Booking software pricing is built to be hard to compare: flat fees here, per staff charges there, marketplace commissions hiding underneath. So here it is side by side, sourced from public pricing pages, including the things the big platforms do that we deliberately do not.
Competitor pricing checked July 2026 against public pricing pages and published rates. Figures can change: always confirm on the provider's own site.
Three models: flat fee (Sondu), per staff plus marketplace (Booksy), subscription plus marketplace commission (Fresha).
| Sondu | Booksy | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | €35, €59 or €89 + IVA, flat | €34.99 + IVA base | Paid plans since 2025, priced per person |
| Charge per staff member | None. Salon plan is unlimited staff | +€8 + IVA per additional team member, monthly | Team plan is priced per team member, monthly |
| Commission on new clients | Zero, ever | Boost takes 30% of a new marketplace client's first visit | 20% of a new marketplace client's first booking, with a minimum fee |
| Where clients book | Your own branded page on your own domain | Your profile inside the Booksy app, listed beside competitors | Your profile inside the Fresha marketplace, client needs a Fresha account |
| Who the booking builds up on Google | Your salon and your domain | booksy.com | fresha.com |
| Client list ownership | Yours: isolated per business, exportable any time, never resold | Client accounts and booking history live in the platform | Client accounts and booking history live in the platform |
| Loyalty programme | Included in every plan | Varies by market and add ons | Varies by plan and add ons |
| SMS reminders | Billed separately at cost, no markup | Included allowances vary by market | Small free allowance, then charged per message |
| English and Spanish booking journey | Yes, chosen by the client, every message follows | App language depends on the client's device and market | App language depends on the client's device and market |
| Free trial | 30 days, nothing charged for the first 30 days | Trial offered | Varies by plan |
| Cost when your diary gets busier | Exactly the same | Grows with team size, Boost and payment volume | Grows with team size, marketplace bookings and SMS volume |
A comparison you can trust has to cut both ways, so here is the other side of the ledger.
Booksy and Fresha run consumer apps that can put your salon in front of strangers, and for a brand new salon with no reputation that visibility has real value. The price is that those strangers arrive via a commission of 20 to 30% of their first visit, and they browse your competitors on the way to your profile. Sondu has no marketplace by design: it is built for salons that grow on their own name, their own Google reviews and their own referrals, and want every booking to strengthen their brand rather than a platform's.
Both platforms sell payment processing at the till, taking a percentage of every transaction. Sondu does not process your client payments: you keep whatever card machine and rates you already have, and we take no slice of your takings. Your booking software and your payment provider stay separate, which also means neither one can hold the other hostage.
Your own branded booking page on your own domain, so every booking builds your Google presence, not a marketplace's. A flat fee that stays identical whether you have two staff or twelve, and whether it is your quietest Tuesday or your busiest Saturday. A client list that is isolated per business, exportable any time, and never fed to an app that advertises your rivals. Loyalty included rather than sold back to you. And a booking journey that runs fully in English or Spanish, chosen by the client.
Do you want to rent a chair inside someone else's shop window, or own your own front door? If you are brand new with zero clients, a marketplace can be a reasonable customer acquisition cost. If you have a name, a following and a full colour book, you are paying commission on clients who were coming anyway, and building someone else's website while you do it.
A three chair salon: you plus two staff, eight new clients a month found online, average first visit €25. Illustrative monthly software cost, before IVA and payment processing.
Flat. Unlimited staff. Every new client: €0 commission.
Based on published rates: base plus per staff plus Boost on new marketplace clients.
Per team member pricing plus 20% marketplace commission with a minimum per client, plus SMS beyond the allowance.
Scenario is illustrative, built from rates published on each provider's public pricing pages as of July 2026. If your new clients genuinely only exist because a marketplace found them, that commission may be a fair acquisition cost: run the numbers on your own salon.
Yes. Sondu is a flat fee booking system for salons and barbers with zero commission of any kind: €35, €59 or €89 a month plus IVA, unlimited staff on the Salon plan, and a 30 day free trial on every plan. Booksy charges €34.99 a month plus IVA, €8 per additional staff member, and its Boost marketplace takes 30% of a new client's first visit.
Fresha ended its free model in 2025 and now charges a subscription priced per team member, a 20% commission on new marketplace clients with a minimum fee, payment processing on transactions, and SMS beyond a small allowance. Sondu is one flat fee, no commission ever, and your booking page lives on your own domain under your own brand.
A consumer marketplace that can bring strangers to a new salon, and built in card payment processing. Sondu deliberately has neither: it is built for salons that want to own their brand, their domain and their client list, and keep their existing card machine and rates.
Yes. Bring your client list across, set up your services and staff, and your branded booking page goes live on your own domain. Start with the 30 day free trial: nothing is charged for the first 30 days, and cancelling before then costs nothing. Email desk@sondu.es and we will walk the migration through with you.
Start the trial, load your services, and watch a month of reminders, waiting lists and rebooking nudges run on your real appointments.