Salonnare vs Fresha - NL-first or international?

Dutch compliance

Salonnare is designed with Dutch regulations in mind: correct VAT rates (21% for services, 9% for retail products), iDEAL as the primary payment method alongside Stripe/Mollie, GDPR compliance via EU servers, and a tax-office-ready POS with full audit trail. Fresha is built for many countries at once; it supports iDEAL through its own payment solution, but the Auditfile export and the Dutch VAT set-up come ready-made with Salonnare.

Support in your own language

Salonnare offers support in Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish with a response time of 24 hours on working days. Fresha says it offers 24/7 support, with contact options that vary by country and plan.

Features and pricing

According to their pricing page, Fresha works with a paid subscription (€14.95 or €9.95 per team member per month, depending on the plan) plus 1% + €0.20 per online payment^[1] and a one-off fee for new clients from the marketplace. There is no free plan; there is a 7-day trial. Salonnare has a permanently free plan and works with your own Stripe or Mollie account. On top of that, Salonnare charges its own platform fee of 0.5% with a €0.30 minimum per transaction - transparent, with no marketplace commission.

Online booking: Fresha vs Salonnare in practice

Imagine a new client looking for a hair salon in Amsterdam and finding your booking page. With Fresha the client books via the Fresha app or widget, on Fresha's platform, where other salons can be found too.

With Salonnare the client books via your own widget on your website. The confirmation email comes from your salon and the email reminder carries your logo; an automated Google review request under your name is in development. No marketplace commission is added. Your client stays yours. Discover all the features that make this possible.

Transaction costs compared

According to their pricing page, Fresha charges 1% + €0.20 per online payment^[1]. At an average treatment price of €45 and 100 payments per month that is around €65 per month in Fresha payment fees, alongside the subscription.

Salonnare charges no marketplace commission on top: just our own platform fee of 0.5% with a €0.30 minimum per transaction, on top of whatever your payment provider charges for the payment itself. See the pricing for a complete cost overview.

Migration path from Fresha to Salonnare

Fresha offers data export via their dashboard. Export your clients and appointments as CSV and import them into Salonnare. Tip: also export your product list and service list so you do not have to re-enter them. Set up your booking widget on your website, update your Google Business booking link and inform your clients via a short email.

Most salons are up and running on Salonnare within one working day. Start with the free plan to test everything before you make the final switch.

Fresha's costs: what really sits behind them?

For a long time Fresha built a reputation as free salon software. According to their current pricing page that is no longer the case: there are two paid plans (€14.95 and €9.95 per team member per month), a 7-day trial and no free plan^[1]. On top of that Fresha charges 1% + €0.20 per online payment, plus a one-off fee for new clients who book via the Fresha marketplace (the amount is not on the European pricing page).

For a salon with an average treatment price of €45 and 100 online payments per month that works out to (1% × €4,500) + (100 × €0.20) = €45 + €20 = €65 per month, roughly €780 per year, plus the subscription. At higher volumes (200 payments × €60 average) it is (1% × €12,000) + (200 × €0.20) = €160 per month.

These are real costs that count alongside the subscription. With Salonnare, online payments run through your own Stripe or Mollie account. On top of that, Salonnare charges one transparent platform fee: 0.5% with a €0.30 minimum per transaction - no marketplace commission, no hidden markup. What your payment provider charges is visible on your own dashboard. Check the pricing for a full cost overview.

NL compliance compared: VAT, POS and tax office

Fresha is an international platform that operates in many countries at once. So check with Fresha itself how VAT settings, POS reports and exports for the Dutch tax office work in your situation.

Salonnare has Dutch compliance built in from day one: VAT rates are correct per service type (21% service / 9% retail), the POS exports directly to Auditfile format for the tax office, and data lives on EU servers in Nuremberg, Germany with a GDPR-compliant data-processing agreement. For a Dutch salon this saves several days of configuration and gives peace of mind during audits.

Language and support: 24/7 vs Dutch working hours

Fresha says it offers 24/7 support, with contact options that vary by country and plan.

Salonnare offers support in Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish - not 24/7 but during working hours (Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00) with response times typically within hours on working days. Crucially: support is delivered by a Dutch developer who knows Dutch salons, Dutch VAT rules, iDEAL integration and tax-office processes from first-hand experience.

For questions that specifically need NL context, that is worth a lot. No 24/7 support is a conscious choice: a responsive small team that truly understands NL salons.

iDEAL: via the platform or via your own account

iDEAL is the go-to payment method on many Dutch salons' booking widgets. Fresha supports iDEAL through its own payment solution, including for deposits at booking; because iDEAL does not store card details, Fresha cannot charge an iDEAL payment again later for a no-show or cancellation.

With Salonnare iDEAL runs through your own Stripe or Mollie account, so the money lands directly in your own bank account. For a Dutch salon this means your booking widget accepts iDEAL payments straight after signup - deposits for no-show protection, prepaid giftcards, POS payments and subscription-based memberships all work with iDEAL as the primary option. See all features.

Frequently asked questions