Which booking apps don’t charge commission in the UK?
Covered Beauty, Square Appointments, SumUp Bookings and Setmore list no commission or booking fees of their own, and Book in Beautiful charges 0% commission on new clients. Fresha and Treatwell charge once, on a brand-new client their marketplace finds you: Fresha 20%, minimum £4, excluding VAT, and Treatwell 35% of the first booking, plus VAT. Booksy charges only if you switch on Boost: 30% of a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5, plus VAT. None of them takes commission on regulars or on bookings through your own link. Covered Beauty, which we make, costs £9 a month with no commission on any booking. You pay card fees on most of them when clients pay by card.
Every fact about another provider comes from its own pricing page, read on 26 October 2026. There are no affiliate links on this page.
Who charges what?
Covered Beauty first because it’s ours, then the rest from no commission to the most. The order isn’t a ranking.
| App | Clients you bring | New clients from its marketplace | Other charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covered BeautyOurs. See both plans | None | None. Find a salon lists you at no fee, but it isn’t a big marketplace | Stripe’s card fees, from 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards |
| Square AppointmentsSource: Square Appointments UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | None listed | No marketplace fee listed | Card fees, 1.4% + 25p for UK cards online |
| SumUp BookingsSource: SumUp Bookings UK and SumUp UK online payments, checked 26 October 2026 | No commission on bookings | No commission on bookings | Card fees, 2.5% on online payments |
| SetmoreSource: Setmore pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | No fees of its own listed | No fees of its own listed | Card fees from Square, Stripe or PayPal, at their rates. Prices in US dollars |
| Book in BeautifulSource: Book in Beautiful pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | None stated | 0% commission on new clients | On its free plan, clients pay a booking charge (£1.50 on a £20 booking in its example) |
| BooksySource: Booksy UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | None | Free with Boost off. With Boost on, 30% once on a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5, VAT added | £40 a month, VAT added. Mobile payments 1.29% + 20p + VAT |
| FreshaSource: Fresha UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | None on returning clients, or bookings through your own link, Facebook or Instagram | 20% once on a brand-new client from its marketplace, minimum £4, excluding VAT | £14.95 a month, excluding VAT. Online card payments 1.40% + 25p |
| TreatwellSource: Treatwell UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026 | 0% on repeat bookings and bookings made directly with you | 35% on a new marketplace client’s first booking, subject to location, VAT added | A monthly fee it doesn’t publish. 2.5% + VAT when a client prepays online |
Covered Beauty’s card fees are Stripe’s, 1.5% + 20p for a standard UK card, paid on your own Stripe account.
Source: Stripe UK pricing, checked 24 October 2026.
What does one new marketplace client cost?
The fee is a share of the client’s first booking, with a minimum on Fresha and Booksy, so it bites hardest on small treatments. Here it is with VAT added, which is what you pay if you aren’t VAT registered.
| First booking | Fresha | Booksy with Boost on | Treatwell |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15 | £4.80 | £6 | £6.30 |
| £40 | £9.60 | £14.40 | £16.80 |
| £60 | £14.40 | £21.60 | £25.20 |
On a £15 treatment, Fresha’s £4 minimum and Booksy’s £5 minimum come to more than their 20% and 30%. Covered Beauty, Square Appointments, SumUp Bookings and Setmore list no fee on a new client.
Source: Fresha UK pricing, Booksy UK pricing and Treatwell UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
Is a marketplace worth its fee?
It can be. Each fee is charged once. Fresha charges nothing on returning clients, Treatwell 0% on repeat bookings, and Booksy charges its Boost fee only on a Boost client’s first visit. Say a new client’s first booking is £40 and they come back 5 more times. Spread over those 6 visits, the fee works out at:
- Fresha: £9.60 once, or £1.60 a visit.
- Booksy with Boost on: £14.40 once, or £2.40 a visit.
- Treatwell: £16.80 once, or £2.80 a visit.
If the client never comes back, you’ve paid that fee for one booking. So the question isn’t whether there’s commission, it’s whether the marketplace finds you clients who stay. If your diary is already full of regulars and Instagram bookings, you’re paying for clients you could have found yourself.
