Fresha is the salon and spa platform many businesses chose because it used to be free. It no longer is. Fresha now sells an Independent plan for one person and a Team plan priced per bookable team member. It charges a one-time commission on every new client who finds you through its marketplace, and it routes payments through its own processor. The booking page lives on Fresha's domain, and the client list lives in Fresha's marketplace as much as in your account. If you want a fixed price, your own booking page and your own client data, the tools below are the alternatives to weigh.
This guide compares seven alternatives: one WordPress plugin we installed and booked on a clean site in October 2026, and six hosted salon and spa platforms. Fresha's plan structure comes from its pricing page and its own US comparison guide, read on 26 October 2026. Hosted prices were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 25 and 26 October 2026. Several vendors had autumn offers running, so the regular price is given next to the offer price wherever the page showed both.
Short answer. Booknetic is the Fresha alternative for a salon or spa that runs its own WordPress site. It has unlimited staff and locations, packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits, a waiting list, reminders and ten payment gateways on one flat licence, with no marketplace and no commission. Square Appointments is the free hosted pick for a shop that already uses Square. Vagaro and Booksy keep the marketplace idea at a published monthly price, GlossGenius and Timely sell flat plans without new-client fees, and Mangomint is the no-contract platform for a bigger salon.
Why people leave Fresha
These are the terms as shown on Fresha's pricing page and its own comparison guide for the United States on 26 October 2026. Fresha has the highest Trustpilot score of any tool in this guide, so the reasons to leave are the pricing model and the marketplace, not the product.
The free plan is gone. The pricing page lists an Independent plan for a one-person business and a Team plan priced per bookable team member, both with a 7-day trial. Fresha's US guide puts them at $19.95 and $14.95 per team member a month.A commission on new marketplace clients. The pricing page lists a one-time fee for brand-new clients who discover you through the Fresha marketplace. Fresha's US guide states it as a one-time 20% commission on that client's first appointment.Prices change by country. The pricing page shows the plans in the local currency of wherever you browse from, so a salon comparing offers has to check its own region.Payments through Fresha. Card payments run through Fresha's own processing. Fresha's US guide gives a rate of about 2.19% plus 20 cents in the United States, and there is no Stripe, PayPal or Square option.The booking page and the clients are on Fresha. Customers book on a Fresha page or through the marketplace app. On your own website you embed a widget, and the booking flow, the reviews and the client records stay on Fresha.Add-ons per location. Reports, a website, loyalty, an AI concierge and a data connector are sold per location or per team member on top of the plan.
The alternatives at a glance
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1. Booknetic: your own booking page, your own clients, one flat price
Booknetic is a WordPress plugin built for the same businesses Fresha serves: hair and beauty salons, barbershops, nail studios, spas, massage and medspa clinics and chains. The booking page runs inside your WordPress site on your own domain and theme. Customers walk through location, staff, service, extras, date and time, their details, a cart with the price and a coupon field, and a confirmation. Staff, locations and services are unlimited on every plan, the licence is per site, and there is no marketplace, so no commission on anyone.
The feature list covers what Fresha sells and what it sells as add-ons. Deposits, no-show protection through card on file, a waiting list, multi-staff and multi-location booking and resources such as chairs and rooms are in the plan list. So are packages, gift cards, coupons, loyalty, recurring appointments and custom appointment statuses. Reminders and follow-ups run through a workflow engine by email, SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram. Ten payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal and Square, two-way Google Calendar sync and Booknetic's Outlook Calendar sync , invoices and taxes, a customer panel, reports and user roles are there too.
Type WordPress plugin; customers book on your own domain
Free version Yes, from booknetic.com, with limits and a branding bar
Yearly plans Basic $45 ($89 regular), Standard $99 ($199), Premium $149 ($399), Elite $299 ($599)
Lifetime plans Basic $99 ($199 regular), Standard $239 ($399), Premium $599 ($799), Elite $699 ($1,599)
Staff and locations Unlimited on every plan; licensed per site
Payments Local payment on Basic; Stripe, PayPal and WooCommerce from Standard; all 10 gateways, Square included, on Elite
Marketplace None; no listing, no new-client commission, clients stay in your database
Guarantee 14-day money-back guarantee
Booknetic was installed on a clean WordPress site and booked end to end in October 2026 alongside the other plugins in our lab test. Its pros and cons come from that real install. The six hosted tools come from vendor pages and public reviews.
