Salon software costs in the UK: the real maths

Guide, updated 8 August 2026

Ask five salon software providers what their product costs and you will get five different answers. Some quote one flat number. Some quote a price per team member. Some do not mention commission until you ask directly. None of this is necessarily unfair, it is just that "how much does salon software cost" is not one question. It is four separate questions.

This guide sets out the four pricing models you will run into, the costs that catch salon owners out after they have already signed up, a worked example for a typical 3-chair salon, and a checklist of questions worth asking before you commit to anything.

The four ways salon software charges you

Underneath the marketing, salon software pricing comes down to four basic mechanisms. Most providers lead with one as their headline price and quietly layer in a second.

Flat monthly fee

You pay one price a month, however many staff you have and however many bookings come through the diary. This is the simplest model to budget against: the number on the invoice this month is the number on the invoice next month. The trade-off is that a small, one-chair operation can end up paying for capacity it does not use.

Per team member

The price scales with headcount, usually a set amount per staff member per month. This can feel fair when you are small, because you are only paying for what you use. It gets more expensive as you grow: taking on a fourth or fifth stylist raises your software bill at the same time as it raises your payroll, which is exactly the moment cash flow is tightest.

Commission on bookings

Instead of, or as well as, a subscription, some providers take a percentage of the value of each booking, sometimes only on bookings made through their own online marketplace, sometimes on everything. Commission can look cheap when you are quiet and expensive when you are busy, because the bill moves in step with your takings rather than staying fixed.

Payment processing

Taking card payments always carries a fee, usually a percentage plus a small fixed amount per transaction, charged by whichever payment processor sits behind the card reader. Some software providers bundle this into their own rate; others hand you off to a separate payment provider with its own separate contract. Either way, it is a real monthly cost that sits alongside whatever the software itself charges, so it is worth asking whether it is included in the headline price or added on top.

The costs owners forget

Beyond the four pricing models, a handful of extra costs tend to surface after the contract is signed. None of these are hidden exactly, they are usually written into the terms somewhere, but they rarely come up in the first conversation. Worth checking for each of the following.

SMS and reminder bundles

Automated text reminders cut no-shows, but the texts themselves usually cost money once you are past any free trial. Some providers include a monthly allowance and charge for anything over it; others charge per message from the first text. Ask what a typical month costs once your reminder volume settles at a normal level, not just what the free allowance covers.

Card terminal and hardware fees

A card reader is rarely free forever. Check whether the hardware is a one-off purchase, a monthly rental, or bundled into the transaction fee, and what happens if a terminal needs replacing.

Per-feature add-ons

Marketing campaigns, extra locations, extra staff logins, reporting, stock management: on some platforms all of this is included in the base price; on others each one is a separate paid extra stacked on top. Ask for the price of everything you actually plan to use, not just the entry-level plan.

Price rises after an introductory period

An introductory rate that looks attractive in month one can step up sharply once the discount period ends. Ask what the price becomes after any introductory period, in writing, before you sign anything.

Worked example: what a 3-chair salon pays under each model

Numbers make this easier to compare than percentages alone. Take a salon with 3 chairs (an owner plus 2 team members), doing around 300 bookings a month at an average ticket of £35. That is £10,500 of monthly booking revenue. Here is what each pricing model above could look like against that salon, using illustrative rates rather than any single provider's real pricing.

The flat and per-team-member models sit close together at 3 chairs. What separates them is what happens as the salon grows: the per-team-member bill rises every time a new stylist joins, while the flat fee does not. Commission tracks turnover rather than headcount, so it climbs fastest for a busy salon, and it applies on top of whatever subscription fee the same provider might also charge. Payment processing is close to unavoidable wherever cards are accepted, so it is worth treating as a cost in its own right rather than folding it into "the software" when comparing quotes.

How Fresha and Revyfy compare

For one real, named example: Fresha's published UK pricing (fresha.com/pricing, checked 7 August 2026) is £14.95 a month for an individual, £9.95 per team member a month for teams, plus a one-time 20% new-client marketplace fee with a £4 minimum. For the 3-chair salon above, that works out at £29.85 a month in team-member fees, before counting any one-time new-client marketplace fees.

Revyfy is £39.99 a month flat, for unlimited staff and zero commission on bookings. Whether that is cheaper than a per-team-member-plus-commission model depends on your team size and how much of your business comes through a marketplace; see Revyfy vs Fresha compared for a fuller breakdown, or read Fresha alternative if you are actively planning a switch. For a closer look at exactly how the fees stack up, see Fresha fees explained.

Questions to ask any vendor before signing

Whichever provider you are talking to, the same set of questions gets you to a real monthly figure rather than a headline one.

• Is the price flat per month, or does it scale per team member?
• Is there commission on bookings, and does it apply to existing clients as well as new ones?
• Are SMS and email reminders included, or a separate paid bundle?
• Is card payment processing included in the price, or a separate contract with a separate provider?
• Does the quoted price cover every feature you need, marketing, online booking, reporting, or are some of them paid add-ons?
• Is there a fixed-term contract, and what is the notice period to leave?
• Does the price change after an introductory period, and by how much?
• What happens to your data, clients, appointment history, notes, if you decide to leave, and is there a fee to move it in the first place?

If you are further along and already planning a move from another system, Switch salon software walks through what a changeover actually involves.

Try it before you commit

The clearest way to judge any of this against your own numbers is to run it for real. Revyfy is one flat price, see full pricing for the complete breakdown, with no commission and no per-staff fees to recalculate every time your team changes.

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