The booking button is part of your business
A client sees your work on Instagram, reads your reviews and decides you are the right salon. They have chosen your expertise before they reach the booking page. What happens next should feel just as much a part of your business as the welcome at reception.
Yet the booking system is often one of the few parts of a salon that the owner never owns.
Subscriptions can be convenient. But over several years, the monthly fees, marketplace commissions and limits on customisation deserve a closer look. For a salon with an established reputation and specific ways of working, a system built for the business can be a better investment.
At JovaMedia, we build custom salon booking systems for a one-off £2,000 payment. Hosting and domain cost £240 per year. We charge no VAT on either amount, making the first-year total £2,240 for the build, hosting and domain.
You own the bespoke system permanently. There is no recurring JovaMedia software licence and no JovaMedia booking commission. Your design and agreed features are built around your salon, without a pre-made website template.
The appeal goes beyond the price. It is the ability to make your booking process work the way your salon works.
What Treatwell and Fresha cost
The monthly subscription is only the beginning. Your bill can also include marketplace introductions, payment processing, messages and optional extras.
Treatwell and Fresha combine salon software with marketplaces that can introduce new clients. Those introductions have value. The costs depend on how clients find you, how you take payment and which services you use.
Pricing basis, checked 21 October 2026: Treatwell publishes its new-client commission and online prepayment percentages, and Fresha publishes a one-time 20% new-client marketplace commission. The pound-denominated subscription, payment and messaging figures used below are illustrative modelling assumptions, not confirmed current UK quotes. Fresha's public page served US-dollar pricing during this review. Ask each provider for your current GBP fee schedule and contract before making a decision.Treatwell UK partner pricing (opens in a new tab)Fresha pricing (opens in a new tab)
All competitor figures in these worked examples exclude VAT. Your applicable tax treatment and charges depend on your provider invoice and agreement.
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| Charge | Treatwell | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly software | £40/month assumed for these examples | Assumed for illustration: £14.95/month solo, or £9.95 per bookable team member/month |
| Qualifying new marketplace clients | 35% of the first booking; location and contract terms apply | 20% one-time new-client commission; confirm your regional minimum |
| Returning-client marketplace commission | 0% | 0% |
| Online prepayments | 2.5% plus VAT | Scenario inputs: 1.40% + 25p or 1.99% + 20p; confirm your actual rate |
| Appointment reminders | Email reminders included; confirm any SMS charges | Assumed SMS allowance: 20 per member/month, then 6p per text |
Yearly costs for small, medium and large salons
A two-person salon and a ten-person salon can have very different bills. Even businesses with the same number of staff can spend different amounts if one relies heavily on marketplace introductions and the other mainly serves regulars.
The examples below show modelled yearly costs for three single-location salons. They use a £50 average appointment, with 10% of appointments representing qualifying first visits from new marketplace clients. These are worked examples using the assumptions below, rather than measured UK industry averages or a quote for your salon.
The example salons
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| Assumption | Small salon | Medium salon | Large salon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookable staff | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Completed appointments per month | 200 | 500 | 1,000 |
| Average appointment value | £50 | £50 | £50 |
| Monthly appointment revenue | £10,000 | £25,000 | £50,000 |
| Qualifying first marketplace appointments per month | 20 | 50 | 100 |
| Appointments paid fully online | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| Chargeable reminder units assumed | One single-segment SMS per appointment, less any included allowance | Same | Same |
The other 90% of appointments carry no marketplace commission in this model. Each new-client commission applies once, to a different client's first qualifying visit. We assume no cancellations, refunds, discounts or extra services affecting those calculations.
For payment processing, half the appointments are fully prepaid online in one transaction each. We do not assume every appointment is prepaid. In-person payments for the remainder are excluded, since the salon may use a separate terminal with its own fees.
