How to Leave Fresha Without Losing Clients: Step-by-Step Migration Guide

You've been thinking about how to leave Fresha for a while now. Maybe it's the 20% commission Fresha takes on every new client it sends you. Maybe it's the processing fees that stack up on top of that. Or maybe it's the fact that Fresha controls your marketplace listing, your reviews, and the relationship between you and your clients — while you do all the work.

Whatever the trigger, switching is less complicated than it sounds. This guide walks you through every step: exporting your data, setting up a replacement, notifying clients, and cancelling Fresha without losing a single booking in the process.

Why Salons Are Leaving Fresha

Fresha built its business on a compelling promise: free software, in exchange for a commission on new clients booked through its marketplace. For a while, that deal made sense for a lot of salons. But the maths has changed.

Fresha now charges 20% commission on every new client booked through their marketplace. On top of that, card processing fees apply to every transaction. Then there's the cost of Blast Messages — Fresha's paid SMS and email marketing tool — if you want to reach your own client list through the platform. Stack all of that up and "free" is rarely what salons are actually paying.

The deeper problem is structural. When clients book through Fresha's marketplace, Fresha owns that relationship. Your reviews live on Fresha's platform. Your listing is controlled by Fresha's algorithm. If Fresha changes its terms tomorrow — which it has, more than once — you find out after the fact.

Salons leaving Fresha typically cite three reasons:

• Commission costs. If you do £2,000/month in Fresha marketplace bookings, you're paying £400 in commissions — every month, indefinitely.
• No own website. Fresha gives you a listing page on their platform. It's not your website. You can't customise it beyond the basics, you can't connect a custom domain, and it disappears the moment you leave.
• Client data ownership. Fresha holds your client database. When a client books through the marketplace, they're Fresha's lead as much as yours. Leaving the platform means losing the channel — not the clients themselves, but the platform relationship.

For a full breakdown of what Fresha actually costs at different booking volumes, see our post: How Much Does Fresha Cost for UK Salons in 2026?

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What You Keep vs. What You Lose When You Leave

Before you do anything else, be clear-eyed about what leaving Fresha actually means. There are real losses — and real things you keep.

What you keep

• Your client relationships. The people who've sat in your chair know you, not Fresha. They came back last time because of you, and they'll come back next time for the same reason.
• Your client data. Names, contact details, booking history — all of this is exportable from Fresha before you leave. It's yours.
• Your reputation. Your skills, your service quality, your word-of-mouth reputation — none of that is hosted on Fresha's servers.
• Your regular clients. Clients who come every 4–6 weeks aren't going anywhere. They'll follow you to a new booking link without a second thought.

What you lose

• Your Fresha marketplace reviews. This is the real loss. Your star rating and review count disappear when your listing closes. This stings — but Google reviews will replace them over time, and those are far more visible and portable.
• Marketplace discovery. New clients who find you by searching Fresha's directory won't find you there anymore. You'll need Google, Instagram, and your own website to replace that acquisition channel — which is more sustainable long-term anyway.
• Your Fresha listing URL. Any links you've shared that point to your Fresha profile will break or redirect to Fresha's homepage. Update them before you leave.

The honest calculation: for most salons, the commission savings in month one exceed the value of any Fresha-driven discovery they were getting. But if Fresha is your primary client acquisition channel (you booked 80%+ of your clients through the marketplace), you should build an alternative pipeline before cancelling — not after.

Step 1: Export Your Client List from Fresha

This is the first thing to do — before you cancel anything, before you announce anything. Secure your client data.

In your Fresha Partners dashboard:

1. Go to Clients in the left sidebar
2. Click Export (top-right corner of the client list)
3. Select your export format — CSV is the standard option
4. Download the file and save it somewhere safe (not just your Downloads folder)

The export typically includes client names, email addresses, phone numbers, and basic profile information. Booking history may be in a separate export — see Step 2.

