7 Best Fresha Alternatives and Competitors In 2026

Key Takeaways

Pabau is an all-in-one platform covering booking, clinical records, and practice operations.

Timely runs on flat pricing with built-in automation for daily salon management.

Goldie focuses on straightforward booking, reminders, and payments without commissions.

Mindbody centres on class scheduling, memberships, and high-volume calendars.

Fresha is best known for booking and marketplace exposure.

For many businesses, that’s enough. Others reach a point where they need more than scheduling and payments.

That’s why this guide compares the top Fresha alternatives for 2026. You’ll see how they stack up on features, pricing, and what each platform is built for.

Pabau: Best All-In-One Platform

Pabau is an all-in-one practice management platform built for medi-aesthetic clinics.

As a Fresha alternative, it’s designed for teams that need more than scheduling and payments. 

Pabau supports the full clinical and business workflow in a single system:

• Consultations, treatment notes, and medical records
• Consent forms, questionnaires, and documentation
• Before-and-after photos and treatment history
• Payments, reporting, marketing, and automation

There’s no marketplace and no third-party branding. 

Your clinic keeps ownership of the client relationship and the data behind it, something most salon software doesn’t support.

Key features

These are the key features that set Pabau apart from Fresha and other salon management software.

• Clinical records and treatment history

Pabau ties every appointment to a structured Electronic Medical Record (EMR). You can manage:

• Medical history
• Treatment notes
• Before-and-after photos
• Ongoing treatment history

All key details sit inside the client record. This keeps client management consistent across practitioners, treatments, and locations.

• Consent forms and medical documentation

In Pabau, documentation is built into the appointment flow. You can use:

• Digital consent forms
• Medical questionnaires
• Treatment-specific documentation

Forms are sent automatically before the appointment and completed in advance. Consultations start with the required information already in place.

• Reporting and ROI visibility

Pabau provides built-in reporting across clinical and business activity. You can track:

• Revenue
• Bookings
• Client activity
• Practitioner performance
• Inventory and usage

The system includes 50+ pre-built reports, with options to customize or create reports as needed. Data can also be viewed in visual formats such as charts and pie graphs.

See the full list of Pabau features.

Pricing 

More details are available on Pabau’s pricing page.

Where Pabau shines

• Medical-first: EMR and documentation built for regulated treatments.
• Full client journey: Consultation, treatment, follow-up, and retention in one system.
• Growth-ready: Supports larger teams and multi-location practices.

Where Pabau falls short

• Not beauty-first: Clinical depth may be unnecessary for beauty and wellness businesses.
• Onboarding required: More setup than lightweight booking tools.
• Higher entry cost: Better suited to practices planning for growth.

Customer reviews

“Pabau’s booking system has streamlined our operations, improved patient engagement, and freed up valuable staff time. It’s a solid upgrade for any healthcare or wellness practice looking to modernize.” – Christina B., Capterra reviewer

“I love how intuitive Pabau is for managing patient journeys. The integrated appointment scheduling, clinical notes, and treatment photos make it simple to track patient progress and ensure high-quality care.” – Olena K., verified G2 reviewer

Who Pabau is best for

• Medical-aesthetic clinics: Injectables, skin, and IV therapy teams requiring proper clinical structure.
• Multi-location teams: Practices operating at enterprise scale that need visibility, structure, and role-based control.
• Practices replacing multiple tools: Booking, records, payments, reporting in one system.

Acuity Scheduling

Acuity Scheduling is a scheduling software tool built for straightforward appointment management.

It handles real-time availability, confirmations, payment processing, and calendar syncing. Clients can book, reschedule, or cancel on their own.

Compared to Fresha, Acuity skips the marketplace entirely. There are no commissions, no third-party branding, and no competitor exposure during the booking journey.

Key features

• Online scheduling: Clients book through your branded Acuity link with real-time availability.
• Payment processing: Supports Stripe, Square, and PayPal for deposits or full payments.
• Calendar sync: Connects with Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud.

Pricing

Where Acuity Scheduling shines

• Fast setup: Minimal configuration and a short learning curve.
• Affordable entry point: Lower starting cost than most all-in-one platforms.
• No marketplace pressure: You own the booking experience.

Where Acuity Scheduling falls short

• No clinical functionality: No medical records, treatment notes, or structured documentation.
• Limited reporting: Basic appointment and revenue views, with little insight into performance or growth.
• Not built for scale: Lacks automation, permissions, and advanced workflows.

