Bizzly vs Fresha: Subscription Pricing vs Transaction Pricing
Bizzly and Fresha take opposite approaches to pricing. Bizzly charges a flat monthly fee (£19 to £49) with no per-booking costs. Fresha charges nothing monthly but takes a cut of every card payment (2.19% + 20p) and a 20% commission on the first appointment from marketplace-sourced clients.
Which model costs less depends entirely on your volume and how you acquire clients. This article breaks down both platforms with verified data so you can calculate the real cost for your specific business. Pricing data checked in March 2026.
At a Glance
Bizzly vs Fresha: Feature Comparison
| Feature | Bizzly | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Full website builder | ||
| Consumer marketplace | ||
| Online booking | ||
| Subscription billing | Limited | |
| One-off payments | ||
| POS / in-person card payments | ||
| Automated invoicing | ||
| Client management | (HubSpot CRM) | |
| Intake / contact forms | (HubSpot Forms) | |
| Client photos and notes | Notes only | |
| Inventory / stock management | ||
| Team / staff scheduling | Via calendars | |
| Automated reminders | ||
| Automated review requests | Standard plan+ | |
| WhatsApp AI agent | ||
| SMS marketing | ||
| Email marketing | ||
| Google Calendar sync | ||
| Google Business Profile | ||
| Mobile admin app | Web app | |
| Monthly subscription fee | ||
| Per-booking commission | 20% on marketplace new clients | |
| Card processing fees | Stripe (1.5% + 20p) | 2.19% + 20p |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | 14 days | Free plan |
| UK focused | Global |
Bizzly
Built for: UK service businesses across 12+ verticals who want flat monthly pricing, a website, and subscription billing.
Bizzly's proposition against Fresha is simple: you know exactly what you pay every month. The Standard plan at £29/month includes 200 bookings, 3 calendars, a WhatsApp AI agent, and a website builder. Whether you process £500 or £5,000 in payments, the Bizzly fee stays at £29. Card processing through Stripe (1.5% + 20p per UK transaction) is separate and goes to Stripe, not Bizzly.
Subscription billing is the key differentiator. Clients can subscribe to monthly service packages, pay by card, and manage their bookings through a customer portal. Bizzly tracks how many sessions each subscriber has used against their quota. This works well for businesses where clients pay a fixed monthly amount for ongoing services: weekly cleans, monthly facials, regular tutoring sessions.
The website builder means you own your online presence. Your own branding, your own content, your own SEO. On the Pro plan, your own domain. Fresha gives you a marketplace profile. Bizzly gives you a website.
Where Bizzly falls short against Fresha
No consumer marketplace. Zero. Bizzly does not bring you new clients. You have to drive your own traffic through SEO, social media, and referrals. No POS or in-person card terminal. No inventory management. No native mobile app. No staff scheduling features beyond calendar management. If walk-in clients, stock tracking, or marketplace discovery are important to your business, Fresha has clear advantages.
- Pricing: £19 to £49/month flat. No Bizzly transaction fees. 14-day trial.
- Best for: Recurring subscription businesses that want fixed costs and their own website
Fresha
Built for: Beauty and wellness businesses that want free scheduling plus exposure through a consumer marketplace.
Fresha is the most widely used salon software globally. The core offer is genuinely compelling: schedule unlimited appointments across unlimited staff and locations for £0/month. The scheduling, calendar, and basic CRM are free forever. You pay only when money moves: 2.19% + 20p per card transaction, and a 20% commission on the first booking from marketplace clients.
The marketplace is the real draw. Millions of consumers search for beauty and wellness services on Fresha. If you are in a competitive area, that exposure is worth real money. New clients find your business without you spending on advertising. The 20% commission on their first appointment is the cost of acquisition. After that first booking, no ongoing commission applies for that client.
Beyond scheduling, Fresha includes POS features, a card reader for in-person payments, basic inventory tracking, email and SMS marketing, and a well-designed mobile app for both owners and staff. Automated appointment reminders reduce no-shows. The client experience is polished.
Where Fresha falls short against Bizzly
No website builder. Your Fresha profile lives on Fresha's marketplace, not on your own domain. No subscription billing for monthly packages. No Google Calendar sync. No WhatsApp AI agent. Higher card processing rates than Stripe (2.19% + 20p vs 1.5% + 20p). And crucially, your client relationships exist within Fresha's ecosystem. If you leave Fresha, rebuilding those connections takes effort.
- Pricing: Free scheduling. 2.19% + 20p per card payment. 20% marketplace commission on first new client booking.
- Best for: Beauty and wellness businesses that want marketplace exposure and no upfront costs
Pricing Comparison
| Item | Estimated Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bizzly Base | £19/month | 50 bookings, 1 calendar, website, invoicing, Stripe payments. No per-booking fee. |
| Bizzly Standard | £29/month | 200 bookings, 3 calendars, WhatsApp AI, automated reviews, Google Business Profile. |
| Bizzly Pro | £49/month | Unlimited bookings and calendars, custom domain, branded emails, 200 SMS/month. |
| Fresha Free | £0/month | Free scheduling, calendar, and basic client management. Unlimited staff and locations. No monthly fee. |
| Fresha Card Processing | 2.19% + 20p / transaction | Applies to all card payments processed through Fresha. Charged per transaction, no monthly fee. |
| Fresha Marketplace Commission | 20% of first appointment | Charged on the first appointment from clients who discover you through the Fresha marketplace. Applies to the first booking only. |
Real cost scenarios
The right platform depends on your numbers. Here are three scenarios for a mobile beautician or aesthetics practitioner:
- Low volume (50 card payments/month, £40 average, 5 marketplace clients): Fresha: £0 + £59.50 card fees + £40 marketplace commission = £99.50/month. Bizzly Standard: £29/month + £45 Stripe fees = £74/month. Bizzly is cheaper.
- Medium volume (100 card payments/month, £40 average, 10 marketplace clients): Fresha: £0 + £107.60 card fees + £80 commission = £187.60/month. Bizzly Standard: £29 + £90 Stripe fees = £119/month. Bizzly saves £68/month.
- Mostly direct clients (80 card payments/month, £40 average, 2 marketplace clients): Fresha: £0 + £87.20 card fees + £16 commission = £103.20/month. Bizzly Standard: £29 + £72 Stripe fees = £101/month. Roughly equal, but Bizzly includes a website and subscription billing.
When to Choose Each
Choose Bizzly if:
- You want predictable, fixed monthly costs
- Clients pay monthly subscriptions for ongoing treatments
- You want your own website rather than a marketplace profile
- You are a mobile beautician, nail tech, or aesthetics practitioner who does not need POS
- You already have strong client relationships and do not need marketplace discovery
Choose Fresha if:
- You are a salon that needs POS and walk-in management
- New client acquisition through the marketplace is valuable to you
- You want to start with zero upfront costs
- In-person card payments and POS features are important
- You want a polished mobile app for managing appointments on the go
- You are comfortable with transaction-based pricing
Verdict
Fresha and Bizzly represent two fundamentally different business models. Fresha is free to start and earns money when you earn money. The marketplace is a genuine competitive advantage that no other tool in this category replicates. Bizzly charges a flat monthly fee and lets you keep more of each transaction, with subscription billing and a website builder that Fresha does not offer. For beauty professionals who work by appointment (mobile beauticians, aesthetics practitioners, small nail bars), Bizzly removes the need for POS entirely and keeps costs predictable. For salons that need marketplace exposure and walk-in payment handling, Fresha is hard to beat.
Compare Bizzly plans on the pricing page, or see the beauty salon industry page for beauty-specific features.