Fresha Review

Fresha is the London-based booking and business platform for salons, barbershops, spas and wellness studios, founded as Shedul in 2015 by William Zeqiri and Nick Miller and renamed in 2019. It became a unicorn in May 2026 when KKR invested $80 million at a valuation above $1 billion, at which point it said it served more than 130,000 businesses, handled 35 million appointments a month and about $15 billion a year in gross merchandise value, and was profitable on a $140 million revenue run-rate. Payments are embedded in the software through Adyen for Platforms: as of September 2026 the US rate card is 2.29% plus $0.20 in person (plus $0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation), 2.79% plus $0.20 online, 3.30% plus $0.20 for manually keyed cards and 5.99% plus $0.30 for Klarna instalments, with payouts the next business day, no contract and no early-termination fee. The software itself stopped being free in 2025 — plans are $19.95 a month for one person or $14.95 per bookable team member — and clients who find you on the Fresha marketplace cost a one-off 20% commission with a $6 minimum. Trustpilot rates it 4.8 from more than 7,000 reviews. It grades B+ on clear pricing and terms, with the marks held back by the marketplace fee, the 2025 pricing shift and the payout holds that come with any aggregator.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Fresha’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What it is

Fresha began in 2015 as Shedul, a free scheduling tool for salons built by William Zeqiri and Nick Miller, and took its current name in 2019 as it added a consumer marketplace and payments. The bet was that free software would win the category and that the money would come from card processing and from a commission on new clients the marketplace delivered. It worked: by its KKR round on 21 May 2026 — $80 million at a valuation above $1 billion, taking total funding to $285 million — Fresha reported more than 130,000 businesses in over 120 countries, 500,000-plus professionals, 35 million appointments a month, about $15 billion a year in gross merchandise value, and a profitable business growing over 60% a year on a $140 million revenue run-rate. It is headquartered at 10 York Road, London, with offices Adyen lists in New York, Vancouver, Sydney, Dublin, Amsterdam, Dubai and Warsaw.

Payments are embedded rather than resold. Fresha built on Adyen for Platforms, and Adyen's April 2024 case study describes the pieces: in-person terminals and Tap to Pay, direct American Express acceptance, SafeKey 3D Secure, and processing in more than 100 currencies with settlement in 18. Adyen holds the acquiring licences; Fresha is the platform the salon contracts with, which puts it in the same position as Square or Toast — an aggregator whose support team, not a bank, decides what happens when an account is flagged.

Pricing

The US rate card as of September 2026 is short. In-person payments on a Fresha terminal cost 2.29% plus $0.20, with an extra $0.10 per authorisation for Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android; online payments, deposits, prepayments, self-checkout links, QR codes and saved cards cost 2.79% plus $0.20; manually keyed cards 3.30% plus $0.20; and Klarna instalments 5.99% plus $0.30. Terminals — Verifone V400m units with lifetime free 4G — are from $139 each or free subject to processing volume. There is no monthly fee for payments, no PCI fee, no contract and no termination fee, and the pricing FAQ says there are no hidden costs; the chargeback fee is the one figure the page does not state. For in-person work that undercuts Square's published free-plan rate of 2.6% plus $0.15 on any ticket above about $14; online it sits a shade below the 2.9% plus $0.30 that Stripe and Square's API charge.

The costs around the processing are where the total bill is decided. Since 2025 the software itself is a subscription: Independent at $19.95 a month for one bookable team member, Team at $14.95 per bookable team member, Enterprise above 20. New clients who discover you on the Fresha marketplace carry a one-off 20% commission with a $6 minimum — nothing on their return visits, and nothing on clients who arrive through your own link, Instagram or Facebook — which is fair on a $150 colour service and punishing on a $20 trim. Messaging is metered beyond a free allowance, and a menu of add-ons (AI Concierge $99.95, Client Loyalty $59.95, Data Connector $295 per location a month, premium phone support $14.95 on the Independent plan) can add up for a business that wants all of it.

Payouts and holds

Daily payouts are the default: money collected before midnight is sent to your bank the next business day if the balance is above 50 in local currency, with weekly, monthly and manual options and a business wallet from which you can pay team members and locations. Funds settle about 24 hours after a payment and a bank transfer can take up to two more days; weekends and holidays roll to the next business day. There is no instant-payout product. The 'merchants' feature lets a salon add chair renters and freelancers as separate merchants so one client payment is split and routed to each person's own wallet and payouts, which is a real answer to the commission-and-rent arithmetic of the industry. Holds happen: the one-star Trustpilot reviews in September 2026 include an owner unable to withdraw a balance and referred to 'another team' with no timeline, and Fresha's reply confirms that payout issues can require review by a specialised team.

Reputation

Fresha's Trustpilot profile shows 4.8 from 7,056 reviews, 88% five-star and 8% one-star, with 3,744 reviews in the last twelve months; the profile has been claimed since December 2021, invites reviews and replies to 98% of negative ones. Most five-star reviews name a support agent, so the score measures the chat team more than the product. The negatives cluster around the 2025 move to subscriptions, the marketplace minimum on cheap services, held payouts, and — from ex-employees of salons — difficulty deleting identity documents uploaded to set up a work profile. No lawsuit, regulatory action or advertising ruling against Fresha was found; the only litigation located is a 2024 patent suit in the Eastern District of Texas of the kind filed against most software companies.

Bottom line

Fresha earns a B+. The payments product is exactly what a salon wants — published rates that beat the general-purpose aggregators in person on a typical salon ticket, deposits and no-show fees wired into booking, next-day money, and nothing to sign or cancel — and the company behind it is profitable and well backed. What keeps it out of the A range is the same thing that makes it work: it is a platform first, so the subscription, the marketplace commission and the aggregator's power to hold funds all come with the rate card. If you run your business on Fresha, use its payments. If you do not, there is no reason to.