Treatwell Fees Explained: What UK Salons Pay in 2026

If you run a salon, a barbers or a beauty room and Treatwell is on your shortlist, the pricing page gives you the headline and leaves you to do the sums. That's what this guide is for.

We've taken every Treatwell fee we could find on its own UK pages, put each one in plain English, and run the numbers on a single £40 appointment so you can see where the money goes. One thing up front: we build booking systems for salons, so we sell an alternative. We'll say where that alternative is the wrong answer, too.

Is Treatwell free for salons?

No, although the buttons on its partner pricing page say "Start for free". Further down, Treatwell's own FAQ mentions "your monthly fee" alongside commission. So there is a subscription. The page just doesn't say what it costs.

There are two plans. Freelancer is built for one person working alone. Advanced adds unlimited team members at no extra cost, which means the fee doesn't climb every time you take on a stylist. Both come with the diary, a profile on the Treatwell marketplace, email reminders, sales reports and a till for checkout.

Because the price isn't on the page, you'll get it from Treatwell directly. Its partner terms say fees and commission are set out in your own partner agreement, and that the commission can be changed by Treatwell over time. So get the monthly figure in writing, next to the commission rate, before you sign. That one number decides whether the maths later in this guide works for you.

Every Treatwell fee, in plain English

1. The 35% new-client commission

This is the big one. When somebody finds you on the Treatwell marketplace and books you for the first time, Treatwell keeps 35% of that first booking. Its plan cards add that new-client commission is "subject to location", so check the rate for your postcode before you rely on it.

Treatwell also says that all its commissions and fees are subject to VAT. The UK standard rate is 20%, according to GOV.UK's VAT rates page. If your salon isn't VAT-registered, you can't claim that back, so 35% becomes 42% of the booking. If you are registered, your accountant can reclaim it and the cost stays at 35%.

2. Who counts as a "new" client

This decides how often you pay that commission, and it's in Treatwell's partner terms rather than on the pricing page. A marketplace booking counts as new when:

• the client isn't in your client list at all, or
• they were added more than 365 days ago and haven't had a completed appointment with you in the last 365 days, or
• they were added in the last year, but only from an appointment that never actually went ahead.

Every other booking counts as a repeat, and repeat bookings carry no commission. The second rule is the one to watch. If a regular drifts away for over a year and then finds you again on the app, Treatwell treats them as a new client and you pay commission again.

Clients who book you directly are commission-free as well. Treatwell lists calls, texts, WhatsApps, clients you add yourself, and the "Book Now" button on your own social media and website.

3. The 2.5% online prepayment fee

If a client pays online in advance, Treatwell charges 2.5% of that payment, plus VAT. It only applies to prepaid bookings. Treatwell presents prepayment as a way to cut no-shows, so you're trading a small slice of the booking for a client who has already paid.

4. Card payments in the salon

Treatwell has its own payments service. According to its payments page, card payments through its machine cost 1.1% + 20p each, and the machine itself is a one-off £199. Tap to Pay on your own phone costs the same 1.1% + 20p, with no hardware to buy. These prices are shown before VAT. Money comes to you daily, weekly or every two weeks (the default), at no extra charge. Busy salons are invited to ask for a custom rate.

Treatwell fees at a glance

Everything in this table comes from Treatwell's own UK pages, read on 18 September 2026. "Not published" means the figure isn't on the page. It doesn't mean there's no charge.

What a £40 appointment really leaves you

Percentages are hard to picture, so here's one £40 treatment booked three different ways. We've added VAT to the commission as if the salon isn't VAT-registered, and we've left the monthly fee out because Treatwell doesn't publish it.

One note on the first line: it assumes the client paid the full £40 online. If you only take a deposit online, the 2.5% fee applies to the deposit, so that part of the cost is smaller. The commission stays the same.

