Is Fresha Really Free? Fresha Pricing and Fees Explained (2026)

Qualivo Team · Fri Jul 31 2026

Is Fresha Really Free? The Short Answer

Fresha advertises "free" booking software, and it's true that Fresha charges no flat monthly subscription fee. But "free" is only part of the picture. For many service businesses — especially those using Fresha's marketplace to attract new clients — the actual cost can be significant. This article breaks down every Fresha fee in 2026 so you can make an informed decision, and flags one genuinely free alternative worth knowing about.

How Fresha Makes Money (If There's No Monthly Fee)

Fresha's business model is built on transaction fees rather than a subscription. Once you understand the fee structure, the "free" label starts to look more complicated.

1. The 20% New-Client Marketplace Commission

This is the big one. When a new client discovers your business through the Fresha marketplace and books an appointment, Fresha takes 20% of that booking's value as a commission. That applies to every first appointment from that client — not just a one-time signup fee.

In practice: if a new client books a $100 service through the Fresha marketplace, you receive $80. Do that ten times a month and you've paid $200 in marketplace commissions — with no monthly cap mentioned in their public pricing.

Once a client has booked with you once through Fresha, future repeat bookings from that same client are not subject to the 20% fee. But if you're actively using the marketplace to grow, new-client commissions add up quickly.

2. Payment Processing Fees

Fresha has its own integrated payment processing. When clients pay online, Fresha charges standard card-processing rates on top of any applicable commission. These aren't unique to Fresha — every platform that handles payments passes on processing costs — but they're worth factoring into your total cost per transaction.

3. Paid Add-Ons: SMS and Marketing

Automated SMS reminders and marketing messages are not included for free. Fresha charges per SMS sent, which can add a meaningful monthly cost for busy salons, barbershops, or clinics that send confirmation and reminder messages to every client. If your appointment volume is high, SMS fees alone can run $10–$30+ per month depending on usage.

4. The Subscription Tier: $14.95–$19.95/Month

Fresha does offer a paid subscription tier (pricing has ranged from $14.95 to $19.95/month) that unlocks additional features. So while you can use a basic version without a monthly fee, the full feature set comes with a cost — making Fresha's "free" positioning a partial truth at best.

What Fresha Gets Right

To be fair: Fresha is a mature, well-built platform with a large client base in many markets. It offers a genuinely solid feature set — online booking, calendar management, a staff scheduling system, client records, reporting, and an established marketplace with real consumer traffic. If you're in a competitive urban market where Fresha's consumer app has strong penetration, the 20% commission on new clients might be worth paying for the volume it brings in.

For businesses that primarily serve returning clients they already know — where the marketplace is less important — Fresha's "free" plan is more genuinely free, since the 20% commission only applies to new clients who find you through the marketplace.

When Fresha's Fees Become a Problem

The commission model hits hardest in a few specific situations:

New businesses that rely on the marketplace for early growth — the clients most valuable to you cost the most to acquire.
High-ticket services like extensions, color corrections, or med-spa treatments — 20% of a $200–$400 service is a real cut.
Fast-growing shops where a meaningful percentage of bookings each month are from new clients.
Solo operators with thin margins who can't easily absorb a 20% haircut on discovery bookings.

Fresha vs. Qualivo: Side-by-Side Cost Comparison

Fee Type	Fresha	Qualivo
Monthly software fee	$0 (basic) or $14.95–$19.95/mo	$0 forever (Starter) or $19/mo (Pro)
Marketplace new-client commission	20% per new booking	$0 — no commission on free listing
Online payments	Standard processing rates	Standard processing rates via Stripe (Pro)
SMS/marketing fees	Charged per SMS	Included in Pro ($19/mo); Growth add-on +$15/mo
Unlimited services & staff scheduling	Yes	Yes (free plan)
Marketplace discovery listing	Yes (20% on new clients)	Yes ($0, no commission)
Book-the-Look visual discovery	No	Yes — post photos of real work, attach a bookable service
Free trial required	No trial clock on free plan	No trial clock on free plan; optional 30-day Pro trial

What "Actually Free" Looks Like: Qualivo's Model

Qualivo is built around a different premise: genuinely free booking software that also puts you in a discovery marketplace — with no monthly fee and no commission on new clients who find and book you there, ever. The Free Starter plan includes unlimited services and pricing, staff and multi-provider scheduling, a full client list and calendar, two-way Google Calendar sync, and a public booking page, all at $0 with no credit card required and no trial clock running down.

The marketplace listing itself is free, and Qualivo doesn't take a cut when a new client discovers you and books — a direct contrast to Fresha's 20% new-client fee. If you want to add online payments, revenue analytics, AI tools, and marketing automations, that's Pro at $19/month (with an optional 30-day free trial before you commit).

Qualivo is newer and smaller than Fresha, so its marketplace consumer traffic is still growing — that's an honest caveat. But if you're a solo stylist, barber, nail tech, lash artist, massage therapist, or small clinic owner building your client base, having a commission-free marketplace listing from day one is meaningful. You can read more about the direct trade-offs in this detailed Qualivo vs. Fresha comparison.

Book the Look: A Feature Fresha Doesn't Have

One genuinely differentiated feature on Qualivo is Book the Look — a visual discovery format where you post photos or videos of real work (a cut, a nail set, a brow shape, a med-spa result), attach the exact bookable service with price and duration, and it surfaces in the marketplace. Clients can tap "Book this look" to book that exact result directly into your calendar. It's inspiration-first booking — the kind of discovery that's native to how beauty and wellness clients already browse on social. If that appeals to you, it's worth exploring whether Qualivo fits your workflow as a solo professional or checking the guides for nail salons and lash and brow studios specifically.

The Bottom Line on Fresha's Pricing

Fresha is not a scam — it's a capable platform, and "free" is technically accurate for the subscription fee. But the 20% new-client marketplace commission is a real and substantial cost that many users don't fully factor in when they sign up. Whether that's worth it depends on how much business you get through their marketplace and at what price point.

If you're looking for booking software that's truly free to use and genuinely free to get discovered in a marketplace — with no commission, no monthly fee, and no trial clock — it's worth claiming a free Qualivo profile and seeing how it fits your business before committing to any platform.

Claim your free Qualivo profile at getqualivo.com — no credit card, no trial clock, and no commission on new clients who find you through the marketplace.

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