Best booking platforms for aesthetic clinics in 2026

Aesthetic clinics ask more of booking software than most beauty businesses. Treatments are expensive, a first visit is often a consultation before anything is booked, and the clinical side matters: medical history, consent, aftercare and before-and-after photos. Some platforms are built around that clinical record. Others are salon systems that also serve clinics. And a clinic's website carries more weight than a salon's, because people research injectables and skin treatments carefully before they book anyone.

This guide compares eight options on what decides it for a clinic: whether the price is published at all, what a four-practitioner clinic pays every month, what a marketplace takes from a first treatment, and whether you end up with a website of your own. Every figure was read from each company's own website on 26 October 2026.

The quick answer

• Clinical records, consent and photos at the centre, on a quote: Pabau, priced by number of users, no published prices.
• Software built by aesthetic physicians, with a published starting price: Clinicminds, from £140 a month, billed per location and per practitioner.
• Spending nothing on the booking system: Faces, which says it is free to use with no card needed.
• A salon-and-clinic system for three or more staff: Phorest, quote only, unlimited staff.
• Unlimited practitioners with SMS and consultation forms: Timely Boost, from £7 a week.
• A big consumer marketplace, paid per practitioner: Fresha at £9.95 per team member, or Vagaro at £20 to £80 by calendar.
• A clinic that wants its own website, built for it, and to keep every penny of every booking: Believe Websites, £49 a month flat for any number of practitioners.

The price, side by side

Three of the eight publish no figure you could put in a spreadsheet. Pabau lists its plans by team size — Solo for one user, Team for two to three, Medium for four to five, Group for six to fifteen and Enterprise for sixteen or more — and says its pricing depends on where you are and how many users you need. Phorest asks you to request a quote. Faces has no pricing page at all; its home page says the booking system is free to use and offers new clinics credit for joining. None of that is a criticism, but it does mean you cannot compare them without a sales call.

What a four-practitioner clinic pays each month

What a marketplace takes from a first treatment

Aesthetic treatments are where percentage commission hurts most, because the tickets are large. Fresha takes 20% of a new marketplace client's first visit, with a £4 minimum, plus VAT; returning clients and bookings through your own link are free. On a £250 first treatment, that is £50 before VAT. Vagaro includes a marketplace listing with every plan, and its pricing page does not mention a commission. Timely says no new client fees. We take 0% on every booking, from anyone.

The clinical side

This is where the specialist tools earn their price. Clinicminds lists medical records, consent forms with home signing, before-and-after photos and treatment drawings. Phorest puts digital consultation forms on its Grow plan and sells Premium Consultations with HD photos, face mapping and treatment plans. Vagaro includes SOAP notes on every plan. Timely adds digital consultation forms on Boost and automated ones on Thrive. Pabau is built around the patient record.

Believe Websites is a website and booking system, not specialist clinical software. If you want treatment notes, consent and photo records in one place, one of the tools above is built for that. What we do is the public side: a clinic website that explains your treatments properly, on your own domain, with booking inside it.

Your website, and being found

People research aesthetic treatments before they book, and more of them now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI overview who to go to. Those systems answer from what they can read on the open web: a clear page for each treatment, who carries it out, where you are, what it costs and real reviews. A booking profile on someone else's site rarely says all of that.

Every site we build is set up with structured data, a page for each service, clear business details and a new article each month about your town and your treatments, and your dashboard shows an AI Search Readiness score so you can see what is in place. The full offer is on our home page.

Where we lose

• No clinical records. We do not replace Pabau, Clinicminds or Phorest for notes, consent and photos.
• No marketplace. Fresha and Vagaro list you where people browse for treatments. We do not send you strangers.
• Text reminders and card payments are built but not switched on. Confirmations and reminders go by email today. Timely, Fresha and Vagaro take card payments and deposits now, which matters for no-shows on expensive treatments.
• A 12-month minimum term. Pabau, Timely, Fresha and Vagaro all say there is no long-term commitment. Ours is 12 months because we build the site for nothing up front, then it goes month to month.
• Not the cheapest for one practitioner. Faces is free, Fresha Independent is £14.95 and Vagaro is £20 for one calendar.

So which one should you pick?

• A medical-led clinic that wants the clinical record at the centre: Pabau or Clinicminds, and book the demos.
• A solo injector starting out: Faces, free to use, or Fresha Independent at £14.95 a month.
• A clinic with three or more staff that also does beauty treatments: Phorest or Timely.
• A clinic that wants marketplace bookings: Fresha or Vagaro, with the commission factored in.
• A clinic that wants its own website built and kept up to date for it, with booking inside it and nothing taken from any booking: Believe Websites, £49 a month flat, alongside clinical software if you need it.

For a closer look at one of these, read Believe Websites vs Vagaro or Believe Websites vs Fresha. Running a beauty salon rather than a clinic? See the best booking platforms for beauty salons.