Customer reviews

“Overall, we had a positive experience with Acuity. The online scheduling platform and the business-facing platform were very simple and intuitive to provide a streamlined and clean scheduling and payment solution to the needs of our clinic.” – Ross K., Capterra reviewer

“At times, a confusing admin backend experience. Worst of all was no option for ‘required registration’ and no class pass/membership options at checkout.” – Cory K., Capterra reviewer

Who Acuity Scheduling is best for

• Solo providers: Coaches, therapists, and independent practitioners.
• Small teams: Businesses that only need scheduling and payments.
• Early-stage setups: Teams not yet ready for full practice management.

Timely

Timely is a salon software designed for hair and beauty businesses.

It offers tools like branded online booking, staff scheduling, and payments. Plus, it automates client messages and digital consultation forms to reduce admin.

As a Fresha alternative, it’s often chosen for flat monthly pricing with no commission fees.

Key features

• Online booking: Self-serve online booking that feeds straight into your calendar.
• Staff management: Staff schedules, availability, and appointment assignments.
• Payments: In-salon and online payments, including deposits and cancellation fees.

Pricing

Where Timely shines

• No commission fees: Flat monthly pricing with no cut per booking.
• Loyalty programs: Rebooking prompts, follow-ups, and client loyalty tools.
• Smart automation: Automated confirmations, reminders, and digital consultation forms.

Where Timely falls short

• Costs scale with staff: Total spend rises as teams expand.
• No client discovery: New bookings rely on your own marketing channels.
• Reporting depth varies: Designed for core salon metrics rather than complex analysis.

Customer reviews

“As a customer, utilizing this platform for booking was easy and efficient. I didn’t have any confusion when booking, and I appreciated the aesthetic layout.” – Li G, Capterra reviewer

“I’d like to see more healthcare-related features.” – Shelby G., Capterra reviewer

Who Timely is best for

• Beauty and wellness industries: Hair salons, beauty studios, and spa teams.
• Multi-staff salons: Teams that need structured scheduling without commission-based fees.

For a detailed breakdown, dig into our Fresha vs Timely comparison.

GlossGenius

GlossGenius is a business management platform built for salons, spas, and medspas.

The platform supports daily operations through automated reminders, intake forms, and basic reporting. Its biggest strengths are fast booking flows, a clean interface, and predictable pricing.

Like other Fresha competitors on this list, GlossGenius doesn’t use a marketplace model.

Key features

• Website builder: Create a branded booking site and simple web page without extra fees.
• Payments and Point of Sale (POS): Flat-rate processing with online and in-person checkout.
• Client management: Stores appointment history, notes, and basic records.

Pricing

Where GlossGenius shines

• Predictable pricing: Flat monthly plans with no marketplace commissions.
• Client experience: Fast booking, reminders, and checkout.
• Beauty-first tools: Waitlists, rebooking prompts, and branded booking pages.

Where GlossGenius falls short

• Limited workflow depth: Fewer third-party integrations than Fresha.
• Basic analytics: Reporting tools lack the insight that fast-growing clinics rely on.
• Limited clinical records: Supports SOAP notes and treatment details, but not a full EMR.

Customer reviews

“Super easy to use for my clients of any age to book. I love that I am able to personalize my website so much and make everything look how I want it to.” – Aliyah M, Capterra reviewer

“The website and app on rare occasions has crashed. Clients aren’t able to book appointments, and I am unable to take payments.” – Bianca P, Capterra reviewer

Who GlossGenius is best for

• Independent beauty professionals: Stylists, nail techs, lash artists.
• Beauty-led teams: Salons and spas focused on branding and simple booking.

Goldie

Goldie is a booking and payments platform built for beauty professionals and small salons.

It’s designed to keep day-to-day admin straightforward, without marketplace fees or heavy add-ons.

Many users switch from Fresha to Goldie for predictable costs and a simpler setup.

Key features

• Online booking: Simple self-booking with availability and confirmations.
• Automated reminders: Built-in text reminders to reduce no-shows.
• Payments: Accepts deposits and payments with basic checkout tools.

Pricing

Note: No credit card is required to start. Data migration is included, and subscriptions can be upgraded or downgraded at any time.

Where Goldie shines

• Cost transparency: Flat pricing with no cuts taken from bookings.
• Ease of use: Quick setup and minimal configuration.
• Direct bookings: Clients book with your business, not through a marketplace.

Where Goldie falls short

• Limited depth: Not built for complex workflows or large teams.
• Basic reporting: Insights are minimal compared to larger platforms.
• Payment delays: Some users report slower payout times.

Customer reviews

“Really easy to use, keeps my online booking very simple. I was using Fresha, but just felt like it was way too expensive for what it was.” – Connor J., Capterra reviewer

“Sometimes my money takes days to deposit. Which sometimes causes a delay in my business operations and slows me down from paying employees.” – Jazzlyn J., Capterra reviewer

Who Goldie is best for

• Beauty professionals and small salons: Hair, nails, lashes, and similar services.
• Price-conscious teams: Businesses that want simple booking and predictable monthly costs.

