Fresha used to be the free option — not any more. It now charges a monthly subscription and still takes 20% of every new client it finds you through its marketplace, while Barbify charges a lower flat subscription and takes 0% of your bookings. This is a straight comparison for an independent barber or barbershop in Ireland deciding between the two in 2027.
Barbify vs Fresha at a Glance
The short version for an Irish barbershop:
- Pricing model — Fresha: €14.95/month (independent) or €9.95 per team member/month, plus VAT, plus a 20% fee (min €5) on new marketplace clients. Barbify: flat subscription from €9.99/month, 0% commission on bookings
- Booking page — Fresha: a listing inside the Fresha marketplace. Barbify: your own branded page on your own subdomain (yourname.barbify.ie)
- Payments — Fresha: processed through Fresha at 1.29% + €0.20 per card payment. Barbify: your own Stripe, SumUp or Dojo account, money settles straight to your bank
- Reminders — Fresha: 20 automated texts or WhatsApp messages a month included, then €0.12+ per message. Barbify: WhatsApp + email reminders included as standard
- Built for — Fresha: beauty and spa, adapted for barbers. Barbify: built specifically for barbers in Ireland, the UK and the EU
The Real Cost: Free Platform vs 0% Commission
Fresha now charges a monthly subscription: €14.95/month for an independent barber, or €9.95 per bookable team member per month, plus VAT. On top of that it takes a one-time 20% fee (minimum €5) on every new client it brings you through its marketplace, and processes card payments at 1.29% + €0.20. The more new clients come through Fresha, the more those fees add up.
Barbify works the other way around. You pay a flat monthly subscription (from €9.99/month billed yearly) and Barbify takes 0% of your takings — whether you do 30 cuts a week or 300. Payments run through your own Stripe, SumUp or Dojo account, so Barbify never sits in the middle of the money and never marks up your card rate.
For a busy barber, a flat fee you can predict almost always beats a percentage that grows with every booking.
Your Own Page vs a Marketplace Listing
On Fresha, your shop is one listing inside a marketplace — clients browsing for an appointment see your competitors right next to you, and Fresha owns the relationship with the customer.
With Barbify, you get your own branded booking page on your own subdomain (yourname.barbify.ie). No competitors on the page, no marketplace pulling your clients toward the next available shop. The clients who book are yours, saved automatically to your own CRM with full booking history.
Reminders, CRM and Barber-Specific Tools
Fresha covers the basics well, but it is a beauty and spa platform first. Barbify was built around how barbers actually work: automated WhatsApp and email reminders 24 hours and 2 hours before each appointment (barbers running reminders see up to 89% fewer no-shows), a walk-in queue, service-level pricing, and a client CRM that saves every client automatically.
Because Barbify is built for Ireland and the UK, WhatsApp reminders and Irish phone numbers work from day one — not as an afterthought.
Which Should an Irish Barber Choose?
Choose Fresha if your main goal is exposure from a large marketplace and you are comfortable competing for visibility against other listed shops and paying per new client and per payment.
Choose Barbify if you want your own branded booking page, no per-booking commission, WhatsApp reminders built in, and payments that land straight in your own bank through your own Stripe, SumUp or Dojo account. For most independent barbershops in Ireland that want to keep control of their clients and their margin, Barbify is the better long-term fit.
Switching from Fresha to Barbify
Moving over takes under 15 minutes. Add your services and prices, set your hours, and your branded booking page is live. You can import your existing client list by CSV so nobody is lost in the move. Barbify includes a 21-day free trial with no credit card required, so you can run both side by side before you commit.