Last updated 20 October 2026
Beauty therapist leads: what Fresha, Booksy, Treatwell and a Google click cost per new beauty client.
A stranger who books a wax through an app costs you a slice of that first visit: 20% on Fresha, 30% with Booksy's Boost switched on, 35% plus VAT on Treatwell. Buy the click yourself and a beauty search costs £0.81 to £3.31; on "brazilian wax near me" that is about £15 to book one Brazilian client, paid once.
That client is back on your couch every 4 to 6 weeks: 9 to 13 waxes, £306 to £442 a year. Below is that year against each app's rules on when a regular turns back into a paid-for new client, the patch-test rule that breaks instant booking for tints, and which London councils license what.
Straight from Fresha's help centre
The new client fee applies to clients who "view your Fresha marketplace profile first and then choose to book through another online channel including your website or social media pages".
Fresha's help article on the marketplace fee says so in those words (we read it on 20 October 2026). So a client who found you on Instagram, checked your Fresha reviews and then booked on your own link can still cost you 20%. For a beauty therapist whose clients compare before they book, that line matters more than the headline rate.
Where we stand
We don't sell beauty leads. We help you get your own.
This guide is the honest version of what buying beauty leads costs, and who else gets them. What we do instead is build beauty therapists a website that turns visits into calls, and run Google Ads in an account in your own name, so every lead that comes in is a customer who found you, and nobody else was sold it.
What a new client is worth
Price the client, not the appointment. A wax comes back every few weeks.
On UK therapists' own price lists, a brow wax is £10 to £20, a brow wax and tint £18 to £20, a half leg £20 to £30, a full body spray tan £30 to £35 and a Brazilian or Hollywood £28 to £40. A facial of about an hour runs £45 to £75, and a Southampton salon prices its HydraFacials at £60 to £90.
None of those is what a regular is worth. Therapists in Cardiff, Faversham and London tell waxing clients to come back every 4 to 6 weeks, about 9 to 13 visits a year, and a brow tint lasts up to 6 weeks, so a wax and tint client is in about 9 times. Here is each of them over twelve months, against what your own ad pays to book them on the search that treatment is booked from. You pay for that click once.
| Regular, at the middle price | Back every | Their year | Your own ad, once |
|---|---|---|---|
| An eyebrow wax or shape, £15 | 4 to 6 weeks | £135 to £195 | £16 from "eyebrow waxing near me", 8% to 12% of the year |
| An eyebrow wax and tint, £19 | 6 weeks | £171 | £17 from "eyebrow tint near me", 10% of the year |
| A half leg wax, £25 | 4 to 6 weeks | £225 to £325 | £11 from "leg waxing near me", 3% to 5% of the year |
| A Brazilian or Hollywood wax, £34 | 4 to 6 weeks | £306 to £442 | £15 from "brazilian wax near me", 3% to 5% of the year |
Prices from therapists' own lists in Muswell Hill, Leytonstone, Southampton, Shaftesbury, Bristol and Leyland, read in October 2026, worked at the middle of each range. The ad column is Keyword Planner's high top-of-page bid divided by the click-to-booking rate in the ads section. A client who books a wax online has already said yes, so no win rate comes into it. Spray tans, facials and HydraFacials are left out because we found no therapist publishing how often their clients return for them.
On our rough rule a new client should cost about 10 to 15 percent of what they are worth. A Brazilian regular booked from your own ad costs 3% to 5% of their year, and a brow wax and tint regular 10%, with every rebook after the first made on your own website.
Now run your own beauty room through it. Put in how many new clients Treatwell, Fresha or Booksy sends you a month, your Brazilian price and how many times a waxing client books in a year, and it sets what the app takes against booking the same clients from your own ad. It opens on £34, 13 visits and £15 a booked client from "brazilian wax near me".
WHAT DO THE APPS TAKE FROM A BEAUTY THERAPIST'S YEAR?
Put in your own numbers
Treatwell charges once, on a new client's first visit, with VAT added. Rebooks carry no commission.
Over a year, Treatwell takes
£685
from 48 new clients, £14 each
- Those clients spend with you
- £21,216
- Treatwell's share of it
- 3.2%
- Same clients from your own ads
- £720
- Share of what they spend
- 3.4%
The calculator models each app on its published fee alone. It cannot price the terms below, which decide how many of those 13 visits stay off the app's books.