One flat price per site. A six-chair salon pays $99 a year on Standard ($199 regular), where Fresha Team costs $14.95 per team member a month in the United States.
No marketplace commission and no processor lock-in: keep Stripe, Square, PayPal or a local gateway, and keep every new client's first payment.
The booking page, the reviews and the client database sit on your own domain, so a client who books once is yours to rebook.
Packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits and a waiting list are in the plan list, where Fresha sells loyalty as a per-location add-on.
You need a WordPress site and a host. There is no consumer marketplace, so new clients come from your own marketing.
No card reader or point of sale hardware, and no recurring membership billing; Booknetic sells booking packages in WordPress and recurring appointments instead.
Basic covers local payment and one domain; Stripe, PayPal, calendar sync and the mobile app start on Standard.
Best for: a salon, spa or barbershop with its own website that wants to stop paying per team member and per new client. See the Booknetic pricing page for the full plan matrix and the free version, and the spa and salon booking page for the industry features.
2. Square Appointments: free booking for a shop already on Square
Square Appointments is the hosted tool with a free plan that goes further than Fresha ever did on staff. Free covers one location with unlimited staff calendars, an online booking site and reminders. Square earns from processing fees instead: 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online on Free. Plus adds no-show fees, a cancellation policy, multi-staff booking and a waitlist. Premium adds resource management and reporting for large salons.
Free $0 per location; unlimited staff calendars, online booking, reminders
Plus $49 per location a month; no-show fees, waitlist, multi-staff booking, lower processing fees
Premium $149 per location a month; resource management, future bookings report
Processing fees 2.6% plus 15 cents in person and 3.3% plus 30 cents online on Free
Trial 30 days on Plus and Premium
Ratings 3.6/5 on Trustpilot from 7,509 reviews for Square as a whole
A free plan with unlimited staff calendars and no per-member subscription.
Booking, checkout, invoices and inventory in one account for salons that sell products too.
Deposits and no-show fees are tied to the card on file.
You have to process payments through Square, so the free plan costs a share of every sale.
No consumer marketplace, so Fresha's new-client discovery is missing.
Plus is priced per location, so a second site doubles the bill. Our Square Appointments alternatives for WordPress guide covers the plugin route.
Best for: a salon or barbershop that already takes payments on Square and wants booking at no extra monthly cost.
3. Vagaro: a marketplace listing without a new-client commission
Vagaro is the closest hosted match to Fresha's model: a salon platform with a consumer marketplace. Booking, point of sale, memberships, packages, gift certificates and a waitlist are included. So are inventory, invoices, loyalty, email marketing and a listing on the Vagaro Marketplace where customers find you. Pricing is per bookable calendar at one location: $30 a month for one calendar and $10 for each extra calendar up to $90 for seven or more. The page shows a lower rate for the first six months, and the pricing page lists no commission on marketplace clients.
One calendar $30 a month, one location; intro rate for the first six months
Extra calendars $10 a month each; $70 for five, $90 for seven or more
Included Memberships, packages, gift certificates, waitlist, reminders, marketplace listing, 1,000 emails a month
Payments Vagaro merchant services with a free card reader on sign-up; rates not on the pricing page
Billing Monthly, cancel anytime; free trial
Ratings 3.5/5 on Trustpilot from 716 reviews
A marketplace listing like Fresha's, with no new-client fee shown on the pricing page.
Memberships, packages, gift certificates and loyalty from the first calendar, where Fresha sells loyalty as an add-on.
Published prices in US dollars and monthly billing with free cancellation.
Per-calendar pricing: a six-chair salon pays $80 a month, and the intro rate ends after six months.