Vagaro

Vagaro is a Fresha alternative for beauty, wellness, and fitness businesses.

It includes tools for booking, payments, marketing, and client management. Marketplace exposure is optional for client discovery.

Compared to Fresha, Vagaro offers more configurability and add-ons. This makes it easier to adapt the platform to different business types and workflows.

Key features

• Online booking: Client self-booking with staff calendars and availability.
• Website builder: Branded booking website connected to your Vagaro account.
• Payroll processing: Built-in payroll with time tracking and commissions.

Pricing

Where Vagaro shines

• POS hardware range: Multiple in-person payment hardware options for checkout and retail.
• Optional marketplace exposure: Client discovery is available but not required.
• Wide integrations: Supports accounting, video, and website tools.

Where Vagaro falls short

• Rising complexity at scale: Managing settings and add-ons becomes harder as teams grow.
• Costs add up: Payroll, marketing, and other extras can increase monthly spend.
• Performance issues: Users report slow load times and booking glitches.

Customer reviews

“I like the look of the calendar. Scheduling and rescheduling are fairly easy. I like that there are lots of add-on options, and I like that I can use the text marketing with ease.” – verified G2 reviewer

“It’s slow. Takes forever to load sometimes. Also, my clients say the self-booking experience online can be very glitchy and not intuitive.“ – verified G2 reviewer

Who Vagaro is best for

• Beauty and wellness businesses: Salons and spas that need more than basic booking.
• Multi-service teams: Practices managing appointments, retail, or classes.

Mindbody

Mindbody is a cloud-based booking and business management platform.

It’s built around classes, memberships, and high-volume schedules, which sets it apart from salon-first tools like Fresha. 

Teams often choose Mindbody for managing busy timetables while driving long-term client retention.

Key features

• Class and group scheduling: Manages classes, waitlists, and instructor schedules.
• Memberships and packages: Supports recurring billing, passes, and class credits.
• Marketing tools: Email, SMS, promotions, and basic lead management.

Pricing

Mindbody uses a quote-based pricing model across all plans. You’ll need to speak with their sales team to get exact costs for Starter, Accelerate, or Ultimate. 

Where Mindbody shines

• Marketplace reach: Client discovery through the Mindbody consumer app.
• Revenue support tools: Built-in marketing, ClassPass access, and financing options support growth.
• Scalable scheduling: Handles busy calendars with multiple instructors and locations.

Where Mindbody falls short

• Feature gating: Key tools often sit behind higher-tier plans.
• Not clinic-focused: Lacks full EMR or structured medical documentation.
• Poor support response: Users frequently report slow ticket resolution and limited live help availability.

Customer reviews

“Mindbody has been helpful at allowing me to showcase the diversity of our services, from workshops to classes to health services. Customer support is top-notch with ready access and very quick follow-up. The application easily integrates with my website using the branded web features as well.” – Willow Wellness I., verified G2 reviewer

“The software is quite expensive compared to others in the market.” – Sara H., verified G2 reviewer

Who Mindbody is best for

• Fitness and wellness studios: Gyms, yoga, pilates, and class-led businesses.
• High-volume teams: Businesses running memberships, packages, and recurring bookings.

Reasons to consider an alternative to Fresha

Fresha is designed for beauty-led booking at scale. That works well for salons. 

It becomes limiting once a business needs documentation, predictability, or long-term control.

These are the most common reasons teams look for Fresha alternatives.

Commission-based pricing

Fresha relies on commission for bookings that come through its marketplace. That means:

• A percentage of revenue goes to Fresha for new client bookings
• Monthly costs vary with booking volume
• High-ticket services generate higher fees

For clinics focused on repeat care and retention, this model can be hard to forecast.

Pabau uses subscription-based pricing, so bookings aren’t subject to commission fees.

Limited clinical functionality

Fresha doesn’t support medical records or structured documentation. There’s no built-in way to manage:

• Medical history or treatment charting
• Consent forms or medical questionnaires
• Before-and-after photo documentation

This creates gaps for aesthetic and medical teams that need consistent, defensible records.

Pabau handles clinical documentation properly, with built-in charting, medical notes, and photo tools.

Time to move beyond Fresha? Book a demo to explore Pabau.

A final word on Pabau

At this point, the difference between Fresha alternatives is clear. 

Most platforms can handle booking. Records, compliance, reporting, and ownership are where platforms start to separate.

Pabau is built for clinics that need those foundations in place, without relying on a marketplace or add-ons.

If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s worth booking a demo.