Guide5 minute read
What booking apps really cost a salon in 2026
Booking apps charge in three ways: a monthly subscription, a price for each person, and commission on clients their marketplace finds for you. Most use more than one. Here's how each model works, with each app's own published UK prices as of October 2026, worked through for a solo stylist and a five-chair salon.
Director, FullDiary
Booking app prices are hard to compare because they charge in different ways. One looks cheap until your marketplace clients start arriving; another looks dear until you add your third stylist. The only fair comparison is what you'd actually pay in a normal month, so that's what this guide works out.
Every price here was read from the app's own UK pricing page in October 2026 and is linked at the end. Prices change, so check the page before you decide.
The three ways booking apps charge
- A monthly subscription. A fixed price for the software. Simple, and it doesn't grow when you're busy.
- A price for each person. Each stylist or therapist who takes bookings adds to the bill. Watch for whether there's a ceiling.
- Commission on new clients. If the app has a marketplace, a client who finds you through it carries a one-off fee on their first visit. Repeat visits usually carry none.
Commission on new clients
This is the cost people underestimate. The fee is for a client the app's marketplace introduced, and it's charged on their first booking:
- Fresha: a one-time 20% fee on each new client who finds you through its marketplace, minimum 4 GBP. None on returning clients.
- Booksy: 30% of a new client's first visit, minimum 5 GBP, only if you switch on its optional Boost feature.
- Treatwell: 35% of a new marketplace client's first booking ("subject to location"), 0% on repeat bookings.
- FullDiary: no marketplace, so no such fee, and no commission on any booking.
On a 60 GBP colour, that first-visit fee is 12 GBP at 20%, 18 GBP at 30% and 21 GBP at 35%.
Card fees on top
Whichever app you use, taking cards costs money. As of October 2026 the published rates for UK cards run from about 1% to 2.5% plus a few pence a payment, depending on the app and whether the customer pays online, in person or by Tap to Pay, and some add VAT on top. FullDiary doesn't process payments itself: deposits and card payments go through your own Stripe account at Stripe's rates, and FullDiary adds nothing.
A worked example: one person
A solo stylist with about 120 bookings a month. Monthly software price, before any marketplace fees and before the VAT or sales tax the apps' pages add to their prices:
- FullDiary Pro: 9.99 GBP. (The free plan covers 20 bookings a month, so at 120 it's Pro.)
- Fresha Independent: 14.95 GBP, plus 20.0% sales tax.
- Booksy: 40 GBP, plus VAT.
- Treatwell: its pricing page doesn't publish a monthly fee.
If five of those 120 bookings were new clients from a marketplace, at 40 GBP each, add 40 GBP at Fresha's 20%, 60 GBP with Booksy's Boost on, or 70 GBP at Treatwell's 35%.
A worked example: five people
A five-chair salon. Monthly software price, on the same basis:
- FullDiary Pro: 39.99 GBP. Pro is 9.99 GBP a person but never more than 39.99 GBP, so the fifth chair is free.
- Fresha: 49.75 GBP (9.95 GBP for each bookable team member), plus 20.0% sales tax.
- Booksy: 60 GBP (40 GBP plus 5 GBP for each of four extra team members), plus VAT.
- Treatwell: not published.
Add a sixth or seventh stylist and the per-person prices keep climbing; FullDiary stays at 39.99 GBP.
Questions to ask before you sign up
- Is the price before or after VAT?
- Is there a ceiling on the per-person price?
- Is commission charged only on new marketplace clients, or on bookings from my own link too?
- Is there a minimum fee per new client?
- What do card payments cost, online and in person?
- Are text reminders included, and how many?
- Is there a contract, or can I leave any month?
- Can I export my clients if I leave?
What FullDiary costs
- Free: 20 bookings a month for one person, with no card and no end date.
- Pro: 9.99 GBP a month for each person, never more than 39.99 GBP however big the team, with unlimited bookings.
- No commission on any booking, and no marketplace.
- Card payments through your own Stripe account, at Stripe's rates; FullDiary adds nothing.
- Reminder emails on every plan, and 50 texts a month for each person on Pro.
- No contract: upgrade or cancel whenever you like.
Both plans, side by side, are on the pricing page.
FullDiary pricing: Free and Pro
Sources
Fresha's UK prices, marketplace fee and card rates, read in October 2026.
Booksy's UK subscription, team member price, Boost fee and card rates, read in October 2026.
Treatwell's commission and prepayment fee, read in October 2026.
Stripe's UK card rates, which FullDiary payments use.
FullDiary is made by Cynical Software Ltd, an independent UK company, and this guide isn't endorsed by any of the apps named. Prices change; check each app's own page before deciding.
Questions people ask
- How much does Fresha cost in the UK?
- As of October 2026, Fresha's UK page lists 14.95 GBP a month for an independent, or 9.95 GBP for each bookable team member, plus 20.0% sales tax, and a 20% fee (minimum 4 GBP) on new clients from its marketplace.
- How much does Booksy cost in the UK?
- As of October 2026, 40 GBP a month plus VAT, plus 5 GBP for each extra team member. Its optional Boost charges 30% (minimum 5 GBP) of a new client's first visit.
- What commission does Treatwell take?
- As of October 2026, 35% of a new marketplace client's first booking, subject to location, and 0% on repeat bookings. Its pricing page doesn't publish a monthly fee.
- Which booking app has no commission?
- FullDiary takes no commission on any booking. Several marketplace apps charge only on new clients their marketplace finds, so check how each one works.
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Written by
Matt SucklingDirector, FullDiary
Matt runs Cynical Software Ltd, the Perthshire company that makes FullDiary, and builds it.