Fresha costs a small salon far more than its headline subscription once new-client marketplace fees and extras are added. As of October 2026 the list prices are $19.95 a month for Independent, $14.95 per bookable member on Team, a 20% fee (minimum $6) on each new marketplace client, plus card fees and add-ons such as the AI Concierge.
The subscription is the smallest line for most salons. The marketplace commission and card processing usually dominate, and both scale with how busy you are. That is why a fair view of Fresha pricing needs a monthly bill, not a plan table. The levers that move those two lines matter far more than which plan you pick.
The price list, grouped by who controls the cost
These are Fresha's dollar list prices from its pricing page, read in October 2026. Fresha varies prices by country and excludes local sales taxes, so confirm yours in your account. I have grouped them by how much control you have, because that decides what is worth your attention.
| Cost line | List price | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Independent plan | $19.95 a month, one bookable team member | Fixed by your plan |
| Team plan | $14.95 a month per bookable team member | Grows with headcount |
| Enterprise | Custom, for over 20 team members | Quoted by Fresha |
| New client via the marketplace | 20% of the first booking, minimum $6, one time | You, through where clients book |
| Returning clients, direct link, Facebook, Instagram | No marketplace fee | You |
| Online card payments | 2.79% plus $0.20 | Partly: volume and mix |
| In-person card payments | 2.29% plus $0.20, plus $0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation | Partly: volume and mix |
| Manual card entry | 3.30% plus $0.20 | You, by avoiding it |
| Buy now pay later (Klarna) | 5.99% plus $0.30 | You, by offering it or not |
| Terminal | From $139 per device on Independent; free on Team, subject to processing volumes | Plan and volume |
Messages and add-ons
Automated email and app notifications are free and unlimited. Automated texts and WhatsApp messages include 100 free a month (per team member on Team), then $0.02 a text, or $0.04 to $0.11 per WhatsApp message. Marketing emails include 50 free a month (per team member on Team) then $0.02 each, and marketing texts are $0.08 each.
The page lists these add-ons: AI Concierge at $29.95 a month for messaging only, or $99.95 a month for calls and messaging with 200 minutes included and $0.60 a minute after that; Client Loyalty at $59.95 per location per month; Google Rating Boost at $14.95; Team Connect at $2.95 per team member; Insights at $9.95 per bookable team member; Data Connector at $295 per location; Smart Website at $15.95 a month; and Meta Pixel and Google Analytics at no charge. Whether the concierge earns its place is a separate sum, covered in our tutorial on whether Fresha's AI Concierge is worth it for a small salon.
The marketplace fee measured against real first-visit prices
The 20% fee with a $6 minimum behaves differently by service price, and the minimum matters more than most owners expect. It is charged once, on a new client found through the marketplace, not on their later visits.
| First visit price | 20% of the price | Fee charged | Fee as share of visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20 (clipper cut) | $4.00 | $6.00 (minimum) | 30% |
| $30 | $6.00 | $6.00 | 20% |
| $55 (cut and finish) | $11.00 | $11.00 | 20% |
| $120 (colour) | $24.00 | $24.00 | 20% |
Two readings follow. For low-priced services, such as a barber's $20 cut, the minimum makes the fee a bigger share of the first visit. And for any service, the fee is a customer acquisition cost, so the right question is not "is 20% high?" but "what is a new client worth over a year?" A new client who books six $55 visits in a year brings $330; an $11 fee on the first visit is 3.3% of that. A client who never returns costs you $11 for a one-off $55 booking. The marketplace is good value only to the extent that clients return.
Four monthly bills, with every line shown
All four bills below are illustrative, with numbers chosen to be easy to follow. They use the list prices above, assume every client pays by in-person card, and ignore sales taxes and the one-off terminal cost.
Bill one: a solo stylist who relies on the marketplace
The stylist does 90 appointments a month at a $50 average ticket, so takings are $4,500. Eight of those appointments are new marketplace clients.
Independent plan $19.95
Marketplace fees: 8 new clients x $10 (20% of $50) $80.00
In-person card: 2.29% x $4,500 = $103.05
+ 90 x $0.20 = $18.00 $121.05
Texts: 90 appointments x 2 texts = 180; first 100 free;
80 x $0.02 $1.60
Total $222.60
Card processing is the largest line, at $121, followed by the marketplace fees at $80. The $19.95 subscription is under a tenth of the bill. Card fees are not a Fresha-only cost, since any provider charges them, so for comparison purposes the real Fresha premium here is closer to the subscription plus the marketplace fees: about $100.