What to do with this file: You'll use it in Step 3 to import clients into your new booking system, and in Step 4 to send your migration notification. Store it securely — it contains personal data covered by GDPR (or your local equivalent).

GDPR note: You can legitimately contact existing clients to notify them of a change to your booking system. This falls under legitimate interest — they've had an active relationship with your salon. You are not cold-contacting strangers.

Step 2: Download Your Booking History

Your appointment history is useful for two reasons: understanding which clients are your most valuable (to prioritise personal outreach), and having a record of past treatments for your own files.

In your Fresha Partners dashboard:

1. Go to Reports or Sales in the sidebar
2. Look for an Appointments or Sales export option
3. Select your date range — aim for at least the last 12 months
4. Download as CSV

Not all Fresha plans expose the same reporting depth. If you can't find a full appointment export, download your sales report instead — it will show you transaction history by client, which gives you the same picture.

Why bother: When you set up your new system, you'll want to know who your regulars are so you can import them with notes and booking history. Even a rough list of your top 20 clients — the ones who come in most frequently — is worth having before you leave.

Step 3: Set Up Your New Booking System

Do this before you tell clients you're moving, and before you cancel Fresha. Run both systems in parallel for 2–3 weeks. This gives you a live booking link to share with clients immediately.

The core things your new system needs to handle:

• Online booking (24/7, no client account required)
• Your own booking URL — ideally at your own domain
• Automatic confirmation emails to clients
• A client database you actually own and can export
• No commission on bookings

There are several options depending on where you operate. Our post on the best salon booking systems in 2026 compares the main alternatives. For European and Indonesian salons in particular, DoTheBeauty is worth considering.

With DoTheBeauty, setup works like this: answer 9 questions, and the AI generates a professional salon website — with your branding, your services, and your booking page — in about 10 minutes. You get:

• Online booking 24/7 — no WhatsApp, no calling required
• Your own domain (Growth plan and above) — not a subdomain you don't own
• Full client database with booking history, notes, and export capability
• 0% commission on all plans — every booking is entirely yours
• Automatic confirmation and reminder emails
• Card payments via Stripe (EU, UK, US, AU)

Plans start at €19.95/month (Starter) up to €79/month (Pro). See full pricing at dothebeauty.com/pricing. There's a 7-day free trial to test everything before committing — start here.

Once your new system is live and you've tested the booking flow end-to-end (book a test appointment yourself), you're ready to tell your clients.

Step 4: Notify Your Clients (with Templates)

This step is what determines how smooth your migration actually feels. Done well, most clients won't even notice the transition — they'll just have a new link to bookmark.

When to send: 5–7 days before your new booking system goes live. That gives clients time to see it before their next appointment window comes up.

Who to tell first: Your highest-value regulars — clients who come in every 4–6 weeks — deserve a personal message, not just a mass email. A quick WhatsApp or text to your top 10–15 clients goes a long way.

Email template

Subject: We've moved to our own booking system

Hi [Name],

We've made a change to how you can book with us. From [date], you can book directly at [your-website.com] — same team, same services, easier booking.

Your new booking link: [your-booking-url.com]

If you have any upcoming appointments already confirmed, don't worry — we'll be in touch to make sure everything is transferred smoothly.

Thank you for being a loyal client. We're looking forward to seeing you soon.

[Your name]
[Salon name]

WhatsApp/SMS template (short version)

Hi [Name]! Just a heads-up — we've moved to our own booking system. You can now book directly at [your-website.com]. Same team, same services, just easier to book. See you soon!

What NOT to do: Don't explain the whole Fresha situation in your notification. Clients don't need to know why you're moving — they just need to know where to go next. Keep it simple and forward-looking.

Follow-up message (10 days after first notification): Send a brief reminder to anyone who hasn't booked through your new system yet. Something like: "Just a quick reminder — our new booking link is [url]. Would love to see you soon!"

For advice on keeping clients coming back after the switch, see our guide on reducing no-shows and building client loyalty.

