Commission-free is one of the most abused phrases in this category, and we are not going to pretend Youzse is above the marketing. What we can do is explain precisely what the word can hide, so you can test any claim including ours.
The four things "commission" can mean
A new client fee is a one-time charge when someone who found you through the platform's consumer app books for the first time. Often around 20%, sometimes 30% on promoted listings. This is the big one.
A per booking fee is charged on every appointment regardless of where the client came from. Rare now, but it exists.
A platform fee inside the card rate is a slice of every card payment that funds the software. It is genuinely a cut of your revenue, whether or not anyone calls it commission.
A payout or fast settlement fee is charged for getting your own money sooner. Easy to miss and it recurs.
A platform can honestly say it charges no commission while doing any of the other three. The claim is only meaningful with its qualification attached.
How to test the claim in three questions
What exactly do I pay when a brand new client books me through your app? A straight answer is a percentage and a minimum, or the word nothing. Anything longer is worth reading carefully.
Is your platform fee inside the card rate or charged separately? Both are legitimate. Only one of them is visible on the pricing page, which is why a low card rate is not automatically cheaper.
What do I pay to receive my own money, and how quickly does it arrive by default? Fast payout fees are the quietest recurring charge in this category.
Where Youzse sits, stated precisely
Youzse charges 0% commission on new clients. Someone who discovers your business through the Youzse marketplace and books costs you nothing extra, on that booking or any booking afterwards. There is no per client fee and no per booking fee.
Youzse is not free of charges though, and we would rather write that here than have you find it later. There is a subscription from £19 a month, and card payments are charged at 2.5% plus 35p. The Youzse platform fee lives inside that card rate rather than being billed separately, which is why the rate is higher than some alternatives.
So the honest comparison is not "commission versus no commission". It is one number that is slightly higher on every card payment, against a much larger number charged each time you win someone new. Which is cheaper depends on how fast you are growing.
The questions worth asking
- What do I pay when a new client books me for the first time?
- Is there a minimum fee per new client?
- Is there any per booking charge?
- Is the platform fee inside the card rate or extra?
- What does it cost to get paid out faster?
- Are prices quoted with or without VAT?
- Does the fee apply again if that client returns?
- Can I export my client list, including clients the platform introduced?
Keep reading
- Choosing software
Choosing an online booking system in the UK
What a UK small business should look for in an online booking system: VAT handling, UK GDPR, card rates in pounds, British date formats and support in your timezone.
- Choosing software
Do you actually need booking software?
A straight answer for UK service businesses. When a paper diary is genuinely fine, the four signs you have outgrown it and how to work out whether software pays for itself.
- Choosing software
Booking software you can actually change
How far booking software should bend to your business: dashboards, menus, feature switches, branded invoices and your own wording. What to test before you commit.