Booksmith › Compare › Treatwell
An honest comparison
Treatwell's marketplace can genuinely fill a quiet column, and it charges accordingly: roughly a third of a new client's first booking, plus VAT on the fee. Booksmith charges nothing per client and brings you nobody; it's the booking engine for salons whose clients already arrive on their own. The right answer depends entirely on which salon you are.
For a salon that needs strangers, that can be a fair trade. But when the diary is already carried by regulars and referrals, marketplace economics quietly become software rent, and the clients you won yourself sit in an app that also shows them every other salon in town.
Side by side
| Booksmith | Treatwell | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | £75 flat, unlimited staff and bookings | Treatwell Connect from around £35/month |
| New-client commission | None. There is no marketplace | Around 35% + VAT on a new marketplace client's first booking |
| Repeat bookings | Included, no fees | 0% commission; small fee applies on prepaid bookings |
| Whose brand and address | Your domain, your colours, or embedded in your own site | Your profile within the Treatwell marketplace |
| Your client list | Your own private database; export any time; deleted if you leave | Managed within the Treatwell platform |
| Brings you new customers | No. It converts the demand you already have | Yes; marketplace reach is the product |
| Setup | Built for you, live within 48 hours | Self-serve with onboarding |
| Extra channels | Google profile link, your website, your socials | Marketplace app, plus your own widget |
Treatwell figures are its published UK partner pricing as checked on 25 August 2026; rates vary by agreement, so verify on treatwell.co.uk/partners before deciding. Compare real numbers, always.
The honest verdict
Take the marketplace. Reach is worth paying for when nobody knows your name yet, and a third of a first booking is cheaper than an empty chair. Revisit the maths once regulars carry the diary.
This is who Booksmith is for. Your Google profile and your reputation already bring the clients; what you need is deposits, reminders, therapist diaries and a booking page under your own name, at a price that never scales against you.
Some run a marketplace profile for discovery and their own booking system for everyone else, steering regulars and Google traffic to the commission-free page. It's more admin, but the arithmetic can work; we'll tell you honestly if it wouldn't for you.