Is Fresha free?
No. Fresha isn’t free for UK salons any more. Its UK pricing page lists £14.95 a month for one person and £9.95 a month for each team member, both before VAT, so one person pays £17.94 a month with VAT. On top of that, it takes a one-time 20% fee, minimum £4 plus VAT, on a brand-new client who finds you through its marketplace. Bookings from your own link, Facebook and Instagram carry no fee, and neither do returning clients. Read on 2 November 2026.
We make Covered Beauty, which competes with Fresha, so read this knowing that. Every Fresha figure below comes from Fresha’s own pages, and each one is linked so you can check it yourself. There are no affiliate links on this page.
What does Fresha cost a month?
You pay for each person who takes bookings.
| Your team | Fresha’s price | With VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Just you (Independent) | £14.95 | £17.94 |
| 2 people (Team) | £19.90 | £23.88 |
| 3 people (Team) | £29.85 | £35.82 |
| 5 people (Team) | £49.75 | £59.70 |
If you aren’t VAT registered, you can’t claim that VAT back, so the last column is what leaves your bank. Fresha’s page says its rates exclude 20% sales tax. It doesn’t say which rates, so we’ve added VAT to the plans and the new client fee, and left it off the card fees.
Fresha charges for your plan on the first day of each calendar month, and the trial is 7 days.
Sources: Fresha UK pricing, checked 2 November 2026, and Fresha help: Manage your Fresha plan, checked 3 November 2026.
Does Fresha take a percentage of my bookings?
Only on one kind of booking. When a brand-new client finds you on Fresha’s marketplace and books online, Fresha charges a one-time 20% of their first appointment, with a £4 minimum. That’s before VAT.
| First appointment | Fee | With VAT |
|---|---|---|
| £15 brow tint | £4 (the minimum) | £4.80 |
| £45 infill | £9 | £10.80 |
| £90 full set | £18 | £21.60 |
Fresha takes nothing on returning clients, or on bookings through your own link, Facebook or Instagram. Four things in its help page are worth knowing before you go on its marketplace:
- A client already on your list when they book isn’t charged for. That includes clients you imported, so import your list first.
- If you or your team cancel a new client’s appointment for them, the fee still applies.
- If the new client cancels online themselves, the fee moves to their next booking.
- The fee is worked out on the appointment they booked, not on services or products your team adds at checkout.
Its help page says there’s a maximum cap on higher-value services and sends you to the pricing page for it. The pricing page didn’t show a cap when we read it.
Source: Fresha UK pricing and Fresha help: Marketplace new client fees, checked 2 November 2026.
What else does Fresha charge for?
Everything here is from the same pricing page, before any VAT.
| What | Fresha’s rate |
|---|---|
| Online card payments | 1.40% + 25p |
| In person | 1.19% + 20p, plus 7p for Tap to Pay |
| Typing a card in by hand | 2.20% + 20p |
| Klarna | 4.49% + 50p |
| What | Included | After that |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder texts | 20 a month for each person | 6p a text |
| WhatsApp reminders | Share the 20 | 5p to 10p each |
| Marketing emails | 50 a month for each person | 2p each |
| Marketing texts | None | 8p each |
| Add-on | Price |
|---|---|
| Team Connect (group chats) | £2.49 per person |
| Insights (extra reports) | £7.95 per person |
| Xero | £7.95 per location |
| Smart Website | £12.95 |
| Google Rating Boost | £12.95 per location |
| AI Concierge, messages | £23.95 per location |
| AI Concierge, calls and messages | £79.95 per location, 200 minutes then 48p a minute |
| Client Loyalty | £49.95 per location |
| Data Connector | £190 per location |
Source: Fresha UK pricing, checked 2 November 2026.
What’s still free on Fresha?
- Your own direct booking link, and bookings from Facebook and Instagram
- Bookings from returning clients
- Automated emails and app notifications to clients
- The Meta Pixel and Google Analytics connections
So you can’t avoid the subscription, but you can avoid the 20% if you stay off the marketplace or import your list first.
Source: Fresha UK pricing, checked 2 November 2026.
When did Fresha stop being free?
During 2025. We couldn’t find an announcement from Fresha itself. Two rival software companies put a year on it: Pabau says early 2025, and Zenoti says 2025 without a month.
Older articles saying Fresha has no subscription are out of date, and some of them still turn up in search results and AI answers.
Source: Zenoti: Zenoti vs Fresha UK and Pabau: Fresha pricing, checked 3 November 2026.
What does a normal month come to?
