Tulala vs Fresha
Fresha is marketed as free. It is not. Here is what each of us actually takes, with the fees written out rather than assembled from footnotes.
Fresha's headline is free software. The cost arrives in three places instead: a subscription per bookable team member, a cut of any new client who finds you through their marketplace, and card processing on top of both.
None of that is hidden exactly, but it is spread out, and a fee you have to assemble from three places is a fee you will feel misled by later. So here it is in one table, theirs as published on their site and ours as published on ours.
The numbers side by side
| Tulala | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost to start | Free, and free stays free. You can take a booking without paying anything. | From about $19.95 a month solo, or about $14.95 per bookable team member. |
| Cost when you hire | Nothing changes. There is no per seat fee. | The per member charge grows with the team. |
| Cut of a new client | Six percent of the booking, the same for everyone. | 20% of a new marketplace client's first booking, minimum $6, one time per client. |
| Card processing | Included in the six percent. | Roughly 2.19% to 3.30% plus about $0.20 per transaction, on top. |
| Your own website | Included. Your own domain, your pages, your storefront. | A marketplace profile and a booking widget, not a site you own. |
| What you pay on your OWN client | Six percent, and nothing else. | No marketplace cut on your own clients, but the subscription and processing still apply. |
Pricing for Fresha checked on 2 September 2026. Prices change, so verify them here: Fresha pricing. Ours are on our pricing page.
Where Fresha is genuinely stronger
Fresha's marketplace is large and people use it to find salons. If new clients discovering you inside an app is how you grow today, they can do that now and we cannot.
Their product is deep on salon and spa operations specifically: inventory, commissions, detailed staff scheduling. If you need that depth, you should weigh it seriously.
The 20% applies only to a genuinely new marketplace client's first booking, not to your own clients and not to repeat visits. That is a fairer structure than it first sounds, and we would rather say so than let you think otherwise.
Who should actually switch
- Most of your clients already know you, and you are paying a subscription to serve people you brought yourself.
- You have a team, and the per member cost has become the largest line.
- You want your own website and domain rather than a profile inside someone else's app.
- You would rather explain one number to yourself at the end of the month.
Try it without moving anything
Open a free page, put one service on it, and send it to a client. Nothing to cancel and nothing to migrate while you find out whether it fits.