Thinking of leaving Fresha? What it costs now, and what moving takes

I build websites for salons, barbers and tattoo studios and wire in whichever booking platform the owner already runs, Fresha included. I have no deal with Fresha or with anyone you might move to. Every price below comes from Fresha’s own pricing page and help center, checked on October 19, 2026.

What does Fresha cost now?

Fresha charges by the bookable person. One person pays a flat monthly fee. Two or more pay per head, and the per-head price is lower than the solo one.

For a five-person salon on the Team plan that is $74.75 a month before a single card is run. For comparison, on the same day GlossGenius listed its Gold plan at $56 a month for up to nine staff, and Vagaro listed $90 a month for seven or more. Fresha is not expensive. It is just not free any more, and an owner who chose it because it was free is right to look again.

How does the new-client commission actually work?

Fresha runs a marketplace: an app and website where people search for a salon near them and book. When someone who has never booked with you finds you there, Fresha charges a one-time 20% of that first booking, with a $6 minimum. On a $180 color that is $36. If she comes back, there is no further fee.

The line on the pricing page worth reading twice is this one: you are not charged for new clients who find you through your own website, Instagram profile or Facebook profile. So the fee depends on the door she came in through, not on the platform she booked on. A client who would have found you anyway, but happened to search Fresha first, costs you the commission. A client who taps the Book button on your own site does not.

That is the honest case for having a site in front of your booking link. It is the one channel you fully control, and on Fresha it is also the free one.

Does Fresha give you a website?

It does now. The Smart Website is an add-on at $15.95 a month. Fresha’s help center describes it as a site that stays connected to your Fresha account and updates itself from your services, team and reviews. You pick from its layouts, themes, colors and fonts, and you can run it on a Fresha web address, buy a domain through Fresha, or connect one you already own.

For a booth renter who wants something up this week, that is a reasonable deal. The trade is that your website now lives inside your booking software. The help page does not say what happens to the site if you stop paying or leave Fresha, so ask before you put your own domain on it. If you might leave Fresha one day, you do not want to lose your website on the same day.

What does moving off Fresha involve?

Less than most owners fear, with one exception.

• Your client list comes with you. Fresha’s help center shows how to export it as Excel or CSV from the Clients list, and appointments export separately as PDF, CSV or Excel.
• Saved cards do not. Fresha says card details are encrypted and cannot be exported or transferred. Every client adds a card again on the new platform, which matters if you take deposits.
• There is no contract to buy out. Fresha’s pricing page says there is no minimum commitment or long-term contract, and the subscription is monthly.

The order I would do it in: export everything before you cancel, check that the new platform will import that file, then change every booking link on the same day. That means your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile, your website’s Book button and any link in a text template. A stale link in one of those places is how people end up booking into a calendar nobody is watching.

Where do owners usually go instead?

It depends on the shape of the business more than on any feature list.

Solo or booth rental: GlossGenius Standard at $28 a month, or Vagaro at $30, both published and both checked the same day as Fresha. Both are close to Fresha’s $19.95.

A team of two to nine: this is where Fresha’s per-head price adds up. GlossGenius Gold is a flat $56 for up to nine staff. I wrote up what happens when you pass nine separately.

A multi-chair salon with a front desk: Boulevard starts at $159 a month for up to five providers. What each Boulevard plan includes is its own guide, and so is how Vagaro and Boulevard book on a phone.

For all five of the platforms I wire into sites most often, with card rates and tipping, the booking software comparison has the side-by-side.

What the website has to do either way

Whether you stay on Fresha or leave it, the job of your own site is the same: your prices, your work at full size, who does what, where to park, and one obvious Book button that goes straight to your booking page. On Fresha that button is also what keeps a new client off the commission. It is the work I do on hair salon sites, barbershop sites and nail studio sites, and it does not change with the platform underneath.

Prices, card rates and terms from Fresha’s pricing page and help center, checked October 19, 2026. GlossGenius and Vagaro prices from their own pricing pages the same day. All of them change. Check the vendor’s live page before you commit.

Questions owners ask about leaving Fresha