$45/Month for Fresha? Do the Math Before You Complain
Fresha Now Costs $45/Month. Solo Lash Artists, It’s Time to Wake Up
Ladies, change the way you look at things and I promise the things you look at will start to change. $45 a month for Fresha is not a cost, it’s probably the best investment your business has right now (besides you!).
From Black Diaries to Booking Systems
When I started lashing back in 2008 (showing my age but whatever), I worked 16+ hour days as a solo artist. My entire business lived inside a little black diary. Yes, I still have it. And yes, it was full of mistakes. Double bookings every week, forgotten reschedules, frantic scribbles trying to keep up. Not my proudest days. But we live, we learn, and many of those same clients are still with me today, 15+ years later.
If I had a reliable booking system back then? It would have saved me stress, time, and money. More importantly, it would have made me look professional, organised, and trustworthy from day one. That’s why I find it so crazy when I see artists losing their minds over Fresha suddenly charging $45 a month. Ladies, that’s less than two coffees a week for a 24/7 receptionist that never sleeps. Put it in perspective.
Free Was Never Forever
I know the lash and brow community is fuming. Fresha announcing their $45/month plan has people calling it greedy and unfair, vowing to leave the platform. But let’s be honest, the free ride was never going to last.
Free was bait. Build up a huge user base, then flip the switch to recoup the millions spent to develop it. Do I like bait and switch tactics? No. Do I understand them? 100%.
I’ve always been a problem solver. When I saw malpractice in the lash industry because of poor training, I didn’t just complain, I created something better. That’s how my 5 Day Classic Lash Mastery course was born (now a 6 day program), which is still one of the most in-depth beginner lash courses on the market. When I got frustrated with product inconsistency, I launched my own product line LashJoy so I could stand behind every adhesive, tool, and product I sold.
And when I realised no booking system truly worked for lash and brow professionals, I started building one. That’s how BookJoy began. Honestly, we underestimated how much complexity, money, and talent software development really takes. It’s a whole new beast compared to creating courses or products. But that didn’t stop us. We’ve invested well into six figures and thousands of hours. Right now, BookJoy is about 85% ready for public release. We’re already using it in-house at Brisbane Lashes and LashJoy Academy to test and perfect before we release it to the industry.
Here’s the truth. Most booking systems are generic. The big players don’t care about our niche industry, we’re too small. That’s why they never feel quite right. They’re built for hairdressers, barbers, or big salons, not lash and brow pros. I lost count of how many times I paid subscriptions, sent feature suggestions that would have been game-changers for our industry, and got completely ignored. That frustration is exactly why BookJoy needs to exist.
So when Fresha charges $45/month? Honestly, it’s cheap. Imagine you spent millions to create the best booking platform on the planet, hired the best engineers and marketers (yes, that costs money too), and then gave it away for free forever. How would that work? Businesses have to make money. Staff need to be paid what they’re worth. Whether it’s $45, $75, or even $95 a month, if it saves you hours and generates clients, it’s worth it.
The Solo Artist Reality
Let’s talk about your actual day-to-day.
- Automation: Every appointment triggers 1 confirmation and 2 reminders. That’s 300–480 messages a month you don’t have to send yourself.
- No-shows reduced: Even if reminders save just 3 no-shows a week, that’s 12 a month. At $120 each, that’s $1440 saved.
- After-hours bookings: At Brisbane Lashes, we often get bookings at 11pm, 2am, 5am. If your system captures just 3 new clients per week outside business hours, that’s another 12 a month. That’s $1440 gained. If it’s 5 per week, that’s $2400 gained.
- Admin time saved: Endless back-and-forth messages? Gone. At least 10 hours a month saved. At $30/hr that’s $300. At $80/hr (average worth of your time in Australia), that’s $800.
Total value: $1440 saved from no-shows + $1440–$2400 gained from after-hours bookings + $300–$800 saved in admin = $3180–$4640 in monthly value. All for $45.
Instead of asking “why is it so expensive?”, ask yourself this: what else in your business can you spend $45 on and get thousands back? Not Facebook ads, you’d blow that in half a day with no guarantee of a client. Not Google Ads, that budget disappears in a few clicks. Boosting a post on Instagram? May as well flush the money down the toilet. Your booking system is the best ROI you have besides yourself.