Treatwell's terms on a regular who comes back late
Treatwell takes 35% plus VAT on a new client's first booking and nothing on repeats. Its supplier terms put a client back in the new column after 365 days with no completed visit, or when they book with different contact details, and charge each marketplace booking made before that first visit, so a new tint client's patch test and tint are two charges.
Fresha's terms on a client who checks your profile first
Fresha takes 20% once, at least £4, and charges nothing on returning clients. Its help centre applies that fee to a client who viewed your marketplace profile and then booked on your website or Instagram, and unlisting the profile switches off all your online booking.
Your numbers
What a waxing regular can cost to win, set against a year of their visits.
It opens on a Brazilian or Hollywood regular over twelve months, £306 to £442, worked at the middle. Pick a single treatment to see one visit instead, and enter what an ad or an app charges you per booking. There is no win-rate box: a client who books a wax online has already said yes.
WHAT CAN YOU PAY TO WIN A WAXING CLIENT?
Pick a job, or type in what yours are worth
You can pay up to about
£56
to win that client
- Healthy range, per new client
- £37 to £56
Put in what a booking costs you, from an app or your own ads, and this will tell you what each new client costs against their worth.
The 10 to 15 percent target is our own working rule across all the businesses we cover. No study has tested it on beauty rooms.
Who sends you clients
Three apps charge on the first visit. The small print decides the second.
Beauty is where the booking apps are strongest: Treatwell has waxing, facial, brow and spray tanning categories, and Fresha and Booksy both sell to beauty rooms. Bark and Zapo sell leads too. Each price and quote below is from the firm's own website.
| Route | Price | When a regular counts as new | In their words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 20% of a new client's first appointment, min £4 | They viewed your marketplace profile first | "20% one-time commission" |
| Booksy | £40 a month; Boost 30%, min £5 | A first marketplace visit, only with Boost on | "2nd visit and beyond: 0% commission" |
| Treatwell | 35% of a new client's first booking, plus VAT | No completed visit in 365 days, or new contact details | Repeat bookings 0% |
| Bark | Credits at £1.80, priced per lead | Up to 5 professionals reply | "All Credits are valid for 3 months" |
| Zapo | From £400 a month | Leads from its own search ads | "exclusive leads to beauty salons" |
Fresha: import your regulars before you list
Fresha's Independent plan is £14.95 a month, and its pricing page charges 20% once, minimum £4, on brand new clients who find you on its marketplace. Bookings through your own links, Instagram and Facebook are listed as free. The help centre adds the rule quoted at the top: a client who viewed your marketplace profile first is charged wherever they book.
Two more lines matter for a beauty room. A client already on your client list before their first booking is not charged, so import every regular the day you sign up. And you cannot hide the marketplace and keep online booking: unlisting your profile switches off all your online booking channels. The fee is worked out on the first completed appointment, so if that is a free patch test, ask Fresha whether the £4 minimum applies.
Treatwell: the 365-day rule and the Google button
Treatwell takes 35% of a new marketplace client's first booking and nothing on repeats, with VAT on the commission even if you are not VAT registered. Its supplier terms say who is new: anyone not in your database, anyone with no completed visit in the last 365 days, and anyone booking with different contact details. A summer-only spray tan client who skips a year comes back as new. Bookings through Treatwell's Google button carry marketplace fees, a new client who books a patch test and a tint before their first visit is charged on each booking, and the terms ask you to offer your best price on your own website and use no other booking software. Its monthly price is set in each salon's agreement and not published.
Booksy: a flat fee, and Boost you can switch off
Booksy is £40 a month plus VAT and takes no commission on marketplace clients while Boost is off. Switch Boost on and a new client's first visit costs a one-time 30%, at least £5. Bookings through Google Search and Maps, your own link and your Instagram button stay commission-free even with Boost on. Of the three, it is the one where a full diary can stop paying commission without leaving.
