Does Bookka charge commission on new clients?

No. Your marketplace listing is part of the subscription, and a client who finds you through Bookka costs nothing extra — not on the first booking and not on any after it.

What does Bookka charge on payments?

Card processing is Stripe’s standard Australian rate of about 1.7% + A$0.30 online, paid to Stripe, plus a 1.3% Bookka platform fee — roughly 3% all in. In-person payments through the Bookka point of sale carry no Bookka fee at all, only Stripe’s terminal rate. Money lands in your own Stripe account, because you are the merchant of record.

Can I move my clients and services across from Fresha?

Yes. Send us your client list and service menu and we will set up your services, prices, hours and team for you before you go live, so you are not retyping a price list on a Sunday night.

Will I lose the bookings I already have?

No. Keep Fresha running while you set Bookka up, let existing appointments play out there, and point your booking link and social profiles at Bookka when you are ready. Nothing has to be cancelled and rebooked.

Does Bookka have a marketplace like Fresha’s?

Yes, and your profile is included — but it is smaller than Fresha’s, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. If marketplace discovery is the main reason you are on Fresha, weigh that against the 20% before you move.

Compare booking platforms / Fresha

A Fresha alternative for Australian salons

Fresha charges A$29.95 per team member and takes 20% of every new client its marketplace sends you. Bookka is one flat price with no commission — see what your salon would pay on each.

Start freeSee the comparison

Switch if

You are paying Fresha per team member and handing over a fifth of every new client the marketplace sends you.

Stay on Fresha if

You want Fresha’s marketplace reach above all else — it is much larger than Bookka’s, and paying 20% for a first visit can be worth it if you are still filling a new column.

How the two price lists differ

Fresha is free to start and then charges for the things a working salon cannot avoid. The subscription is A$29.95 per bookable team member a month, so the bill goes up the week you hire. Loyalty is a separate A$89.95 per location. Analytics beyond the standard reports is A$15.95 per person. Xero is another A$19.95. And a new client who finds you through the Fresha marketplace costs you 20% of their first visit, with a minimum of A$8.

Bookka is A$39 a month for up to five people, or A$69 for up to twenty, and the marketplace listing is part of it. There is no commission on a new client, ever — not on their first booking and not on any after it. Loyalty, gift cards, an online shop, the social scheduler and the analytics are all in the plan rather than beside it.

The honest part: Fresha’s marketplace is far bigger than ours. If you are still filling a new chair and a stream of first-time bookings is worth a fifth of each one, that is a real argument for staying. What follows is the arithmetic either way, built only from what both companies publish.

Why salons leave Fresha

The reasons people actually give, in the order they tend to give them.

The bill grows with the team, not the business: Every bookable person is another A$29.95 a month. A five-person salon pays A$149.75 before a single add-on; ten people is A$299.50. Bookka is A$39 flat for five and A$69 for twenty, so hiring changes your roster and not your invoice.
A fifth of every new client: The new-client fee is 20% of the first visit with an A$8 minimum, charged once per client. On a A$120 colour that is A$24 to meet someone who then becomes a regular. Bookka takes no commission on new clients at all.
The add-ons are where the money goes: Client Loyalty is A$89.95 a location a month. Insights is A$15.95 per bookable member, so a five-person team pays about A$80 for its own reports. Xero is A$19.95, Google Rating Boost A$24.95, AI Concierge A$229.95. All of those are either included on Bookka or not something we charge separately for.
Marketing is billed by the message: Fresha includes 20 texts and 50 marketing emails per team member a month, then charges A$0.06 a text, A$0.15 a marketing text and A$0.03 an email. A 1,000-person email blast costs about A$30 and the same blast by text costs A$150. Bookka includes 200 or 500 texts and 500 or 2,000 emails, then A$10 per 100 texts.

Bookka and Fresha, line by line

Every figure below comes from the pricing Fresha publishes itself, read on 2026-10-01. Where they publish nothing, this says so rather than guessing.