“DM to Book” is Not Lead Generation. It’s Lead Frustration.
Picture this. You post a reel that goes viral. Thousands of views, hundreds of new eyes on your profile. It’s midnight and someone is ready to book your wispy anime wet set they’ve been obsessing over. They click your link and see: DM to book.
Do you think they’re waiting for you to reply tomorrow? No. They close it, maybe book with someone else, and you’ll never even know you lost them.
Clients want instant, hassle-free booking. Especially the high-end clients who are willing to pay premium prices. They don’t want to call. They don’t want to text. They definitely don’t want to DM back and forth. If you make it hard, they leave. Your booking system turns curiosity into action. Without it, your marketing is wasted effort.
Are You Really Taking Calls Mid-Refill?
You’re mid-refill, tweezers in hand, client’s eyes taped, timer running. The phone rings. What do you do? Answer it and make your client feel second-best? Ignore it and lose a potential new client? Either way, you lose.
Multiply that by every text, every “are you free at 3?” message. Without a booking system, you’re chained to your phone instead of focusing on your artistry. $45 saves you from that chaos. It gives you back your time, your focus, and your professionalism.
One Client Pays for Itself
The math is simple. One new client at $120 covers your system. And that’s if they never book again. Realistically, they’ll come back, because you’ll show them why you’re the best lash artist for them. The real cost isn’t $45. It’s the bookings, time, and clients you lose without a system.
Comparison: Popular Booking Systems for Solo Artists
Prices vary over time — always check the vendor’s site for current details.
| Platform | Starting Price (AUD) | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fresha | $45 | New entry plan fee. Salon-focused. Backed by investors. |
| Ovatu | $25 (Neat) / $38 (Loaded) | Core booking. SMS reminders cost extra (~$0.04 each). |
| Acuity (Squarespace) | $20 Starter / $34 Standard / $61 Premium | SMS available from Standard. Expands with tiers. |
| Timely | From $39 per staff | Salon-focused. Pricing per team member. AU rates vary. |
| Setmore | Free up to 4 users / Pro $12 per user monthly | Pro adds SMS, branding, 2-way sync. Scales with users. |
Thinking of Switching Systems?
I get that a lot of artists are saying they’re leaving Fresha now that it’s no longer free. But take it from someone who has tried pretty much every platform out there — switching sucks.
If you’re thinking of switching because another system is $10 a month cheaper, don’t. Migrating booking systems is no small job. As a solo stylist it’s a headache. With a small team of 3–5 staff, it’s a full-blown panic attack. If you’ve got more than that, honestly, it can feel like a nightmare.
You’re not just changing a calendar. You’re moving appointment history, client notes, forms, and payment settings. You’re retraining staff. You’re educating clients who are already used to one system to download and learn another. And all of this takes time away from what you should be doing — lashing and making money.
All that hassle to save $10 a month? That’s bubble tea money. Please don’t put yourself (and your clients) through that unless you’re gaining something much bigger in return. Switch systems for features that genuinely grow your business — like subscription options, bundling, smarter reminders, or better integrations. Switch for scalability, for tools that save you serious hours, or for revenue-driving features. But don’t switch just to shave a few dollars off your bill. It’s not worth it.
Want Something Built for Lash and Beauty Pros?
Most booking systems are generic. We’ve tried them all. Some are better than others, but none are perfect. The truth is the lash and brow industry is too small for the big players to care about. That’s why their systems never feel quite right. They’re built for hairdressers and large salons, not for lash artists like us.
BookJoy is different. It’s being built by lash and beauty professionals for lash and beauty professionals. Streamlined. No bloat. No paying for features you’ll never use. Just tools that actually help you grow.
And before anyone asks — no, I’m not sitting here coding BookJoy myself. I have many talents but coding is not one of them. We have a team of eight incredible people working on this full-time, from software engineers to data scientists. My role is making sure every feature makes sense for lash and brow pros, not just tech people.
Join the BookJoy Waitlist today and get 2 months free when we launch. It won’t be free forever, but it won’t be expensive either. And you’ll know it was built with you in mind — by people who actually get it.
- Tags: Business
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