Booking apps are good at one thing: putting your salon in front of people who have never heard of you. For a new salon, or one with empty chairs midweek, that is worth paying for.
What is easy to miss is how much each of those new clients costs, and how often a client you could have kept ends up booking through the app again. This guide sets out what the two biggest UK marketplaces charge, does the maths on a normal colour appointment, and shows how to keep the apps for discovery while your regulars book with you directly.
What Treatwell charges
According to Treatwell's own partner pricing page for the UK:
- 35% commission on the first booking made by a new client that Treatwell brings you from its marketplace ("subject to location").
- All commissions and fees are subject to VAT, so in practice that 35% becomes 35% plus 20% VAT on top of the commission.
- 0% commission on repeat bookings from that client.
- No commission on bookings made directly with you, including calls, messages and the "Book now" button on your own website or social media.
- A 2.5% + VAT payment fee, only when a client pays online in advance.
- A monthly subscription on top, which depends on your plan.
One detail matters a lot: industry guides report that Treatwell treats a client as "new" if they are not in your client list or have not booked with you in the last year. A lapsed regular who comes back through the app can cost you commission again.
What Fresha charges
Fresha moved from "free" software to paid plans charged per bookable team member each month. On top of that, it charges a one-off fee on brand-new clients who discover you through the Fresha marketplace, and nothing for returning clients. Fresha's pricing page does not print the percentage, but salon software guides consistently report it as 20% of the first booking, with a minimum fee. Card processing is a separate, optional charge.
Fees change and vary by location, so treat these figures as a guide and check your own contract or partner dashboard before deciding anything.
The maths on one colour appointment
Take a £90 colour for a new client who found you on a marketplace.
| Treatwell | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on the first booking | 35% = £31.50 | about 20% = £18 |
| VAT on the commission | £6.30 | depends on your invoice |
| What the first visit costs you | £37.80 | about £18 |
| Repeat bookings through the app | £0 | £0 |
Now say twenty new marketplace clients a month book something similar. That is roughly £756 a month on Treatwell, or about £360 a month on Fresha, before subscriptions and payment fees.
That can still be a fair price for a client who stays with you for years. It is a poor price for a client who only comes once, or one who drifts away and comes back through the app as "new" again.
Keep the apps, move the rebooking to you
The goal is not to delete your listing. It is to make sure the second visit, and every visit after it, is booked with you.
- Rebook at the chair. The easiest booking you will ever take is the next one, made before the client leaves. Offer the next date while the colour is processing.
- Hand over your own link. A small card at the desk, a QR code on the mirror, and the link in the thank-you message: "Next time, book with us here." Bookings made directly carry no marketplace commission.
- Put your booking link everywhere you own. Your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile, your Facebook page and your WhatsApp Business profile should all point to your booking page, not to an app listing.
- Check where your Google "Book" button goes. Many people book straight from Google Maps. Make sure that button sends clients to your own site, and ask your provider how bookings from Google are counted.
- Take deposits on long appointments. A small deposit on colour, extensions and bridal work cuts no-shows far more than reminder texts alone.
- Look after your client list. Clients who book with you are clients you can contact. Ask for consent before you send marketing messages, as UK GDPR and the PECR rules require, and keep the list somewhere you control.
What your own booking page needs
A booking page only replaces the app if it is just as easy. At a minimum:
- Services with prices on the page, including any difference between stylist levels.
- Choose a stylist, then a time. Show only the slots that are really free, based on each stylist's working days.
- Booking in under a minute on a phone, without creating an account.
- Confirmation and a reminder by email or text.
- Your policies in plain words: deposits, late arrivals, cancellations, patch tests.
You can see all of this working in Velorne, a made-up London hair studio we designed: a full service menu with prices by stylist level, stylist profiles, and booking in a few taps. It is one of our salon website designs.
How we can help
We build salon websites with commission-free online booking, so the clients you win stay yours. We look after your Google profile too. Pick a design from our salon page and we will show you how it would look with your name, services and prices.