Here’s one example, worked out the same way as our cheapest booking software guide. One person, 60 bookings a month at £40 each.
| Your month | What you pay Fresha |
|---|---|
| All your own clients, nobody pays by card through Fresha | £17.94 |
| All your own clients, everyone pays online through Fresha | £66.54 |
| As above, but 15 of the 60 are new marketplace clients | £210.54 |
The middle line is the £17.94 plus £48.60 in card fees. The last line adds £9.60 for each of the 15 new clients. If Fresha adds VAT to its card rates too, that’s about £9.72 more on the last two lines.
Source: Fresha UK pricing, checked 2 November 2026.
Is Fresha worth paying for?
It depends where your clients come from.
Fresha’s marketplace can bring you people who’ve never heard of you. On a £45 first visit its fee is £10.80 with VAT, and if that client comes back six more times, that’s about £1.54 a visit, a fair price for a new regular. It’s a poor deal for someone who books once on an offer and never returns, so check which of your new clients come back.
If most of your clients are regulars, recommendations or come through Instagram, you’re paying for a marketplace you aren’t using, and a flat monthly plan may suit you better.
It’s worth checking how you get help, too. The Independent plan comes with email and chat, and Fresha’s page gives a typical email reply of 2 days. Phone support comes with the Team plan.
What are the alternatives to Fresha?
From what each provider listed on 2 November 2026.
| If you want | Look at | You pay a month |
|---|---|---|
| To pay nothing | Slotora, Slotivo Free, Square Appointments Free | £0, each with limits |
| A flat low price for one person | Covered Beauty Solo (£9), SalonBooking Solo (£9), Slotivo Paid (£10) | £9 to £10 |
| A flat price for a team | Slotivo Paid, Glow, SalonBooking Team, Covered Beauty Team | £10 to £19.99 |
| A marketplace, with a different fee | Treatwell, Booksy with Boost | From £11.99 with VAT, plus their fees |
Sources: Slotora pricing, Slotivo pricing, Square Appointments UK pricing, SalonBooking pricing, Glow pricing, Treatwell UK pricing and Booksy UK pricing, checked 2 November 2026.
Our guide to free salon booking software shows what each free plan leaves out. Fresha alternatives for small UK salons goes through them one by one, and UK booking app prices, cheapest first has every plan we could read, with its source.
Covered Beauty is £9 a month for one person, with 50 texts a month. Every plan has no booking commission, card deposits, no-show fees and consent forms. It isn’t free and it has no big marketplace, so it won’t find you new clients the way Fresha can. Covered Beauty vs Fresha puts the two side by side.
How do I leave Fresha?
Export your client list first, then cancel. In Fresha, go to Settings, then Billing, then Subscriptions. Under Plan, click Actions and choose Cancel plan. Fresha says your plan then won’t renew for the next billing cycle, and your marketplace profile is unlisted. Your reviews are hidden, not deleted.
Source: Fresha help: Manage your Fresha plan, checked 3 November 2026.
Our guide to moving from Fresha covers what you can export, what stays behind and cancelling, and we can do the move for you.
Questions about Fresha’s costs
Is Fresha free?
No. Fresha isn’t free for UK salons any more. Its UK pricing page lists £14.95 a month for one person and £9.95 a month for each team member, both before VAT, so one person pays £17.94 a month with VAT. On top of that, it takes a one-time 20% fee, minimum £4 plus VAT, on a brand-new client who finds you through its marketplace. Bookings from your own link, Facebook and Instagram carry no fee, and neither do returning clients. Read on 2 November 2026.
Do you have to pay for Fresha?
Yes, if you run a business on it. UK plans start at £14.95 a month before VAT, after a 7-day trial. Clients book for free.
How much is Fresha a month?
£14.95 for one person, or £9.95 for each team member, both before VAT. That’s £17.94 and £11.94 with VAT.
Does Fresha take a percentage?
Only on a brand-new client who finds you through its marketplace: 20% once, minimum £4, before VAT. Card payments have their own fees.
Does Fresha send text reminders?
Yes. You get 20 free a month for each person, then it’s 6p a text. Reminder emails and app notifications are free.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Fresha?
Yes, if you don’t need its marketplace. Slotora, Slotivo Free and Square Appointments Free list online booking at £0, each with limits. Covered Beauty, which we make, is £9 a month for one person with 50 texts, no booking commission and 7 days free with no card.
Spotted something out of date? Email hello@covered.technology and we’ll check it and change it.
What else should you read?
Fresha alternatives for small UK salons
Seven booking systems small salons look at instead of Fresha, four more you may come across, and how each one charges.
Read the guideFree salon booking software in the UK: what each plan leaves out
Ten free plans side by side, and the limit on each one that decides whether it’ll work for you.
Read the guideBooking apps with no commission (UK)
Which booking apps take a cut, on which clients, and how to keep the clients you found yourself free of fees.
Read the guide