Booksmith › Compare › Fresha
An honest comparison
Fresha is a marketplace with salon software attached: its job is to bring you new faces, and it charges when it does. Booksmith is booking software with no marketplace at all: it turns the customers you already attract into confirmed appointments, for a flat monthly price. Different tools for different problems, and it's worth being straight about which problem is yours.
If strangers find you by browsing an app, a marketplace earns its fees. If your bookings come from Google, Instagram, word of mouth and people walking past, you're paying marketplace prices for software, while your client list lives inside an ecosystem shared with every competitor on the same app.
Side by side
| Booksmith | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £75 flat, unlimited staff and bookings | £14.95 solo, or £9.95 per bookable team member |
| New-client commission | None. There is no marketplace | 20% (minimum £4) on a new client's first marketplace booking |
| Online payment fees | Your own Stripe account; Stripe's standard rates, settled to you | 1.40% + 25p per online transaction |
| Whose brand and address | Your domain, your colours, or embedded in your own website | Your profile inside the Fresha app and site |
| Your client list | Your own private database; export any time; deleted if you leave | Managed within the Fresha platform |
| Brings you new customers | No. It converts the demand you already have | Yes, that's its core promise, and what the commission pays for |
| Setup | Built for you, live within 48 hours | Self-serve |
| Contract | None, cancel any time | None |
Fresha figures are its published UK pricing as checked on 25 August 2026; verify current rates on fresha.com before deciding. We'd rather you compare real numbers than take our word for it.
The honest verdict
A new salon in a competitive area with empty columns needs footfall more than it needs software. A marketplace's audience is a real asset, and commission on genuinely new faces can be money well spent.
Established shops and salons whose clients come from Google, referrals and regulars don't need an audience; they need the diary filled without commission, per-staff fees or their client list living next to their competitors'. One flat price, your own address, done for you.
Fresha is built for beauty and wellness. Booksmith runs bookings for barbers, MOT garages, driving instructors, cleaners and any local business that works by appointment.