Bark and Zapo sell the enquiry, not the booking
Bark's beauticians category puts the average job at £85 a head, £100 in London. It prices each lead on "the service, the value of the job, and the supply and demand in the area", in credits at £1.80 that are valid for 3 months, and up to 5 professionals can reply to one customer. Is Bark worth it covers its credits and refunds. Zapo runs search ads for beauty therapists and sells the leads as exclusive, from £400 a month. Google's Local Services Ads take plumbers in the UK, but beauty is missing from its UK category list.
All three apps are compared line by line, fee by fee, in Fresha vs Booksy vs Treatwell, and choosing a booking system for a salon covers the software that takes no commission at all.
Everything here about Fresha's contract comes from its own published terms and conditions, last read on 20 October 2026. Terms get revised, so check yours against the current version before you act on anything.
Everything here about Treatwell's contract comes from its own published terms and conditions, last read on 20 October 2026. Terms get revised, so check yours against the current version before you act on anything.
Rather have beauty leads that are yours alone?
That's what we do. We don't sell leads. We build the website and run the Google Ads that bring customers straight to you, in an ad account in your name that stays yours if you ever leave.
See pricingWant to know how many people near you search Google for what you do each month? Message us your town and we'll send you the real numbers.
Check my areaBuying the click yourself
Somebody searching for a facial near them costs £1.99 a click.
"how to get more beauty clients" gets about 10 searches a month. Salon booking apps bid up to £28.07 a click on "beauty salon software", about 320 searches a month, to reach you. A client hunting for a facial is a fraction of that price, and there are far more of them: 33,100 a month type "facials near me", 27,100 "waxing near me" and 22,200 "beauty salon near me". The last column assumes 7.33% of clicks become a booking, which is WordStream's figure for American home improvement advertisers. Nobody publishes one for UK beauty rooms, so treat it as a way to rank the searches against each other rather than a forecast. A booking made online is the sale, so the last column is what one booked client costs.
| Search | Searches a month | Per click, top of page | Per booked client |
|---|---|---|---|
| mobile spray tan near me | 880 | £3.31 | £45 |
| hydrafacial near me | 9,900 | £2.40 | £33 |
| spray tan near me | 18,100 | £2.23 | £30 |
| beauty salon near me | 22,200 | £2.04 | £28 |
| facials near me | 33,100 | £1.99 | £27 |
| beautician near me | 8,100 | £1.86 | £25 |
| beauty therapist near me | 1,300 | £1.64 | £22 |
| beauty treatments near me | 2,400 | £1.49 | £20 |
| mobile beautician near me | 720 | £1.42 | £19 |
| dermaplaning near me | 3,600 | £1.37 | £19 |
| male waxing near me | 4,400 | £1.29 | £18 |
| eyebrow tint near me | 3,600 | £1.27 | £17 |
| eyebrow waxing near me | 12,100 | £1.20 | £16 |
| brazilian wax near me | 5,400 | £1.13 | £15 |
| waxing near me | 27,100 | £1.10 | £15 |
| hollywood wax near me | 4,400 | £0.98 | £13 |
| leg waxing near me | 3,600 | £0.81 | £11 |
UK figures as of 20 October 2026. Each click price is the top end of what Keyword Planner expects an advertiser to bid for the first ad slot, which makes it a ceiling for a beauty room rather than a typical bill. It reports "facial near me" and "facials near me" as one figure, so the table carries it once.
The dearest searches are "mobile spray tan near me" at £3.31 and "hydrafacial near me" at £2.40, about £33 to book a client whose HydraFacial is worth £75 at the middle of a Southampton price list. A spray tan booking sits at about £30 against a £33 tan, a facial at £27 against £60, and the lowest row, a leg wax, at £11; the mobile spray tan search tops the list at £45.
The beauty searches that will never book you
"tanning salons near me" gets 8,100 a month at up to £7.43 a click, and almost all of it wants a sunbed, not a spray tan. "lip fillers near me" is 9,900 a month of people after an injectable, which a beauty therapist cannot advertise: the ASA says Botox is a prescription-only medicine and cannot be advertised to the public. Put all five on the campaign's negative list on day one, so no budget goes on them.
