Booksy Pricing UK: What It Actually Costs in 2026
What does Booksy actually cost UK barbershops in 2026? Subscription fees, per-staff charges, and Boost commission - all explained with real numbers.
Booksy pricing in the UK is simple at the top of the page and less simple once you add staff, VAT, Boost and payments. Here is the full 2026 breakdown in pounds, with worked examples for UK barbershops.
The short version
Booksy pricing UK starts at £40 per month for one user, plus £5 per month for each additional user. VAT is added on top. For a solo barber, that is £48 per month including VAT. For a three-barber shop, it is £60 per month including VAT. For five barbers, it is £72 per month including VAT.
If you are comparing Booksy pricing per month, use the VAT-inclusive figures above rather than the headline £40 number. That is what actually leaves the bank account.
That is the subscription. The main extra cost is Booksy Boost, which is optional but important. Boost has no monthly fee, but when Booksy brings you a new client through its marketplace or customer app, Booksy charges a one-time 30% commission on that client's first visit, with a £5 minimum in the UK. VAT is added to that commission.
Payment processing is separate again. UK Mobile Payments are listed at 1.29% + 20p + VAT per transaction. Tap to Pay is listed at 0.99% + 20p + VAT per transaction.
So, is Booksy free for business? No. It has a free trial, and customer bookings are free for clients, but UK businesses pay a monthly subscription once the trial ends.
A note on who's writing this. We're Setora, a competing barbershop booking software platform. We are not neutral. But the figures below come from Booksy's own UK pages, Booksy help centre articles and clearly stated assumptions. Where Booksy is strong, we will say so.
Pricing checked on 26 April 2026 from Booksy UK pricing, Booksy UK Boost, Booksy UK payments and Booksy Tap to Pay.
What does Booksy charge?
Booksy charges UK businesses through three main cost lines:
- A monthly subscription.
- Per-staff fees for additional bookable users.
- Optional Boost commission on new clients Booksy attributes to Boost.
There are also payment processing fees if you use Booksy Payments or Tap to Pay. Those are not subscription fees, but they matter if you are trying to understand the real cost per month.
Subscription fee
Booksy's UK plan is advertised at £40 per month. Booksy describes this as one price with all features included, no long-term commitment, and a free trial.
Booksy also states that services are subject to VAT. At the standard UK VAT rate of 20%, the subscription becomes:
| Shop setup | Booksy subscription before VAT | Subscription including VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Solo barber | £40 | £48 |
| 3 barbers | £50 | £60 |
| 5 barbers | £60 | £72 |
The subscription itself is predictable. The bill changes when you add more staff or turn on paid extras.
Per-staff fees
Booksy charges £5 per month for each additional user in the UK. The first user is included in the £40 base plan.
That means the monthly subscription before VAT is:
| Bookable staff | Calculation | Monthly before VAT | Monthly including VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £40 | £40 | £48 |
| 2 | £40 + £5 | £45 | £54 |
| 3 | £40 + £10 | £50 | £60 |
| 4 | £40 + £15 | £55 | £66 |
| 5 | £40 + £20 | £60 | £72 |
For a growing shop, this is the piece to model. A solo barber paying £48 per month today becomes a three-chair shop at £60 per month, then a five-chair shop at £72 per month. That is before any Boost commission or payment processing.
Boost commission
Boost is Booksy's optional marketplace promotion feature. When Boost is active, Booksy can give your business extra visibility in its marketplace and customer app.
There is no monthly fee for Boost. Instead, Booksy charges a one-time 30% commission when it finds you a new client through Boost. In the UK, Booksy states there is a £5 minimum fee. VAT is added to the final commission.
The important phrase is "first visit". If the client returns, Booksy says you keep 100% of later visits. That can make Boost reasonable if the client is genuinely new and comes back often.
Here is what the Boost fee looks like on typical barbershop services:
| First visit value | 30% Boost fee | VAT on fee | Total Boost charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15 | £5 minimum | £1.00 | £6.00 |
| £20 | £6.00 | £1.20 | £7.20 |
| £25 | £7.50 | £1.50 | £9.00 |
| £30 | £9.00 | £1.80 | £10.80 |
| £40 | £12.00 | £2.40 | £14.40 |
On a £25 haircut, Boost costs £9 including VAT. On ten new Boost clients at that price, the monthly Boost cost is £90. That is more than the subscription for a five-barber shop.
Is Booksy free for businesses?
No. Booksy is not free for businesses in the UK.
The misconception comes from a few places. Booksy offers a free trial. Booksy also says customer booking is free for clients. And Booksy says marketplace bookings are free when Boost is not enabled.
Those things can all be true while the business still pays the monthly plan.
The clearest answer is:
Booksy is free for customers to use, but not free for businesses. UK businesses pay from £40 per month plus VAT, with extra user fees and optional Boost commission.
That distinction matters when comparing Booksy pricing with other booking systems. A client might never see a charge, but the shop does.
How much does Booksy charge per transaction?
For normal appointments, Booksy does not charge a per-booking transaction fee just because someone books with you. Unlimited bookings are part of the subscription.
There are two cases where per-transaction charges appear:
If you use Booksy Payments. Booksy's UK Mobile Payments page lists a fee of 1.29% + 20p + VAT per transaction. On a £25 card-on-file payment, that is 52.25p before VAT, or about 63p including VAT on the fee.
If you use Tap to Pay. Booksy's UK Tap to Pay page lists 0.99% + 20p + VAT per transaction. On a £25 in-person Tap to Pay transaction, that is 44.75p before VAT, or about 54p including VAT on the fee.
If Boost is enabled. Boost is not a normal card-processing transaction fee. It is a marketplace commission. But in practical terms, it behaves like a one-off charge on the first visit of a new Boost client: 30% of the service value, with a £5 minimum, plus VAT.
