Last updated July 2026 · Competitor details from public pages, checked July 2026
Fresha is the biggest name in salon booking, and its core subscription is genuinely free. The catch is the business model: Fresha is a marketplace. It puts its brand in front of yours, and when a new client finds you through that marketplace, Fresha charges a one-time fee of roughly 20% of their first booking, plus card processing fees on payments. VantaReach takes the opposite approach: a flat monthly subscription, no marketplace, no per-booking commission, and a built-in AI retention engine that wins your lapsed clients back. Your clients stay yours.
| Feature | VantaReach | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat subscription, from $49/mo (localised per country) | Free core software; fees on marketplace bookings and payments |
| New-client commission | None, ever | ~20% one-time fee on new clients from the Fresha marketplace |
| Who owns the client relationship | Your salon. No marketplace between you and your clients | Clients often book through the Fresha app and profile |
| AI client retention | Built in: churn scoring plus automatic personalised win-backs | Basic automated reminders and blasts; no churn-risk AI |
| Staff payroll and commissions | Full payroll, tiered commissions, advances, salary sheets | Team management and reporting; payroll is not the focus |
| Inventory | Back-bar and retail separated, low-stock alerts | Retail product tracking |
| Multi-branch command view | Empire dashboard across all branches | Multi-location supported |
| Setup and migration | Done for you, free, including data import | Self-serve import tools |
| Risk | Pay only after 30 days of real use | Free to start; fees apply as you transact |
| Data export | Full CSV export any time | Export available |
Fresha details summarised from its public pricing and feature pages as of July 2026. Vendors change pricing; always verify current rates on their site.
Export your clients, services and sales history from Fresha, send us the files, and the VantaReach team imports everything free during onboarding. You run your salon on VantaReach for 30 days before paying anything, so the switch carries no risk: if it is not obviously better for your salon, you walk away owing nothing.
Free setup, free data migration, free staff training. Run your whole salon on VantaReach for 30 days, and pay only if it is saving you time and money.
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