“Free” booking software: the six costs to check before you sign up
The monthly price is rarely the whole bill. Here’s where the rest hides, and the questions that bring it out.
Plenty of booking platforms advertise a free plan or a low monthly price. Some of them stay that way. Others turn out to cost a lot more once you’re settled in and your customers are used to booking through them.
Owners’ reviews tell a familiar story: a “free” tool that later brought in a subscription, features moved behind a paywall one by one, or a bill that grew a lot over a few years. None of that is illegal. But it’s much easier to spot before you sign than after.
These are the six places to look.
1. Commission on bookings
Some platforms take a percentage of bookings, usually ones they say they sent you. Check the rate, any minimum fee per booking, and exactly which bookings it applies to.
Ask: “If my existing customer books through your app, do I pay commission?”
2. Card processing
Every platform that takes payments charges a processing fee. Some pass on the card network’s rate, others add their own margin, and some lock you into their own payment service.
Ask: “What’s the fee per card payment, and can I use my own payment account?”
3. Text messages
Reminder texts cut no-shows, which makes them one of the most useful features you’ll have. They’re also one of the most common surprise costs. Many platforms include a monthly allowance, then charge per message or sell credit packs, and the price isn’t always shown until you’re inside the app.
Ask: “How many reminder texts are included each month, and what does each one cost after that?”
4. Per-person pricing
A price “per team member” looks small at the start. Add a part-timer, a Saturday junior and a freelancer who rents a chair, and it’s four times the headline.
Ask: “What would I pay with five people on the rota?”
5. Add-ons
Online deposits, marketing emails, a website, reviews, a branded app, reports. On some platforms each is a separate monthly charge. Add the ones you’ll actually need and compare that total, not the starting price.
Ask: “Which of these are included on the plan you’re quoting me?”
6. What happens when the free plan ends
Free plans have limits: bookings a month, staff, locations or features. Find out what happens when you pass them, and whether the platform has changed its free plan before.
Ask: “If I go over the limit, do my bookings stop, or does my price change? Is there a warning?”
A quick way to compare
Write down a normal month: bookings, team size, texts sent, card payments taken. Ask each platform for a total bill for that month, in writing, with every fee included. The cheapest headline price often isn’t the cheapest month.
At hackney.club our prices are on the website. It’s free under 500 bookings a month, then a flat monthly price based on how busy you are, with every feature on every plan. 0% commission; Stripe’s standard card fees apply. See the prices →
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