Step 5: Update Your Google Business Profile

This is the most important update you'll make. When clients — especially new ones — search for your salon by name, they often land on your Google Business listing first. If that listing points to Fresha, you're sending new clients to a platform you no longer use.

To update your booking link:

1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with your business account
2. Select your business location
3. Click Edit profile
4. Find the Website field and update it to your new booking URL
5. Look for a Booking links section (if available for your category) and update or remove the Fresha link
6. Save and verify the change is live by searching your business name in Google

While you're in your Google Business Profile, this is also a good moment to ask a few of your best clients to leave you a Google review. You're about to lose your Fresha reviews — start building your Google review count now, before you cancel, so there's no gap in social proof.

Other places to update your booking link:

• Instagram bio (replace the Fresha URL with your new booking page)
• Facebook Page → Book Now button
• Your own website, if you have one
• Email signature
• Any printed materials (business cards, flyers) — add your new URL when you next reprint

Step 6: Redirect Your Fresha Page (If Possible)

Fresha doesn't give you control over your marketplace profile URL — once your listing closes, it's gone. There's no redirect you can set up from Fresha's side. But you can manage the impact:

• Before you cancel: Add a note to your Fresha listing description saying "We've moved to [your-website.com] for easier direct booking." This gives anyone who finds your Fresha listing a route to you even after you stop actively using it.
• Update any links you control: Search Google for your business name plus "Fresha" to find any pages or directories that link to your Fresha profile. Update as many as you can before you cancel.
• Your Fresha page may stay visible briefly: After cancellation, your marketplace listing typically remains visible until the end of your billing period. Use that window to redirect as much traffic as possible.

The truth is: most clients who find you through Fresha's marketplace are first-time visitors. Your regulars aren't using Fresha's search to find you — they're going directly to your booking link. So while losing the marketplace listing isn't painless, the clients who matter most to your business aren't the ones you'll lose.

How Long Does the Switch Actually Take?

Here's a realistic timeline:

Day	What to do
Day 1	Export your client list and booking history from Fresha. Sign up for your new booking system. Complete the setup (services, team, availability).
Day 2–3	Test your new booking flow end-to-end. Set up your own domain if relevant. Add a note to your Fresha listing pointing to your new system.
Day 4–5	Send your client notification email. Send personal WhatsApp messages to your top regulars. Update Google Business Profile and social links.
Day 6–14	Run both systems in parallel. Monitor new bookings coming in through your new system. Follow up with clients who haven't switched yet.
Day 14–21	When the majority of upcoming appointments are in your new system, cancel your Fresha subscription. Start collecting Google reviews actively.

The 2–3 week overlap period is important. Don't cancel Fresha the same day you set up your new system. Run both in parallel so that any client who tries to book through Fresha during the transition still reaches you — while you redirect them toward your new booking page.

For context on other switching options, our Fresha alternatives comparison breaks down the main platforms available in the UK and Europe.

The Migration Checklist

• Export client list from Fresha Partners dashboard (CSV)
• Export booking history / sales report
• Sign up for new booking system and complete setup
• Add services, team members, and availability to new system
• Test the booking flow end-to-end (book a test appointment)
• Add a note to your Fresha listing pointing to your new system
• Send client notification email to full list
• Send personal WhatsApp/SMS to your top 10–15 regulars
• Update Google Business Profile booking link
• Update Instagram bio, Facebook Page, and any other social links
• Start actively collecting Google reviews
• Send follow-up notification to clients who haven't switched (day 10–12)
• Monitor new bookings in your new system for 2 weeks
• Cancel Fresha subscription when ready

Switching platforms is never completely frictionless — but the salons who do it well follow a simple principle: give your clients a clear, easy path to follow, and most of them will. The ones who don't were probably going to lapse anyway.

If you're still weighing your options, read our comparison of Fresha alternatives to see what else is out there. Or, if you're ready to set up your new system, start your 7-day free trial with DoTheBeauty and have your booking page live by the end of the day.