Written by Youzse, so read it as one contender's view rather than a neutral one. Every figure below is read from Fresha's and Square's own UK pricing pages on the dates shown in the footnote, and where either company does not publish a number we say so rather than estimating.
Fresha vs Square Appointments vs Youzse, on published UK pricing
| Fresha | Square Appointments | Youzse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | No UK GBP subscription price was published on the checked page. | Free for one location. £29 a month per location on Plus, £69 a month per location on Premium | From £19 a month, flat per business |
| New client commission | No UK marketplace commission was published on the checked Fresha row. | 0%, there is no marketplace | 0% |
| Card in person | No UK card rate was published on the checked Fresha row. | 1.75% on Free, 1.6% on Plus and Premium | 2.5% plus 35p, platform fee included |
| Card online | No UK card rate was published on the checked Fresha row. | 1.4% plus 25p on UK cards | 2.5% plus 35p, platform fee included |
| Consumer marketplace | Yes, the largest in this category | None | Yes, included in the subscription, 0% commission on the clients it brings you |
| Free trial | 7 days | No trial, the Free plan has no time limit | 30 days, no card required |
Fresha figures from fresha.com/pricing. Square figures read from squareup.com/gb on 7 August 2026, VAT treatment not stated on either provider's page. Youzse figures from youzse.app/pricing.
What the choice actually turns on
Fresha and Square are not fighting for the same customer. Fresha is a client discovery engine with a subscription attached, and the 20% fee is the price of that discovery. Square is a payments company that gives away a booking calendar to sell hardware and card processing, and the free plan really is free if one location and its feature list cover you.
If your problem is an empty diary, Square does nothing for you. It has no consumer marketplace, so nobody finds your salon through it who was not already looking for your name. Fresha exists specifically to solve that problem, at a cost.
If your problem is that Fresha's marketplace fee is eating a growing new client base, Square is not the fix either, because it will not replace the demand Fresha was generating. Businesses that move from Fresha to Square usually already have enough demand and are optimising for card cost and till simplicity instead.
Where Youzse fits between them
Youzse charges 0% commission on new clients like Square, but keeps quotes, invoicing, memberships, gift cards and marketing in the same subscription that Fresha bundles for its price and Square mostly does not. The card rate is higher than both, 2.5% plus 35p, because the platform fee lives inside it rather than being charged as a separate line.
Youzse also runs a consumer marketplace, which Square does not, and lists you on it as part of the subscription with no commission on the clients it introduces. It is a newer marketplace than Fresha's and carries less consumer traffic today, so treat it as a bonus rather than a like-for-like replacement for Fresha's reach.
The honest answer to "Fresha or Square" is neither, if what you actually want is to stop paying per new client without giving up the software depth a salon needs beyond a till. That is the gap Youzse is built to sit in.
Where Youzse costs more
Card processing. Square's rates are lower than Youzse's on every plan, and Fresha's are lower too. Youzse's 2.5% plus 35p folds the platform fee into one number on purpose, so if you take a high volume of card payments and rarely win a new client through a marketplace, a lower headline card rate will save you more than 0% commission gains you.
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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