Bill two: a three-chair salon with heavy marketplace use
Three bookable members, 180 appointments at a $50 average ticket ($9,000 takings), and 40 of those are new marketplace clients with a $55 first visit.
Team plan: 3 x $14.95 $44.85
Marketplace: 40 new clients x $11 (20% of $55) $440.00
In-person card: 2.29% x $9,000 = $206.10
+ 180 x $0.20 = $36.00 $242.10
Texts: 360 sent; 300 free (100 x 3 members);
60 x $0.02 $1.20
Total $728.15
Here the marketplace is the biggest line, at 60% of the bill, and the subscription is about 6%. The salon pays $440 a month to find 40 clients. If half of them return regularly, the spend is likely sensible. If most do not, it is the first thing to examine.
Bill three: the same salon steering clients to its own link
Now the salon moves new-client sources to its own booking link, Instagram and referrals, so only six new clients come through the marketplace.
Team plan $44.85
Marketplace: 6 x $11 $66.00
In-person card $242.10
Texts $1.20
Total $354.15
That is $374 a month less than bill two. The saving is real only if the other 34 new clients still arrive. They need to be found through channels that cost less than $11 each, so count the time and ad spend. A $5 social post that brings a client is cheap; a $30 ad per client is not.
Bill four: a barber with low-priced cuts
The minimum fee changes the picture for low tickets, so here is a fourth illustration. A two-chair barbershop does 300 appointments a month at a $22 average ticket, takings $6,600. Twenty-five are new marketplace clients. Two bookable members.
Team plan: 2 x $14.95 $29.90
Marketplace: 25 new clients x $6 (minimum;
20% of $22 is only $4.40) $150.00
In-person card: 2.29% x $6,600 = $151.14
+ 300 x $0.20 = $60.00 $211.14
Texts: 600 sent; 200 free; 400 x $0.02 $8.00
Total $399.04
Cost as share of takings: 399.04 / 6,600 = 6.0%
Two features stand out. The $0.20 fixed element on each card payment is $60 on 300 small tickets, so it is almost as large as the percentage part would be on a bigger ticket. And each marketplace client costs $6 against a $22 first visit, about 27%, higher than the headline 20%. A barber with cheap cuts and a loyal base gets the best return by sending regulars to a direct link and treating the marketplace as a trial, not a main source.
Comparing Fresha with a flat-fee rival on equal terms
When you compare booking apps, put them on the same footing. Use one month of your own numbers and fill in the same lines for each, because the structures differ: one may charge a higher subscription and no marketplace fee, another may charge nothing monthly and take more per card payment. An illustrative layout is below, with blanks for the rival, since I have not quoted its prices here.
Line Fresha (bill two) Rival (fill in)
Subscription $44.85 $____
New-client commission $440.00 $____
Card processing $242.10 $____
Messages $1.20 $____
Add-ons you will really use $0.00 $____
Total $728.15 $____
Share of takings 8.1% ____%
Two cautions. A cheaper total from a rival does not count if it excludes the clients you get from the marketplace, so estimate what those clients are worth. And a switching cost exists: your time, a quiet week while clients adopt a new link, and any data you cannot move. Put a figure on it. Our comparison of Fresha and Vagaro for a salon or barbershop uses the same footing.
A quarterly money review you can repeat
Once a quarter, give yourself half an hour. Open three statements, one per month, and check the following.
- Has the marketplace line grown faster than takings? If it has, you are leaning on the marketplace more.
- Of the new marketplace clients from three months ago, how many have rebooked? Write a percentage.
- Is the effective card rate close to the list rate, or has more manual entry crept in?
- Which add-on has the weakest result? Cancel it or set a date to prove it.
- Has headcount changed? Every bookable member adds $14.95 on Team, so remove anyone who no longer takes bookings.
That last point catches salons out. A stylist who left in spring but is still marked bookable keeps costing $14.95 a month, as does a freelance chair-renter whose calendar stays open all year. These are small amounts, but they are the easiest savings because they cost you no clients.
A quick illustration of the whole habit: a salon owner ran the five steps in January and found two unused bookable members ($29.90 a month), a Data Connector add-on nobody opened ($295 a month) and a 31% marketplace rebooking rate. Cutting the first two saved $325 a month, $3,900 a year, and the rebooking rate told her to put a direct-booking card in every client's bag. The figures are illustrative, but the pattern of finding savings in forgotten lines rather than in big decisions is common.
