Updated October 6, 2026
Is marketplace commission worth it for your salon?
The new-client fee is usually the smaller cost. The bigger one is repeat clients: once someone books you through a marketplace, they have an account there and can be shown other businesses. The app pays for itself as long as it lowers your repeat rate by less than a break-even number we work out from your own figures. Fresha charges 20% of the first visit (minimum CA$6). Booksy Boost charges 30% of the first visit (CA$10 to CA$100). Put in your numbers and see which side you're on.
We built this, and Askie has no marketplace, so yes, we have a side. That's why every number here is a published fee with a source or one you typed in. Check the maths yourself.
How to check your own numbers
Appointments and new clients. Both come from your calendar or client list. Count the last three months and divide by three. Your repeat rate is worked out from them: if 60 of 200 appointments are first visits, 70% are repeats. That assumes you're roughly holding your size. If you're growing fast, the true repeat rate is higher than the one shown.
Clients you were charged for. They're the new-client lines on your billing statement. Same method: three months, divided by three. If you know some of them found you on Google, Instagram or through a friend first, leave them out: the app didn't find those.
The drop in repeat rate. You can't measure it while every booking goes through the app, because there's no direct group to compare. It's a judgment. Use the break-even: if you believe the app costs you fewer repeat clients than that, it pays.
Three businesses, three answers
Same calculator, three made-up businesses. They're examples, not real ones. Each uses Fresha and Askie's estimate of a 15-point drop in repeat rate. The first comes out ahead. The last barely pays any fees and still does worst.
| Business | Appointments | New clients | Charged a fee | Repeat rate | Break-even drop | Result a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting outNew chair, few regulars yet. The app sends most of the new clients. | 60 | 30 | 20 | 50% | 30 pts | +CA$900 |
| Busy barberUnder ten appointments a day. Three in ten are first visits. | 200 | 60 | 20 | 70% | 9.4 pts | −CA$1,493 |
| Established, loyal clientsMost clients come back. Few fees, and still the biggest loss. | 300 | 45 | 10 | 85% | 3.2 pts | −CA$21,180 |
Look at the break-even column. A business where most clients are first visits can lose a lot of repeat rate before the app stops paying. A business where most clients come back can lose very little. The fee is the smaller number in the last two rows. What decides them is how many repeat clients the app costs you, and nobody can measure that for you. That's why the break-even comes first: it tells you what you'd have to believe.
How the fees work
Both fees are charged once, on a client's first visit. Fresha charges 20% of the first visit (minimum CA$6). Booksy Boost is optional and charges 30% of the first visit (CA$10 to CA$100). After that, a returning client costs you nothing on either platform. So does a client who books through your own link.
The catch is that the platform decides who counts as new, not you. Both say a new client is someone who found you through their marketplace. Owners in the reviews below say they were charged for people who found them on Google or came through a friend. Your statement is the only way to know, and the steps to check it are a little further down.
This page is about whether the fee pays for itself. For the whole bill, including subscription and card fees, see Fresha pricing in Canada or compare every platform's cost.
Why the fee isn't the main cost
Here is how it usually goes. A client searches for a salon or barber near them and finds yours. They tap your booking link, and it runs through the marketplace, so they create an account. You paid for that client with your marketing and your reviews. No new-client fee is charged, because it came through your own link. But now they're a marketplace user, and the marketplace can show them other businesses.
The cost is the clients who would have booked you again and don't. Because every booking runs through the app, you have nothing to compare it with. You can't see what your repeat rate would be if clients booked you directly. That's why the calculator asks you to set the drop yourself, and why it shows the break-even first.
It runs the other way too. The app shows you to people who've never heard of you. Every client it moves from one business to another is a new-client fee on the second business's statement. That's the market-wide reason a drop is plausible. It isn't proof of how big yours is.
One more piece of context. In BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US consumers, 71% said they use Google to find local businesses. That's the share who use Google at all, and people could pick more than one source. It isn't the share of your clients who found you there.
What owners report about new-client fees
These are reviews of Fresha, quoted as written and linked to where they were posted. They are owners' accounts, not findings. We haven't verified any of them.
Questions owners ask
Is Fresha's new client fee worth it?
It depends on one number: how many repeat clients you lose because clients book through the app instead of directly. The fee is 20% of the first visit (minimum CA$6) on a first visit. A new client who keeps coming back is worth far more than that. But a drop in your repeat rate can cost more than the fees. The calculator shows the break-even drop for your numbers.
Is Booksy Boost worth it?
Same logic, different fee. Boost is optional and charges 30% of the first visit (CA$10 to CA$100). It pays when the app finds you clients who'd never have come otherwise and your repeat rate doesn't fall by more than the break-even. Pick Booksy Boost in the calculator and try your numbers.
Why 15 points?
