Comparison
Calendace vs Fresha
Fresha is no longer free: it now charges a fee for every professional who takes bookings, and for SMS and WhatsApp messages beyond an allowance. Calendace charges one flat fee for the whole team. Here is what changes.
What a salon with three professionals pays
Fresha's official prices for Spain, excluding VAT, as of 7 October 2026. They may be different in other countries.
Monthly fee
Calendace
From 0 €. Standard Plan 12,99 €, or 9,99 € paying yearly.
Fresha
No free plan. Independent: 19,95 € for a single professional. Team: 12,95 € per professional.
Cost per employee
Calendace
Included. The Standard Plan covers up to 3 professionals; Premium, unlimited.
Fresha
12,95 € a month for each professional who takes bookings (Team plan).
Total with 3 professionals
Calendace
12,99 € a month.
Fresha
38,85 € a month (3 × 12,95 €).
Commission per booking
Calendace
None.
Fresha
None.
Commission per new client
Calendace
None.
Fresha
Free, according to its pricing table for Spain. Its help centre describes a one-off fee for each new client who arrives through the marketplace, with a minimum and a maximum.
SMS and WhatsApp
Calendace
Email and alerts in your clients' app, free. SMS and WhatsApp, with credit packs you buy only if you use them.
Fresha
Free email. 150 free SMS or WhatsApp messages a month per professional; after that, 0,05 € per SMS and between 0,04 € and 0,10 € per WhatsApp message.
Lock-in
Calendace
None.
Fresha
None, according to its website. Its terms require 30 days' written notice to cancel.
Where your client finds you
Calendace
On Google and on Google Maps, and they land straight on your booking page.
Fresha
On the Fresha marketplace and app, and on Reserve with Google if you list your profile on its marketplace.
Card payments
Calendace
We do not handle them. You get paid the way you do now, in your salon.
Fresha
Optional. 1,29 % on online payments, 0,99 % in person (plus 0,10 € with Tap to Pay) and 4,49 % + 0,50 € with Klarna.
Client account
Calendace
Not needed: they book with their name, phone and email, and sign in to see their appointments without a password.
Fresha
To book online, the client needs a Fresha account.
Public holidays
Calendace
Automatic. Calendace knows the national and regional holidays of your area and closes on those days every year. Open on the ones you want.
Fresha
Manual, as closure periods with a start and an end date.
| What a salon with three professionals pays | Calendace | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | From 0 €. Standard Plan 12,99 €, or 9,99 € paying yearly. | No free plan. Independent: 19,95 € for a single professional. Team: 12,95 € per professional. |
| Cost per employee | Included. The Standard Plan covers up to 3 professionals; Premium, unlimited. | 12,95 € a month for each professional who takes bookings (Team plan). |
| Total with 3 professionals | 12,99 € a month. | 38,85 € a month (3 × 12,95 €). |
| Commission per booking | None. | None. |
| Commission per new client | None. | Free, according to its pricing table for Spain. Its help centre describes a one-off fee for each new client who arrives through the marketplace, with a minimum and a maximum. |
| SMS and WhatsApp | Email and alerts in your clients' app, free. SMS and WhatsApp, with credit packs you buy only if you use them. | Free email. 150 free SMS or WhatsApp messages a month per professional; after that, 0,05 € per SMS and between 0,04 € and 0,10 € per WhatsApp message. |
| Lock-in | None. | None, according to its website. Its terms require 30 days' written notice to cancel. |
| Where your client finds you | On Google and on Google Maps, and they land straight on your booking page. | On the Fresha marketplace and app, and on Reserve with Google if you list your profile on its marketplace. |
| Card payments | We do not handle them. You get paid the way you do now, in your salon. | Optional. 1,29 % on online payments, 0,99 % in person (plus 0,10 € with Tap to Pay) and 4,49 % + 0,50 € with Klarna. |
| Client account | Not needed: they book with their name, phone and email, and sign in to see their appointments without a password. | To book online, the client needs a Fresha account. |
| Public holidays | Automatic. Calendace knows the national and regional holidays of your area and closes on those days every year. Open on the ones you want. | Manual, as closure periods with a start and an end date. |
How much would commissions cost you in a year? Work it out with your own numbers.
