The Core Difference
Fresha started as Shedul in 2015, a free booking tool for salons. It rebranded to Fresha in 2020 and grew into one of the largest beauty and wellness marketplaces globally, with over 100,000 businesses on the platform.
It's a booking marketplace with business management tools bolted on. Clients discover you through the Fresha app, book appointments, and you manage your day from there. Think Treatwell or Booksy, but with a broader feature set.
Aestheticc is clinic management software for medical aesthetics. No marketplace. Your patients book directly with you through your own website. The system handles clinical records, consent workflows, treatment protocols, and compliance tracking alongside bookings and payments.
If you're a nail salon wanting foot traffic from a marketplace, Fresha is a strong option. If you're an aesthetic clinic injecting Botox and managing clinical records, the requirements are different.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Aestheticc | Fresha | |---------|-----------|--------| | Built for medical aesthetics | Yes | Partial (medspa features added) | | Marketplace discovery | No | Yes (large global marketplace) | | Clinical consent forms | Yes (photo capture, e-signatures, auto-linked) | Basic consent forms | | Treatment protocols | Yes (injection mapping, units by area) | No | | Before/after photos | Yes (clinical-grade, linked to records) | Basic photo storage | | CQC compliance tracking | Yes | No | | Online booking | Yes (your website) | Yes (Fresha app + your profile) | | Payment processing | Yes (Stripe, your rates) | Fresha-only (1.19%+ per transaction) | | Client ownership | Full. Your data, your relationship | You own data, but clients browse competitors on the marketplace | | SMS/email reminders | Yes (included) | 20 free texts/month, then £0.05 each | | Marketing automation | Yes (included) | 50 free emails/month, then £0.02 each | | Inventory management | Basic | Yes | | POS terminal | Via Stripe Terminal | Yes (£99 per device) | | UK-focused | Yes | Global (London HQ) |
Pricing
| Cost | Aestheticc | Fresha | |------|-----------|--------| | Solo practitioner | £39/month (everything included) | £14.95/month + fees | | Team (per member) | £69/month (2-5 team) | £9.95/month per bookable member + fees | | Payment processing | Stripe rates | 1.19% + £0.20 (in-person), 1.40% + £0.25 (online) | | Marketplace commission | N/A | 20% one-time fee on new marketplace clients (min £4) | | SMS after free allowance | Included | £0.05 per message | | Marketing emails after free | Included | £0.02 per email | | Loyalty programme | Included | £49.95/location/month | | Advanced insights | Included | £7.95/team member/month |
Fresha's headline price is lower. That's real. But the total cost depends on your volume. Every card payment carries a processing fee, every new marketplace client costs 20% of their first booking, and features like loyalty programmes and advanced reporting are paid add-ons.
For a solo practitioner doing 80 appointments a month with an average ticket of £150, the processing fees alone add roughly £155-160/month on top of the subscription. With Aestheticc at £39/month using Stripe's standard rates, your processing costs are separate but transparent, and everything else is included.
Check fresha.com/pricing for current rates.
The Real Cost of "Affordable"
Fresha's pricing model is clever. The subscription is low enough that it feels like a bargain. But the business model relies on stacking fees:
- Subscription fee. £14.95/month solo, or £9.95 per team member.
- Payment processing on every transaction. You must use Fresha's built-in processor. You cannot connect Stripe, Square, or any other provider. Every card payment costs 1.19% + £0.20 at minimum.
- Marketplace commission. When a new client finds you through the Fresha marketplace, Fresha takes 20% of that first booking (minimum £4). Great clients from the marketplace become free after their first visit, but at 20% that first appointment isn't cheap.
- Communication fees. You get 20 free texts and 50 free marketing emails per month. After that, you pay per message.
- Premium add-ons. Loyalty programmes (£49.95/month), advanced insights (£7.95/member/month), Google Rating Boost (£12.95/month). These add up quickly.
None of this is hidden. Fresha is transparent about it on their pricing page. But the total cost of running your clinic on Fresha is significantly more than £14.95/month.
With Aestheticc, you pay one monthly fee. Marketing, SMS, loyalty, reporting, consent forms, clinical records: all included. Your payment processing runs through Stripe at their standard rates, and you keep that relationship directly.
When Fresha Makes Sense
- You're a beauty or wellness business (hair, nails, massage, spa)
- You want marketplace exposure to attract new clients
- You don't perform regulated medical treatments
- Your average booking value is low enough that processing fees don't sting
- You want a low entry price and don't mind paying per transaction
Fresha is genuinely good at what it does. The marketplace is large, the booking experience is polished, and for beauty businesses it's a strong platform. Credit where it's due.
When Aestheticc Makes Sense
- You run an aesthetic clinic performing medical treatments (injectables, skin, laser)
- You need proper clinical records, not just appointment notes
- You want consent forms with photo capture and e-signatures linked to treatment records
- You need CQC compliance tracking for regulated treatments
- You prefer to own your client relationships without a marketplace in the middle
- You want one predictable monthly price with everything included
Clinical software for clinical work. Try Aestheticc free.