Fresha no longer has a free plan. A solo barber or stylist pays €14.95 a month for the Independent plan, and a shop pays €9.95 a month for each bookable team member on the Team plan, plus tax. On top of the subscription come three fees that decide what a month really costs: a 20% one-time commission on every new client the Fresha marketplace sends you, metered text and WhatsApp messages once you pass 20 free a month, and card processing at 1.29% plus €0.20 a payment. This post lays all of it out, with a worked example for a solo barber.
Prices were checked on fresha.com/pricing on October 22, 2026. Fresha shows the page in your local currency; we saw the euro version, quoted before 23% sales tax. The structure is the same in the US, UK and Australia and the numbers differ, so check the page for your market.
The subscription
Fresha used to charge nothing for the software and make its money on fees. That is gone: a seven-day trial, then a monthly plan priced by “bookable team members”, meaning people with calendar bookings switched on in their profile. Add a chair and the plan goes up at the next billing period; remove one and it goes down.
| Independent | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €14.95 / month + tax | €9.95 per bookable team member / month + tax |
| For | One person, one calendar column | Two or more calendar columns |
| Free texts and WhatsApp | 20 / month | 20 per team member / month |
| Free marketing emails | 50 / month | 50 per team member / month |
| Support | Email and chat | Phone, chat and email |
| Trial | 7 days, no card required | 7 days, no card required |
| Contract | None, billed monthly | None, billed monthly |
So a two-chair barbershop pays €19.90 a month before tax and a five-person salon €49.75, billed on the first of each month. Shops with 20 or more team members get a custom rate.
The fees on top
New client fee: 20% of a first visit
Fresha is a marketplace as much as it is a booking system. When someone finds you by browsing Fresha and books, Fresha takes 20% of that client’s first completed appointment, with a minimum of €5 per client and a cap for high-value services (the pricing page does not show the cap). It is charged once: the same client’s later visits are free.
The detail that catches people is who counts as new. Fresha’s help centre says it is anyone not already on your client list who first found you through the marketplace, including people who looked at your Fresha profile and then booked through another link. The fee is deferred if the client cancels online, waived if you mark them as a no-show, and charged if you cancel on their behalf.
You cannot keep Fresha’s online booking and skip the marketplace. The help centre states that unlisting your marketplace profile “will disable all your online booking channels”. If you want online booking, you are listed, and the fee applies.
Texts and WhatsApp
Each plan includes 20 free text or WhatsApp messages per bookable team member a month. After that a text costs €0.12 and a WhatsApp message €0.12 to €0.16, and automated reminders and confirmations count. A barber doing 120 appointments a month with one reminder each sends 100 paid messages, about €12. Marketing texts are €0.14 and marketing emails €0.02 after the first 50.
Card processing
Taking payments through Fresha is optional. Euro rates on October 22, 2026:
| Payment type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Online payments | 1.29% + €0.20 |
| In person on a card terminal | 1.29% + €0.20 |
| Tap to Pay on your phone | 1.29% + €0.20, plus €0.10 per authorisation |
| Manual card entry | 2.20% + €0.20 |
| Buy now, pay later (Klarna) | 4.99% + €0.50 |
| Card terminal | from €119 per device |
Deposits and no-show protection use the same processing. Payouts are next day.
Add-ons
Everything above is the base. Add-ons are priced per location per month: AI Concierge at €28.95 for messaging or €94.95 for calls and messaging (200 minutes included, then €0.57 a minute), client loyalty at €59.95, Google rating boost at €13.95, reporting at €9.95 per bookable team member, Xero at €8.95 and a Smart Website at €13.95.
A worked example: a solo barber
Say you do 120 cuts a month at €30, send one reminder per booking, six in ten clients pay by card at the chair, and the marketplace brings you four new clients a month.
- Subscription: €14.95
- Messages: 120 reminders, 20 free, 100 at €0.12 = €12.00
- Card processing: 72 payments totalling €2,160 at 1.29% + €0.20 = €42.26
- New client fee: four first visits at €30, 20% each = €24.00
- Total: about €93 a month, plus tax
Two points of fairness. Card processing is not a Fresha quirk; you pay something similar through any provider, including the ones bbook connects to. What is specific to Fresha is the subscription, the metered reminders and the 20% on new clients. For the barber above, the marketplace fee and the reminders together cost more than the plan itself.
Set against Booksy, Fresha’s plan is cheaper and its commission lower (20% against 30%), but Booksy includes reminders. Which costs less depends on how many marketplace clients and messages you have.
When Fresha is worth it
Fresha suits a salon in a busy area where people open the Fresha app to find somewhere to book: 20% of one visit is a fair price for a client who comes back every month. It suits you less if your book is already full of regulars, if you would rather clients book under your name than inside a marketplace, or if you send a reminder for every booking and do not want to count messages.
How bbook compares
bbook is a booking system you run under your own brand. Clients book from your link with no account to create and no marketplace in between, and there is no commission of any kind on bookings or new clients. The free plan covers one user and 30 appointments a month; paid plans start from €6.90 per user a month billed yearly, shown in your own currency on the pricing page. Email reminders are on every plan. SMS and WhatsApp reminders, card payments and deposits through Stripe, Mollie or SumUp at their published rates, and the optional AI receptionist come with Business Premium.
Rerun the example: the same barber pays nothing for the first 30 bookings, then from €6.90 a month for the seat, plus processing, and nothing for new clients. If you are weighing the two, the Fresha alternative page has a feature-by-feature table.
FAQ
Is Fresha free for businesses?
Not any more. After a seven-day trial it is €14.95 a month for one bookable team member (Independent) or €9.95 per bookable team member (Team), plus tax. Clients use Fresha for free.
What is the Fresha new client fee?
A one-time 20% of the first completed appointment for each client who found you through the Fresha marketplace and was not already on your client list, with a €5 minimum and a cap on high-value services. Returning clients are never charged.
Can I use Fresha for online booking without the marketplace?
No. Fresha’s help centre says that unlisting your marketplace profile disables all your online booking channels. If you want clients to book online, your profile stays listed and the new client fee applies.