So the plain-English answer to "how much does Booksy charge per transaction?" is:
For bookings, £0 per transaction. For payments, 0.99% to 1.29% plus 20p plus VAT depending on payment method. For Boost clients, 30% of the first visit with a £5 minimum plus VAT.
What does a typical barbershop pay?
Let's use a realistic three-barber example because it is the most common shape of independent shop we see.
Assumptions:
| Item | Assumption |
|---|---|
| Staff | 3 barbers |
| Booksy subscription | £40 + 2 additional users at £5 each |
| VAT | 20% |
| Boost clients per month | 10 |
| Average Boost first visit | £28 |
| Payment processing | Excluded from this first example |
The monthly subscription is:
| Line | Calculation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Base subscription | £40 | £40 |
| Additional users | 2 x £5 | £10 |
| Subtotal before VAT | £40 + £10 | £50 |
| VAT | 20% | £10 |
| Subscription total | £60 |
Now add Boost:
| Line | Calculation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Boost commission per client | 30% of £28 | £8.40 |
| VAT per Boost commission | 20% of £8.40 | £1.68 |
| Boost total per client | £8.40 + £1.68 | £10.08 |
| 10 Boost clients | 10 x £10.08 | £100.80 |
That gives a three-barber Booksy cost of:
| Cost line | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription including VAT | £60.00 | £720.00 |
| Boost on 10 new clients | £100.80 | £1,209.60 |
| Total before payment processing | £160.80 | £1,929.60 |
That is the clean subscription-plus-Boost number. If the same shop also processes card payments through Booksy, payment fees add another variable cost on top.
For example, 500 Tap to Pay transactions at £25 each would cost roughly:
| Line | Calculation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Tap to Pay fee before VAT | 500 x ((0.99% x £25) + £0.20) | £223.75 |
| VAT on processing fees | 20% | £44.75 |
| Tap to Pay fees | £268.50 |
Payment processing is not unique to Booksy. Every platform has card fees somewhere. The reason to include it is that many barbers ask what Booksy costs per month and then only compare subscription prices. That misses a large part of the bill if you run deposits, card-on-file payments or Tap to Pay through the platform.
How does Booksy pricing compare?
Here is the simple comparison for a UK barbershop looking at Booksy, Fresha and Setora.
| Platform | Subscription | Staff pricing | Marketplace commission | Payment fees | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booksy | £40/month + VAT | +£5/month per additional user + VAT | Boost: 30% of first visit, £5 minimum + VAT | UK Mobile Payments 1.29% + 20p + VAT; Tap to Pay 0.99% + 20p + VAT | Shops that want Booksy's customer app and marketplace reach |
| Fresha | £14.95/month solo or £9.95/month per team member in UK pricing we last verified | Per bookable team member | Marketplace new client fee: 20% one-time commission, minimum fee applies | Fresha Pay fees vary by method | Shops that want a large marketplace and accept per-staff pricing |
| Setora | £14.99/month per location | Unlimited staff included | None | Standard card processing only; no booking commission | UK barbershops that want flat pricing and no marketplace commission |
Booksy is strongest when marketplace discovery matters. If you are a new shop in a busy area and Booksy brings in clients you genuinely would not have reached, Boost can pay for itself.
Setora is the better fit when your clients already come through your brand, your Google profile, Instagram, word of mouth and repeat bookings. In that case, paying a marketplace commission can feel like renting access to demand you created yourself.
For the deeper switcher comparison, see Booksy alternatives for UK barbershops.
What Booksy does well
Booksy is not popular by accident.
The marketplace is real. Booksy has a large consumer app and marketplace. For shops with empty chairs or a new location, that distribution can be valuable.
The client app is polished. Clients can discover services, read reviews, book appointments and rebook from a familiar app. That convenience has real value.
The subscription is easy to understand. £40 plus £5 per additional user is much simpler than tiered software with feature gates, annual contracts and add-on menus.
Boost can work when attribution is clean. Paying 30% once for a client who becomes a regular can be a good deal. The concern is not the idea of performance marketing. The concern is whether every charged client was truly generated by Booksy.
The questions to ask before you sign up
Before choosing Booksy, work through these four questions with your own numbers:
- How many bookable staff will I have six months from now?
- Will I use Boost, and how many new clients might it attribute each month?
- Will I process deposits, card-on-file payments or Tap to Pay through Booksy?
- Do I need a marketplace, or do most clients already find me through my own channels?
The subscription-only price for a three-barber shop is £60 per month including VAT. That is straightforward.
The real monthly cost depends on Boost and payments. Ten Boost clients at a £28 first visit add £100.80 per month including VAT. Five hundred Tap to Pay transactions at £25 add roughly £268.50 in processing fees including VAT on the fee. Add those to the subscription and the same shop moves from £60 per month to more than £400 per month.
That does not automatically make Booksy bad value. It means the subscription is only the starting point.
Bottom line
Booksy pricing UK in 2026 starts at £40 per month plus VAT for one user, then £5 per month plus VAT for each additional user. A three-barber shop pays £60 per month including VAT before Boost and payment processing.
Boost is the cost line to watch. It is optional, but if enabled, it charges 30% of a new Boost client's first visit, with a £5 minimum plus VAT. That can add more to your monthly bill than the subscription itself.
If you want Booksy's marketplace, consumer app and discovery engine, the fees may be worth it. If you want predictable software costs, unlimited staff and no commission on bookings, compare Booksy with Setora.
Start a Setora free trial. £14.99/month per location, unlimited staff, no marketplace commission.
Last updated: 26 April 2026. Booksy pricing and fees can change, so check Booksy's current UK pages before making a final decision.