WhatsAppBuyer's guide
Best booking platforms for barbers and barbershops in 2026
Squire, Booksy, Fresha, Square, Timely, Treatwell and Believe Websites compared for UK barbers, on published prices, per-chair charges, what a marketplace takes from a £12 beard trim, and who gives you a website of your own.
·11 min read
The short answer
- Square Appointments has a free plan for a single location with no employee limit, which makes it the cheapest way for a barber to take online bookings.
- Squire, a barbershop-specific platform, lists UK plans from £20 a month for an individual barber and £30 a month for a single-location shop, with one flat fee per shop and no per-barber charge.
- Booksy costs £40 a month plus £5 per additional team member, excluding VAT, and its optional Boost takes 30% of a new client's first visit with a £5 minimum.
- Fresha costs £14.95 a month for one person or £9.95 per bookable team member, excluding VAT, and takes 20% of a new marketplace client's first visit with a £4 minimum.
- Treatwell does not publish a monthly price and charges 35% commission on first bookings from new marketplace clients.
- On a £12 beard trim, a £5 minimum commission is about 42% of the visit.
- Believe Websites costs £49 a month flat for any number of chairs, takes 0% commission, and designs and builds a bespoke website on your own domain for £0 upfront.
Barbers book differently from most of the beauty world. Cuts are short and cheap compared with a colour or a set of nails, regulars come back every two to four weeks, walk-ins still matter, and a lot of shops run three, four or six chairs, some of them rented out. A booking platform that charges per person, or takes a minimum fee per new client, hits a barbershop harder than a salon.
This guide compares seven options on the things that decide it for barbers: what a solo barber pays against a full shop, what a marketplace takes from a short, low-priced first cut, and whether you end up with a website of your own. Every figure was read from each company's own pricing page on 24 October 2026.
The quick answer
- Solo barber, spending nothing: Square Appointments, free for a single location, with text and email reminders included.
- A full shop on one cheap flat fee, built for barbers: Squire Pro, listed at £30 a month per shop with no per-barber charge.
- Free text reminders and a big consumer app: Booksy, £40 a month plus £5 per extra barber.
- Cheapest paid app with a marketplace for one person: Fresha, £14.95 a month, plus 20% of each new marketplace client's first visit.
- Unlimited barbers and SMS built in: Timely, from £4 a week, priced by how many bookings you take.
- A UK beauty marketplace that also lists barbers: Treatwell, at 35% of a new client's first booking and no published subscription price.
- A shop that wants its own website and to keep every penny of every booking: Believe Websites, £49 a month flat for any number of chairs.
The price, side by side
Fresha and Booksy quote prices excluding VAT, and Treatwell says its commissions and fees are subject to VAT. Square, Timely and Squire do not state VAT treatment on their pricing pages. Squire's plan cards show UK£ prices, but the FAQ on the same page quotes different US dollar figures; we have used the UK£ figures. Prices change; check each source before you decide.
| Platform | Monthly price | Extra barbers | New-client commission | Website on your own domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Believe Websites | £49 flatbuild is £0 | Unlimited, free | 0% | Yes, built for you |
| Squire | £20 solo / £30 shop£60 and £90 tiers per shop | No per-barber charge | Noneno marketplace | Branded landing pages$25 a month add-on on Executive |
| Square Appointments | £0 / £29 / £69per location | No employee limit | None stated | Booking website includedcustom domain not mentioned |
| Timely | From £4 / £7 / £9 a weekadjusts with bookings | Unlimited, free | No new client fees | Branded websiteyou set it up |
| Fresha | £14.95 solo+ £12.95 for Smart Website | £9.95 each | 20%, min £4marketplace clients only | Add-on templateyou build it |
| Booksy | £40all features included | £5 each | 30%, min £5only with Boost on | NoBooksy profile and link |
| Treatwell | Not publishedFreelancer and Advanced plans | Unlimited on Advanced | 35% of first booking0% on repeat bookings | Nomarketplace profile |
What a solo barber pays in a year
Plenty of barbers work alone, or rent a chair and take their own bookings. Start there. This is the subscription alone, before card fees and before any commission.
card fees only: 1.75% in person
£14.95 × 12, plus VAT
£4 a week minimum; rises with bookings
£20 × 12
£40 × 12, plus VAT
£49 × 12, bespoke website included
Treatwell is left out because it does not publish a subscription price. Timely's figure is the lowest its pricing allows; a busy week costs more.
For a solo barber who only wants a diary and a booking link, we are the most expensive option here. What the extra pays for is a website designed and built for you on your own domain, kept up to date by us, with a new article about your town and your cuts every month. If you do not want that, Square's free plan or Squire's £20 one is hard to argue with.