Estimated annual Treatwell costs
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| Annual cost, excluding VAT | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software at assumed £40/month | £480 | £480 | £480 |
| New marketplace client commission at 35% | £4,200 | £10,500 | £21,000 |
| Online prepayments at 2.5% | £1,500 | £3,750 | £7,500 |
| No additional reminder charge modelled | £0 extra | £0 extra | £0 extra |
| Modelled yearly total | £6,180 | £14,730 | £28,980 |
Treatwell states that adding staff does not increase the fee. These examples use £40 per month for the subscription; the actual quote may differ. A £10 monthly difference changes the annual total by £120 before VAT.Treatwell UK partner pricing (opens in a new tab)
Estimated annual Fresha costs
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| Annual cost, excluding VAT | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team subscription at assumed £9.95/member/month | £238.80 | £597 | £1,194 |
| New marketplace client commission at 20% | £2,400 | £6,000 | £12,000 |
| Online prepayments at assumed 1.40% + 25p | £1,140 | £2,850 | £5,700 |
| Reminder texts beyond assumed included allowance | £115.20 | £288 | £576 |
| Modelled yearly total | £3,894 | £9,735 | £19,470 |
To show how sensitive the model is to payment fees, using 1.99% + 20p instead of the assumed 1.40% + 25p raises the yearly Fresha totals to £4,188 for the small salon, £10,470 for the medium salon and £20,940 for the large salon. These are alternative scenario inputs, not verified current UK rates. The rate in your agreement determines your actual bill.
Salons using email or app reminders instead of paid SMS would avoid the modelled text charges. Longer texts and additional notifications could increase them.
The yearly comparison at a glance
Read these totals with care: the provider scenarios include modelled acquisition and transaction charges, while the JovaMedia figure covers the build, hosting and domain only. They are different scopes, so the difference is not a promised saving.
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| Salon size | Treatwell model | Fresha model, with alternative payment inputs | JovaMedia build + hosting/domain only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | £6,180/year | £3,894 to £4,188/year | £2,240 in year 1; £240/year thereafter |
| Medium | £14,730/year | £9,735 to £10,470/year | £2,240 in year 1; £240/year thereafter |
| Large | £28,980/year | £19,470 to £20,940/year | £2,240 in year 1; £240/year thereafter |
These columns cover different services. JovaMedia totals cover only the agreed custom build, hosting and domain. Payment processing, paid messaging, database services outside the hosting package, maintenance, support and later development may cost extra. Treatwell and Fresha model totals include the illustrated acquisition, online processing and reminder assumptions, but exclude VAT, optional add-ons, marketing campaigns, terminals, in-person processing and unusual or onboarding charges. The £2,000 JovaMedia build covers the agreed scope; additional complexity is quoted separately.
You cannot treat the full platform bill as money saved by switching. JovaMedia hosting and domain cost £240 per year, and payment processing, paid messaging or separately agreed services may add further costs.
For a salon already attracting its own clients, these examples show why a direct booking system deserves consideration. The next question is how well that system fits the business.
When a subscription can cost less
A fair comparison also needs to show the quieter end of the bill.
With no marketplace introductions, no platform-processed payments and no paid SMS, the annual software-only figures in our model are:
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| Salon size | Treatwell, using £40/month assumption | Fresha, using assumed Team price |
|---|---|---|
| Small, 2 bookable staff | £480 | £238.80 |
| Medium, 5 bookable staff | £480 | £597 |
| Large, 10 bookable staff | £480 | £1,194 |
At those spending levels, a £2,000 custom build is a longer-term decision. Its strongest advantages may be the fit, branding, ownership and freedom to develop specific features.
That is why we recommend looking at your actual invoices, client sources and everyday frustrations together. Headcount alone does not decide which option is better.
A system you own permanently
With JovaMedia, the £2,000 pays for your agreed custom build. Hosting and domain cost £240 per year. Your first-year build, hosting and domain total is £2,240; hosting and domain are £240 per year thereafter. You keep ownership of the bespoke work and the permanent right to use it.
There is no recurring JovaMedia software licence to renew and no JovaMedia booking commission. The agreed build price does not increase because your diary gets busier.
Ownership includes the bespoke source code and a handover of the documentation and account access needed to operate the system. The agreed ownership and access arrangements are recorded in writing.
That gives you something tangible to keep, maintain and develop as your business grows.
Your services should shape the software
Two salons can offer the same treatment and need completely different booking rules.
One may require a consultation first. Another may need different appointment lengths depending on the stylist. A third may need to coordinate a treatment room, equipment and a member of staff before confirming a slot.
A custom system starts with those details.
We design and build your booking experience for your business, without starting from a pre-made salon website template. The customer journey, wording, layout and agreed booking rules are developed around what your clients and team need.
Depending on your agreed scope, you could request:
- Consultation bookings with a fee credited towards treatment.
