Five years ago, when someone said booking software for service professionals, the answer was Booksy. Today, the conversation is more nuanced, for good reasons. Booksy is still a powerful tool - but its model rests on two pillars (marketplace + commission) that are now costing serious money to professionals who already have their own clientele. BookHero was designed for that exact professional: the one with their Instagram, their word-of-mouth, their regulars, who wants a system that serves their business - not the other way around.
This comparison isn't fanboy. We're going to say where Booksy is still unbeaten, where BookHero clearly wins, and where they tie. With numbers, full side-by-side table, and real scenarios. By the end you'll know exactly which to pick.
First: both do the basics well
Let's get this out of the way. Online booking, automatic reminders, client card, multi-staff calendar, public page, checkout, reports - both have them. If your only question is will it solve my booking?, the answer is yes for either. The real decision is everything else: how much it costs, on what terms, and who owns the client relationship.
The philosophical difference: marketplace vs tool
Booksy is a marketplace. Their business model depends on getting end clients to search inside the Booksy app and charging you, the professional, a commission for each new client that finds you through that search. It works. But it has three consequences many underestimate: 1) the client is trained to think Booksy first, not your name; 2) you compete inside the app against other professionals; 3) you leave 25-30% of every new client on the table, forever.
BookHero isn't a marketplace. It's an operational tool - you pay a flat monthly fee, you keep 100% of what you bill. The page is yours, the link is yours (bookhero.app/your-name), and the clients booking are booking with you, not on a platform that also lists 17 competitors on the same street.
What Booksy does well (and badly): let's be fair
Where Booksy is still strong
- Marketplace with organic traffic - useful when you're starting out and don't yet have your own client base.
- Polished mobile app, with 10+ years of iteration and rich end-client features.
- Huge barber and hairdresser community - strong social presence.
- Built-in review system inside the app.
- Multi-country operation, useful if you work outside Portugal.
Where Booksy costs more than it seems
- 25-30% commissions on every new client from the marketplace - forever.
- The client remembers Booksy, not you. If you leave the platform, you lose history.
- Invoices with tax ID and fiscal data aren't native - you complicate with external software.
- Support goes via marketplace chat; replies in your language vary.
- Setup involves Booksy team review (you don't do everything self-service in one click).
- Direct competition with other businesses on the same listing - some pay for internal ads to outrank you.
The real cost, with serious numbers
Let's do the math. Imagine a hairdresser in Lisbon with average booking value €35 and 200 bookings/month. 30% of clients (60) come from the Booksy marketplace. At 30% commission on each first service, that's €630/month in commissions alone - €7,560/year. Plus the Booksy monthly. BookHero, on comparable plans, costs a fraction and charges 0 commission per booking, no matter where the client comes from.
Side-by-side feature table
| BookHero | Booksy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly | Monthly + commission |
| Commission per new client | 25-30% | |
| Online booking | ||
| Email reminders | ||
| Native WhatsApp reminders | ||
| Multiple staff | ||
| Auto-assignment (random / round robin / least loaded) | ||
| Client card with history | ||
| Integrated checkout (POS) | ||
| Split payments (cash + card) | ||
| Automatic per-staff commissions | ||
| Invoices with PT tax ID and fiscal data | ||
| PDF receipt ready to email/WhatsApp | ||
| Independent tool, no marketplace lock-in | ||
| Marketplace traffic | ||
| Self-service setup (no call) | ✓ - 10 minutes | |
| Human support in your language | ||
| Free assisted migration | - | |
| Multi-location | ||
| Automatic PT/EN bilingual |
✓ means available and mature. ~ means it exists but is limited, requires a higher plan, or has friction. ✗ means not supported.
Sofia's scenario, hair salon owner in Cascais
Sofia has 3 hairdressers including herself. On Booksy for 2 years. Annual revenue: €110,000. 35% of clients come from the Booksy app, 50% are regulars who've known the salon for years, 15% arrive via Instagram. At year-end she pays: €600 in Booksy monthly + €4,500 in commissions on the 35% new clients. Total: €5,100.
She migrated to BookHero on a Sunday afternoon. Imported clients via CSV. Kept Booksy active just for new client acquisition for 3 months. After those 3 months, cancelled. Result: net savings of about €4,000/year, same revenue (regulars didn't notice), and more brand control - clients now remember the salon's name, not the app.
Where BookHero clearly wins
- Native fiscal invoicing: issuing an informational invoice with tax ID, address and fiscal data is literally one click at checkout. On Booksy, you work around with external software.
- WhatsApp as a first-class channel: automatic reminders go to the person's number, not just email - read rate goes up 4x.
- Human support in your language: the product team replies in hours, not days. Assisted migrations free of charge if you want.
- No commission per booking: what you bill is yours. Flat monthly, predictable, no surprises.
- Setup in 10 minutes: no paid onboarding, no mandatory calls, no profile review. You create the account, configure services, share the link, you're ready.
Where Booksy still wins (be honest)
If you just opened your business, have no client base at all, and you're counting on marketplace traffic to start - Booksy can give you new clients in the first months without investing in marketing. That's the use case where the marketplace genuinely earns its commissions. But our advice is simple: use the marketplace as initial boost, then migrate to BookHero when regulars make >50% of your work. That's when commissions stop making sense.
How to migrate from Booksy to BookHero
Simpler than it looks. Export your client list from Booksy as CSV (all plans allow it), import it in BookHero from the clients dashboard, configure your services and hours, share the new link. In 2-4 hours you're operational. If you prefer, our team migrates for you, free - write to help@bookhero.app.
The quick choice
You have your own client base (word-of-mouth, Instagram, walk-ins)? BookHero, clearly. Just opened, no clients, want fast traffic? Booksy + BookHero in parallel for 6 months, then migrate. Bill more than €40,000/year? BookHero - marketplace commissions start eating real margin. Need invoices with tax ID for clients? BookHero - native. The clarity will be in your invoice at end of month.