Payments run through Vagaro's merchant services, and the pricing page does not list the rates.
The lowest Trustpilot score of the hosted tools here. Our Vagaro alternatives for WordPress guide covers the plugin route.
Best for: a salon that wants to keep marketplace discovery but drop the per-client commission.
4. Booksy: a marketplace app for barbershops and salons
Booksy is the other big marketplace platform, strongest with barbershops. The pricing page lists one plan at $29.99 a month plus tax with every feature, and $20 a month for each additional staff member. The marketplace listing is free, and reminders and 2,000 SMS marketing messages a month are included. Boost, the marketplace promotion feature, is free to switch on and charges a one-time 30% fee on a Boost client's first visit, capped at $100. Booksy says it charges no commission on clients who find you on their own or on Booksy when Boost is off.
Plan $29.99 a month plus tax; every feature, monthly, no commitment
Extra staff $20 a month each
Boost Optional; 30% of a Boost client's first visit, capped at $100; no fee when Boost is off
Processing 2.49% plus 10 cents in person and 2.69% plus 30 cents online as listed; card reader from $53.10 plus shipping
Messaging 2,000 SMS marketing messages a month; confirmations and reminders free
Ratings 3/5 on Trustpilot from 16,581 reviews
A marketplace app with a large consumer base and a commission only when you switch Boost on.
One published price with every feature, where Fresha and Booksy both used to be free and now are not.
Reminders and 2,000 marketing texts a month included.
$20 a month per extra staff member, so a six-person salon pays $129.99 a month.
Boost's 30% first-visit fee is higher than Fresha's 20%, though it is optional.
Trustpilot sits at 3/5 from a very large number of reviews. Pros and cons here come from the pricing page and public reviews, not from a paid account.
Best for: a barbershop or salon that lives on marketplace bookings and wants the commission to be optional.
5. GlossGenius: one flat plan for a solo stylist or a small team
GlossGenius is built for beauty and wellness professionals and sells three flat plans rather than a per-member price. Standard is for a business just starting out, Gold for up to nine staff and Platinum for teams of ten or more. Every plan includes a booking website, calendar, point of sale, payouts, invoices, inventory and staff management, with waitlist, resources, gift cards, memberships and packages on Gold and above. Card processing is printed on the page: 2.4% plus 15 cents for tap, dip or swipe and 2.9% plus 30 cents for online invoicing. There are no contracts and no marketplace.
Standard $24 a month billed yearly, $28 monthly; essentials for a business just starting out
Gold $48 a month billed yearly, $56 monthly; for up to 9 staff; waitlist, memberships, packages, gift cards
Platinum $148 a month billed yearly, $168 monthly; for teams of 10 or more
Processing 2.4% plus 15 cents in person, 2.9% plus 30 cents for online invoicing; instant payouts 1.8% extra
Locations Each extra location at the plan price with a 15% discount; no contracts, free data transfer
Trial Free trial without a card
A flat plan instead of a per-member bill: Gold at $48 a month covers up to nine staff, where Fresha Team costs $89.70 for six in the United States.
No marketplace, so no commission on new clients.
Processing rates printed on the pricing page, with free data transfer and no contracts.
No marketplace also means no discovery; new clients come from your own marketing.
Payments run through GlossGenius only, with a 1.8% fee for instant payouts.
Too few Trustpilot reviews to judge support. Pros and cons here come from the pricing page and public reviews, not from a paid account.
Best for: a solo stylist or a salon of up to nine staff that wants one predictable monthly plan and no commission.
6. Timely: per-staff plans with no new-client fees
Timely is a hair and beauty platform from New Zealand that prices per staff member and says "no new client fees" on every plan. Build costs $26 per staff a month with 100 SMS included, a mini website, social booking, reminders and stock levels. Elevate at $39 adds consultation forms, client photos, add-on services, a waitlist and pricing tiers by seniority. Innovate at $47 adds automatic consultation forms, rebooking reminders, staff sales targets and VIP services. Every plan has a free trial, and the SMS quota rises with the tier.
