Compare / Evidence file · Fresha
The Fresha alternative without the commission.
For UK salons and beauty pros ready to own their booking page and client list. An honest look at what you gain, what you give up, and when Fresha is still the better call.
When Fresha is the right call
Fresha is a real product, used by real salons, and the right pick in a few specific situations:
- You're newly opened and rely on marketplace discovery for most of your first-year bookings.
- You want a low subscription and are happy to pay a one-time fee on each new client the marketplace sends you.
- You don't need an independent brand — being listed alongside competitors is fine.
- You value the built-in payment processing, deposit handling, and inventory tools the platform provides.
When Aasure is the right call
Aasure is built for the next stage — once a salon has its own client base and wants to keep it:
- Most of your bookings are regulars or word-of-mouth referrals, not marketplace discovery.
- You want your booking page to reflect your brand — your name, your tone, your colours — on every screen.
- You'd rather pay a flat monthly fee than a fee on every new client the marketplace sends you.
- You want the booking, the client record, and the follow-up to live in one place — not split across a marketplace and three other tools.
The honest version
Most salons we see aren't choosing between Fresha and Aasure on day one — they start on Fresha for the discovery, build a client base, and at some point notice the maths. Fresha's fee applies only to brand-new clients who find you through its marketplace, charged once on their first appointment. Returning clients carry no fee. But as an illustration, say the marketplace sends you twenty new clients in a month, each worth £60 on the first visit. At the 20% rate UK reviews report, that is £240 in fees that month. Check the current rate on Fresha's pricing page.
That's the moment Aasure starts to make sense. Not as a Fresha replacement on day one, but as the platform you grow into when your client list becomes the thing your business actually runs on. Read the full breakdown of marketplace commission costs. Weighing more than one option? We compared 14 Fresha alternatives on price, features and fit.
Examination table / Side by side
Most people looking for a Fresha alternative have hit the same wall: the commission. Fresha is one of the largest beauty marketplaces in the world, and that reach is real. Aasure isn't a marketplace at all. So the honest question isn't which is better — it's whether you still need discovery, or whether you now have the client list to stand on your own. Here's how they line up.
| How they compare | Fresha | Aasure |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | A subscription, plus a one-time fee on each new client found through its marketplace | Flat monthly fee, no commission or new-client fee |
| Best fit | Salons that want exposure through a high-traffic marketplace | Independent salons and beauty pros driving their own clients |
| Client ownership | Clients book through the Fresha brand; data stays inside the platform | Your own booking page and link, your client list — exportable any time |
| Booking experience | Fresha-branded marketplace listing plus a standalone page | Fully branded booking page with your name on every screen |
| Reminders & messages | Sent under the Fresha brand by default | Email reminders sent under your business name |
| New-client discovery | Built-in marketplace traffic and search | You drive traffic from Instagram, Google, referrals |
| Beyond bookings | Strong scheduling, payments, and inventory tools | Bookings plus client records, follow-ups, retention signals, and admin built around the relationship |
What matters to you?
Choose a priority and it will say which row of the table decides it.
Common questions
Is Aasure a Fresha alternative?
Yes — for independent salons and beauty pros who want their own booking page and their own client list. As salon booking software, Aasure charges a flat monthly fee, with no fee on new clients. Fresha is built around marketplace discovery. Aasure is built around running an independent practice.
Why would I leave Fresha?
The reasons we hear most are consistent. The fee on new marketplace clients grows as the salon grows, and owners dispute who counts as new. The booking experience belongs to the marketplace, not your business. The client list is harder to use elsewhere. None of that makes Fresha bad. It makes commission-free salon software a better fit for an established client base.
Will I lose discovery if I switch from Fresha to Aasure?
You will lose the marketplace traffic. For salons whose bookings come mostly from regulars and word of mouth, that is a small trade. You also pay no fee on any client, new or returning. Salons that genuinely depend on marketplace discovery often keep a Fresha listing for new clients only. Regulars then run through their own salon booking system.
Run the maths on your own salon.
The free Real Bill Calculator shows your full annual bill — subscription, marketplace commission and card processing — with the fees taken from Fresha's pricing page and checked against UK reviews.
Open the calculator Or read: The Hidden Cost of Marketplace Booking AppsComparing other tools too?
See how Aasure stacks up against Square (retail-first POS) or Vagaro (multi-location chain platform). Or browse all comparisons.