Fresha Pricing and Fees in 2026: Is Fresha Really Free?

Fresha stopped being free. As of September 2026 its pricing page lists two paid plans for the US: Independent at $19.95 a month for one bookable team member, and Team at $14.95 a month per bookable team member. On top of that sit two separate charges that have nothing to do with the subscription: a one-time 20% commission on new clients who find you through the Fresha marketplace (minimum $6), and card processing at 2.29% plus $0.20 in person or 2.79% plus $0.20 online. UK reviews put the equivalent plans at £14.95 and £9.95 per team member plus VAT. This guide separates the three costs, works through what a real salon pays, and says plainly when Fresha is still the right choice.

Is Fresha free in 2026? No, and here is what changed

For years Fresha (originally Shedul) was the free option: the software cost nothing, and Fresha earned its money from card processing and a commission on new clients booked through its marketplace. That is why it was the default recommendation for solo stylists and new salons.

That model is gone. Fresha moved to paid subscriptions during 2025, and the reviews we checked disagree only on when the last free accounts were switched over: The Salon Business dates the change to 2025, while Heybooked and Bizzly say the final free accounts ended in July 2026. What is not in dispute is today's position: a 7-day trial with no card required, then you pay. There is no free tier at any team size, though it remains one of the cheapest subscriptions in the category.

Fresha pricing: the subscription

| Plan | US price (as of September 2026) | UK price (reported) | Built for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Independent | $19.95 a month | £14.95 a month plus VAT | One bookable team member | | Team | $14.95 a month per bookable team member | £9.95 per team member plus VAT | Two or more bookable team members | | Enterprise | Custom rates | Custom rates | 20 or more team members |

The US figures come from Fresha's pricing page. The UK figures are what Setora and Bizzly reported this month; Fresha shows prices in your local currency, so check the page for your country.

Three details from Fresha's help centre matter more than the headline:

• You pay per bookable team member. A receptionist without a calendar should not add to the bill; a part-time nail tech with one does.
• Billing is on the first day of each calendar month with no minimum term; cancel from the billing settings and it does not renew.
• Two people on calendars means the Team plan at $29.90, which adds a multi-user calendar, commission tracking and timesheets.

Fresha also states that it does not charge a booking fee per appointment. That is true of the subscription. The commission is a different thing.

Fresha fees: the marketplace new client commission

This is what owners mean when they ask about "Fresha commission", and it is the only Fresha cost that scales with your success at attracting new people.

As of September 2026 the pricing page describes it as a 20% one-time commission with a minimum fee of $6 per client on new clients who book through the Fresha marketplace, and adds that no fee ever applies to returning clients. Fresha's help centre article on the fee fills in the rules:

• A marketplace new client first discovers you through the marketplace, books online, and was not already in your client list.
• The fee is calculated on their first completed appointment. If it is rescheduled or left unmanaged in the calendar, the fee still applies on the original booking value.
• If the client cancels online through their own account, the fee is deferred to their next booking. A no-show marked on the day is not charged.
• If the client already exists in your list, or confirms a previous visit, there is no fee.

Two practical consequences. Import your existing client list before you switch the marketplace on, or a regular who books through the Fresha app looks like a new client. And because the help centre says the fee can still apply when someone viewed your marketplace profile before booking another way, give regulars your own booking link.

Is 20% expensive? On a $60 first visit the fee is $12. If that client returns monthly for a year, $12 bought about $720 of revenue, which beats most advertising. If they never return, you paid a fifth of one ticket. The fee suits salons that retain and punishes salons that do not.

Card processing fees on Fresha

The third cost usually ends up the largest, and it has nothing to do with the plan. These are the US rates on the pricing page as of September 2026:

| Payment type | US rate | UK rate (reported by UK reviews) | | --- | --- | --- | | In person (card reader) | 2.29% plus $0.20 | 1.19% plus 20p | | Tap to Pay on a phone | Adds $0.10 per authorisation | Adds 7p | | Online (deposits, prepayment, card on file) | 2.79% plus $0.20 | 1.40% plus 25p | | Manually keyed | 3.30% plus $0.20 | 2.20% plus 20p | | Buy now, pay later (Klarna) | 5.99% plus $0.30 | Check the vendor's pricing page |

A card terminal costs from $139 per device and there is no monthly fee for taking payments. Deposits and no-show protection are collected online, so budget the 2.79% rate for those even though the client is in your chair for the balance.

