Believe Websites vs Treatwell: a marketplace listing, or a website of your own?

Treatwell is the name a lot of UK clients know when they book a haircut, a facial or a wax online. It is a marketplace first: an app and a website where people browse salons near them and book. The salon software comes with being listed there.

That makes it a different kind of product from ours, and the honest comparison is not really about the calendar. It is about where your new clients come from, and what each one costs you. Every Treatwell figure below was read from its own UK pricing page on 24 October 2026.

The short version

Treatwell does not publish a monthly price. It does publish its commission: 35% on first bookings from new clients it brings you through the marketplace, nothing on repeat bookings, and a 2.5% + VAT fee on online prepayments. All of its commissions and fees are subject to VAT.

Believe Websites is £49 a month flat, whatever the size of your team, with a bespoke website designed and built for £0 upfront on your own domain. It takes 0% of every booking, from anyone. What it does not have is a marketplace full of people browsing for a salon.

What Treatwell's pricing page actually says

A missing price is a finding in itself. You cannot compare Treatwell's monthly bill with anyone else's from the outside; you find out what it is once you have signed up or spoken to them. If the monthly fee matters to your decision, ask for it in writing before you move your diary over.

What a new client costs on Treatwell

The 35% applies once, to the first booking of a client Treatwell introduces through its marketplace. After that, that client's repeat bookings are commission-free. Clients who book you directly — by phone, text, WhatsApp, a client you add yourself, or the Book Now button on your own social media or website — carry no commission either.

For some salons that is a fair price for a client who then comes back every six weeks for years. For others, especially those whose first-time clients rarely return, it is a lot to pay for a single visit. The point is to know the number before the marketplace starts sending people.

A venue profile, or a website of your own

Treatwell's plans include your unique venue profile on the Treatwell marketplace, a team portfolio published there, and booking buttons for Facebook, Instagram and Google. That profile sits on Treatwell's site, next to the other salons in your area, and it is Treatwell's page.

What we build instead is a website designed around your business — your photos, your services and prices, your reviews, your area — on your own domain, something like www.yoursalon.co.uk, with the booking system built in. We design it, host it and change it when you message us. When someone searches for your name, it is your site they land on, not a listing beside your competitors.

• Your own domain, not a profile on a marketplace.
• Built for you. You tell us about the business; the site is designed around it.
• Changes done for you. New prices, new hours, a new stylist — message us, it is included.
• A new article every month about your town and your services, written to be read by search engines and AI assistants.
• Yours at the end. After the 12-month minimum term you can take ownership of the website.

One thing worth knowing from Treatwell's own FAQ: it says it does not sync with other management systems, because it acts as your exclusive partner. It also says your data remains yours, even if you cancel.

Being found when people ask an AI

More people now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI overview something like "good balayage salon near me" and act on the answer. Those systems answer from what they can read on the open web: clear pages about your services, where you are, what you charge, and real reviews.

Every site we build is set up for that: structured data, individual service pages, clear business information and a monthly article, with an AI Search Readiness score in your dashboard so you can see what is in place. The whole offer is on our home page.

Where Treatwell genuinely wins

• A real marketplace. Treatwell says it partners with over 150,000 salons across Europe, and UK clients use it to find somewhere new. We have no marketplace and will not send you anyone browsing.
• You only pay commission when it works. The 35% is charged only when the marketplace actually brings you a new client, and never on that client's repeat visits.
• Payments work today. Online prepayments, a point of sale for checkout and daily payouts are in both plans. Our card payments are built but not switched on yet.
• No minimum term on the pricing page. We ask for 12 months, because we build the site for nothing up front.
• They move your data for you. Treatwell's team imports basic client data and technical notes from your old system.

Text reminders are a gap for us too: ours are built but not switched on, so today we send confirmations and reminders by email. Treatwell's pricing page lists unlimited email notifications and reminders and does not mention text reminders, so check with them if texts matter to you.

Everything side by side

So which one should you pick?

Treatwell, if

• You are new, your diary is empty, and you want a marketplace sending you people this month.
• You are comfortable paying 35% plus VAT on a new client's first booking in exchange for that client.
• You need card prepayments and a point of sale working today.
• You do not want a minimum term.

Believe Websites, if

• You already have regulars and mostly need new clients to find you, not a list of salons.
• You want a real website on your own domain, built and kept up to date for you.
• You want to know your monthly bill before you sign up: £49, any team size.
• You would rather keep 100% of every booking, including the first one.

Comparing the other big apps too? We have done Believe Websites vs Fresha and Believe Websites vs Booksy the same way, and put the barber options side by side in the best booking platforms for barbers.