ChairCal vs Fresha
Fresha is $19.95 a month — plus a cut
of every new client it finds you.
We charge $19. No cut.
Fresha's Independent plan is $19.95 a month, and the fresha.com marketplace takes 20% of a new client's first visit. You only pay that on clients Fresha actually finds — so check how many that really is. If your new clients come from Instagram and word of mouth, the marketplace isn't earning its keep. ChairCal is $19 a month with 1,000 texts included, and we never take a percentage of your bookings.
The honest comparison
What changes when you switch.
ChairCal · $19–$29/mo
- Texts your regulars about a cancelled opening✓
- Fits a cut inside a color processing window✓
- Texts and emails for the same client, one thread✓
- Zero commission on new client bookings✓
- Built for one chair, not 120,000 businesses✓
- Monthly cost (single stylist)$19–$29 · 1,000 texts
Fresha · $19.95 + commission
- Texts your regulars about a cancelled openingWaitlist
- Fits a cut inside a color processing window✓
- Texts and emails for the same client, one thread—
- Zero commission on new client bookings—
- Built for one chair, not 120,000 businesses—
- Monthly cost (single stylist)$19.95 + marketplace fees
What Fresha has that we don't — and when it matters
- Card payment processing (POS)
- Consumer marketplace listing on fresha.com
- Gift cards, packages, memberships
- Forms & client intake
- Multi-staff scheduling + commissions
- 140+ country footprint, 24/7 premium support
Fresha is a serious product — over 120,000 businesses didn't end up there by accident. If you actively rely on the consumer marketplace for new client discovery, or you run a multi-chair operation with retail and memberships, the commission model can pencil out. For solo stylists whose funnel is Instagram + word of mouth, you're paying for a marketplace you don't use. The fee is the price of access; you get to decide whether you actually want what's behind the gate.
FAQ
If you're considering the switch.
Not anymore. Fresha's Independent plan is $19.95 a month per fresha.com/pricing as of October 2026, after a 7-day trial. On top of that, Fresha takes 20% (minimum $6) of the first appointment for any new client who finds you through the fresha.com marketplace. Clients who book from your Instagram or your own link are free, and so are repeat visits. The marketplace fee is the part stylists usually don't see coming.
Sometimes. If a meaningful share of your new clients actually arrive through fresha.com search ("haircuts near me" → your profile), then yes — the commission is essentially a marketing cost on customer acquisition. The honest test: log into Fresha, look at your last 20 new clients, count how many sourced from "Fresha marketplace" vs. your own booking link. If the answer is "almost none", your funnel is Instagram + word of mouth and you're paying $19.95 a month for a marketplace you don't use.
Two things, honestly. (1) Fill: you tap Send. Your regulars get the text a second apart. The first to tap gets 60 seconds to confirm, so nobody gets bumped mid-booking. Fill works for openings more than 12 hours out; same-day openings go through the waitlist. (2) Inbox: texts and emails for the same client merge into one searchable thread on your side. Fresha's messaging lives inside their app — replies still scatter across iMessage and Gmail. Processing time? Fresha has it too, so we won't pretend otherwise.
Not fully. ChairCal doesn't take card payments end-to-end. The smoothest path: keep a Square reader (or whatever in-chair payment you prefer) for checkout, and let ChairCal handle bookings, cancellation recovery, and the client inbox. You can run both for a season; the cancellation recovery alone usually pays for both subscriptions several times over.
Bring your clients in from a Fresha export. Open Clients › Import and drop in the .csv or .xlsx file, up to 5,000 clients. ChairCal doesn't recognize a Fresha file on its own, so you tell it which column is which. Names, mobile phones and emails come across, plus notes, last visit and visit count when your file has them. Opening alerts are opt-in — each client chooses to hear about cancellations when she books or replies YES to an invite you send.
If your new clients come through Instagram + word of mouth, you don't lean on the fresha.com marketplace, and you take payments with a Square reader or Venmo — yes, switch. The math is straightforward: you're paying Fresha a percentage of new bookings for a marketplace you don't use. If you DO rely on fresha.com marketplace discovery, run ChairCal alongside Fresha. Use Fresha for marketplace exposure, use ChairCal for cancellation recovery and the inbox.
Further reading
Try it. If it doesn't pay for itself, don't pay for it.
14-day free trial · 30-day money-back · Cancel anytime