Boulevard vs Fresha (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Fresha: it is second in our ranking of salon, spa and studio booking apps, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 24, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fresha grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Boulevard
Booking, checkout and marketing for salons, spas and medspas
Fresha
Salon and spa booking with a consumer marketplace for new clients
Which one is for you
Pick Boulevard if
- Fits if you run a salon or spa with up to 5 providers and want booking, checkout and marketing in one system
- Works for medspas that need charting, photo markup and e-prescriptions beside the booking calendar
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try it first: there's no free plan or trial, and every plan is sold after a sales demo
- Tight if you have more than 5 providers or a second location, as that means Premier at $234 a location, normally $293
- Pricey if you need forms below Prestige ($65 a location a month) or QuickBooks sync ($45 a location a month)
- Not for you if you run a medspa on a small budget, as Aesthetics Essentials is $199 a month billed monthly
- Watch out: the card rate isn't on its pages, texts past the plan's allowance are metered, and the AI receptionist is $125 a location a month
Pick Fresha if
- Fits if you're a solo stylist or barber who wants a booking calendar for $19.95 a month
- Works for salons that want new clients from a booking marketplace and accept a fee on each one
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if most new clients find you on Fresha's marketplace, since each costs a one-time 20% commission, at least $6
- Watch out: card fees are 2.79% + $0.20 online, 2.29% + $0.20 in person and 5.99% + $0.30 with Klarna, and terminals start at $139
- Tight if you text a lot: reminder texts past the free allowance are $0.02 each and marketing texts $0.08
- Pricey if you want loyalty ($59.95), Google review prompts ($14.95) or fuller reports ($9.95 a member), each a monthly add-on
- Skip it if you need more than a week to decide: the trial is 7 days and there's no free plan
How we grade them
| 2.0GPABoulevardFair | 3.0GPAFreshaVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DEssentials is $143 a month billed yearly ($159 monthly) for one location and up to 5 providers, and that's where this category's dearest tenth starts. More providers or a second location means Premier at $234 a location on a fall offer, normally $293. | BIndependent is $19.95 a month for one bookable person, and Team $14.95 a member, so five people pay $74.75. That's inside the cheaper quarter of this category ($29.99 or less), but each new marketplace client costs a one-time 20% commission, at least $6. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan and no trial. Every plan is bought after a sales demo, so you pay from the first month. | CNo free plan, only a 7-day free trial that needs no credit card. A week is short to move a client list and a team across. |
| Features | BBooking from your site, Google and Instagram, a staff calendar for services and rooms, checkout, memberships, loyalty, texts and email campaigns, plus charting and ePrescribe for medspas. That's the whole booking job, though forms are a $65 add-on below Prestige. | BCalendar and online booking with waitlists, group bookings and resources, deposits and no-show fees, retail stock, memberships, packages, shifts, timesheets, commissions and pay runs. That's the whole booking job, with loyalty and review prompts as add-ons. |
| Ease of use | BBoulevard rates 4.6 on the US App Store from 601 ratings, which puts it at B on our ease ladder. | AFresha rates 4.8 on the US App Store from 3,923 ratings, which puts it at A on our ease ladder. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Google and Apple Calendar, Reserve with Google, QuickBooks Online, Shopify and Zapier. API access is on the quoted Enterprise plan, and there's no desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with booking from Facebook, Instagram and the Fresha app, plus Klarna, Google Analytics and Meta Pixel. No API on record and no desktop app. |
| Best for | booking and checkout for salons, spas and medspas | low-cost booking for salons, barbers and spas |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Boulevard and Fresha. How we grade
Price against what you get
Boulevard starts at $143 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Fresha starts at $19.95 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Fresha scores higher and starts $123.05 a month lower. Of the other salon, spa and studio booking apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Boulevard for less, and none scores higher than Fresha for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Boulevard also covers marketing automation, forms and business texting.
- Fresha also covers shift scheduling, inventory and review collection.
At a glance
| Boulevard | Fresha | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $143 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($159 billed monthly) | $19.95 per month for one bookable team member (Independent) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Boulevard Labs, Inc. | Fresha.com SV Ltd |
| Price read from | joinblvd.com | fresha.com |
| Checked | Oct 24, 2026 | Oct 24, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Boulevard
- No free plan or trial: every plan is bought through a sales demo, and Essentials is limited to one location and 5 providers.