| Search | Searches a month | Per click, top of page | Who is searching |
|---|---|---|---|
| tanning salons near me | 8,100 | £7.43 | Wants a sunbed |
| lip fillers near me | 9,900 | £2.67 | Wants an injectable |
| self tan | 2,400 | £2.32 | Buying a bottle |
| beauty therapist jobs | 1,900 | £1.05 | Wants a job |
| spray tan training | 1,000 | £0.89 | Wants to learn it |
Where a campaign of your own differs from a marketplace listing:
- No marketplace profile for a client to view first
- No lapse rule that makes a regular new again
- Bids on the treatments that pay most
- Your patch-test step before a tint is booked
- A diary with no app taking a cut
- An ad account that leaves with you
Tanning and cosmetic procedures are on the list in Google's teen ad protections, which keep those ads away from signed-in under-18s on YouTube and Display; the policy says nothing about Search ads. Your Google profile can carry a Book button too, and which booking apps charge for it is in our guide to Reserve with Google. Set the monthly budget with how much to spend on Google Ads, and see Google Ads for local businesses for building the campaign itself.
Before the first tint
A new tint client cannot book for tomorrow. Your booking flow has to know that.
A marketplace will happily sell a brow wax and tint to a stranger for the next free slot. The tint maker, the insurers and the trade body all say you cannot do it without a patch test first, and none of them gives you less than a day.
The maker: 48 to 72 hours ahead
RefectoCil recommends a patch test 48 to 72 hours before the first application, and again "after long periods without tinting". Sienna X tells its therapists they "MUST" test 48 hours before a tint.
The insurer: a condition of cover
BABTAC's guide says at least 24 hours before the first treatment, a re-test after 12 months, and the packaging's rule where it is stricter. A Balens claims manager told members that missing it "will invalidate cover".
The trade body: catch it at booking
The NHBF says new clients need an allergy alert test at least 48 hours before, a re-test if it has been 6 months, and that whoever takes the booking should know a test may be needed.
Spray tans follow the brand: Sienna X tells first-timers to patch test 24 to 48 hours ahead, and to wax at least 48 hours before tanning. We found no maker, insurer or trade body asking for a patch test before waxing.
So build it into the booking. The Beauty Room in Muswell Hill takes online bookings 24/7 and asks new tint clients to pop in for a two-minute skin test first. Retreat at Home, a mobile therapist in Bristol, takes a £5 patch-test deposit and takes it off the treatment. On your own website a new tint client can be sent to the test slot first; on a marketplace, the booking arrives first and the phone call comes after. Salon booking systems differ on whether they can do this.
Before you advertise
In London the treatment decides the licence, and some councils make the advert an offence.
London boroughs license "special treatment" under the London Local Authorities Act 1991, which names massage, manicure, light and electric treatments but not waxing, facials or spray tans. Each borough decides what counts, so the same beauty room can need a licence in one and not the next.
| Borough | What it says about beauty | Fee | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewisham | Waxing, cosmetic facials and brow tinting need no licence; electrical facials do; mobile therapists register | £403 full licence | Not stated |
| Redbridge | "massages & facials", electrical machines and HydraFacial are licensed | £500+ | "illegal to operate or advertise" unlicensed |
| Tower Hamlets | Massage, manicure, light and electric treatments, "not limited to" | £732; £150 to add therapists | An offence to "provide or advertise" unlicensed |
| Barking and Dagenham | Steam facials and electric facials are on its list | Fine up to £5,000 unlicensed | Not stated |
Council pages read 20 October 2026. None of the London pages we opened mentions spray tanning. Some boroughs exempt therapists who belong to certain professional bodies, so check yours.
The line most London pages draw is the machine. A wax, a cosmetic facial and a brow tint sit on the unlicensed side in Lewisham, while a facial using electrical equipment does not, and Redbridge names HydraFacial outright. If you add a machine facial to your menu, get the licence before the ad goes live, because two of these councils treat the advert itself as the offence.
England outside London: not yet for beauty work
A beauty room outside London only meets council registration if it offers electrolysis or semi-permanent brows: section 15 of the 1982 Act lists those alongside tattooing and cosmetic piercing, and leaves out waxing, facials and spray tans. Section 180 of the Health and Care Act 2022 has let the government license cosmetic procedures, including "the application of light, electricity, cold or heat", since July 2022. Its August 2025 response proposed council licences for lower-risk procedures, naming microneedling, chemical peels, IPL and LED therapy, and promised a further consultation before any regulations. None have been made. Waxing, spray tans and dermaplaning are not in it.
