The honest comparison
LushLane vs Booksy, Treatwell, Fresha, Square & Timely
We built LushLane because UK salons were paying too much, losing clients to platform marketplaces, and getting locked into payment systems they didn't choose. Here's exactly how we compare to the 5 biggest names — feature by feature, fee by fee.
LushLane vs Booksy, Treatwell, Fresha, Square & Timely
Side-by-side comparison of LushLane against the five biggest UK salon booking platforms — Booksy, Treatwell, Fresha, Square Appointments and Timely — on price, commission, card fees and included features.
At a glance
Why salons are switching to LushLane
Every other platform on this page either takes a cut of your bookings, charges per staff, locks you into their payments, or markets to your clients on your behalf. LushLane does none of that.
0% booking commission
Treatwell takes up to 35% on new clients. Fresha takes 20%. Booksy charges per Marketplace Boost. We take £0.
£22 flat — never per seat
3 staff included. Add more for £5 each. No surprise bills when you grow.
You own your client list
Marketplace platforms keep your clients on their app. With LushLane the relationship is yours — always.
Free 1-page website
Booksy gives you a profile. Treatwell gives you a listing. We give you a real website with your own book-now button.
Memberships, gift cards & Google sync
All built-in. No add-ons, no premium tiers, no extra monthly fees.
2 months free, then £22
Try the entire platform with zero risk before you pay a penny.
Side by side
The full comparison table
Scroll right on mobile — the Feature column stays pinned. Pricing taken from public UK plans, subject to change.
| ★ Best value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature | LushLane | Booksy | Treatwell | Fresha | Square Appointments | Timely |
| Monthly price | £22/mo | £40/mo | From ~£30/mo + VAT | Free base + 20% on new clients | £29/mo (Plus) | From ~£42/mo |
| Staff included | Up to 3 included | Per location | Per staff add-on | 2 included, then per seat | Per location | 2 included, then per seat |
| Booking commission | 0% | 0% (but +£20 per new client via Marketplace Boost) | Up to 35% on every new Marketplace client | 20% on Marketplace bookings + 2.19% card | 0% | 0% |
| Card fee | 1.5% + 20p | 1.99% + 20p | 2.5% | 1.29% + 20p (Fresha Pay) | 1.75% in-person · 2.5% online | 1.75% + 25p (TimelyPay) |
| Free trial | 2 months free | 14 days | Limited | Free tier | 30 days | 14 days |
| Website included | Yes — free 1-page site | Basic profile only | Treatwell-branded listing | Fresha profile | Square site builder | Timely mini-site |
| Import existing clients | 1-click CSV/paste | Manual or paid migration | Manual | CSV upload | CSV | CSV |
| Memberships / subscriptions | Yes — Stripe-powered | Add-on (extra cost) | No | Yes (paid add-on) | Add-on (Square subscription product) | Yes (Premium plan only) |
| Gift cards | Digital + printable | Digital only | Treatwell-branded only | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google Business Profile sync | Daily auto-sync | No | No | No | No | No |
| WhatsApp chat & book | Chat & book button | No | No | No | No | No |
| Instagram & TikTok book-now | Instagram, TikTok, Linktree | Manual link only | Treatwell link only | Manual link | Manual link | Manual link |
| Staff payroll system | Built-in payroll & commission | No — use a 3rd-party tool | No | Basic timesheets only | Square Payroll (separate £35+/mo) | Commission tracking only |
| Product inventory & retail | Retail & back-bar stock | Limited (paid add-on) | No | Yes (paid plan) | Yes (Square Retail add-on) | Yes (Premium plan) |
| Marketing & promotions suite | Email, SMS, win-back, loyalty | Boost ads only (extra cost) | Treatwell campaigns (extra commission) | SMS & email (extra per-message fees) | Square Marketing (extra £15+/mo) | Yes (Premium plan only) |
| Payments | Stripe (yours) | Booksy Pay | Treatwell Pay | Fresha Pay only | Square only | TimelyPay or Stripe |
| Client ownership | You own your client list | Shared — Booksy markets your clients | Treatwell owns the client relationship | Fresha controls Marketplace clients | You keep clients, locked into Square hardware | You own clients |
| Notes | Loyalty, promo codes, portfolio, analytics included | Marketplace can promote competitors above you | High visibility but heavy commission tax | Free sounds great, but new-client fees stack fast | Best if you already use Square POS | Powerful but expensive — Premium tier needed for full features |
Pricing & commission accurate as of publication based on each provider's public UK pricing pages. Some providers offer regional discounts or hidden enterprise tiers.
Real numbers
How much you actually save
Worked examples for a typical 3-staff UK salon doing 200 bookings a month at £45 average ticket (£9,000/mo revenue, ~30% from new clients).
vs Treatwell
You save ~£950+/month. 35% on £2,700 of new-client revenue = £945 commission, plus their monthly fee. LushLane: £22.
vs Fresha
You save ~£540+/month. 20% on £2,700 = £540 in Marketplace fees. LushLane: £22 flat, no Marketplace tax.
vs Booksy
You save ~£18+/mo plus Boost fees. Booksy is £40/mo before any client-acquisition spend. LushLane includes everything for £22.
vs Square Plus
You save ~£7/month + setup. Square is £29/mo with no memberships, no gift card design, no GBP sync, no free website.
vs Timely
You save ~£20+/month. Timely starts around £42 and locks the best features (memberships, marketing) behind Premium.
Your first 2 months
Free. Zero. £0. Every other platform on this page bills you from day 1 (or day 14, at best).
Make the switch
Stop renting your salon from Booksy and Treatwell
Try LushLane free for 2 months. Import your existing clients in 1 click. Keep 100% of every booking. Cancel anytime.