Build $26 per staff a month billed monthly; 100 SMS a month, mini website, reminders, stock
Elevate $39 per staff a month; 200 SMS, consultation forms, waitlist, add-on services
Innovate $47 per staff a month; 350 SMS, automatic forms, rebooking reminders, sales targets
New-client fees None on any plan, as stated on the pricing page
Payments Available in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and most of the European Union
Trial Free trial on every plan
No new-client fees on any plan, which is the fee most Fresha leavers want to escape.
Consultation forms, client photos and seniority pricing tiers built for hair and beauty teams.
SMS included in every plan rather than bought separately.
Per-staff pricing: a six-person salon pays $156 a month on Build, more than Vagaro or GlossGenius.
Payments only in five regions, and no consumer marketplace.
Prices shown for the "rest of the world" region in US dollars; other regions see local prices. Pros and cons here come from the pricing page and public reviews, not from a paid account.
Best for: a hair or beauty team that wants consultation forms and no commission and does not mind paying per staff member.
7. Mangomint: published prices, no contracts, forms and charting
Mangomint is the hosted platform for a salon or medspa that has outgrown Fresha. The price is $120 a month per location plus $10 a month per user, and every account gets the full platform. That means scheduling, point of sale, online booking, a virtual waiting room, memberships and packages, forms and charting and gift cards. Retail and inventory, staff management, reporting and multi-location are in too. Phone, marketing and payroll are optional add-ons. There are no contracts, onboarding and data transfer are free, and card processing is printed on the page.
Base price $120 a month per location plus $10 a month per user; full platform included
Add-ons Phone $70 a month per line; marketing from $30 a month; payroll $50 a month plus $8 per worker
Processing 2.45% plus 15 cents in person, 2.90% plus 30 cents for virtual payments
Contract None; free onboarding and free data transfer; free trial
Marketplace None; no commission on new clients
Ratings 4.5/5 on Trustpilot from 111 reviews
Forms, charting, memberships and inventory on every account, the features a medspa misses on Fresha.
No contracts and free data transfer, so leaving is as easy as joining.
The second-highest Trustpilot score in this guide after Fresha itself.
Per-location and per-user billing adds up: one location with six users is $180 a month, $2,160 a year.
Payments run through Mangomint only, and phone, marketing and payroll cost extra.
No marketplace, so new clients come from your own marketing. Pros and cons here come from the pricing page and public reviews, not from a paid account.
Best for: a larger salon or medspa that wants forms, charting and inventory with published prices and no contract.
Fresha vs Vagaro vs Booksy
These are the three marketplace platforms a salon owner compares most often. The table shows how each one charges, as read on their pricing pages and Fresha's US guide on 26 October 2026.
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For a salon that wants marketplace discovery, Vagaro is the cheapest of the three for a team and lists no commission, and Fresha keeps the best reviews. For a barbershop, Booksy's app is the draw, with the commission switched off by default. None of the three puts the booking page on your own site. Our guides to Mindbody alternatives and Zenoti alternatives cover the enterprise names.
What a six-chair salon pays per year
The table assumes one location, six staff with their own calendars, reminders and online payment, and no marketplace clients. Prices are yearly totals from the vendor pages read on 25 and 26 October 2026, with the regular price in brackets where an offer was shown.
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Moving from Fresha to your own booking system
Fresha bills monthly, so the move can happen between two billing dates. The client list is the part to plan around.
Export your clients. Download the client list with contact details and notes from Fresha, and import the CSV into the new system.Rebuild the menu. Create services with lengths and prices, add staff, chairs, rooms and locations, and set working hours and breaks.Connect a gateway. Choose Stripe, Square, PayPal or a local gateway, and set deposits or full prepayment per service.Replace the booking links. Put the new booking page on your site and point the links in your Google Business Profile, Instagram bio and Facebook page at it, so clients book you directly rather than through the marketplace.Ask clients to rebook direct. Send one message to the exported list with the new link, so your regulars never count as marketplace clients again.Switch reminders on and cancel. Set email, SMS or WhatsApp reminders and a follow-up, then cancel Fresha once its last bookings have passed.
