Fresha fees 2026: what an Irish salon really pays

End of the month in a two-chair salon in Galway. The owner opens her Fresha wallet and finds 'New Fresha client fee' next to a name she knows: a woman who had followed her on Instagram for a year without ever coming in, and who found her profile in the Fresha app before booking.

By Fresha's rules the charge stands: to Fresha, she is a client its marketplace introduced. It is the line most owners never price in. Below: every fee on the euro price list, the rules that decide the new-client fee, and the maths for an ordinary two-chair salon.

The short answer

1. The subscription. €14.95 a month for one bookable person (Independent), or €9.95 per bookable team member (Team), excl. VAT. There is no free plan any more, only a 7-day trial.
2. Payments and texts. 1.29% + €0.15 per online card payment, 0.59% + €0.15 in person, then €0.10 per text once the 20 free a month (per team member on Team) are used.
3. The new-client fee. A one-time charge on a client who discovers you on Fresha's marketplace. The euro list reads 'Free' for it on 25 September 2026, but Fresha sets the rate and the minimum country by country, so check what yours says.
4. The rule that surprises people. The fee applies even when that client books on your own website, if they saw your Fresha marketplace profile first. And you cannot leave the marketplace without switching off online booking through Fresha.
5. The maths. In our two-chair example, the bill is €71.80 a month on the euro list. Where your list charges a new-client fee, each percentage point adds €4.40.

How much does Fresha cost per month?

Here is the euro list, as Fresha's pricing page showed it on 21 September 2026. One caveat before the numbers: the page is localised by country, and the version we were served came from an EU connection, not an Irish one. Capterra Ireland lists the same €14.95 starting price, but open the page yourself from Ireland before you sign.

The subscription

1. Independent: €14.95 a month. One bookable person, one calendar column, 20 free texts and 50 free marketing emails a month.
2. Team: €9.95 per bookable team member a month. Multiple calendars, 20 free texts and 50 free marketing emails per team member. A four-chair salon pays €39.80 before anything else.
3. Enterprise: custom rates. For more than 20 team members. No minimum commitment on any plan: you pay monthly and cancel when you like.

Payments, texts and add-ons

1. Card payments. 1.29% + €0.15 online (deposits, prepayments), 0.59% + €0.15 in person, plus €0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation. Klarna instalments cost 4.99% + €0.50, and a terminal starts at €119.
2. Messages. After the free allowance, €0.10 per text, or €0.09 to €0.23 per WhatsApp. Marketing emails cost €0.02 each after 50, marketing texts €0.14 each.
3. Add-ons. Smart Website €13.95 a month, Google Rating Boost €12.95 per location, Client Loyalty €59.95 per location, Insights €9.95 per team member, AI Concierge €94.95 per location, and premium phone support €14.95 a month.

None of this is hidden: it is all on one page. It is simply spread across four sections, and in the worked example below the subscription is the smallest line of the bill. Software price pages and salon price lists share one habit: the number in the biggest type is never the one you pay.

What is the Fresha new client fee, and when does it apply?

Fresha charges a one-time fee for each brand-new client who discovers your business on its marketplace and books online. The euro pricing page we were served, re-read on 25 September 2026, lists that line as 'Free'. The price list is localised by country, though, and the rate and the minimum can differ where you are. Fresha's help centre says the rate and the minimum are on the pricing page, so that one line on the page served to you is the figure to check.

The rules, set out in the same help-centre article, decide most of the bill:

1. Your own website does not protect you. The fee applies to a new client who viewed your marketplace profile first and then booked through your website or social media.
2. It is charged on the booking, not on the visit. It is calculated on the value of the appointment as booked. Extras added at checkout, tips and gift cards are excluded, but a price you lower afterwards does not lower the fee.
3. Who cancels matters. If the client cancels online, the fee moves to their next booking. If you or your team cancel on their behalf, you pay it. If the appointment is left unmanaged in the calendar, you pay it too.
4. No-shows are spared, on one condition. No fee if you mark the appointment as a no-show on the same day.
5. It is non-refundable, and it cannot be switched off. Taking online bookings through Fresha, on your website or your socials, requires a marketplace listing. Unlisting disables all your online booking channels.
6. There is a ceiling, but no figure for it. Fresha's help centre says the fee is capped on higher-value services; the pricing page we read gives no figure for it.
7. A client who has been in before is not charged. When booking, the client is asked whether they have visited you before; if they say yes, or are already on your client list, there is no fee.

That is the rule working as written: the fee follows the original booking value. Read it once and you will never again cancel a first-time client's appointment yourself.

What does Fresha cost a two-chair salon? A worked example

Hypotheses, to replace with your own: a salon in Galway with two stylists, 280 appointments a month, a €10 deposit taken online on 100 colour bookings, one reminder text per appointment, and 8 new clients a month from the marketplace with a first booking of €55. On the euro list, the new-client fee reads 'Free', so it costs nothing here; if the list served to you shows a rate, add it as below.