What a five-chair barbershop pays
Subscription only, at published rates read on 24 October 2026. Squire Pro is its single-location shop plan; Executive (£60) adds SMS marketing, Google review prompts and rent collection. Square Plus is per location and adds waitlists and cancellation fees. Timely shows its lowest weekly price, converted at 52 weeks ÷ 12; a busy shop's booking volume will put it higher.
| Platform | Monthly | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Believe Websites | £49 | Flat, website included |
| Squire Pro | £30 | Flat per shop, no per-barber charge |
| Square Appointments Plus | £29 | Per location, no employee limit |
| Timely Run | from £17.33 | £4 a week minimum, adjusts with bookings |
| Fresha Team | £49.75 | 5 × £9.95, plus VAT |
| Booksy | £60 | £40 + 4 × £5, plus VAT |
| Treatwell | Not published | Price shown after sign-up |
At five chairs, Booksy and Fresha pass us, but Squire, Square and Timely are all cheaper on subscription alone. If the monthly software bill is the only thing you are comparing, one of those three wins. The difference with us is what sits on top: a real website on your own domain, built and changed for you, and nothing taken from any booking.
Why commission minimums hurt barbers
Marketplace commission is quoted as a percentage, but Fresha and Booksy also set a minimum fee per new client: £4 at Fresha, £5 at Booksy. On a £60 colour that minimum never matters. On a £12 beard trim it does, and it turns the headline rate into something much bigger.
Worked examples using each platform's published rate and minimum, read on 24 October 2026. The prices are illustrations, not quotes. Treatwell publishes no minimum on its pricing page. Booksy's fee applies only with Boost switched on. All three are subject to VAT. Squire, Square and Timely charge no new-client commission.
| First visit | Believe Websites | Fresha (20%, min £4) | Booksy Boost (30%, min £5) | Treatwell (35%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £12 beard trim | £0 | £433% of the visit | £542% of the visit | £4.20 |
| £20 skin fade | £0 | £4 | £6 | £7 |
| £30 cut and beard | £0 | £6 | £9 | £10.50 |
It is a one-off fee for a client who may then come back every three weeks, and on all three platforms the repeat visits are commission-free. A barber with a good chair-side manner can turn a lot of those first visits into regulars. The point is to know the number before you switch the marketplace on.
Every platform, one at a time
Squire
The only option here built only for barbershops. Its UK plan cards list Independent at £20 a month for a solo barber, Pro at £30 for a single-location shop with multiple barber accounts, Executive at £60 per shop and Titan at £90 per shop for multi-location brands. Its FAQ says every plan is one flat fee per shop with no per-barber charges, though the same FAQ quotes different US dollar prices from the UK£ cards, so confirm the figure when you sign up.
Squire lists free, unlimited email and text reminders, no-show protection, Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, and Google and Instagram booking. It promises your clients will not be shown to other businesses, so there is no marketplace and no commission. Branded landing pages are a $25-a-month add-on on Executive; there is no bespoke website on your own domain on the pricing page, and card processing rates are not published there.
Square Appointments
Free for a single location, with no employee limit, online booking, a Square Online booking website, card on file, Instagram, Facebook and Google booking buttons, and text and email reminder notifications. Plus is £29 a month per location and adds text and email confirmations, waitlists, cancellation fees and reports; Premium is £69. In-person card payments are 1.75% on Free and 1.6% on the paid plans; online is 1.4% + 25p for UK cards.
No marketplace and no commission. The booking website is Square's own, and the pricing page does not mention a custom domain, so ask before relying on one.
Timely
Three plans billed in GBP: Run from £4 a week, Boost from £7 and Thrive from £9, all with unlimited team members, a 14-day trial and no contract — you give 14 days' notice to cancel. SMS is included and scales with bookings: one per booking on Run, two on Boost, three on Thrive, with extras at 8p, 5p or 4p. In-salon card payments are 1.59% + 5p and online 1.85% + 30p. A branded website is listed in Run, and Timely says it charges no new client fees.
Because the weekly bill is worked out from the number of bookings you take, a busy shop doing lots of 20-minute cuts will pay noticeably more than the "from" price.
Booksy
One plan: £40 a month plus £5 per additional team member, with VAT added, no commitment and a 7-day trial. Appointment confirmations and reminders by text are always free, and you get 500 marketing texts a month before they cost 5p each. Card payments are 1.29% + 20p plus VAT, or 0.99% + 20p plus VAT on Tap to Pay.
Boost is optional and has no monthly fee; when it brings a client, Booksy takes 30% of that first visit, minimum £5. The pricing page offers a Booksy profile and profile link rather than a website on your own domain. There is a full breakdown in Believe Websites vs Booksy.
