Best booking apps for beauticians, nail and lash techs (UK)
By Martynas Gecas, Founder, Elite Booker. Updated .
If you work on your own, a booking app has to replace a receptionist: clients book themselves, get reminders and pay a deposit, while you get on with the treatment in front of you. This guide compares what four booking apps charge a one-person UK business, using each provider's own published prices. It is written by Elite Booker, one of the four, so it sticks to published facts and links to every source.
What a one-person beauty business needs
A booking link clients can use from Instagram, Google and messages, without downloading anything. Services with their own durations and prices, so an infill is not booked into a full-set slot. Reminders, a deposit or full payment at booking, and a clear cancellation policy. Consent forms for treatments that need them. And a monthly cost you can predict when you are busy and when you are quiet.
Separate two jobs before comparing: being found by new clients, and managing the clients you already have. Marketplaces charge for the first; your own booking link handles the second.
One-person prices at a glance
Prices are each provider's published UK figures on 10 September 2026, monthly and before VAT unless stated. Open the source links before you decide, because prices change.
Published UK prices for a one-person beauty business, as published on 10 September 2026| App | Monthly price for one person | Fees when clients book |
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| Elite Booker | Basic £0. Professional £9.99 a month. Every plan includes every feature. | No commission. On Basic your client pays a £0.99 booking fee when they pay online; none on Professional, and none when clients pay at your business. |
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| Fresha | Independent £14.95 a month. | 20% once, minimum £4, for eligible new clients introduced by Fresha's marketplace. No marketplace fee on returning clients or direct-link bookings. |
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| Booksy | £40 a month for one user. | No commission on standard bookings with Boost off. Optional Boost: 30% of an eligible new client's first visit, minimum £5, plus VAT. |
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| Treatwell | Freelancer plan. The monthly price is given in a quote. | 35% on first bookings by marketplace-introduced new clients, according to Treatwell's UK FAQ. 0% on repeat bookings. VAT applies. |
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Elite Booker
Your own booking page and website, with no commission on any booking and every feature on every plan: online booking, deposits, email reminders, consent forms, a waiting list and client records. Text reminders are an optional paid add-on. Until you connect Stripe, clients book and pay at your business. Signing up starts a 60-day trial with no card, and we set up your services with you.
Fresha
Fresha's Independent plan is a flat monthly price for one person, and its marketplace can bring new clients for a one-off fee on each new client it introduces. Its plans include a monthly allowance of automated messages, with a charge per message after that.
Booksy
Booksy is popular with barbers and has a consumer app with a marketplace. Its UK subscription is a flat price for one user plus a charge for each extra user. Boost is optional paid promotion with its own fee on eligible new clients.
Treatwell
Treatwell is mainly a marketplace for finding new clients, with a Freelancer plan for people working alone. Commission applies to first bookings by new clients it introduces, and repeat bookings carry none. Ask for a written quote for the Freelancer plan.
Notes by type of business
Nail techs: set separate services for full sets, infills, removals and nail art, each with its own time. Lash techs: list classic, hybrid and volume sets and infills separately, and explain patch-test requirements in the description. Beauticians and beauty therapists: attach consent forms to the treatments that need them.
Barbers and hair stylists: if you also take walk-ins, keep the diary up to date so the same time is not offered online. Massage therapists: offer each treatment length as its own option. Make-up artists who travel to clients: check how each app handles travel, because Elite Booker books appointments at your business address and does not add travel time or a client address.
How to choose
Book, reschedule and cancel three real appointments in each app you trial, on your own phone, and look at what the client sees each time. Then price a normal month: how many clients come from a marketplace, how many pay online and how many reminders you send. The cheapest headline price is not always the cheapest month.
Sources and further reading
See the booking app for beauticians