Pricing and features: Fresha compared with Bookka
Fresha	Bookka
What it costs
Base subscription
A$29.95/moTeam · per bookable team member	A$39.00/moBusiness — flat, whatever the team size
Each extra staff member
+A$29.95/moevery additional person	Includedup to 5 on Business, then A$14.95/mo
Each extra location
IncludedSupported, but every add-on is billed per location	Included1 on Business, then A$19.95/mo
New-client marketplace fee
20%New client fee — of a new client's first visit · min A$8.00	Includedno commission, ever — the marketplace is included
Card processing (online)
1.59% + A$0.28	1.7% + A$0.30 + 1.3%Stripe plus the Bookka fee — about 3% all in, paid into your own Stripe account
Card processing (in person)
1.29% + A$0.26plus A$0.12 per Tap to Pay authorisation	0% Bookka feeonly Stripe's terminal rate, 1.7% + A$0.10
What is an extra
Your own booking website
A$39.95/moSmart Website · A booking profile is included; a website of your own is A$39.95 a month	IncludedBooking page and marketplace profile included — not a custom-domain website
Email and SMS marketing
Beyond 20 texts and 50 emails per team member: A$0.06 a text, A$0.03 an email, A$0.15 a marketing text	IncludedQuota included, then $10 per 100 texts
Social media scheduling
Not offeredNo social scheduler on the features page	IncludedIncluded, with AI-written content
Loyalty program
A$89.95/moClient Loyalty · per location	IncludedBookka Rewards, included
Gift cards
Included	IncludedIncluded on every plan
Online shop with shipping
IncludedOnline store for retail products	IncludedIncluded, on your booking page
Xero accounting sync
A$19.95/moXero Accounting · per location	On ExecutiveNative, included on Executive
Business analytics and reports
A$15.95/moInsights · per bookable person · Standard reports are included; Insights is the paid tier, priced per bookable member	IncludedIncluded
Google and Meta ads manager
Not offeredMeta Pixel and Google Analytics tracking only, no ad manager	On ExecutiveIncluded on Executive
AI booking assistant
A$229.95/moAI Concierge · per location · Phone concierge, 200 minutes and 500 messages included	On ExecutiveIncluded on Executive, with $10 a month of credit
Monthly software costWhat each provider bills for a five-person business at one location, running marketing, loyalty, gift cards and an online shop, on Bookka Business: subscription, add-ons and any message top-ups. Card processing and commission are counted separately, because they scale with takings rather than with the software.
A$372.90/moFresha Team with the add-ons needed to match · plus 20% of every new client · card processing 1.59% + A$0.28	A$59.00/moBookka Business A$39.00 + text top-ups A$20.00 · no commission, ever · card processing 1.7% + A$0.30 + 1.3%

Comparison reviewed October 2026 from publicly available information; features and pricing may change. Figures are as published by each provider, excluding taxes and card processing unless noted. Fresha is a trademark of Fresha.com SV Ltd. Bookka is not affiliated with Fresha.

Where these figures came from (1 source)

fresha.com — read 2026-10-01

The part a price list cannot show you

The table can only compare what you can buy on both sides. These come with Bookka Business and Fresha does not offer them at all, so they never appear as a line — and they are the ones that decide whether a client books again.

Bringing new people in

Being found, being chosen, and being talked about — without paying a commission on the people it works on.

Social media scheduling: Included, with AI-written content

Start free

On Bookka Business, $39 a month. See both plans.

And the other way round

Fresha offers things Bookka Business does not: ai booking assistant and xero accounting sync. If one of those is load-bearing for you, that is a real reason to stay.

Moving across from Fresha

You do not have to pick a day and jump. The overlap is the point.

1
Export what you have
Pull your client list out of Fresha and send us your service menu — a screenshot of the price list is enough. You do not need to tidy it first.
2
We set it up for you
Services, prices, durations, opening hours and your team, entered and checked before you go live. You look at it and tell us what is wrong.
3
Run both, then switch the link
Keep Fresha going while appointments already in it play out. When you are happy, point your booking link, Instagram and Google profile at Bookka. Nothing gets cancelled and rebooked.

Fresha and Bookka, answered

Still curious? Get in touch — we reply fast.

For most salons with staff, yes, and usually by a wide margin — but not for everyone. Fresha charges per team member and takes 20% of each new marketplace client; Bookka charges one flat price and no commission. Where Bookka costs more is a solo operator taking a lot of money online and getting no marketplace clients, because Bookka charges a 1.3% platform fee on online bookings and Fresha does not. The table above shows both sides of that.

Comparing a few at once?

Most people shortlisting booking software are weighing two or three. See all of them side by side.