Fresha
£14.95 a month for one person, £9.95 per bookable team member on Team, excluding 20% tax, with a 7-day trial and no minimum commitment. Smart Website is a £12.95-a-month add-on. You get 20 free texts a month per person, then £0.06 each; automated email is free and unlimited. Online card payments are 1.40% + £0.25 and in person 1.19% + £0.20.
Its marketplace charges 20% of a brand new client's first visit, minimum £4, and nothing on returning clients. The full numbers are in Believe Websites vs Fresha.
Treatwell
Two plans, Freelancer and Advanced, and no monthly price on the pricing page. It publishes its commission instead: 35% on first bookings from new marketplace clients, subject to location, and 0% on repeat bookings. Online prepayments carry a 2.5% + VAT fee. Email notifications and reminders are unlimited; the pricing page does not mention text reminders.
Treatwell lists men's grooming among its categories, but it is best known for hair and beauty. We go through it in detail in Believe Websites vs Treatwell.
Believe Websites
Ours. £49 a month flat for any number of chairs, with a bespoke website designed and built for £0 upfront on your own domain. That covers hosting, unlimited small changes we make for you, your own booking system for unlimited team members, email confirmations and reminders, analytics, a monthly report, an AI Search Readiness score, and a new article about your town and your cuts each month. 0% commission on every booking.
Where we fall short: text reminders and card payments are built but not switched on yet, so today reminders go by email, while Squire, Square, Timely and Booksy all send texts. There is no marketplace, so we will not send you strangers browsing for a fade. And there is a 12-month minimum term, because we build the site for nothing; after that it is month to month and the site can become yours.
What to check before you choose
- Price it at the number of chairs you will have next year, including any you rent out.
- Work out commission at your cheapest service. A minimum fee on a beard trim is a very different rate from the headline one.
- Decide whether you need text reminders now. Squire, Square, Timely and Booksy send texts today; we do not yet.
- Ask what happens to your clients if you leave. A profile on a marketplace stays with the marketplace. A website on your own domain does not.
- Think about how people find a barber now. More of them ask an AI assistant or Google's AI overview for "barber near me for a skin fade". Those answers come from what can be read on the open web — clear service pages, your location, your prices, real reviews.
Common questions
- What is the best booking app for a self-employed barber in the UK?
- On cost alone, Square Appointments, which is free for a single location and includes text and email reminders. Fresha at £14.95 a month, Timely from £4 a week and Squire at £20 a month are the cheapest paid options. Believe Websites, at £49 a month, is the most expensive for one barber, and is the only one that designs and builds a bespoke website on your own domain for you.
- Which barber booking apps do not charge per barber?
- Squire charges one flat fee per shop, Square Appointments has no employee limit, Timely includes unlimited team members, and Believe Websites includes unlimited team members in £49 a month. Booksy charges £5 a month per additional team member and Fresha £9.95 per bookable team member, both plus VAT.
- Which barber booking platforms charge no commission?
- Squire, Square Appointments, Timely and Believe Websites charge no commission on bookings. Booksy charges none unless Boost is on, when it takes 30% of a new client's first visit with a £5 minimum. Fresha takes 20% of a new marketplace client's first visit, minimum £4, and Treatwell takes 35% of a new marketplace client's first booking.
- Is Squire available in the UK?
- Squire's pricing page shows UK£ prices: £20 a month for an individual barber, £30 for a single-location shop, and £60 and £90 per shop for its higher tiers. The FAQ on the same page quotes different US dollar figures, so confirm the price in writing when you sign up.
- Do barber booking apps send text reminders?
- Squire lists free, unlimited email and text reminders; Square includes text and email reminders; Timely includes SMS in every plan; Booksy's text confirmations and reminders are always free; and Fresha gives 20 free texts per person a month. Believe Websites sends email confirmations and reminders today; text reminders are built but not switched on yet.
- Do I get my own website with a barber booking platform?
- Mostly you get a booking page or profile. Square includes a Square Online booking website, Timely a branded website, Fresha a £12.95 a month Smart Website, and Squire branded landing pages as an add-on. Booksy and Treatwell offer profiles. Believe Websites designs and builds a bespoke website on your own domain for £0 upfront, included in £49 a month.
Sources
- Squire pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Square Appointments UK pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Timely pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Booksy UK pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Fresha pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Treatwell UK partner pricing — checked 24 October 2026
- Believe Websites pricing and terms — checked 24 October 2026
Competitors' prices change. Every figure here was read from the company's own public pricing page on the date shown. If something is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.