For UK salons, barbers and beauty pros who would rather build their own name than a listing inside someone else’s marketplace.
People searching for a Booksy alternative are usually not unhappy with the software. Booksy is a fairer deal than it often gets credit for, and with Boost switched off you are not paying commission at all. What tends to prompt the move is the shape of it: a listing alongside your competitors, and pricing that climbs with every chair. Here is how the two compare.
| How they compare | Booksy | Aasure |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription, priced per team member | Flat monthly fee for the business |
| Marketplace commission | Optional. With Boost on, a commission on a new client's first visit; repeat visits are free | None. There is no marketplace |
| New-client discovery | A marketplace listing, plus paid Boost promotion | You drive traffic from Instagram, Google and referrals |
| Client ownership | Clients book inside the Booksy brand and app | Your booking page, your URL, your exportable client list |
| Branding | Your salon, inside Booksy's app | Your name on every screen |
| Beyond bookings | Strong salon scheduling, POS and marketing messages | Bookings plus client records, invoicing, follow-ups and retention |
| Best fit | Salons that want marketplace discovery and app-based booking | Independent pros running an established client base |
Booksy is a serious platform, and there are good reasons to stay on it:
Aasure fits once the client list, rather than the listing, is the asset:
The commission argument that people make against pure marketplaces lands more softly on Booksy. Boost is opt-in, it only charges on a new client's first visit, and every booking after that is yours. If someone tells you Booksy takes a cut of everything, they're wrong.
The stronger argument is ownership. A client who found you inside an app that lists your competitors alongside you is a client the app introduced, and the app knows it. That's a reasonable trade when you're starting. It's a worse one when your diary is already full of people who would have found you anyway. The full breakdown of what marketplace booking really costs.
Yes, for independent salons and barbers who want their own booking page, their own client list, and a flat monthly fee rather than per-seat pricing. Booksy is built around marketplace discovery and an app; Aasure is built around running an independent practice.
No. Booksy's commission applies through its optional Boost feature, and only on the first visit of a new client the marketplace introduces. Repeat bookings from that client, and any client you bring yourself, are not charged commission.
You lose the marketplace listing, so you lose whatever discovery it was producing. If that number is small — and for established salons it usually is — the trade is easy. If it isn't, keep the listing for new clients and run regulars through your own page.
The free Client Lifetime Value Calculator shows what one regular is worth over the years they stay with you — the number that makes marketplace economics make sense, or not.
Open the calculator → Or read: The Hidden Cost of Marketplace Booking Apps →See how Aasure stacks up against Fresha or Treatwell (both marketplaces). Or browse all comparisons.