- Different deposits for different services.
- Staff-specific prices, appointment lengths and availability.
- Preparation, processing and clean-up time between appointments.
- Room or equipment availability checks.
- Forms tailored to particular treatments.
- Reports that answer the questions you actually ask about your business.
We agree on the included features before building. Established platforms already offer many useful salon tools; the value of a bespoke system is being able to shape the combination, rules and experience around your own business.
You can ask for the feature you actually want
Perhaps your receptionist repeats the same workaround every morning. Perhaps clients keep choosing the wrong service because your treatment menu needs a more helpful booking sequence.
With a custom build, you can bring that problem directly to the person developing your system.
You can request specific features during planning and propose additions later. We assess what is practical, explain the options and agree on the work before it starts. Features within the original scope form part of your build; later additions can be quoted separately.
That means a recurring frustration can become a feature request with a clear scope and price.
Make the booking experience feel like your salon
A premium salon puts care into every detail: the lighting, the welcome, the consultation and the way clients feel when they leave.
Your booking experience deserves that same attention.
Your own system can carry your branding, photography, tone and treatment explanations all the way through the journey. On a phone, clients should find clear choices, readable information and controls that are comfortable to use.
You also control the surrounding experience. Your booking page can focus entirely on your services, your team and the reasons someone should choose you, without displaying a directory of neighbouring salons.
That gives your business more room to explain its value before a client compares prices.
Build a direct route back to your business
Put your own booking address on your website, Google Business Profile, social accounts, appointment cards and salon QR codes.
Over time, clients learn where to return. Each recommendation can point to an address you control, and each campaign can lead to your own booking journey.
Your marketing then has a consistent destination: a booking experience under your own brand. Search visibility and attracting new clients still require ongoing work.
You can also plan how booking data connects with your other tools, what you want to measure and which reports would help you make better decisions. Any tracking, marketing and client-data handling still needs suitable permissions and privacy safeguards.
Ownership gives you more options later
Your business will change. You may add a service, change your staffing model or need a different hosting arrangement.
Having your source code, documentation and account access gives you more choice over who maintains the system and how it develops. Another capable developer can assess the project and take it forward, subject to its technical requirements and third-party licences.
The distinction is ownership of the software. Treatwell, for example, already states that salons retain ownership of their customer data. A bespoke build gives you control over the booking system as well.Treatwell UK partner pricing (opens in a new tab)
The advantage is greater control over the system itself, alongside a clear plan for accessing and exporting your business information.
A clear price for the build and annual hosting
It means your agreed £2,000 build fee is fixed, your ownership is permanent, and there is no recurring software licence for the delivered system. Hosting and domain cost £240 per year.
Our hosting and domain package is £240 per year. Card processing, paid messaging and any database services outside the agreed hosting package may carry additional charges. Security updates, maintenance, support and new development also need a clear arrangement. Third-party providers set their own prices, which can change.
We set out the included work, optional services and any separate provider charges before the project begins, so you can budget with a clear understanding of the package.
The agreed build price stays fixed. You keep the delivered system without having to renew a software licence, while annual hosting and any additional work remain separate, clearly identified costs.
Who benefits most from a custom booking system
It is particularly compelling when your salon already attracts its own clients, your team needs specific workflows, and you want control over your brand and software for the long term.
A marketplace may still be useful when discovering new clients is your main priority. Its acquisition fees should be judged against the value of the customers it brings. A custom system does not arrive with a marketplace audience, and its maintenance needs planning.
For an established salon, the decision often comes down to how much value you place on a booking process you can shape and a system you can keep.
If that next step is a booking experience shaped around your salon, a fixed investment can give you something a subscription cannot: ownership of the bespoke system you have paid to build.
Build a booking system around your salon
Your clients already choose your expertise, your atmosphere and your team. Your booking system should reflect those reasons.
JovaMedia's £2,000 custom salon booking system gives you a direct booking channel, a design created for your brand and a way to request the features your business needs. You own the bespoke build permanently, with no recurring software licence and no JovaMedia commission on your bookings.
Ready to give your salon its own booking system? Tell JovaMedia about your services, team and the features you need. The agreed custom build is £2,000, with hosting and domain at £240 per year. You can explore our booking and appointment systems, salon website design and current packages before deciding.
