The honest comparison
Salon Ads Studio vs Fresha
Straight answer first: these mostly do different jobs, and most salons we work with keep Fresha. It runs your diary beautifully. What it doesn't do is put you in front of the people searching Google near you tonight — that's our whole job, and here is how the two fit together.
Two different pools of people
Fresha's marketplace shows your salon to people already browsing inside Fresha — useful, but you're listed beside every competitor in the area, sorted by their rules, and charged around a fifth of the first appointment for each new client it sends.
Meanwhile, the bigger pool never opens the app at all. She types "hair colourist near me" or "beard trim open now" into Google and books whoever appears. Being that salon is a completely different machine: your listing corrected, a page to land on, the right searches bid on, the wrong ones blocked. That machine is what we build and run.
Keep the diary. Own the demand.
We're not booking software and don't want to be. When we fill your chair, the confirmation, the reminder and the payment can all still run through Fresha — we simply send the people we find to whatever booking link you already use.
The distinction that matters is where new clients come from. Clients the marketplace introduces carry a fee and arrive comparing you on price with the salon next door. Clients who found you on Google arrive already sold, cost a fixed fee however many there are, and are yours from the first hello.
- You need booking software — honestly, keep it for that even if you work with us
- You want passive marketplace exposure and accept the per-client fee
- You want to be found by people searching Google near you, not just browsing inside an app
- You want new clients at a fixed monthly fee instead of a fifth of each first appointment
- You want your free Google listing tidied and working — which no diary does
Questions people ask
Should I stop using Fresha if I sign up with you?
No — keep it. Fresha's diary, reminders and payments are genuinely good, and we are not booking software. We simply point the people we find on Google at your existing booking link, Fresha included. The two do different jobs.
What does Fresha's marketplace actually charge?
A one-off new-client fee of around 20% of the first appointment (with a small minimum) for each brand-new client the marketplace introduces, plus card processing fees on payments. Returning clients are free. Some owners also report existing clients occasionally being classed as marketplace introductions — worth checking your billing.
If Fresha already brings me clients, why would I need ads?
The marketplace only shows you to people already inside the app, listed beside every nearby competitor. It does nothing about the person typing "balayage near me" into Google tonight — she books whoever shows up there. Those are different pools of people, and the Google pool is bigger.
Is your fixed fee really cheaper than 20% per new client?
It depends on volume, so here is the arithmetic: at £29 a month, our fee equals the marketplace fee on roughly one £150 first appointment. Every client past the first, each month, is where the fixed fee pulls ahead — and clients from your own ads were never fee-bearing to begin with.
Fee details correct as of August 2026, from Fresha's published help pages and independent breakdowns. Their pricing can change — if you spot something out of date, tell us at hello@salonadsstudio.com and we'll fix it.
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