Written by Youzse, so read it as one contender's view rather than a neutral one. Fresha's figures are read from its own UK pricing page. Phorest publishes no plan price at all, named plans only (Starter, Grow, Ultimate and Elite), each behind a request a quote button, read from phorest.com on 7 August 2026. Where Phorest gives no number, this page says so rather than estimating one.
What each side actually publishes
| Fresha | Phorest | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | No UK GBP subscription price was published on the checked page. | Not published. Four named plans, each behind a quote request |
| New client commission | No UK marketplace commission was published on the checked Fresha row. | Not applicable. Phorest runs no consumer marketplace, so it sells no leads to charge for |
| Free trial | 7 days | None. Phorest offers a full demo instead and says so directly on its own site |
| Card processing | No UK card rate was published on the checked Fresha row. | PhorestPay, powered by Stripe. Rate not published |
| Who it targets | Salons and barbers of any size, marketplace led | Growing salons and clinics, described as built for three or more staff |
Fresha figures from fresha.com/pricing. Phorest details read from phorest.com on 7 August 2026.
Two different sales models, not two different products
Fresha is built to be shopped without talking to anyone: read the price, weigh the 20% commission against how much marketplace demand you expect, sign up. Phorest is built to be sold on a call, with a demo that walks a busy owner through the product rather than leaving them to work it out alone. Phorest is explicit that this is deliberate, not an oversight.
That makes "which is cheaper" impossible to answer from the outside for Phorest's half of the question. What is answerable is the trade each one is making: Fresha's marketplace commission is a real, ongoing cost that scales with how well the marketplace performs for you. Phorest's quote is a one-time unknown that becomes a real, comparable number the moment you have it, and stays fixed for the length of your contract.
Before you compare a Phorest quote against Fresha's published price
- Get the Phorest monthly figure for your exact staff count in writing, and whether it is quoted including or excluding VAT
- Ask which of the four Phorest plans the figure covers and what moving up a tier adds
- Ask for the PhorestPay card rate as a percentage and a pence figure, since it is not published anywhere
- Model your real new-client volume against Fresha's 20% commission rather than the headline subscription alone
- Add twelve months of card fees at each provider's real rate before comparing any two numbers
Where Youzse fits
Youzse publishes its price like Fresha, from £19 a month, and charges 0% commission on new clients. Phorest reaches the same 0% by running no marketplace at all, while Youzse runs one, lists you on it as part of the subscription and still charges nothing on the clients it brings you. It is a smaller marketplace than Fresha's today. The card rate is higher than Fresha's at 2.5% plus 35p, with the platform fee folded into that single number, and the trial is 30 days with no card required, longer than Fresha's and Phorest offers none at all.
How we worked this out
Every figure quoted for another platform was taken from that company's own UK pricing page on the date shown at the bottom of this page. Where a platform does not publish a number, we have left it out rather than estimating it.
Watch the VAT treatment when you compare. Booksy publishes its subscription and card fees plus VAT. Fresha and Vagaro publish theirs without that note. Check what each provider will actually invoice you before you decide.
These platforms change their plans. If you spot something out of date here, tell us and we will correct it.
Third-party pricing and features on this page were last checked on 7 August 2026. Rival platforms change their plans, so check their own site before you decide.
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