It's Askie's estimate, not a measurement. We couldn't find a published figure. The reasoning: a client who books through a marketplace has an account there, and the marketplace can show them other businesses. We think owning the client relationship beats renting it, and that the drop is large. We also sell the alternative, so don't take our word for it. The break-even is shown first so you can compare it with your own judgment. We hope to test the number with salons that move clients from a marketplace to direct booking, and we'll publish what we find with the sample size.
How is my repeat rate worked out?
From your appointments and new clients. If 30% of appointments are first visits, 70% are repeats. It assumes your business is roughly holding its size. You never have to guess it.
Do I pay the fee on clients who already knew me?
The rules say the fee is for new clients who find you through the marketplace, and no fee is charged on bookings through your own link. Some owners say they were charged for clients who found them on Google or Instagram, and the reviews above say so in their own words. Check your statement against what your clients tell you. If some of the clients you were charged for found you elsewhere first, leave them out of that count in the calculator.
Can a marketplace cost me existing clients?
It can. Once a client has an account, the app can show them other businesses, and some will book one. How many is the number nobody can hand you, which is why you set it yourself and why there's a row showing the range.
Why does a loyal business come out worse?
Because a client at a business where most people come back is worth a lot. The calculator values a lost repeat at today's repeat rate: at 85%, a client is worth nearly seven visits. So a small drop in repeat rate costs more than the fees. The third example above shows the maths.
How do I find out how many of my clients came from the marketplace?
Count the new-client lines on your billing statement. Then, for a month, ask every new client how they found you. "How to check your own numbers" above has the steps.
What happens if I leave the marketplace?
You stop paying the fees and stop getting the clients it finds for you. Your repeat rate recovers, but clients who already have an account stay exposed, so the gain builds up over months. Ask your platform whether you can turn the marketplace off without leaving the software.
Why doesn't this page give an industry average?
We couldn't find one with a source we'd put our name to. So every figure here is a published fee with its source and date, or a number you typed in. The one exception is the drop in repeat rate, which is our estimate and labelled as one.
Methodology and sources
Every number is either a published fee with a source and date, or one you entered. The starting values are examples, not benchmarks. The one exception is the drop in repeat rate: 15 points is Askie's estimate, with no data behind it, and the page says so next to the input. We don't use industry averages.
repeat rate = 1 − new clients ÷ appointments
drop = your drop in points; repeat rate + drop can't pass 100%
client value = average appointment × share you keep ÷ (1 − repeat rate)
fee per client = max(rate × average appointment, minimum), capped at the maximum if there is one
fees = clients charged × fee per client
gained = clients charged × client value
lost = appointments × drop × client value
result a month = gained − lost − fees
break-even drop = clients charged ÷ appointments − fees ÷ (appointments × client value)
Worked check with the busy barber and Fresha: 200 appointments and 60 new clients make a 70% repeat rate. A client is worth CA$40 ÷ 0.3 = CA$133. The fee is CA$8 × 20 = CA$160. Gained is 20 × CA$133 = CA$2,667. At 15 points, 30 clients a month don't come back, which is CA$4,000. Result: −CA$1,493. The break-even drop is 9.4 points.
- Points, not a percentage: 15 points takes 70% to 85%, not 70% × 1.15.
- Results are a flow: future visits from one month on the marketplace. We don't model where appointments settle over time, because that blows up as the direct repeat rate nears 100%.
- Every client you were charged for counts as one the app found. If some of them already knew you, the result here is kinder to the app than it really is.
- If the app takes as many clients as it sends, the result is minus the fees: you pay them to stay the same size.
- A lost client is valued at today's repeat rate, which already includes the marketplace effect. That understates the loss slightly.
- One average repeat rate is used for everyone. Regulars come back more reliably than first-timers. That is fine for comparing the two cases but is not exact.
- We assume the business is roughly holding its size. That is what makes 1 − new share equal the repeat rate.
- Context only: BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults, published 2026-02-11) found 71% use Google to find local businesses. Source
Fee sources
| Fee | Rule | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha: New-client fee | 20% of the first booking, minimum CA$6 | Source | October 6, 2026 |
| Fresha: Returning clients | No fee | Source | October 6, 2026 |
| Booksy: Boost (optional) | 30% of the first visit, minimum CA$10, maximum CA$100 | Source | October 2, 2026 |
| Booksy: Returning clients | No fee | Source | October 2, 2026 |
Keep reading
- How marketplaces make moneyThe model behind the new-client fee, and where your regulars fit in.
- Fresha alternatives in CanadaWhat switching involves, with CAD pricing for six platforms.
- Compare costs for your teamEnter your team size and volume to see each platform’s bill.
- The AI verdictAn opinion piece. Not a source for any number on this page.
The door is open
Your booking software shouldn't be your biggest competitor. Your clients book with you.
Askie has no marketplace, so there's no list of other salons next to your name. Try it free for a month, or book a demo and we'll look at how your clients book today.
No commission. Ever.