Source: Fresha UK pricing, Booksy UK pricing and Treatwell UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
How do you keep the clients you found yourself free of fees?
Give them your own booking link. Fresha lists bookings through your own link, Facebook and Instagram as free. Treatwell charges nothing beyond its monthly fee on bookings made directly with you, including through its Book Now button on your social media or website. Booksy charges nothing on marketplace bookings while Boost is off.
Source: Fresha UK pricing, Treatwell UK pricing and Booksy UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
With Covered Beauty there’s nothing to watch. No booking carries commission, wherever the client came from. Put your link in your Instagram bio, as our guide to getting booked from Instagram explains, and clients book and pay their deposit straight into your own Stripe account.
Commission isn’t the only fee
- Card fees. A client paying by card costs you a fee on almost every app, for example 1.4% + 25p for UK cards online on Square and 2.5% on SumUp’s online payments. Book in Beautiful’s free plan lists online payments and deposits with zero transaction fees.
- Prepayment fees. Treatwell charges 2.5% plus VAT when a client pays online in advance.
- Booking charges. On Book in Beautiful’s free plan, clients pay a booking charge, £1.50 on a £20 booking in its example.
- The monthly fee. £0 on the free plans, £14.95 excluding VAT on Fresha’s Independent plan and £40 plus VAT on Booksy. Treatwell doesn’t publish its own.
Source: Square Appointments UK pricing, SumUp UK online payments, Treatwell UK pricing, Book in Beautiful pricing, Fresha UK pricing and Booksy UK pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
To see them added up for a month, read the cheapest salon booking software in the UK.
When isn’t Covered Beauty the right choice?
- You want a marketplace to find you new clients, and you’re happy to pay for the ones it finds. Our Find a salon page lists you at no fee, but it’s small.
- Your diary is quiet and a free plan’s limits don’t bother you.
- Your team is bigger than five, or you’re outside the UK.
Questions about booking app commission
Which booking apps don’t charge commission in the UK?
Covered Beauty, Square Appointments, SumUp Bookings and Setmore list no commission or booking fees of their own, and Book in Beautiful charges 0% commission on new clients. Fresha and Treatwell charge once, on a brand-new client their marketplace finds you: Fresha 20%, minimum £4, excluding VAT, and Treatwell 35% of the first booking, plus VAT. Booksy charges only if you switch on Boost: 30% of a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5, plus VAT. None of them takes commission on regulars or on bookings through your own link. Covered Beauty, which we make, costs £9 a month with no commission on any booking. You pay card fees on most of them when clients pay by card.
Does Fresha take commission on every booking?
No. Its UK pricing page says the one-time 20% fee, minimum £4, applies to brand-new clients who discover you through the Fresha marketplace. No fee applies to returning clients, and bookings through your own link, Facebook and Instagram are free. Its rates exclude VAT (checked 26 October 2026).
Does Treatwell charge commission on repeat clients?
No. Its UK pricing page lists 0% commission on repeat bookings and no charge beyond the monthly fee on bookings made directly with you. Its 35% is on a new marketplace client’s first booking, subject to location, with VAT on top (checked 26 October 2026).
Is Booksy commission free?
With Boost off, yes. Its UK pricing page says new bookings through the Booksy marketplace are free when Boost isn’t on. Boost charges 30% once on a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5. The plan is £40 a month, and VAT is added to all its prices (checked 26 October 2026).
Does Covered Beauty take commission?
No, not on any booking, including a client’s first. You pay £9 a month for Solo or £19 for Salon. Clients’ card payments go straight into your own Stripe account, and Stripe takes its card fees from them.
What else should you read?
Cheapest salon booking software in the UK (2026)
A month of bookings for a solo tech, costed nine ways: the subscription, marketplace fees and card fees added up, and when a free plan wins.
Read the guide ↗Treatwell alternatives for UK salons
What Treatwell charges, why a salon might look elsewhere, the alternatives with and without a marketplace, and how to move.
Read the guide ↗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 guide ↗Comparing features too? Read the best salon booking software in the UK.