Wales and Scotland
Wales licenses four special procedures: acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing, semi-permanent make-up included. In Scotland the Non-surgical Procedures Act became law on 12 May 2026 for procedures that pierce or penetrate the skin, with an under-18 ban. A therapist doing electrolysis, microneedling or stronger peels should check both before advertising them.
Once they book
A deposit protects the client you paid to find. Keep it a small share.
A no-show costs you the slot and whatever the client cost to win. Retreat at Home takes payment once a booking is confirmed and keeps it for a cancellation with less than 48 hours' notice.
- Say in writing when the deposit is kept
- Keep it a small share of the price
- Take it off the treatment price
- Send the 14-day cancellation information
If you take a deposit on a £34 wax rather than the full price, size it with the CMA in mind: its guidance says a kept deposit "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price", and the circumstances for keeping it must be made clear when the client books. A booking taken online or by message is a distance contract with a 14-day cancellation period for services, and under regulation 36 you shouldn't start inside it unless the client has expressly asked you to. Deposits, reminders and the rest are in how to reduce no-shows.
Through the year
Spray tan searches more than triple from winter to spring.
None of the booking apps publishes when beauty bookings rise and fall, so this comes from Keyword Planner instead. UK searches for "spray tan near me" fell to 9,900 a month in November and December and held at 33,100 from April to June, about 3.3 times the low.
UK searches for "spray tan near me", by month
October 2025 to September 2026. Google Keyword Planner, rounded bands.
Waxing peaks in summer
"waxing near me" ran from 18,100 in December to 40,500 from May to July, about 2.2 times. Win the waxing client in spring and the rebooks carry you through.
Facials hold all year round
"facials near me" stayed between 27,100 and 40,500, highest in March. Facials are the treatment to advertise when tans and waxing go quiet.
Christmas sells vouchers, not tans
"christmas spray tan" peaked at 140 searches in November. "beauty gift voucher" reached 590 in November and December against 110 to 210 most months. A voucher page does more in December than a party tan offer.
Before you sign up
Find out when a regular turns back into a new client, before you pay.
The rates are published. The edges are not: Fresha keeps its cap to itself, Treatwell sets its monthly price in each salon's agreement, and Bark won't say how many credits a beauty lead takes. Put these to the sales team:
- Who counts as a new client, exactly?
- Can I import my regulars first?
- Is a free patch test charged as a first visit?
- Do Google Book button bookings carry a fee?
- Can I hide the marketplace and keep booking?
Whatever you sign, give regulars the link from your own website or the app's own-link builder, never the marketplace page, because that page view is what Fresha counts. Why an enquiry several sellers can reply to drives the price down is in the shared-lead trap.
Which way to go
Book the Brazilian client once from your own ad, then keep every wax after it on your website.
From your own ad and website
- About £15 once to book a Brazilian client
- 9 to 13 waxes a year in your own diary
- A patch-test slot before any first tint
- An ad account in your name
Read in the app terms first
- Treatwell: new again after 365 days
- Treatwell: best price on your website
- Fresha: profile viewers charged anywhere
- Booksy: Boost is the part that charges
A £34 Brazilian client is worth £306 to £442 a year, and the 8 to 12 waxes after the first are where that money sits. Book them from your own ad and those rebooks land in your own diary; book them through an app and its terms, quoted above, decide when one of them counts as new again. Reviews help on every route, and how to get more Google reviews covers asking for them. The same sum for a business that sells longer sessions is in tattoo artist leads, and for one that sells blocks of sessions in personal trainer leads. For the plumbers, roofers and cleaners who face the lead sellers rather than booking apps, start at trade leads.
Our sources
Where every beauty figure here came from.
We sell websites and Google Ads, so we have an interest in which way you go. That is why every platform rule here is quoted from the platform.
