How commission-based booking platforms price your salon
Salon software is priced three ways: flat subscription, per-staff, or commission-per-booking. Each is the cheapest option for somebody — the point of this guide is working out which one is cheapest for you.
The three pricing models (public prices, July 2026)
| Model | Examples | How it scales |
|---|---|---|
| Commission marketplace | Fresha: US$19.95/mo (solo) plus 20% commission (min US$6) on each new client booked via its marketplace, plus card fees | Cost rises with every new marketplace client — busy months cost the most |
| Per staff member | Booksy ~US$20 per staff/mo (no cap); Vagaro US$30 + US$10 per calendar (caps ~US$84) | Cost rises with headcount — a 5-stylist team on per-staff pricing runs ~US$100/mo |
| Flat subscription | TunaiPro ~SGD600/yr; Nagi S$38–138/mo flat with every feature on every plan | Fixed — the same price in your best month and your quietest |
Prices from each provider's public pricing page, July 2026. Confirm current pricing directly — plans change.
The commission maths, honestly
Say your average first visit is S$80. A 20% commission is S$16 per new marketplace client. At 10 new clients a month that is S$160/month on top of the subscription and card fees — more than most flat plans cost outright. At 20 new clients, over S$300.
And honestly: that can still be worth it. A brand-new salon with empty chairs and no clientele is buying discovery — the marketplace brings people who would never have found it. Commission models are effectively paid advertising with pay-on-results pricing, and for month one to six that can be a good trade.
The maths flips once your chairs fill from regulars, referrals, and Instagram — clients who would have come anyway. Rebooking loyal clients through a marketplace keeps the platform in the middle of relationships you already own. That is the point where many salons move their books to flat-priced software and keep the marketplace, if at all, only for genuinely new discovery.
Questions worth asking
- What do I pay in a month where 20 new clients book — and in a month where none do?
- Is commission charged only on true first-timers, and how is a “new client” defined?
- Do returning clients ever incur fees, and can they book without going through the marketplace?
- If I leave, do I keep my client list, visit history, and packages?
- Does adding a staff member change the price?
This guide is published by Nagi, flat-priced salon & spa software with no commission on bookings — so we plainly have a view. The numbers above are real either way, and if a marketplace is what your new salon needs right now, that is the honest answer too.