Treatwell has been the European reference for beauty and wellness for over a decade. Polished mobile app, millions of European users, and a marketplace engine that genuinely generates traffic for professionals who need it. We won't pretend otherwise. The question this comparison answers is different: for a business with clientele already built or being built, is paying commissions forever worth it, or does it make more sense to pay a flat fee and keep total control of the relationship?
Philosophy: European marketplace vs operational tool
Treatwell wins when the client opens the Treatwell app and searches manicure near. You pay commission on that client, on the first booking (and in several countries, for the lifetime of the relationship). BookHero wins when someone searches for you by name, or when you share your link on Instagram, and you never pay a commission on anything. Both models are valid - but they serve very different realities.
There's an important asymmetry: when you leave Treatwell, you lose the relationship the client has with the app. When you leave BookHero, you take your client list with you (full CSV, no friction). It's an operational difference with strategic implications.
What Treatwell does well (and what really costs)
Treatwell strengths
- Marketplace with real European traffic - useful in tourist areas with foreign clients.
- Mature mobile app with category and location-based discovery.
- Built-in reviews inside the app, with significant volume.
- Online payment at booking, fully integrated.
- Strong in beauty and wellness, especially in European capitals.
Where Treatwell weighs on the wallet
- Commission on marketplace bookings - typically 25-35%.
- Platform dependence: clients search esthetics in Lisbon, not [your name].
- Tax-ID invoicing isn't native - invoices with full fiscal data come via workarounds.
- Setup with mandatory validation call, not self-service.
- Support in your language is decent but routes through marketplace channels.
- Marketplace policy and algorithm changes can shift your visibility overnight.
How much each one costs per month: real numbers
Imagine an esthetics center in Lisbon with average booking value €45 and 180 bookings/month. 40% (72 bookings) come from Treatwell. At 30% commission, that's €972/month in commissions - €11,664/year. Plus the Treatwell monthly. BookHero, in the same scenario, costs a fraction, you keep 100% of bookings, and you use your own clients to grow organically instead of staying dependent.
Side-by-side comparison table
| BookHero | Treatwell | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly | Monthly + commission |
| Commission per booking | 25-35% | |
| Online booking | ||
| Email reminders | ||
| Native WhatsApp reminders | ||
| Multi-staff with individual schedules | ||
| Auto-assignment (round robin / etc.) | ||
| Client card with private clinical history | ||
| Integrated checkout (POS) | ||
| Split payments (cash + card) | ||
| Online payment at booking time | ✓ (Stripe) | |
| Automatic per-staff commissions | ||
| Invoices with PT tax ID and fiscal data | ||
| Independent public page, no shared branding | ||
| No marketplace dependency | ||
| Marketplace traffic included | ||
| Self-service setup in <10 min | ||
| Human support in your language by product team | ||
| Free assisted migration | - | |
| Automatic PT/EN bilingual for the client | ||
| Easy data export | ||
| Multi-location |
Inês's scenario, esthetician in Aveiro
Inês has a small space, herself plus a colleague. Average booking value €40, 120 bookings/month. She was on Treatwell for 3 years. 35% of bookings came from the marketplace. End of 2025, she calculated: €5,000 in commissions on Treatwell clients, plus the monthly. The remaining 65% were regulars who came back consistently - and yet she paid commissions on the first bookings of their lifetime, years before.
Switched to BookHero in February 2026. Kept Treatwell in parallel for 4 months to capture summer tourists. In October cancelled. Result over 8 months: estimated net savings of €3,500, full control of calendar and brand, and direct relationship with each new client, no intermediary.
When Treatwell makes sense
- You're opening a new place in a tourist area and want volume quickly.
- You operate in multiple European countries and want one platform.
- Most clients are one-off tourists, not regulars.
- You don't mind paying commissions in exchange for traffic you don't need to generate.
When BookHero makes more sense (most cases)
- You already have a base of regulars who come back consistently.
- You have your own digital presence (Instagram, Google Business, website).
- You want clients to remember your business name, not the platform.
- You bill more than €30,000/year and commissions start eating real margin.
- You want native fiscal invoicing (tax ID, PDF informational invoice) without complications.
- You want human support in your language by the product team.
How to migrate from Treatwell to BookHero
Export your client list from Treatwell as CSV (all plans allow it). Create your BookHero account, import clients via the dashboard, configure services and hours, share the new link. In 2-4 hours you're operational. Our team supports the migration free of charge if you prefer - email help@bookhero.app and we'll set up a 30-minute call.
The quick choice
Own base + digital presence? BookHero, no hesitation. Starting from zero in tourist area? Treatwell to capture volume the first months, then migrate. Bill more than €40k/year and Treatwell is >25%? Commissions no longer pay - migrate. In any case, BookHero is where you end up, sooner or later, when your regulars start doing most of your work.