To choose online booking software, compare the total cost over a real month at your salon, not the headline price: subscription, per-staff fees, commission on new clients from the marketplace, payment fees and texts. Then check who owns your client list and whether you can take it with you if you leave. Below are the points to check, and the public prices of Planity, Treatwell, Fresha and Booksy, verified on 5 October 2026.

Which costs should you add up?

The big number on a vendor's page is only part of the bill. To compare two tools, add up everything you will pay in a normal month.

  • The monthly subscription, checking whether it is shown excluding or including VAT.
  • Fees per additional staff member or calendar.
  • The commission on new clients brought by the vendor's marketplace, meaning the website or app where consumers look for a salon.
  • Payment fees: online payment, deposits, card terminal.
  • Texts: reminders included, price beyond that, promotional texts included or billed separately.
  • Add-ons: certified till software, website, reviews module, loyalty programme.
  • Commitment: monthly with no contract or yearly, and the cancellation terms.

How do you calculate a new-client commission?

Some vendors charge a commission on the first appointment of a client who found you on their marketplace. The maths is simple: service price × commission rate. Example with a 25% rate: an €80 colour costs you €20 in commission on the first visit.

Two questions to ask before signing. Are that client's later visits commissioned? And what counts as a “new client”? At Fresha, for example, it is someone who has never booked with your business on Fresha: a regular booking through the marketplace for the first time may therefore fall into that category. Ask for the definition in writing.

Who owns the client list?

This is the question that matters most over time. Names, numbers and visit history are what let you bring clients back. Before signing, ask: who owns this data, can I export it, in what format, and what happens to it if I cancel? Here is what the pages checked on 5 October 2026 say.

  • Planity: your client database belongs exclusively to you, and you can keep it if you stop.
  • Treatwell: the data remains your business's property, even after cancellation.
  • Fresha: once a client has booked with you, they are yours.
  • Booksy: the pricing page does not cover this point.

None of these pages specifies the export format: ask, and test an export during the trial when there is one. Owning the data does not mean you can use it freely: to send offers by text or email to these clients, consent rules apply (see our article on SMS marketing rules in France).

What should you check for no-shows and Google bookings?

  • Deposits or online prepayment, and the cost per transaction.
  • Cancellation or missed-appointment fees, and who sets them.
  • Automatic text or email reminders, and how many are included each month.
  • Booking from your Google Business Profile, Instagram and Facebook: included or not, commissioned or not.

What are the public prices of Planity, Treatwell, Fresha and Booksy?

The figures below come only from the vendors' official pages, checked on 5 October 2026. When a price is not published, we say “not disclosed”. Prices change: check them again before signing.

Planity

  • Subscription: not disclosed. Three plans (Agenda, Agenda + Till, Agenda + Till + Card terminal), price given by an adviser.
  • Commission: none on appointments, and no set-up or maintenance fees, according to the pricing page.
  • Commitment: plans presented as contract-free.
  • Texts: 300 reminder texts per month in the Agenda plan.
  • Payments: deposits and prepayment included in the Agenda plan, transaction fees not disclosed.
  • Client list: belongs exclusively to you and stays yours if you stop.

Treatwell

  • Subscription: amount not disclosed. Two plans, Starter and Advanced; the FAQ mentions monthly fees.
  • New-client commission: 25% on the first booking of a new client brought by the Treatwell marketplace.
  • Returning clients: 0% commission. Bookings you take yourself (phone, text, WhatsApp) or through your booking buttons on social media and your website are not commissioned.
  • Online prepayment: 2% (+ VAT) on each booking paid in advance.
  • VAT: prices and commissions are subject to VAT.
  • Client list: your business's property, including after cancellation.

Fresha

  • Subscription: Independent at €14.95 excl. VAT per month (single calendar); Team at €9.95 excl. VAT per month per bookable team member. 7-day trial, no contract.
  • Marketplace commission: the Fresha Marketplace page mentions a small commission on new clients without stating the rate, while the matching line on the pricing page shows “Free”. Rate not disclosed: get it confirmed in writing. No fees on returning clients.
  • Payments: 1.29% + €0.15 per online transaction; 0.59% + €0.15 in person.
  • Texts: 20 free notification texts per month (per team member on the Team plan), then €0.10; marketing texts at €0.14 each.
  • Paid add-ons, for example a Google reviews module at €12.95 per location per month.

Booksy

  • Subscription: €59 excl. VAT per month, all features included, plus €10 excl. VAT per month per additional staff member. 7-day trial with no card and no contract.
  • New-client commission: none, according to the pricing page FAQ.
  • Online payments: 1.5% + €0.25 excl. VAT per transaction.
  • Texts: confirmations and reminders included; 100 free marketing texts per month.
  • Reserve with Google and no-show protection: listed among the included features.
  • Client list: not covered on the pricing page.

How to run the numbers for your salon

  1. Take a typical month: number of staff, number of appointments, average service price.
  2. Estimate how many new clients will come from the marketplace, and apply any commission.
  3. Add payment fees if you take online deposits.
  4. Add texts beyond the included volume.
  5. Compare the totals, then what you keep if you leave: client list, history, export.

Ooklo is not part of this comparison: we only included data verified on the booking vendors' own pages. Ooklo's job is to bring the clients on your list back: AI drafts your posts, emails and texts (and soon your Google Business Profile updates), and you approve everything before it goes out, with no commission on what you send. The Solo plan costs €14.90 per month with no contract (€12.90 with a 12-month commitment), and every plan has a 14-day free trial.

Which booking software is the cheapest?+
It depends on your team size and how many new clients come from the marketplace. A solo professional, a five-person salon and a beauty salon with many new online clients will not reach the same result. Run the numbers on a typical month with current prices.
Are the prices shown including or excluding VAT?+
On the pages checked, Fresha and Booksy show prices excluding VAT, and Treatwell states that its prices and commissions are subject to VAT. If you cannot reclaim VAT, add it to your calculation.
Can I switch software without losing my clients?+
Yes, if you can export your client list. Check before signing that export exists and in what format. Treatwell says it can import basic data and technical notes from your previous tool.
Is a new-client commission a bad deal?+
Not necessarily. You only pay it when the marketplace brings you a client. The real question is how many of those clients come back, with no commission on later visits at the vendors that state this.
Is booking from Google included?+
Booksy lists it among its included features. The Planity, Treatwell and Fresha pricing pages we checked do not detail this point: ask.
How long is the free trial?+
Fresha and Booksy state 7 days. The Planity and Treatwell pricing pages do not mention a trial length.
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Sources

  • Planity, Des tarifs Planity Pro adaptés à votre établissement beauté, https://info.planity.com/tarifs (accessed 5 October 2026)
  • Treatwell, Tarification Treatwell Connect : 0% sur les clients réguliers, https://www.treatwell.fr/partenaires/tarifs/ (accessed 5 October 2026)
  • Fresha, Tarifs, https://www.fresha.com/fr/pricing (accessed 5 October 2026)
  • Fresha, Attirez de nouveaux clients avec Fresha Marketplace, https://www.fresha.com/fr/for-business/features/marketplace (accessed 5 October 2026)
  • Booksy, Tarifs Booksy Biz, https://biz.booksy.com/fr-fr/tarifs (accessed 5 October 2026)
  • CNIL, La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique, SMS-MMS et automate d'appel, https://www.cnil.fr/fr/la-prospection-commerciale-par-courrier-electronique (accessed 5 October 2026)