Fresha and Hayven both handle booking, but they start from different places. Fresha is salon and spa software with booking, a point of sale, payments and a client marketplace, for many kinds of beauty businesses. Hayven is made only for nail salons and is built around the front desk: check-in, walk-in turns, online booking, texts and calls nobody picks up.
The quick verdict: Fresha is the better pick on published price, marketplace reach and AI call languages. Hayven is the better pick when walk-ins are a big part of your day and turns are where the desk loses time.
We make Hayven, so read our side with that in mind. Every fact about Fresha on this page comes from Fresha’s own pages. Fresha shows prices in your own currency, so the US prices here come from a saved copy of its US pricing page dated Oct 15, 2026.
Hayven vs Fresha at a glance
| Topic | Hayven | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Nail salon software for online booking, check-in, Turns, texts and marketing. Runs beside your POS. | Salon and spa software with booking, POS, payments and a client marketplace. |
| Made for nail salons? | Yes. Made only for nail salons. | Lists nail salons among the businesses it serves; no nail-specific feature found. |
| Walk-in turns | Check-ins, walk-ins and online bookings land on one Turns board. Hayven suggests the next tech and shows why. | No walk-in turn list found. Waitlists are included in every plan. |
| AI answers missed calls | An optional add-on. When nobody picks up, Hayven’s AI answers in English, books on your calendar and texts the confirmation. | Yes, as a paid add-on. AI Concierge answers calls and messages 24/7 in several languages and books, reschedules and cancels. It can transfer a call or take a message. Messaging only: $29.95/mo per location. Calls and messaging: $99.95/mo per location with 200 minutes, then $0.60/min. |
| Online booking | Clients pick the service, add-ons, tech and time, with no account or password. | Yes. A client booking app, direct booking links, free Facebook and Instagram bookings, and the Fresha marketplace. |
| Deposits and no-show fees | No deposits. With no-show protection, clients save a card when they book and your desk decides whether to charge a no-show or late-cancel fee. Fees go to your salon’s own Stripe. | Yes, with Fresha Payments turned on. Deposits at booking, and card-on-file fees for no-shows and late cancels. Staff confirm each fee in the app, up to the limit in your cancellation policy. |
| Texts and marketing | Yes. Confirmation and reminder texts, plus promo texts to clients who agreed to them. Our marketing team can run your promos (optional add-on). | Yes. 100 free automated texts a month (per team member on Team), then $0.02 each; marketing texts $0.08 each; 50 free marketing emails a month. |
| POS and card payments | No. Hayven is not a POS: keep your POS for payments. | Yes, optional, through Fresha Payments. In person 2.29% + $0.20 (+$0.10 per Tap to Pay), online 2.79% + $0.20, keyed-in 3.30% + $0.20. Terminals from $139. Fresha works without its payments. |
| Price | Pricing shared on a demo. | Published. Independent $19.95/mo (one person), Team $14.95/mo per team member; 7-day trial; custom rates over 20 team members. |
| Marketplace fees | None. Hayven has no client marketplace. | A one-time 20% fee (at least $6) on a brand-new client who finds you on the Fresha marketplace. No fee on returning clients, or on clients from your own website, Instagram or Facebook. |
Where Fresha is the better pick
- A marketplace that brings in new clients, with no fee when they come back.
- An AI Concierge add-on that answers calls and messages 24/7 in several languages, with published prices.
- Point of sale, card payments and terminals in the same system, if you want them.
- Published prices from $19.95/mo and a 7-day trial, so you can compare cost without a demo.
Where is Hayven the better pick for a nail salon?
Walk-in turns. Fresha includes waitlists in every plan. We found no walk-in turn list. In Hayven, check-ins, walk-ins and online bookings land on one Turns board. Hayven suggests the right tech and shows why, and your desk taps Start. You set the turn rules once: services under a price you pick can count 0 turns, and you choose how requested clients count. When the desk picks someone else, Hayven saves who it suggested and who the desk picked, so the Today report ends turn arguments. See the turn tracker.
Check-in at the door. Clients check in on your own iPad or a printed QR poster. If you skip both, they tap the check-in link in the text Hayven sends before the visit. Everyone waits in one line, longest wait first, tagged “Appt 4:30” or “New”.
Made only for nail salons. Fresha lists nail salons among the many businesses it serves, and we found no nail-specific feature. Hayven was made for how a nail salon runs: walk-ins and bookings in one line, two techs on one client, and turn rules that match your salon. Setup and support come in English and Vietnamese. The app itself is in English.
No marketplace fee. Fresha charges a one-time 20% fee, at least $6, on a brand-new client who finds you on its marketplace. Hayven has no marketplace, so there is no fee like this. That is also a gap: Hayven won’t send you strangers from a marketplace.
Which AI answers the phone better for a nail salon?
Both have one, both as paid add-ons, and they work differently.
| Fresha AI Concierge | Hayven AI phone assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| When it answers | Calls and messages, 24/7 | Calls nobody picks up, or when you are closed; your phones ring first |
| Languages | Several | English only |
| What it does | Books, reschedules, cancels, transfers or takes a message | Books on your Hayven calendar, texts the confirmation, sends the rest to your Inbox |
| Price | Messaging only $29.95/mo per location; calls and messaging $99.95/mo per location with 200 minutes, then $0.60 a minute | Shared on a demo |
If many of your callers prefer a language other than English, Fresha’s AI is the better fit today. If you want your own desk to answer first and the AI to catch only the calls you miss, that is how Hayven’s works. More on the AI phone assistant.
Can I keep my POS?
Fresha says it works without its payments, so ask Fresha how your current POS fits next to it. Hayven is never a POS: your POS keeps your card terminal, merchant rates and hardware, and Hayven hands your desk a ticket with every service, tech and menu price to ring up. See keep your POS.
So payments alone are not the big difference here. Turns are.
How do the prices compare?
Fresha publishes its prices. Its Independent plan is $19.95/mo for one person. Its Team plan is $14.95/mo per bookable team member. There is a 7-day trial. Automated texts come with 100 free a month, per team member on Team, then $0.02 each. Marketing texts are $0.08 each. Card payments are optional, from 2.29% + $0.20 in person.
Hayven does not publish a price. We’ll walk you through pricing on your demo, with your own menu and team size. The AI phone assistant and our marketing service are optional add-ons.
On price you can check tonight, Fresha wins.
Can I use Hayven and Fresha together?
Not in a way we’d recommend. Both take online bookings, and two calendars mean double entry at the desk. If Fresha’s marketplace brings you most of your new clients, it may be worth staying. If walk-ins and turns are the daily pain, move booking to Hayven.
How do I switch from Fresha to Hayven?
- Pick your POS. If you take payments through Fresha today, decide where you will ring up clients first.
- Book a demo with your real menu. We’ll walk through a salon day like yours and show the price for your team size.
- We set it up with you. Your techs, services and turn rules go in before day one.
- Ask how your clients and future bookings move over, and get the answer in writing before you pick a switch day.
- Share your new booking link on Instagram, Google and your Bio Page, and put check-in at the door.
Test it on a Saturday, not a Tuesday. The busy day tells you more.