What booking software costs: commission, per person or flat

Every booking app has a price on its website. Almost none of those prices is what you end up paying.

That isn't usually dishonesty. It's that there are three quite different ways to charge a shop for bookings, and the number on the pricing page only means something once you know which one you're looking at.

The three ways you get charged

A commission. The software is free, or nearly, and takes a percentage when a customer books through it. Sometimes only on new customers, sometimes on everything, sometimes more if you pay to be shown higher up.

This suits a brand-new shop with no customers, because you pay nothing until somebody walks in. It gets expensive in exactly the way you'd want your business to go: the busier you are, the more you hand over. And a percentage comes off your takings, not your profit.

A price per person. A monthly fee for each member of the team. The headline number is small, because it's the price for one.

This suits somebody who works alone and means to stay that way. It stops suiting you the day you take someone on, and again each time after that. Growing the team puts the bill up even if takings haven't followed yet.

A flat price. One monthly fee for the shop, whatever you take and however many of you there are.

This looks the most expensive on the pricing page and is the easiest to plan around, because it's the only one of the three that doesn't move.

The lines that aren't on the pricing page

Whatever the model, these are where the real bill hides.

• Text messages. Reminders by SMS cost real money to send. Some plans include an allowance, some charge per text, some only offer them on a higher tier. Ask which.
• Card payments. If customers can pay online, a card processing fee applies on every payment, whoever you use. That's the payment company's fee, and it's normal. What you're checking is whether the booking software adds a cut of its own on top.
• The website. A lot of booking apps give you a booking page, not a website. If you'll still need a site for your prices, your photos and your opening hours, that's another bill, from somebody else.
• Your own address. Whether you can use a domain of your own, and what it costs.
• Leaving. Whether you can take your customer list with you. Not a monthly cost, but the most expensive line there is on the day you need it.

The sum, with your numbers

Five minutes, last month's figures, and a calculator.

1. Write down last month's takings from bookings. Roughly is fine.
2. For a commission model: multiply that by the percentage, from the statement if you've got one. That's your real monthly price. Now do it again with the takings you're hoping for next year.
3. For a per-person model: multiply the price by the people you have. Then by the people you'd like to have.
4. For a flat price: write it down once. It's the same in both columns.
5. Add the hidden lines to each: texts, a website if you'd still need one, a domain.

Now compare the totals, not the headlines. The order usually changes.

What we charge, so you can put it in the sum

Rantevo is a flat price. Solo is €19 a month for a shop where one person takes the bookings, or €15 a month billed yearly. Team is €49 a month for everyone who works with you, however many that is, or €39 a month billed yearly. Both start with 30 days free.

We take 0% commission, on regulars and first-timers alike. If customers pay online, the only fee is the card processing fee, and the money goes straight to your own account.

SMS credit is included every month: €5 on Solo and €10 on Team. Past that you can buy a top-up, or let the texts stop and the emails carry on. Email reminders cost nothing.

It's also a whole website, with your services, prices, team, photos and hours on it, so there's no second bill for one. A domain of your own is paid for separately from the plan.

Put those in the sum next to whatever else you're looking at. If a cheaper tool comes out ahead for your shop on your numbers, it's the right one for you. If you have more than one chair, or you're busy, or you plan to be, do the sum before you trust any headline price, ours included.

If you're still deciding whether you need any of this, start with paper diary or booking app.