Which Fresha alternative should you pick?
A salon, spa or barbershop with its own WordPress site : Booknetic. Unlimited staff, packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits and reminders on one flat licence, with no marketplace commission.A shop that already runs on Square : Square Appointments Free.Marketplace discovery without a commission : Vagaro, from $30 a month for one calendar.A barbershop that lives on app bookings : Booksy, with Boost left off.One flat plan for up to nine staff : GlossGenius Gold at $48 a month billed yearly.Consultation forms and no new-client fees : Timely Elevate at $39 per staff a month.A larger salon or medspa with charting and inventory : Mangomint, from $120 a month per location plus $10 per user.
Other names you will meet in this search are Setmore, Acuity Scheduling, SimplyBook.me, Mindbody and Zenoti. Setmore is free for up to four users, covered in our Setmore alternatives guide, and Acuity adds packages and memberships without a marketplace, covered in our Acuity Scheduling alternatives guide. For WordPress plugins beyond Booknetic, our round-up of the best salon and spa booking plugins for WordPress compares the lab-tested options.
How these tools were checked Fresha's plan structure, trial and marketplace fee wording were read on fresha.com/pricing on 26 October 2026, where prices appear in the local currency of the visitor. The US dollar figures, the 20% commission and the US processing rate come from Fresha's own comparison guide at fresha.com/for-business/salon/best-salon-software, read the same day. Booknetic was installed on a clean WordPress site and booked end to end in October 2026. Square Appointments and Vagaro facts come from their pricing pages and Trustpilot, read on 25 and 26 October 2026. Booksy, GlossGenius, Timely and Mangomint prices were read on biz.booksy.com, glossgenius.com, gettimely.com and mangomint.com on 26 October 2026. Timely was shown for the "rest of the world" region in US dollars. We did not run paid accounts for the six hosted tools.
FAQ
What is the best Fresha alternative? For a salon or spa with its own website, Booknetic. It has unlimited staff, packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits, reminders and ten payment gateways on a flat licence from $45 a year ($89 regular) or $99 lifetime, with no marketplace commission. For a hosted tool, Vagaro keeps the marketplace at a published price, GlossGenius and Timely sell flat plans without new-client fees, and Square Appointments is free for a Square shop.
Is Fresha still free? No. On 26 October 2026 Fresha's pricing page listed an Independent plan for one person and a Team plan priced per bookable team member, each with a 7-day trial. Prices appear in the local currency of the visitor. Fresha's own US guide puts them at $19.95 and $14.95 per team member a month.
How much does Fresha charge for new clients? Fresha's pricing page lists a one-time fee for brand-new clients who discover your business through the Fresha marketplace. Fresha's US comparison guide states it as a one-time 20% commission on that client's first appointment, with repeat and direct bookings free of the fee.
Does Fresha work with WordPress? Only as an embedded widget or booking button. The booking flow, the reviews and the client records stay on Fresha. A plugin such as Booknetic runs the whole flow inside WordPress with its own client database and no marketplace.
Fresha or Vagaro? Both run a marketplace. Vagaro charges $30 a month for one calendar and $10 per extra calendar in US dollars and lists no new-client fee, where Fresha charges per team member and a one-time 20% commission on marketplace clients. Fresha has the better reviews, 4.8 against 3.5 on Trustpilot. Neither puts the booking page on your own site.
Is there a free Fresha alternative? Square Appointments is free for one location with unlimited staff calendars, paid for through processing fees. Setmore is free for up to four users. On WordPress, Booknetic has a free version with limits, and the free versions of other plugins are compared in our salon plugin round-up.
Can Booknetic replace Fresha completely? For booking, staff, locations, packages, gift cards, loyalty, reminders, payments and Booknetic's deposit option , yes, and the client list moves over by CSV. Booknetic has no consumer marketplace, no card reader and no monthly membership billing, so a salon that depends on marketplace discovery or hardware checkout should weigh that first.
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