1. Team plan. 2 × €9.95 = €19.90.
2. Online deposits. 100 × (€10 × 1.29% + €0.15) = 100 × €0.279 = €27.90.
3. Reminder texts. 280 − 40 free = 240 texts × €0.10 = €24.00.
4. New-client fee. €0 on the euro list. At a rate your list shows, 8 × €55 = €440 of first bookings, so €4.40 for each percentage point.
5. Total. €71.80 a month excl. VAT, or €861.60 a year, before any new-client fee.

Card payments taken at the chair are left out on purpose: whoever supplies your booking software, a terminal provider takes its cut. On Fresha's euro list, that is 0.59% + €0.15 per payment.

The question the example raises is not 'is Fresha expensive?'. It is: would those eight clients have found you anyway? If they came from the marketplace and nowhere else, even a fee would be cheap acquisition for a client who might come back ten times a year. If half of them already followed you on Instagram and your list charges a fee, you are paying it for clients you had.

Fresha or your own booking site: how do the fees compare?

Fresha: euro pricing page, seen on 21 September 2026, the new-client line re-read on 25 September 2026; the pages are localised, check yours. Traxo: prices on our pricing page, excl. VAT.

Line by line, from the new-client fee to the contract, the comparison is on our page Traxo vs Fresha.

Same salon, same hypotheses, with Traxo: two stylists need the Pro plan, €80 a month billed yearly, plus 3% of the €1,000 in deposits, which is €30.00. That makes €110.00 a month and €1,320 a year, or €130.00 a month (€1,560 a year) on monthly billing with no commitment. That is €38.20 a month more than the Fresha bill on the euro list, €458.40 a year on yearly billing, and without the marketplace, so without those 8 new clients unless they find you elsewhere. Where your list charges a new-client fee, the two bills meet at about 8.7% on these hypotheses. The Traxo figure also has no line for reminder texts, where Fresha's has €24: Traxo's reminders go out by email. The three plans are on our pricing page.

Is Fresha worth it? What salon owners say

Fresha reviews split along one line: whether the marketplace brings clients you would not have had otherwise. Owners who can answer yes defend the fees with numbers.

Others, including some who stayed for years, leave over the price and the upselling.

Who Fresha is right for

A new salon or a solo stylist with no following yet, in a town where people search on the Fresha app. At €14.95 a month, Independent is cheaper than most booking software, and paying a one-off fee only when a client actually turns up is a fair deal for someone the marketplace really introduced. Deposits and no-show protection are included.

When to look elsewhere

An established salon whose clients come from word of mouth, Google and Instagram. The fee then lands mostly on people who would have booked anyway, and the listing puts your page one tap away from your competitors. A salon with a full diary does not need a marketplace; it needs a booking page that shows nobody else. If Booksy is also on your list, see how the main salon booking tools compare, Booksy included.

How do you keep your Fresha fees down?

1. Import your whole client list before you list. Clients already in your list when they book are never 'new'. This is Fresha's own first recommendation.
2. Give regulars your direct link, not your marketplace profile. A QR code at the desk and the link in your Instagram bio send them straight to your booking page.
3. Never cancel a first-time client's appointment yourself. Ask them to cancel online, outside your cancellation window: the fee moves to their next booking instead of being charged now.
4. Mark no-shows the same day. A no-show marked on the day costs no fee. The same appointment left unmanaged does.
5. Write your cancellation window down. Clients respect a rule they read before booking. Our salon cancellation policy template has the wording, deposit line included.
6. Count your texts. Two stylists with 280 appointments a month use their 40 free texts in the first week. An email reminder is free.
7. Audit the add-ons once a quarter. €59.95 for loyalty and €94.95 for AI Concierge are per location, every month.

What Traxo does, and what it doesn't

Traxo gives your salon its own website with online booking, payments and a record for each client. Starter is €40 a month billed yearly or €50 monthly with no commitment; Pro, at €80 or €100, adds one calendar and one account per person, up to six, plus a loyalty programme and a Google Maps listing that updates itself. The only fee on payments is 3% of what you take online. There is no fee per client, new or returning. See what we set up for hairdressers.

What Traxo does not do: it has no marketplace, so it will not bring you strangers browsing an app; your website, your Google listing and your socials have to do that. The day-before reminder comes with online booking and goes out by email: Traxo sends no texts. And for a solo stylist whose clients rarely come through the marketplace, Fresha's €14.95 is cheaper than our €40. We would rather you knew that now than in month three.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fresha free in Ireland?

No. Fresha now has only paid plans after a 7-day trial: €14.95 a month for one person or €9.95 per team member on its euro price list, excl. VAT. Card payments, texts beyond the free allowance and add-ons are on top.

Does Fresha charge for clients who book through my own website?

Not normally. But if a new client saw your Fresha marketplace profile first and then booked on your website or Instagram, Fresha's help centre says the new-client fee still applies.

Can I turn off the Fresha marketplace?

You can unlist your profile, but Fresha says that disables all your online booking channels, including your website and social media links. Staying listed is the price of online booking through Fresha.

Do I pay the new client fee if the client doesn't show up?

No, provided you mark the appointment as a no-show on the same day; the fee is then deferred to their next booking. If you cancel on the client's behalf, or leave the appointment unmanaged, the fee applies.

Do Fresha's prices include VAT?

No. Fresha's pricing page states that its rates exclude sales tax, so compare its prices with other providers' prices excl. VAT, as we do with ours.

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