- Medspa plans cost more. Billed monthly, Aesthetics Essentials is $199, and Aesthetics Premier and Prestige are $364 and $416 on the fall offer ($455 and $520 normally).
- Forms is an add-on from $65 per location a month below Prestige, and QuickBooks Online sync costs $45 per location a month.
- Card payments run through Boulevard's own processing and Duo reader; its pages do not list a processing rate.
Fresha
- Each new client who finds you through the Fresha marketplace costs a one-time 20% commission, with a minimum of $6.
- Card fees: 2.79% + $0.20 online, 2.29% + $0.20 in person, 3.30% + $0.20 keyed in, and 5.99% + $0.30 with Klarna. Terminals start at $139.
- Texts beyond the free allowance cost $0.02 each, marketing texts $0.08 each, and WhatsApp messages $0.04 to $0.11.
- Loyalty ($59.95), Google review prompts ($14.95) and richer reports ($9.95 a member) are monthly add-ons, mostly per location.
Key features
Boulevard
- Self-booking and scheduling
- Clients book from an overlay on your website or from Google, Facebook and Instagram, and the staff calendar handles complex service and resource bookings.
- Point of sale and payments
- Checkout runs on Boulevard's Duo card reader and iPad app. An optional Offset program passes a 3% card fee to clients and leaves the business paying 1%.
- Texts and email marketing
- Two-way texting, text reminders, email blasts and automated return campaigns. Each plan includes some free texts and emails; beyond that texts are metered and emails cost $0.01 each.
- Memberships and loyalty
- Sell memberships and packages and run loyalty programs and offers from the same client profiles used for booking and checkout.
- Forms, charts and ePrescribe
- Intake forms and charting with photo storage, plus ePrescribe for clinical customers at $45 per prescriber. Medspa plans add photo markup and supervisor sign-off.
- Beau AI receptionist
- An AI receptionist that answers calls, books clients and captures leads, sold for $125 a month per location for 200 minutes, then $0.60 a minute.
Fresha
- Calendar and online booking
- Clients book through a direct link, Facebook, Instagram or the Fresha app, with waitlists, group bookings, processing times and resources handled on the calendar.
- Fresha marketplace
- Businesses are listed on Fresha's consumer marketplace. New clients found there cost a one-time 20% commission, at least $6; returning clients carry no fee.
- Point of sale and payments
- Take deposits and no-show fees, sell retail stock, gift cards, packages and memberships, and accept cards online, in person on a Fresha terminal or with Klarna.
- Team pay and scheduling
- Shift schedules, clock-in timesheets, commissions, tips, wages and pay runs, with service prices and durations set per team member.
- Reminders and marketing
- Email reminders are free and unlimited. Reminder texts beyond 100 a month (per member on Team) cost $0.02 each, and marketing emails beyond 50 cost $0.02 each.
- AI Concierge and add-ons
- Paid add-ons include an AI Concierge that answers messages ($29.95 a location) or calls and messages ($99.95), client loyalty, Google review prompts and a website.
Plans
Boulevard
Essentials$143
per month for 1 location, billed annually ($159 billed monthly)
One location and up to 5 bookable providers, with 250 free texts, 1,000 free email blasts and 50 GB of storage.
Premier$234
per location / month, billed annually ($260 billed monthly)
Unlimited providers and more than one location. A fall price for new customers; normally $293 a month billed annually ($325 monthly).
Prestige$328
per location / month, billed annually ($364 billed monthly)
Adds the Forms add-on, 2,500 free texts, 10,000 free email blasts and 100 GB. A fall price for new customers; normally $410 billed annually ($455 monthly).
EnterpriseCustom
A quoted plan for large, multi-location operations, with API access and enterprise integrations.
Fresha
Independent$19.95
per month for 1 bookable team member
One calendar column, 100 free reminder messages and 50 free marketing emails a month, with email and chat support.
Team$14.95
per bookable team member / month
Several calendar columns and locations, commissions, timesheets and pay runs, with message allowances per member and phone support.
EnterpriseCustom
Quoted rates for high-volume businesses with more than 20 team members.
Ways to pay less
Boulevard
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
Boulevard's pricing page takes 10% off every plan's monthly price when billed annually, for example Essentials at $143 instead of $159.
Fresha
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Boulevard or Fresha?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Boulevard starts at $143 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($159 billed monthly), and Fresha starts at $19.95 per month for one bookable team member (Independent). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Boulevard or Fresha?
As of Oct 24, 2026, neither Boulevard nor Fresha has a free plan. Fresha has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.