Scheduling & Booking · head to head
Fresha vs Square Appointments
Square Appointments
Scheduling & Booking
Free scheduling for beauty businesses
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Fresha fresha charges a 50 percent one time commission on each new client booked through its marketplace, subject to a minimum fee per client; Square Appointments the free plan is aimed at solo professionals; booking across multiple staff requires the paid Plus plan
- They diverge on capability: Fresha covers Appointment management, Square Appointments covers Client management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Fresha and Square Appointments actually diverge.
| Attribute | Fresha | Square Appointments |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | free | subscription |
| Founded | 2015 | 2009 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Scheduling & Booking).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Fresha
- Appointment management
- Client database
- Inventory management
- Staff scheduling
- Marketing tools
- Reports & analytics
- Apple Calendar
Only in Square Appointments
- Client management
- Payment processing
- Automated reminders
- Instagram booking
- Google booking
- Mobile app
- Square POS
- Google My Business
Both cover
- Online booking
- Point of sale
- Google Calendar
- PCI DSS
- SSL encryption
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Fresha
- Running appointment booking and point of sale for salons and spasnot Square Appointments
- Attracting new clients through the Fresha consumer marketplacenot Square Appointments
- Sending appointment reminders and marketing campaigns to clientsnot Square Appointments
Square Appointments
- Online appointment booking for salons, barbers and personal servicesnot Fresha
- Taking card payments and deposits at the time of bookingnot Fresha
- Managing staff calendars, waitlists and no-show policiesnot Fresha
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Fresha
- Fresha charges a 50 percent one time commission on each new client booked through its marketplace, subject to a minimum fee per client
- Online card payments carry a 4.90 percent plus fixed fee per transaction charge on top of the subscription
- Only 20 SMS or WhatsApp notifications and 50 marketing emails are free each month; everything beyond that is billed per message
- Team and Enterprise plans are quoted as custom rates with no published figure
- Add ons such as Team Connect and Insights are billed per team member per month on top of the plan
- Enterprise pricing applies to businesses with 20 or more team members
Square Appointments
- The free plan is aimed at solo professionals; booking across multiple staff requires the paid Plus plan
- Cancellation policies, no-show fees and waitlists require the Plus plan
- Resource management, service cost tracking and the future bookings report require the Premium plan
- Custom processing rates are reserved for Square Pro, which is aimed at businesses processing over $250,000 a year
- Card processing fees are charged on top of the plan fee on every tier including the free one
Pricing, plan by plan
Fresha
Free- FreeFree
- Unlimited appointments
- Unlimited staff
- Online booking
- Payments (Add-on)$2.19/transaction
- Card payments
- Contactless payments
- Online payments
- Marketing (Add-on)$0.01/message
- Email campaigns
- SMS marketing
- Automated messages
Square Appointments
Free- FreeFree
- Unlimited appointments
- Online booking
- Client management
- Plus$29/month
- Everything in Free
- Multiple staff calendars
- No-show protection
- Premium$69/month
- Everything in Plus
- Multi-location
- Staff management
Which should you pick?
Choose Fresha if
- You need appointment management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want client database.
Choose Square Appointments if
- You need client management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want payment processing.
Questions people ask
- Is Fresha or Square Appointments better?
- Neither clearly leads. Fresha starts at Free and Square Appointments at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Fresha or Square Appointments?
- Fresha starts at Free and Square Appointments at Free.
- Does Fresha or Square Appointments run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Fresha for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Fresha best used for?
- Fresha is most often used for running appointment booking and point of sale for salons and spas, attracting new clients through the fresha consumer marketplace, sending appointment reminders and marketing campaigns to clients. Of those, running appointment booking and point of sale for salons and spas and attracting new clients through the fresha consumer marketplace are not what Square Appointments is typically brought in for.
- What can Fresha do that Square Appointments cannot?
- Fresha covers Appointment management, Client database, Inventory management, Staff scheduling. Square Appointments covers Client management, Payment processing, Automated reminders, Instagram booking. Both handle Online booking, Point of sale, Google Calendar, Instagram.