Free booking systems: what to watch out for

When a small studio looks for a booking system, price is usually the first filter. That makes sense: at the start, every few euros a month shows. But "free" does not mean one thing with booking systems. There is always a business model behind a free system, and that model decides how much it ends up costing you.

Three kinds of free

Free, but with commission. Marketplaces with a directory of salons are often free or nearly free for the studio. They make money by taking a share of what new clients they bring you pay. At first glance that is fair: you only pay for results. The catch is who counts as a "new client" and who the client belongs to afterwards. If a regular finds you through the directory, she can become the platform's client. More in our comparison with marketplaces.

Free with a limit. The system is free up to a certain number of bookings, staff or features. Past that you pay a monthly fee. This is the easiest model to read: you know exactly what you get, and when you outgrow the limit, you know what you will pay.

Free as software, but you run it yourself. WordPress booking plugins and similar tools cost nothing, but they need a website, hosting, updates and someone to fix everything when an update breaks something. You pay with your time, and the owner's time is usually the most expensive thing a studio has.

Questions to ask before you decide

• Do they take a percentage from my clients? If so, work it out on your own average month, not on the example in their ad.
• What happens if I stop paying or leave? Can you export your client list? Do you keep your website?
• Where is the limit and what exactly counts? Bookings per month, team members, locations, SMS. A limit you hit in your second month is not free.
• Does the client have to register? Every extra sign-up costs you some bookings. Clients want to pick a time, enter a name and phone number, and be done.
• Does the system prevent double bookings? For one person it seems unnecessary, until two clients meet in the doorway at the same time.
• Where is the data stored? For a studio in the EU the simplest option is that it stays in the EU. That saves you questions around GDPR.

How many bookings you really need

Most small studios overestimate how many features they need and underestimate how many bookings. A massage therapist working alone can easily have 60 to 100 visits a month. If a free plan stops at 25 bookings, it is more of a trial than a plan to work on. It can still be enough to test whether your clients will use online booking at all.

A good approach is to start free and measure. If after a month you see that a third of your bookings come through the website and you are answering fewer messages, the decision about a paid plan is easy.

How it works in Termeva

Termeva takes no commission on bookings on any plan. The Free plan is for one person and 25 bookings a month, including a website on its own address and email reminders. Right now sign-up and the website are free as well, and every new studio gets 30 days with all the features of the Studio plan. We will turn on paid plans later and let you know well in advance. Nothing is charged automatically. The details are on the pricing page.

The quickest test is to see what your website would look like. Pick a template, and in a few minutes you have a page you can send your first clients to.