Own your customers instead of renting them from a marketplace.
Fresha is a huge beauty marketplace — 25M+ shoppers, built-in payments, POS — but your shop is listed alongside the competition, and new marketplace customers carry a 20% commission. HotSeat gives you a branded booking link that is yours alone, guest checkout, and one flat monthly bill with 0% commission.
Choose HotSeat to keep your customers — and your revenue — yours.
Fresha genuinely earns its place if you want a consumer marketplace to find you new customers and an all-in-one commerce suite with card payments, deposits, and no-show protection. The trade-off: brand-new customers discovered through the marketplace carry a 20% one-time commission (CA$6 minimum), messaging is metered beyond a small free tier, and your shop shares that marketplace with nearby competitors. HotSeat makes the opposite bet — a private, branded booking link, customers who are yours from the first visit, and one flat subscription with no commission and no per-booking cut.
HotSeat is best for
Independent, appointment-based local businesses (salons, barbershops, nail studios, lash and brow bars, tattoo studios, med spas and massage studios) that want to own their customer list, keep 100% of their booking revenue, and get a branded booking link live fast — not run a marketplace listing or configure a full commerce suite.
Fresha is best for
Beauty and wellness businesses that want marketplace discovery from 25M+ shoppers and an all-in-one commerce suite — card payments, deposits, no-show protection, POS, and inventory — in one place.
HotSeat keeps the booking path closer to your brand.
Your booking link is yours alone — HotSeat never lists your shop in a marketplace next to the competition, and never charges a commission on the customers you bring.
Keep 100% of your booking revenue — a flat monthly subscription with 0% commission, no per-booking fee, and no cut of your sales.
Customers book on your own branded link with guest checkout — name, email and phone, no app or account to download.
What changes in day-to-day use.
Last verified July 10, 2026
| Feature | HotSeat | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Customer path | HotSeatCustomers book on your own branded HotSeat link with guest checkout — name, email and phone, no app or account — and the relationship stays yours. | FreshaFresha gives you a booking link, but your shop also lives in the Fresha Marketplace (25M+ shoppers) alongside other businesses; new customers who discover you there carry a 20% one-time commission (CA$6 minimum). |
| Who owns the customer | HotSeatEvery customer who books is yours from the first visit — your list, your relationship, no fee to reach them again. | FreshaReturning customers are free, but the marketplace that brings you a new customer can just as easily show your customers a competitor — discovery cuts both ways. |
| Setup motion | HotSeatAdd your services, staff, and hours and share a live booking link the same afternoon — no implementation project. | FreshaFresha is a broader platform — payments, POS, inventory, marketing, and add-ons — so there is more to configure before you are live. |
| Pricing shape | HotSeatOne flat monthly subscription by team size. HotSeat takes 0% — no marketplace commission, no per-booking fee, and no cut of your sales. | FreshaIndependent CA$29.95/month and Team CA$19.95 per team member/month, plus card processing (2.29% in-person or 2.79% online + CA$0.20) and messaging metered beyond a small free tier. |
| Best-fit operator | HotSeatAn independent local business that runs on appointments and wants to own its customers, keep its revenue, and start taking bookings fast. | FreshaA beauty or wellness business that wants marketplace discovery and a full commerce suite in one ecosystem. |
You want to own the customer relationship and keep 100% of your booking revenue — no commission, no per-booking fee, no cut.
You want a branded booking link live fast and a focused tool, not Fresha's broader platform to learn and configure.
Guest checkout matters: your customers book in seconds with name, email and phone — no account or app to download.
Fresha's marketplace genuinely puts you in front of 25M+ shoppers actively looking to book — real new-customer discovery HotSeat does not offer.
Fresha handles card payments, deposits, and no-show protection inside the tool; HotSeat leaves payments to you (in person or your own processor).
If you want POS, inventory, and commerce alongside booking, Fresha is the broader all-in-one suite.
Source-backed, not savings math.
Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's official site before switching tools.
In Canada, Fresha lists an Independent plan at CA$29.95 per month and a Team plan at CA$19.95 per bookable team member monthly (US pricing is US$19.95 and US$14.95).
Brand-new customers discovered through the Fresha Marketplace carry a 20% one-time commission with a CA$6 minimum; Fresha says no fee applies to returning customers.
Fresha card processing is listed at 2.29% + CA$0.20 in person and 2.79% + CA$0.20 online, and messaging is metered beyond a free allowance (about CA$0.03 per text, CA$0.02 per marketing email).
Competitor prices are as of July 10, 2026 and shown in the currency each vendor lists (US$ unless marked CA$). Vendors localize and change pricing often — confirm current pricing, in your own currency, on the vendor's page before switching.
Common switching questions.
Is HotSeat a Fresha alternative?
Yes — HotSeat is the direct-booking alternative. It is built around your own branded link and your customer relationship, while Fresha adds a consumer marketplace and a full commerce suite. If marketplace discovery is not the goal, HotSeat keeps every customer, and 100% of the revenue, yours.
Does HotSeat charge a marketplace commission or take a cut of my sales?
No. HotSeat charges a flat monthly subscription and takes 0% — no marketplace commission and no per-booking cut, so you keep 100% of your booking revenue. HotSeat does not process payments between you and your customers, so there are no HotSeat processor fees; you collect payment in person or with your own processor.
When is Fresha the better choice?
When you actively want new-customer discovery from Fresha's 25M+ marketplace, or you want built-in card payments, deposits, no-show protection, and POS in one platform.
Will I lose my customers if I leave Fresha for HotSeat?
Your returning customers are yours either way. On HotSeat they book on your own branded link with guest checkout, so you keep the relationship directly instead of through a marketplace profile. Confirm your data-export options with Fresha before you switch.
Fresha pricing
Plan pricing, marketplace commission, card processing rates, messaging fees, and add-ons.
HotSeat pricing
Current HotSeat public pricing and included platform positioning.
Last verified July 10, 2026. Everything here describing Fresha — features and plan scope as well as pricing — summarises Fresha's own published material as it stood on July 10, 2026. Vendors change their products and plans without notice, so treat it as a comparison written on that date rather than a statement of what Fresha offers today, and check Fresha's own site for the current details.
HotSeat is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Fresha. Fresha and every other product name, logo, and brand named on this page are the property of their respective owners and are used only to identify the products being compared.