The first line is the one to look at. Treatwell's share of a new client's first visit is about 45% of the price. Your costs don't go down for that visit: the chair, the products and your time cost the same. If that treatment normally leaves you a thin margin, a first visit through the marketplace might make you almost nothing.

But the first visit isn't the whole story. If that client comes back three more times, the £18.00 is spread over four appointments, which works out at £4.50 a visit. If they never come back, you've done a £40 treatment for £22.00.

So the number that matters isn't the commission rate. It's how many of your Treatwell first-timers become regulars. Check your own diary for that before you decide anything.

When Treatwell is worth paying for

Treatwell charges for introductions, and new clients are hard to win. For plenty of salons the deal is a fair one. It tends to pay when:

• you've just opened, or moved, and almost nobody knows you exist yet
• you have quiet weekday slots that would otherwise earn nothing
• you're launching a treatment and need people to try it
• you're good at turning a first visit into a rebooking before the client leaves

It pays less when most of your diary is already regulars, when your clients mostly find you on Google or through friends, or when the treatment is a one-off that people rarely repeat. In each case you're paying for introductions you didn't need, or getting only one visit for your money.

One practical point before you join. Treatwell's FAQ says it doesn't sync with other salon management systems. If you already run your diary somewhere else, joining Treatwell means moving your whole diary onto it, not just adding another place to take bookings.

Can you leave Treatwell and keep your clients?

Yes, as far as Treatwell's own pages go. Its partner terms let you end the agreement for any reason with 30 days' notice, and its pricing FAQ says your data stays the property of your salon, even after you cancel. The terms don't mention a minimum contract length.

What the pages don't say is how you get your client list out, or in what format. Ask that before you sign, not when you're already leaving. Also remember that your marketplace profile, and the reviews on it, belong to Treatwell's app, so they stay there when you go.

The best protection is to start early. Whenever a marketplace client rebooks, send them your own booking link for next time. You don't pay commission on repeat visits anyway, but moving them to your link means they'll keep booking you if you ever leave the app.

How Treatwell's commission compares with Fresha's

Fresha, the other marketplace most UK salons consider, charges 20% once on a new marketplace client, with a £4 minimum, and nothing on returning clients. Unlike Treatwell, it publishes its monthly price. We've broken down every Fresha charge line by line in a separate guide, and a full side-by-side of the two platforms is next on our list.

One quick comparison on commission alone: on a £40 first booking, 20% is £8 and 35% is £14. That gap counts more the more new clients you take from the app. If neither platform suits you, you have other options.

We compared the other booking platforms UK salons are switching to, including the flat-fee ones with no marketplace at all.

The other route: a booking system you own

This is the part where we're biased, because it's what we build. A booking system on your own website means no commission on anybody, new or old, and no platform setting the terms. Our Booking Pro build costs £2,500 once, then £59 a month to keep it hosted, updated and supported.

To put that in Treatwell terms: at £40 a booking, commission plus VAT comes to £16.80 per new client. Around 149 new marketplace clients would cost you about the same as the whole build. That isn't a like-for-like comparison, though. Treatwell brings you the client, while an owned system only takes the booking. You still have to get people to your site.

That's why we'd only recommend owning your booking once most of your clients already find you themselves. Fresh Face Aesthetics in Wath upon Dearne is a good example. Rachel Boothroyd is a nurse prescriber with a 5.0 rating from 151 reviews, but those reviews were on Faces, a different booking platform, and anyone wanting an appointment had to go through her Instagram profile to find the booking page. We built her a site where every treatment is priced on one page and books through a five-step flow that only offers the days she works. You can see it in our portfolio.

If the missing piece is getting new clients rather than taking bookings, that's a marketing job. That's the work our social media service for salons does.

Frequently asked questions

Want a second opinion on your numbers?

If you're on Treatwell now, or about to be, send us a message on WhatsApp or ring 01709 225755. We'll run our free 10-point check over your site and your Google listing, look at where your clients actually come from, and tell you honestly whether the marketplace is still earning its commission. If it is, we'll say so.