What Fresha really costs a salon with 3 staff

Take a three-chair salon in the US doing 400 appointments a month at an average of $60, so $24,000 of monthly revenue. Assume 280 of those appointments (70%) are paid by card through Fresha's reader, all in person, and 20 clients a month are genuinely new and arrive through the marketplace.

| Line | Arithmetic | Monthly | | --- | --- | --- | | Team plan, 3 bookable members | 3 x $14.95 | $44.85 | | In-person processing, percentage | 2.29% of $16,800 | $384.72 | | In-person processing, per transaction | 280 x $0.20 | $56.00 | | New client commission | 20 x 20% of $60 | $240.00 | | Reminder texts beyond the free allowance | roughly 700 x $0.02 | $14.00 | | Total | | $739.57 |

Call it $740 a month, or about $8,875 a year. The subscription is 6% of the total, processing is 60%, and the commission is a third. The commission is the only line you can materially change, because it disappears for every client who books you directly: the same salon with no marketplace clients pays about $500 a month, which is the version of Fresha most established salons are actually on.

Hidden and easy-to-miss Fresha costs

• Every bookable calendar counts, including chair renters and part-timers. Eight calendars is $119.60 a month on Team.
• Add-ons are per location or per member. As of September 2026 the US page lists Client Loyalty at $59.95 per location, Google Rating Boost at $14.95 per location, Team Connect at $2.95 per team member, Insights at $9.95 per bookable member, Smart Website at $15.95 and AI Concierge at $99.95 per location. Two or three of these double the software bill.
• Messaging is metered. The US page shows 100 free texts a month, then $0.02 per text (WhatsApp $0.04 to $0.11), 50 free marketing emails then $0.02 each, and marketing texts at $0.08. The euro version of the page showed smaller allowances, so check yours.
• Manual entry is 3.30%, so phone bookings where you key the card in cost the most.
• Tax is extra where VAT or sales tax applies.
• The marketplace shows your competitors next to your profile, and sloppy client records trigger the commission: an un-imported regular is a "new client" at 20%.

Who should stay on Fresha

Fresha is still the right answer for a lot of salons:

• Solo professionals and small teams. $19.95 for polished software with unlimited bookings, reminders and payments built in is hard to beat.
• New salons in a big city. The marketplace is a genuine source of first-time clients, and paying 20% once is cheaper than most ads.
• Salons whose clients already have the Fresha app. In parts of the UK and Europe that is simply how people book.
• Anyone who wants one bill for software and payments.

If that is you, stay. Keep your client list clean, push regulars to your own link, and the cost stays sensible.

Who should look at a Fresha alternative

The case for moving usually looks like this:

• Regulars are 80% or more of your bookings, yet they book through an app that lists other salons next to your name.
• Calendars and add-ons have pushed the "cheap" software past $150 a month before processing.
• You want your own name and logo on the client's phone, and the client list to be yours.
• You want push notifications to every client without paying per text.

Our Fresha alternative page covers the switch in detail, and the best beauty salon booking apps guide covers the marketplace versus owned-app decision more broadly.

The owned-app alternative

Codersy Apps designs, builds and publishes a booking app under your salon's own name and logo in the App Store and Google Play. It costs a flat €50 a month, with no development or setup fee, no per-booking fee and no commission, and you can cancel any month. You get a client app and an admin app, per-employee calendars, prices and hours, 24/7 self-booking, push and email reminders, deposits against no-shows through Stripe or a local processor (their processing fees are separate), the ability to ban repeat no-shows, push notifications to every client, and revenue analytics. The client list belongs to the salon. A demo is on your phone within 7 days and the app is live in both stores in 3 to 4 weeks. Milano Beauty, Ana Beauty Club, Lila Vanila and Belgrade Bling run on it today.

The trade is plain: an owned app brings no marketplace, so discovery is your job. Many salons keep a Fresha profile for new clients and move their regulars to their own app, which is exactly where the 20% commission and the metered texts stop mattering. Processing does not vanish, whoever you use. See our beauty salon app page.

The bottom line on Fresha pricing

Fresha is not free any more, but at $19.95 solo or $14.95 per bookable team member it remains cheap software, and the subscription is rarely the number that matters. Card processing is the biggest line for almost everyone, and the 20% new client commission is the one you control. If the marketplace still brings you clients you would not otherwise get, Fresha is good value. If your book is full of regulars, you are paying to rent a relationship you already own, and it is worth talking to us about what your own app would cost instead.