, in order
Start: split your last 50 bookings into regulars and true first-timers. That ratio, not any feature list, decides which pricing model fits you.
Build: if regulars dominate, buy the cheapest flat subscription that does your job and keep the marketplace switched off. If you need strangers, take the commission with your eyes open and know your break-even on a first visit.
Scale: whatever you choose, own the rebooking. Every platform’s published terms make the second visit cheaper than the first, so the money is in making sure there is one.
The takeaway: the platforms have priced the same new client at 20%, 30% and 35% plus VAT, in public. Read the commission line before the feature list.
Common questions
How much commission do booking platforms take on a new salon client?
On the same event, a brand new client’s first booking from the marketplace, the published rates in September 2026 are: Treatwell 35% plus VAT, Booksy Boost 30% with a £5 minimum, and Fresha and Vagaro 20%, with Fresha’s minimum at £4 per client. Repeat and returning clients are free on Treatwell, Fresha and Vagaro’s published terms.
Is Fresha still free?
No. On its UK pricing page read in a UK browser on 2 September 2026, Fresha lists a subscription of £14.95 a month for a one-person business and £9.95 per bookable team member for teams, plus the 20% one-time marketplace fee and payment processing from 1.19% plus 20p in person.
What do the flat monthly subscriptions cost?
At published UK rates: Fresha £14.95 a month solo or £9.95 per team member, Vagaro from £20 a month, Timely £22 to £39 per staff member, and Booksy £40 a month plus £5 per extra user, with VAT added. Phorest publishes no price at all, quote only.
Which model is cheaper?
It depends entirely on where your clients come from. A chair that fills from its own regulars wants the cheapest flat subscription and no marketplace. A new salon that needs strangers pays the commission, and at the published spread the same new client costs 20% on Fresha and 42% in real money on Treatwell once VAT is added.
Before you spend any of this, check what the machines can read
The free Whito Visibility Check runs seventeen checks on your salon website, scored out of 100, every result shown on the page, no email needed.
