HairConnect vs Treatwell
This is the only comparison on this site between two things that are not really the same. Treatwell brings you clients. We bring you software. That is not wordplay — it is the whole difference, and it is in their pricing.
Treatwell is first of all a consumer booking platform: people look for a hairdresser near them on treatwell.be and book there. On the salon side it is called Treatwell Pro and Treatwell Connect. They state themselves that there are more than 150,000 salon partners in Europe.
The Starter subscription costs, according to their Belgian pricing page, 29 € a month, billed monthly. It includes among other things a digital calendar with unlimited appointments, your own salon page on the booking platform, a digital till, review management and daily payouts.
On top of that subscription it says literally: "35% commission for new clients", "0% commission on repeat bookings" and "2% transaction fee on online prepaid appointments", with commission and fees stated as excluding VAT. Their terms define who counts as a new client: someone who has not appeared in your database within 365 days, or who has never completed an appointment.
Under those same terms either party may terminate with 30 days' notice. No minimum term is stated.
| Subject | Treatwell | HairConnect |
|---|---|---|
| What it is at heart | A marketplace where consumers search for salons, with salon software attached | Software for your salon. There is no HairConnect marketplace and there will not be one. |
| Cost per new client | 35% commission for new clients, 0% on repeat bookings (excl. VAT) | No commission. Whoever books through your page is your client. |
| Cost per online booking | 2% transaction fee on online prepaid appointments (excl. VAT) | No per-booking fee. That channel is too important to charge by the piece. |
| Subscription | 29 € a month for Starter, billed monthly | Not fixed yet. |
| Where your booking page lives | On treatwell.be, next to the other salons on your street | On your own domain, with only your salon on it. |
| Processing time in the calendar | Not published | Work block and waiting block kept apart: the chair occupied, the stylist free. |
| Colour formulas | Not published | Full history per visit, parsed into brand, product, grams and developer. |
| Notice | 30 days, either side; no minimum term stated | Not fixed yet. |
Where they are stronger
- They bring you people you would never have seen. A new client who costs 35% but who without Treatwell did not exist is still a gain — and on her second visit you pay nothing. That sum is yours to do; we will not do it for you.
- They are cheap to try. 29 € a month with 30 days' notice is a low threshold, far lower than a migration to any package costs.
- Their reach is real. A salon that is just starting or has just moved has a problem we do not solve: nobody knows you exist. A marketplace is the right tool for that.
- Their site is fully available in Dutch and French, pricing included. In this country that is not a detail.
Where we do it differently
- Your clients are yours. There is no channel through which someone who books with you gets an offer tomorrow from the salon two streets away.
- You pay neither per client nor per booking. What you pay is a subscription — and it does not go up because you are doing well.
- We are built for the work at the chair: processing times, colour formulas, several stylists on one bill, a cabin treated as a resource. That is a different kind of depth than reach.
- The two do not exclude each other. Some salons are right to be visible on a marketplace and keep their own calendar in their own hands.
- Does HairConnect replace Treatwell?
- For the calendar, till and client file, yes. For being found, no: we have no marketplace and are not going to build one. If Treatwell mainly brings you new clients, this page is comparing the wrong thing.
- Is 35% a lot?
- That depends entirely on how many of your clients arrive through them and whether they come back. On repeat bookings they charge 0%. Run the numbers on your own figures from last year; any answer we gave here would be a guess about your salon.
- Do those amounts include VAT?
- The commission and transaction fee are explicitly stated as excluding VAT. For the 29 € a month it is not stated, so we do not know — ask them.
Where this comes from
Everything said about the other package on this page comes from these addresses. Rates and terms may have changed since — check them at the source.
- www.treatwell.be/partners retrieved on
- www.treatwell.be/partners/prijzen retrieved on
- www.treatwell.be/fr/partenaires/tarifs retrieved on
- www.treatwell.be/info/algemene-voorwaarden-salons retrieved on
Still torn between two packages?
Put your situation to us. If another package suits you better, we will say so — that costs us one conversation and saves you a year.