You finish a £60 appointment, check the payout and find that the amount reaching your account is lower. Before deciding the booking platform is too expensive, identify what the deduction paid for: finding a new customer, processing their card, running your calendar, or something else. Those are different services, with different alternatives.
For a salon with a full diary of returning customers, paying repeatedly to run a simple calendar may deserve a closer look. For a new business that relies on a marketplace to fill empty appointments, the same platform can be worthwhile. The useful question is what each channel contributes after its costs.
What do Booksy, Treatwell and Fresha actually charge?
The following is a snapshot checked on 14 October 2026. Your country, plan, contract and optional services can change the bill. Ask the provider for your applicable terms before switching.
| Platform | Published charges | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Booksy UK | £40/month plus VAT; £5/month plus VAT for each additional team member. Marketplace bookings are included when Boost is off. | Boost is optional. The UK pricing page lists 30%, minimum £5, for a new Boost client's first visit; the UK features page lists 40%, minimum £10. Confirm your actual rate. Payment processing is separate. |
| Treatwell UK | Its pricing FAQ lists 35% commission on first bookings from new marketplace clients. Repeat bookings and your own direct bookings have no acquisition commission. Online prepayments are listed at 2.5% plus VAT. | Confirm your monthly plan and location-specific commission. The published page refers to a monthly fee without quoting a single universal amount. Fees and commissions are subject to VAT. |
| Fresha | Its pricing page lists a 20% one-time marketplace new-client commission, with a minimum fee. Direct booking links and returning marketplace clients have no acquisition commission. | The page served during this review displayed US-dollar subscriptions and a $6 minimum. Get the UK schedule in your account; do not treat those dollar amounts as pounds. Payment and messaging charges can be separate. |
Provider sources: Booksy UK pricing (opens in a new tab)Booksy UK features (opens in a new tab)Treatwell UK partner pricing (opens in a new tab)Fresha pricing (opens in a new tab)
The Booksy discrepancy matters. A headline comparison that silently picks one rate can give you the wrong answer. Use the rate in your own agreement and check whether a fee applies to a first marketplace visit, an optional promotion or every payment.
A £60 appointment: what the commission means
For example, 20 new marketplace appointments at £60 create £1,200 of appointment revenue. At a 35% acquisition commission, the commission is £420 before VAT. If 20% VAT is charged on that fee, the invoice cost is £504. Payment processing and any subscription would be additional where applicable.
That is not automatically £504 you could save. If the marketplace introduced customers who would otherwise never have booked, removing it could remove their revenue as well. Compare the profit after treatment costs and acquisition charges with the profit from the alternative source of customers.
Direct bookings also deserve a fair comparison: the providers above already offer routes without new-client acquisition commission. Adding your own website can improve your presentation and send customers to those routes without immediately replacing the calendar.
Compare the first year.
Editable illustration, before VAT and payment processing. The defaults are example assumptions, not a provider quote.
Custom is £2,800 lower in this illustration.
This assumes the same appointments would arrive directly and that the quoted custom system meets your needs. It excludes the cost of attracting those customers, migration, differences in features, extra support, VAT and payment processing. A lower total is not a savings forecast.
What your own website and booking panel can change
- Your business has its own address, treatment information and enquiry route, rather than depending on one marketplace profile.
- You can design the journey around your treatment menu, staff, locations and policies.
- You can agree access to your data, export arrangements and source-code ownership in the contract.
- A custom panel can remove a specific booking-software subscription, provided it covers the workflows you actually need.
- You can measure which visits lead to enquiries and bookings, subject to the customer's privacy choices.
Ownership does not mean zero running costs. Hosting, databases, backups, maintenance, payment processing, SMS and email delivery may still cost money. Someone must handle security updates, failed notifications and support. A booking product with years of development may include features that a small custom build does not.
Three sensible routes, depending on the business
| Route | A good fit when | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the platform | It brings profitable new clients and its tools work well. | You keep the subscription and applicable transaction or acquisition charges. |
| Website plus existing booking tool | You want stronger branding and direct discovery without replacing a reliable calendar. | You pay for the website and continue paying for your chosen booking tool. |
| Website plus custom booking panel | You have a clear workflow, dependable direct demand and a budget for ongoing support. | More upfront work and responsibility. Feature parity, migration and recurring infrastructure costs must be agreed. |
Check these things before moving appointments
- Export rights: can you transfer customer records, appointments, notes and consent records lawfully?
- Availability: will staff calendars, holidays, treatment durations and room or equipment constraints work correctly?
- Payments: do you need deposits, refunds, cancellation charges and reliable receipts?
- Communication: who pays for confirmations and reminders, and what happens if delivery fails?
- Continuity: how will you prevent duplicate bookings during the changeover, and what is the rollback plan?
- Support: who fixes a booking problem on a busy Saturday, and what response time is included?
What JovaMedia can help you compare
JovaMedia can build a website around your existing booking service or scope a website with a custom booking panel. Our published starting prices are £550 for a four-page business website and £2,000 for a website with a booking system. These are different scopes: the £550 package does not include a custom booking backend.
Send your current platform, treatment menu and the problem you want to solve. We will explain the build scope and separate running costs before you commit. You can see our prices, discuss a booking website or request a free homepage preview.
