We make Covered Beauty, a booking app, so we compete with every company in this piece. Read it knowing that. Every figure below comes from their own pages, read on 3 November 2026 and linked so you can check it, and where they beat us we say so.
Why we wrote this
We read the one to three star reviews of Fresha for business, Booksy Biz and Treatwell Connect on the UK App Store. That’s the unhappy end, not a fair sample. Fresha has 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 7,632 reviews, and most people using these apps are happy with them.
But one complaint keeps coming up in different words, on all three: a fee on a client the owner says was already theirs.
Nobody reading a review can tell who was right, and that’s the point of this piece. In every case the app holds the records, the app applies the rule and the app makes the call. So here’s how each rule works, how to stop it costing you, and how long you’ve got to argue.
What does a new client cost?
| App | Fee on a new client | Minimum | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 20% once, plus VAT | £4 | A brand new client who finds you on its marketplace |
| Treatwell | 35% once, plus VAT | None | A new client’s first booking from its marketplace |
| Booksy | 30% once, plus VAT | £5 | Only if you’ve switched Boost on |
| Covered Beauty | Nothing | None | We have no fee on any client, new or old |
Here’s what that looks like on three first visits, before VAT and then with it.
| First visit | Fresha | Booksy Boost | Treatwell |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15 brow wax | £4.00, or £4.80 | £5.00, or £6.00 | £5.25, or £6.30 |
| £45 lash lift | £9.00, or £10.80 | £13.50, or £16.20 | £15.75, or £18.90 |
| £90 full set | £18.00, or £21.60 | £27.00, or £32.40 | £31.50, or £37.80 |
Fresha’s help page says the fee has a maximum cap for higher-value services. Its pricing page didn’t show a figure when we read it.
Two things that table hides.
The minimums mean the headline rate stops being true on small treatments. At Fresha, anything under £20 pays more than 20%. A £15 brow wax pays 27% before VAT and 32% after. Booksy’s £5 minimum makes the same wax 33%, or 40% with VAT.
And if you aren’t VAT registered you can’t claim the VAT back, so 20% is really 24%, 35% is really 42% and 30% is really 36%.
How does each app decide who’s yours?
Fresha. Its help centre says the fee applies when a client first discovers you on its marketplace, books online and isn’t on your Clients list, and that it tracks the client’s online activity to check. Anyone you’ve added or imported before they book isn’t charged.
Three details matter more than they look. Its partner terms say links made inside your own profile carry no fee, links made elsewhere on Fresha do, and it isn’t responsible for refunding a fee if you used the wrong one. Its help centre says that if you or your team cancel a new client’s appointment for them, the fee still applies. And if the client cancels online themselves, the fee moves to their next booking.
Treatwell. Its partner terms say a booking is new in three cases. The client isn’t in your database by name plus something like an email or phone number. Or they were added over 365 days ago and haven’t had a successful booking with you in the last 365 days. Or they were added in the last 365 days from a booking that didn’t go ahead, or hasn’t yet. So a regular who’s been away for 13 months and comes back through the marketplace can cost you 35% again. Its pricing page says clients you import or add to your calendar when you join are never counted as new. And if you cancel later than midnight before the day of the visit, its terms say it can still charge commission.
Booksy. Boost is the only route to a fee. Its pricing page says that with Boost on, you pay once for clients who book you for the first time while it’s on, and tells you to share your own Booksy profile link with your clients. With Boost off, marketplace bookings are free. One UK reviewer on 18 October 2026 said a link they were given at a new workplace put three of their own clients through as Boost clients at 30%, and that the charge stood when they got in touch. That’s one person’s account.
None of this is hidden. It’s all on their own pages. Read it together and a pattern shows up, though. Whether a client counts as yours can come down to which link they tapped, whether they were on your list that day, and what the app saw them do online.
We’re not saying anyone applies these rules unfairly. We can’t see that, and neither can you, which is the problem.
How long have you got to argue?
| App | Your window | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 10 days from receiving your invoice statement, in writing with your reasons. After that it’s treated as accepted | Partner terms, payment section |
| Treatwell | 14 days from receiving an invoice, in writing. After that it’s treated as accepted | Partner terms, fees and payment section |
| Booksy | We couldn’t read Booksy’s help page on this, so ask Booksy for its deadline before you need it | Not read |
Fresha’s terms say it sends a statement once a month. So that’s 10 days a month to check it, or it stands.
Here’s what we’d do.
- Put the date your statement lands in your diary, and read it that day.
- Go through every new client fee. On Fresha each one is in your wallet with the client’s name, and the client’s profile shows where the app thinks they came from.
- For anyone you recognise, gather what you’ve got. An old booking, a past message, a note in your diary.
- Write to them inside the window, and say which fee and why.
This isn’t legal advice. Read your own agreement, because terms change.
How do you stop paying for clients who were already yours?
Whichever app you stay on.
Get everyone on your list first. Fresha and Treatwell both say clients you’ve imported or added beforehand aren’t counted as new. If you’ve got a paper diary, a phone full of numbers or a list from an old system, put them in this week.
Check the link in your bio. Look at the link on your Instagram, Facebook, Google profile and website. On Fresha, take it from inside your own profile. On Booksy, use your own profile link.
Turn off what you aren’t using. If Boost isn’t bringing you anyone, switch it off.
Count what the marketplace really brings you. Add up three months of fee lines, then look at what those clients went on to spend. A £10.80 fee on someone who comes back six more times is about £1.54 a visit, and that’s a good deal. The same fee on someone who booked once on an offer and never came back isn’t.
