Fresha Review Australia 2026
The beauty industry's default booking platform — strong marketplace, but watch the lock-in
Fresha is still the beauty default in AU: Independent A$44.95 or Team A$29.95 per bookable member, marketplace reach, and a real POS. The 20% new-client commission (min A$8) and processor fees sit on top. Payments are optional — stored lock-in copy was too strong. Hosting is global, not AU-only, and the public trust pages do not print SOC 2 or ISO 27001. Use it if the marketplace pays for itself; otherwise Timely or Square Appointments are cleaner subscriptions.
- Best for
- Beauty salons, barber shops, nail studios, spas, and wellness clinics wanting an all-in-one booking and management platform with marketplace client acquisition and AUD pricing.
- Not ideal for
- Businesses needing flexible payment processor choices, Australian data sovereignty guarantees, enterprise security certifications, or deep third-party integrations with accounting software.
SoftwareHQ does not currently have an affiliate arrangement with Fresha. Scores are independent of commercial relationships. Affiliate disclosure
Overview
Fresha is all-in-one salon and spa booking software with built-in payments. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom (offices in Sydney, New York, Orlando, Vancouver, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Singapore, Dubai), it serves Australian businesses.
Feature highlights
These highlights come from vendor documentation and editorial analysis of public sources. They are not firsthand test results or a claim that every listed capability was exercised in a trial.
- AU Independent A$44.95 / Team A$29.95
Per bookable member on Team. US $19.95/$14.95 is not the AU card.
- Marketplace 20% (min A$8) on new clients
One-time. Returning marketplace clients are free. Direct/Facebook/Instagram/Google booking links are free.
- Payments are optional
FAQ: you can run calendars without Fresha processing. AU in-person 1.29% + A$0.26 + A$0.12 tap auth.
- Reminders: 20 free SMS then A$0.06
Email notifications free. 50 marketing emails then A$0.03. Deposits and no-show fees are on the payments table.
- Staff calendars on Team
Independent is one calendar column. Team is multiple columns and unlimited members.
- Not AU-sovereign
Privacy lists US/Canada/UK/Australia/UAE/Netherlands/EEA. No SOC/ISO on the pages opened.
AU Compliance Scores
These scores apply to Australian tax, payroll and banking capabilities where they are relevant to Fresha. They are SoftwareHQ editorial judgements from public documentation, not firsthand product tests.
Not applicable means this product type is not scored on that dimension (for example BAS lodgement on a CRM). Not supported means the vendor does not offer it. Unknown means we could not verify it from public sources — that is not the same as unsupported.
Booking/scheduling product. BAS stays in accounting software.
No native AU payroll.
No payroll.
No payroll.
Not a BAS product. Quotes/invoices exist in-product; subscription GST is not printed on the AU pricing table. Processor fees are separate.
Not a bank-feeds product.
When this was checked
Status as of (page snapshot) against a 90-day review target. Checked dates are not updated when the site is rebuilt.
Editorial article date: . That is not proof that pricing, hosting, or compliance was re-checked.
- PricingVerified
Verified — checked 8 September 2026.
AUD AU locale (8 Sep 2026): Independent A$44.95 / Team A$29.95 per bookable member. GST not printed as included. 7-day trial. Marketplace 20% min A$8. Payments optional. US HTML $19.95/$14.95 is a different locale.
- HostingVerified
Verified — checked 8 September 2026.
Operates US/Canada/UK/Australia/UAE/Netherlands/EEA; may transfer outside UK/EEA. Not AU-only. No SOC 2/ISO 27001 on the pages opened.
Pricing (AUD)
All prices below are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. Verified — checked 8 September 2026. Source: fresha.com/pricing.
- Team Members: 1
- Locations: 1
- Bookings: unlimited
- Team Members: per bookable member
- Locations: unlimited
- Bookings: unlimited
- Team Members: 20+
- Locations: unlimited
- Bookings: unlimited
Estimate first-year cost for Fresha
Observed price changes
Recorded when a listed price changed. This is not a complete vendor timeline.
- AU locale still Independent A$44.95 / Team A$29.95. Marketplace min A$8. Payments optional per FAQ.
- Independent · $44.95 → $44.95 · AU locale still Independent A$44.95 / Team A$29.95 per bookable member. Marketplace min A$8. Payments optional.
- Paid Independent/Team subscriptions replaced the old processing-only model.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- AU cards Independent A$44.95 / Team A$29.95
- Marketplace for new clients
- Payments optional
- Deposits and no-show fees when payments are on
- Xero add-on on the AU table
- 7-day trial, no long-term contract
Cons
- 20% (min A$8) on new marketplace clients
- Not AU-sovereign; no SOC/ISO on the pages opened
- GST not printed on the subscription cards
- Xero is an add-on
- SMS after 20 is A$0.06
- US HTML $19.95 is not the AU price
How this review was made
Reviews separate vendor documentation, editorial analysis and firsthand records. They are not interchangeable.
- Vendor documentation — Public pages from Fresha and other sites. Recorded HTTP(S) URLs are listed under Sources. A source URL is a document we recorded, not a claim that every sentence on this page was checked against that URL.
- Editorial analysis — SoftwareHQ's written verdict and scores for Australian buyers. The header score is an editorial assessment, not a user-review average, not a lab result, and not a number derived from how many evidence records exist.
- Firsthand records — This review has no firsthand observation records, trial walkthroughs, or screenshots from a logged-in SoftwareHQ account. Missing tests stay not tested.
This page does not rank products by speed or security from documentation or from evidence count.
Checked by SoftwareHQ Editorial Team. There is no named author profile for this page; attribution stays with the SoftwareHQ editorial team. How we test and the editorial policy for scoring, independence and affiliate rules.
Sources
Public pages recorded when this review was compiled. They are not a checklist that every claim was verified, and they are not evidence of hands-on product testing.
Fresha Alternatives
If Fresha doesn’t quite fit your needs, consider these alternatives for Australian businesses:
- Calendly — Market-leading meeting scheduling and appointment booking platform. Free plan available.
- Acuity Scheduling — Appointment booking and client scheduling platform by Squarespace. From $20/mo ex GST.
- Timely — NZ-made salon booking and payments software for hair and beauty. From $42/mo ex GST.
- Square Appointments — Free booking and POS platform from the Square ecosystem. Free plan available.