Atelier vs Fresha
Fresha (formerly Shedul) is "free" booking software — and what that actually means is worth understanding before you sign up.
| Dimension | Atelier | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $49 — flat, all features | $0 subscription |
| Grows with team size? | No — same at any size | — |
| Per-location fees | None — every location included | — |
| Cut of your bookings | Never — $0 per booking | Processing + per-marketplace-booking fee |
| Features | Everything in one plan | Core free; review-boost & marketing paid |
| Your own domain | Day one — no upgrade fee | Platform page |
| Payment processor | Bring your own — Stripe, Square, Clover… | Fresha payments |
What Fresha does well
Fresha's public-facing pitch is no monthly subscription cost, which is genuinely appealing. The platform has matured significantly, the consumer marketplace generates new-client traffic, and the operator-facing features have caught up with paid alternatives.
How they make money
Fresha's revenue model is built around payment-processing fees on transactions and a fee on new clients booked through the Fresha marketplace. The "free" platform is monetised through commission rather than a monthly subscription. Public information suggests typical processing fees plus a per-marketplace-booking fee.
How Atelier prices
$49/month, flat. Fresha's "free" plan is monetised through payment-processing fees on transactions plus a per-new-client booking fee on customers sourced through their marketplace, with optional paid add-ons (review-boost, team features, marketing campaigns) on top. At any meaningful booking volume the per-transaction and marketplace fees can easily exceed Atelier's flat monthly cost — but for very low-volume operators, Fresha's free tier wins on raw subscription. Verify current Fresha pricing and fee structure on their site.
Where Atelier is different
The most important difference is the economics: at any meaningful booking volume, Fresha's commission and per-marketplace-booking model costs more than Atelier's flat monthly fee. A shop doing $20,000 a month in bookings could pay several hundred dollars in commission and processing markup; Atelier's bill is $49 regardless. Atelier also runs a public directory that feeds new customers to its tenants — but the bookings click through to YOUR URL rather than completing inside the directory, so there's no per-booking cut on directory-sourced bookings either. Discovery without the commission tax.
Where Fresha might fit better
If your booking volume is genuinely tiny — a side hustle, a brand-new shop with one or two clients a week — and the marketplace exposure feels valuable, Fresha's "no monthly fee" can come out cheaper than $49 in the very early days.
Who each is best for
Fresha fits very low-volume operators who want marketplace exposure and accept commission as the cost of "no monthly fee." Atelier fits any business doing real volume that wants similar discovery (through our public directory) without the per-booking cut, with predictable flat pricing and a URL it controls.
Start free. Take real bookings today.
$49 a month after the first month — flat, every feature, every team size.