Don’t move a marketplace client off the app. This one could cost you more than the fee. Fresha’s partner terms say that encouraging a client to cancel a Fresha booking and book with you directly is a material breach. Treatwell’s terms say it can charge commission anyway if it reasonably suspects you of encouraging that. See those bookings through.
When did Fresha stop being free?
If you chose Fresha a few years ago, you may remember why. In January 2020 its own pricing page called it the only subscription-free platform for salons and spas, and told salons: “Stop paying expensive subscription fees and join the revolution.”
Saved copies of that page in the Internet Archive show how it changed. Most of the older copies are in US dollars, because that’s what the Archive was served, so read them for the date and not the UK price.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 30 January 2025 | Still free for all, with no monthly fee | Saved copy, 30 Jan 2025 |
| Between 30 January and 25 April 2025 | A paid Team plan, with 100 free texts per team member. One-person businesses still free | Saved copy, free for all, 30 Jan 2025 and Saved copy, Team plan, 25 Apr 2025 |
| Between 16 August and 18 September 2025 | One-person businesses start paying, from free to $19.95 a month on the page saved, with 100 free messages a month where they’d had 20 | Saved copy, still free, 16 Aug 2025 and Saved copy, $19.95, 18 Sep 2025 |
| October 2025 | UK owners start saying so in App Store reviews, one naming £14 | Fresha for business, UK App Store |
| Between 28 January and 22 February 2026 | The free trial goes from 14 days to 7 | Saved copy, 14 days, 28 Jan 2026 and Saved copy, 7 days, 22 Feb 2026 |
| 21 May 2026 | KKR invests $80m, valuing Fresha at over $1bn, City AM reports | City AM, 21 May 2026 |
| Between 4 and 12 October 2026 | Typical email reply goes from 24 hours to 2 days. Phone support is the Team plan only | Saved copy, 24 hours, 4 Oct 2026, Saved copy, 2 days, 12 Oct 2026 and Fresha UK pricing |
| Read 3 November 2026 | £14.95 a month for one person, £17.94 with VAT | Fresha UK pricing |
We’re not saying any of these caused any of the others, and software costs money to run. We charge too. Fresha built a very good product, gave it away for years, and still has a 4.8 rating. But if free was why you chose it, that’s no longer the deal, and it’s worth choosing again on purpose.
Treatwell and Booksy have moved the other way on some things, and that deserves saying. In August 2022 Treatwell’s plans started at £399 a year plus VAT, with a £199 sign-up fee on the page. Now they start at £9.99 a month before VAT. Its 35% has been on its page since at least January 2021, so if you’ve heard it went up lately, the saved copies don’t show it. Booksy cut extra people from £10 to £5 each, and Boost from 40% to 30% with a new £5 minimum, by May 2025, though saved copies of its page still said 40% further down until at least 13 November 2025.
Every dated change we’ve found is in our booking app fee tracker. The cuts go in too.
So what should you do?
It depends where your clients come from.
If a marketplace is filling your diary, stay. It can find you strangers who book, and we can’t. Set the fee against what those clients spend, and keep your list and your links tidy.
If you only use it as a diary, you may be paying for a shop window you don’t need. These are from our UK booking app prices list, read on 2 and 3 November 2026.
| If you want | Look at | A month |
|---|---|---|
| To pay nothing | Square Appointments Free, Slotora Free and Slotivo Free | £0, each with limits |
| A flat low price for one person | SalonBooking Solo and Covered Beauty Solo | £9 |
| A flat price for a team | Slotivo Paid, Glow, SalonBooking Team and Covered Beauty Team | £10 to £19.99 |
Sources: Square Appointments UK pricing, Slotora pricing, Slotivo pricing, SalonBooking pricing and Glow pricing.
If you’re a team of three to five, do the sum first. Five people is £59.70 a month on Fresha with VAT, and £72 on Booksy. Our Team plan is £19.99 for up to five, and that’s the total billed. So that’s £477 to £624 a year before any fee, or £357 to £480 if you’re VAT registered and claim it back.
Before you look at us, here’s what you should know.
- We don’t have a big marketplace, so we won’t bring you new clients the way they can.
- Stripe’s card fee still applies, 1.5% + 20p on a standard UK card.
- Your reviews on their app stay there.
- There’s no phone line. You get Help chat, answered by an AI assistant, and email.
- The free trial is 7 days, with no card.
Work out what your app really cost you this year. If you’d be better off staying, it says so. Or try Covered Beauty free.
What should any booking app put in writing?
We think owners should get four things from every app, including us.
- Every fee on one page, with VAT said plainly.
- When a fee lands on a client, the evidence comes with it.
- At least 30 days of written notice before a price changes. Fresha’s and Treatwell’s terms both give 30 days’ notice of a fee change, and that’s good.
- A simple way out, with your client list coming with you.
We’ve put these on our promise page, so you can hold us to them.
Got something wrong? Email hello@covered.technology and we’ll check it and change it.
Sources
Read on 3 November 2026:
- Fresha UK pricing, Fresha help: Marketplace new client fees and Fresha partner terms
- Booksy UK pricing
- Treatwell UK pricing and Treatwell partner terms, the terms last updated September 2026
- Fresha on Trustpilot, Fresha for business, UK App Store, Booksy Biz, UK App Store and Treatwell Connect, UK App Store
- Saved copies of Fresha’s, Booksy’s and Treatwell’s pricing pages in the Internet Archive, each dated and linked in our fee tracker
- City AM, 21 May 2026