Luminate and Booksy compared

How Booksy prices it

Booksy starts with a flat monthly base fee of £40, which includes your first user account. Each extra staff member you add to the system costs another £5 per month. If you're running a salon with six stylists, you pay the base £40 plus £25 for the five extra team members, which brings your monthly total to £65 before VAT. Remember that all of these services are subject to VAT, so you'll need to factor that extra tax into your monthly budget.

Booksy does not charge commission on standard marketplace bookings. They offer an optional marketing feature called Boost. It is free to activate, and triggers a one-time 30% fee on the total bill of any client who finds you through that channel for their first visit, with a minimum charge of £5. Payment processing fees are structured separately, starting at 0.99% plus 20p and VAT for Tap to Pay, or 1.29% plus 20p and VAT for mobile payments.

There's no long-term commitment or minimum contract term, and you can cancel the service at any time. You can test the platform first with a seven-day free trial that does not require you to enter any card details. Features like automated waitlists, deposits, digital loyalty stamp cards, and custom liability forms are included in the price. Check Booksy's own pricing page directly to ensure these rates and structures have not changed since you read this comparison.

How Luminate prices it

Luminate charges a flat rate of £69 per month. There are no tiers, per-user fees, or extra charges for adding stylists, so you can set up as many staff accounts as you need without increasing your bill.

This flat price includes all features, unlimited tills, and unlimited terminals. You'll get 300 SMS credits monthly, with email and WhatsApp messaging included. Online payments cost 2% plus 20p to cover card processing, with no gateway fees or setup costs. A £20 online payment costs 60p, and a £50 online payment costs £1.20. Luminate bills monthly with no contracts or exit fees, so you can cancel any time. To test the features, there's a 30-day free trial with no card required. You'll also get a free onboarding call, video tutorials, and online guides to help you get started.

Where Booksy is the better choice

Booksy suits independent barbers, stylists, and beauty therapists working alone or in rent-a-chair spaces. Because Booksy runs a heavily populated consumer marketplace, it's a powerful tool for generating walk-ins and finding new clients. The Booksy customer app has a large, active user base of people searching for nearby appointments.

If you're starting a studio or building a client list, appearing on a popular directory is a massive advantage. You don't have to spend time on marketing because Booksy handles client discovery. Clients can browse services, read reviews, and book directly through the app. Listing on Booksy's marketplace is free, and you only pay if you choose to turn on the optional Boost promotion, which takes a one-off 30% fee, minimum £5, from a new client's first visit.

Where Luminate fits better

Luminate's built for established hair salons with employee teams where the priority is internal coordination, staff performance, and colour management. Salon appointments are complex and involve multiple steps. Luminate supports multi-service bookings, letting you schedule a highlight service followed by a cut and blow-dry, keeping your stylists' columns aligned.

The software includes features for managing colour and staff. You can save detailed colour formulas to track past mixtures and bill for product overage when a service requires extra colour. Luminate tracks staff levels and automates commission based on targets you set. It tracks and flags skin test records to monitor client safety. There's also a waitlist management feature to fill gaps, and smart reminders that keep your schedule full.

What moving involves

If you're migrating from another system, Luminate's support team handles it. Email hello@luminate.salon with your current software details, and they'll help prepare your data as a ZIP of JSON files.

Before writing any information, Luminate runs a validation pass to check every record so you'll spot any issues. The import runs inside a single database transaction, meaning it either imports everything successfully or rolls back completely, preventing partial data. Because it requires a fresh account, plan this migration before setting up services or staff manually.

The migration transfers staff profiles, levels (including roster settings, commission bands, and targets), customer records (with preferences, badges, tags, and credit), services (with deposit rules and online bookings), products, the colour catalogue, appointments, transactions (with items and payments), shifts, roster data, time blocks, colour test records with consent signatures, and gift vouchers.

Once imported, check two default settings: services arrive bookable online and deposit-free, and staff arrive on the roster.

Questions to ask before you decide

Before you choose between Luminate and Booksy, ask these questions:

• How will your monthly bill change as your team grows? If you're hiring, check if a per-user fee makes your software costs too high.
• Do you want to use a consumer marketplace? If you need a public app to attract clients, a marketplace is valuable. If you've got regular clients, a private booking system fits better.
• How are card payments calculated and charged? Check the fees for online payments so you'll know what each transaction costs.
• What is the process for exporting your data? Make sure you can download your full database as a ZIP file if you decide to change software.

Comparing your options

Every salon operates differently, and the right software depends on your business goals. If you're running a solo chair and need to get noticed, a marketplace is a solid choice. If you're managing a team of stylists and want predictable costs, Luminate's flat rate and salon-specific tools are built for your business. Luminate's 30-day free trial doesn't require a card, letting you run both systems in parallel so your team can get comfortable before you cancel your old subscription.