Adding the extras to the bill
Put the add-ons on top of bill two and see how quickly the total moves.
| Add-on | Monthly cost | New total |
|---|---|---|
| Bill two as it stands | $728.15 | $728.15 |
| AI Concierge, messaging only (an alternative to the next line, not added) | $29.95 | $758.10 if chosen instead |
| AI Concierge, calls and messaging | $99.95 | $828.10 |
| Client Loyalty | $59.95 | $888.05 |
| Google Rating Boost | $14.95 | $903.00 |
| Insights for 3 bookable members | $29.85 | $932.85 |
Each add-on looks modest. Together they add about $205 a month, or $2,460 a year, to a bill that was already $728. None is wrong to buy, but each needs a job. Before adding one, write the specific result you expect, such as "ten more rebookings a month from loyalty" or "reviews up from 4.5 to 4.7", and a date to check.
How to read your own statement in thirty minutes
Take last month's Fresha statement and a pen. Work through these steps and write the figures in a table.
- List the subscription lines: plan, number of bookable members, any add-ons.
- Find the marketplace line and divide it by $11 or whatever your average fee is to count new clients.
- Find card processing and divide it by takings processed to get your effective rate. Compare it with the list rate above.
- Count messages sent beyond the free allowance.
- Add the lines and divide by appointments to get a cost per appointment.
Here is an illustrative filled-in version for bill two.
Cost per appointment: $728.15 / 180 = $4.05
Marketplace share of bill: 440 / 728.15 = 60%
Card share of bill: 242.10 / 728.15 = 33%
Subscription share: 44.85 / 728.15 = 6%
Cost as share of takings: 728.15 / 9,000 = 8.1%
The number to remember is the share of takings. A bill of 8% of takings with heavy marketplace use is a different conversation from a bill of 4% once clients come direct. It also gives you a fair basis for comparing rivals, such as the card-fee comparison for a solo stylist in Fresha against Square.
Where AI can help with the sums, and where it will mislead
A chat assistant is good at arithmetic you describe clearly and poor at figures you leave out. Do not paste client names or anything personal; the totals are enough. A prompt that works:
I run a three-chair salon. Fresha list prices: Team plan $14.95 per bookable
member; new marketplace clients 20% of first booking, minimum $6; in-person
card 2.29% + $0.20; texts 100 free per member then $0.02.
Last month: 3 bookable members, 180 appointments, $9,000 takings, 40 new
marketplace clients with average first visit $55, 360 texts sent.
Calculate each line, the total, cost per appointment and cost as % of takings.
Show the working. If anything is missing, ask before assuming.
Check the reply against your own sums above. A typical failure is the assistant applying the 20% to every visit rather than only to the first, which would turn $440 into thousands. If the answer is far from yours, the assistant has misread the rule, so correct it and ask again rather than trusting the larger or smaller number. Our tutorials on using AI to rebook clients and cutting no-shows with reminders and deposits show where AI helps once the bill is understood.
Message costs: small per unit, easy to overshoot
Texts look trivial at $0.02 each, and for most salons they are. The risk is marketing messages, priced at $0.08 per text, and WhatsApp, priced between $0.04 and $0.11 per message depending on type. A promotional text to 400 past clients costs about $32 (400 times $0.08), which is fine if it fills six empty slots at $55 and silly if it fills one. A reminder run through WhatsApp for 300 appointments, with two messages each, at an assumed $0.06 average, is $36 a month after the allowance, against $12 if the same messages went as standard texts at $0.02. The gap is small in money, but check which channel each automated message uses, because defaults are easy to leave alone.
Before you send any campaign, write the expected result in advance. "Text 400 clients not seen for 90 days; expect 15 replies and 6 bookings" gives you a target and a cost per booking of $5.33 ($32 divided by six). After the send, compare. Over a few campaigns you learn which lists and wording earn their cost, and which are noise.
Levers that cut the bill without hurting the diary
- Steer new clients to your own link. Direct links, Facebook and Instagram bookings carry no marketplace fee. Put the link in your Instagram profile, Google profile, receipts and the end of every appointment.
- Track marketplace clients who return. Tag them for a month. If fewer than a third rebook within 60 days, the marketplace is buying one-off visits.
- Price the first visit. A new-client offer that drops a $55 cut to $40 makes the fee $8 on a smaller ticket and lowers your margin; avoid stacking a discount on a commission without doing the sum.
- Avoid manual card entry. At 3.30% plus $0.20 it costs more than in-person, so ask clients to pay through the booking or tap the card.
- Review texts. If reminders push you far over 100 free texts, check whether email and app notifications, which are free, can carry some of them.