Fresha, Booksy and Treatwell are quoted from their own help centres and partner terms, read 20 October 2026; Bark and Zapo from their own sales pages; search demand from Keyword Planner that week. Prices come from therapists' own lists, including Vivid Beauty Salons in Southampton, Beth Cox in Shaftesbury and a mobile therapist covering Preston and Chorley; rebook gaps from salons including Simply Wellness in Cardiff and Waxology, and spray tan wear from Sienna X. Patch-test rules come from RefectoCil, BABTAC, Balens and the NHBF, licensing from legislation.gov.uk, the councils and gov.uk linked above, and deposits from the CMA.
Questions beauty therapists ask
Beauty therapist leads, answered.
- How much do beauty therapist leads cost in the UK?
- Fresha takes 20% of a new client's first completed appointment when they find you on its marketplace, at least £4. Booksy's Boost takes 30% of a first visit, at least £5, on top of £40 a month. Treatwell takes 35% of a new marketplace client's first booking, with VAT on the commission. Bark sells credits at £1.80 and puts the average beautician job at £85 a head. A click on your own Google ad for a beauty search costs £0.81 to £3.31, which is about £11 to £45 a booked client: a client who books online has already said yes, so nobody is quoting.
- Is Treatwell worth it for a beauty therapist?
- Judge it on the year a client is worth, not the first booking. A £34 Brazilian client rebooking every 4 to 6 weeks is worth £306 to £442 a year. Treatwell takes 35% of their first marketplace booking, with VAT on the commission, and nothing on repeats while its terms still count them as returning. Treatwell counts a client as new again if they have had no completed visit in the last 365 days or book with different contact details, charges marketplace rates on bookings through its Google button, and its terms ask you to offer your best price on your website and use no other booking software. From your own ad on "brazilian wax near me", the same client costs about £15 once, and every rebook after it is made on your own website.
- Does Fresha charge for returning clients?
- No. Fresha's 20% fee is one-time, on a brand new client's first completed appointment, and returning clients are free. Two rules decide who counts as new. A client already on your client list before their first booking is not charged, so import your regulars. And a client who viewed your Fresha marketplace profile first is charged even if they then book through your website or Instagram.
- Do you need a patch test before waxing or a spray tan?
- For a spray tan, often yes: Sienna X tells first-timers to have one at least 24 to 48 hours ahead, and BABTAC lists spray tanning as "according to manufacturer's specifications". For brow and lash tints, yes: RefectoCil says 48 to 72 hours before the first application, and BABTAC's guide says at least 24 hours as a minimum. We found no manufacturer, insurer or trade body requiring one for waxing, and BABTAC's list does not include it. Check your own insurer's wording.
- Can new clients book a brow tint online?
- They can book it, but you cannot do it until a patch test has had time to show a reaction. The NHBF says new clients need an allergy alert test at least 48 hours before, and that whoever takes the booking should catch it. A Balens claims manager told BABTAC members that missing a required test "will invalidate cover". Set up a free patch-test appointment for new clients and let them book the tint only after it.
- Do I need a licence to run a beauty room?
- Outside London in England, waxing, facials and spray tans are not on the council registration list, which covers tattooing, semi-permanent skin colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis. In London it depends on the borough and the treatment. Lewisham says waxing, cosmetic facials and brow tinting need no licence but facials using electrical equipment do, and mobile therapists register with it. Redbridge licenses facials and HydraFacial from £500. Tower Hamlets charges £732.
- Is the new cosmetic licensing scheme in force in England?
- Not yet. The Health and Care Act 2022 gave the government the power in July 2022, and its August 2025 response proposed council licences for lower-risk procedures, naming microneedling, chemical peels, IPL and LED therapy among them. It said the details would go to a further consultation and then into regulations, and none have been made. Waxing, spray tans and dermaplaning do not appear in the response.
- When is the quiet season for beauty therapists?
- Late autumn and winter, but it depends on the treatment. In the last 12 months, UK searches for "spray tan near me" fell to 9,900 a month in November and December and reached 33,100 from April to June. "waxing near me" bottomed out at 18,100 in December. "facials near me" stayed between 27,100 and 40,500 all year. "beauty gift voucher" did the opposite, reaching 590 in November and December.
Keep reading
More straight answers for trades.
A diary of regulars who found you, booked you and come back every few weeks.
We build the website and run Google Ads in an account in your name, bidding on the treatments you want more of in the streets you want them from. See what it costs, then tell us about your beauty room and we'll plan the campaign round your busiest treatments.