Open the calculatorThe maths
Three times less a month with three professionals
With three professionals, Fresha costs 38,85 € a month and Calendace 12,99 €: a difference of 25,86 € a month, about 310 € a year, excluding VAT. And every person who joins the team adds 12,95 € to Fresha's fee.
You pay per chair, not per business
On Fresha the fee grows with every professional who takes bookings. With Calendace the Standard Plan covers three and Premium has no limit: hiring someone does not change your fee.
Fresha is no longer free
Fresha made its name by being free and charging only commissions. Today it has no free plan: the cheapest one is 19,95 € a month for a single professional. Calendace keeps its free plan, with 20 bookings a month.
You can try it without leaving Fresha
Open a free account, put your link on your Instagram and on your Google listing, and watch for a month how many bookings come to you directly. You decide with that number.
Where they beat us
They have a marketplace and an app with millions of clients
Fresha says it has more than 25 million clients and more than 1 billion appointments booked. If you need new people to discover you, that shop window is worth something, and today in Spain, according to its pricing table, it does not charge for new clients.
They take payments, sell and build loyalty from the same software
Online and in-salon payments, deposits, a card terminal, product sales, gift cards, packages and memberships. Calendace does not handle payments: you get paid in your salon, as always.
More messages included and a more complete waitlist
They include 150 free SMS or WhatsApp messages a month per professional, and their waitlist can book on its own and prioritise by queue order or by appointment value. On Calendace, SMS and WhatsApp run on separate credits.
When each one makes sense
Fresha, if you want software that does everything
You need to take payments on a card terminal, sell products, manage packages and have the marketplace bring you new clients, and paying 12,95 € a month for each professional is worth it to you.
Calendace, if you want your diary to run itself
Your clients already know you and book through Instagram, Google or word of mouth. What you need is for them to book without calling you, to show up, and for your fee not to go up every time the team grows: 12,99 € a month for three professionals.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Fresha cost per month?
In Spain, the Independent plan costs 19,95 € a month for a single professional and the Team plan 12,95 € a month for each professional who takes bookings, excluding VAT. With three professionals that is 38,85 € a month. Calendace costs 12,99 € a month with three professionals, or 9,99 € if you pay yearly.
Is Fresha still free?
No. Fresha no longer has a free plan: every business with professionals who take bookings pays a monthly subscription, with a 7-day trial. Calendace has a free-forever plan, with 20 bookings a month and one professional, plus 30 days of Premium without a card.
Does Fresha charge a commission?
Not per booking. For new clients who come from its marketplace, its pricing table for Spain currently says “Free”, although its help centre describes a one-off fee with a minimum and a maximum. Card payments do carry a fee: 1,29 % online and 0,99 % in person. Calendace charges no commission.
What is an alternative to Fresha with a flat fee for the whole team?
Calendace: your own booking page, automatic reminders, a waitlist, a client area with no password and automatic public holidays. The Standard plan covers up to three professionals for 12,99 € a month and Premium, unlimited, for 34,99 €, with no commission and no lock-in.
Guides
Practical guides
Short articles on the questions businesses like yours ask us most.
How to move your clients from a marketplace to your own booking page without losing them
Leaving Booksy or Treatwell overnight is the quickest way to lose clients. What to say at the front desk, on Instagram and in the reminder, how long to keep both running, and what to check in your contract first.
What a booking marketplace really costs: commission vs flat fee
A 25% or 30% cut of every new client sounds small until you multiply it by twelve months. The full maths for a salon with three professionals, including commission, per-staff fees and lock-in, and the one case where the marketplace does pay off.
How to choose booking software for a small salon: ten questions before you sign up
Ten questions worth asking any appointment software before you put your clients into it, and Calendace's honest answer to each one, including the things it doesn't cover.
To compare before you decide:PricingCalendace vs BooksyCalendace vs TreatwellCommission calculator
Try it for a month and compare the bill
Free account, no card and no lock-in. You get the full Premium plan for the first 30 days.