- Re-check add-ons every quarter. Switch off anything whose result you cannot name.
A realistic mistake: an owner offers a 30% new-client discount on the marketplace, on a $30 service. The fee minimum is $6, so after a $9 discount and $6 fee she keeps $15 for a half-hour service, before card fees. Run the line through your own sum before running any promotion.
Things the pricing page cannot tell you
List prices leave questions that only your account or Fresha's support can answer. Ask in writing and keep the replies: how a client you already have is treated if they book through the marketplace; whether the card rate changes at higher volume; what the terminal cost is on your plan and when the "free on Team" condition is tested; how the free text allowance is counted on a team with a changing headcount; and what the exit looks like, including how you export client data if you leave.
The last of these is the one owners skip. Your client list is the asset; confirm in the trial that you can export it in a standard file. If you would like to map the whole cost picture with someone else, my AI implementation consultation covers cost checks like this one and which AI add-ons are worth buying afterwards.
Fresha pricing: questions from salon owners
Is Fresha really free?
No. Fresha lists a monthly subscription, $19.95 for one bookable member on Independent or $14.95 per bookable member on Team. Card payments, texts beyond a monthly allowance and add-ons cost extra, and new clients from the marketplace carry a 20% fee, minimum $6, on their first booking.
Do repeat clients cost me a marketplace fee?
Fresha's pricing page says returning clients are free, as are bookings that come through your direct link, Facebook or Instagram. The 20% applies once, to a new client found through the marketplace. Check how Fresha classes a client you already know who books that way.
Which Fresha add-ons can a small salon skip?
Skip the data and analytics tools until you have a question they answer. Most small salons start with notifications and card payments, then consider the loyalty and review tools once the diary is steady. Add the AI Concierge only after a missed-call log shows lost bookings.
How do I cut the marketplace fee?
Put your own booking link on your Instagram, Facebook, website and receipts, and ask existing clients to book through it. Marketplace listing is worth paying for only while it brings clients who return. Track how many marketplace clients rebook within 60 days.
Do the prices apply in every country?
No. The figures here are dollar list prices read in October 2026. Fresha varies prices by country and currency, and sales taxes are excluded. Open your own account's billing page to confirm your amounts before you budget.
Further reads
- Best AI Receptionists for Salons, Compared by Price — Price standalone AI receptionists against Fresha's add-on.
- Vagaro Pricing for a Small Salon: Calendars, Add-Ons and AI Features — Run the same bill exercise on Vagaro's calendars and add-ons.
- Booksy for Barbers: Costs, Boost Fees and the AI Receptionist Beta — See how Booksy's Boost fee compares with Fresha's marketplace fee.
- How Barbers Can Win Back Lapsed Clients With Automated Messages — Bring lapsed clients back without paying a new-client fee.
- Salon Commission or Booth Rent? Model Both on Your Numbers With AI — Model commission against booth rent before adding seats.
- Hair Salon Business Plan: Chairs, Prices and Cash Flow With AI — Fit software fees into a salon cash-flow plan.
- AI Agent for a Hair Salon: Ten Checks Before You Commit to a Contract — Ten contract checks for a hair salon AI agent, from calendar permissions and overage maths to exit terms and a test-call script.
- AI Mirror and Virtual Hair Try-On: Is It Worth Paying for in a Salon? — When an AI hair try-on mirror pays for itself in a small salon, how to test it with clients, and what to try first for free.
- Mindbody Alternatives for a Small Studio: Five Compared on Cost and AI — Vagaro, Fresha, Gymdesk, Glofox and Acuity set against Mindbody for a small studio, with USD list prices, AI features and a worked monthly sum.
- Vagaro Alternatives for a Small Salon: Five Compared on AI and Price — Fresha, Booksy, GlossGenius, Boulevard and Mindbody against Vagaro for a three-chair salon: list prices, AI features and card fees side by side.
- 5 AI Tools for Salons: A Stack for Solo Stylists and Small Teams — Five AI tools in the order a solo stylist or small salon team should adopt them, with what each costs and one worked example per tool.
- Gift Voucher Terms and Conditions for a Salon: Draft Them With AI — Gift voucher terms for a salon: nine decisions, clauses to adapt, an AI drafting prompt and the checks a local professional should make.
- Can AI Manage Salon Inventory? Colour Stock and Reorder Points — How to set par levels and reorder points for salon colour from eight weeks of usage, with a ten-shade worked example, spreadsheet formulas and an order sheet.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: Fresha pricing page (fetched October 2026). All bills and client numbers below are illustrative.