Seglo vs Fresha: a groom is not a haircut

Full disclosure: we build Seglo. Everything below is quoted from Fresha’s own pages, and where they are the better answer it says so.

At a glance

A groom is not a haircut

A haircut is one chair, one person, one hour, and Fresha models that beautifully. A groom is bathed by one person and finished by another, and in the middle it sits on a dryer for forty minutes needing nobody at all. The price depends on the coat that walked in. Half the time there are two dogs from the same house.

Fresha has two ways to add time to a service and neither is that gap. Processing time frees the staff member but “the client is still present”. Blocked time is the opposite: “the client is not present, and the team member is unavailable for new bookings.” There is no shape for a dog that is here, occupying a dryer, with nobody on it.

Seglo marks the steps that need nobody, so those forty minutes go back into the day as capacity you can sell. And Fresha has no pet as a thing: breed and coat live in client notes, two dogs from one owner are two bookings, and a service runs the length you set rather than the length the coat deserves.

What a new client costs, and what leaving costs

Fresha’s subscription is modest and the marketplace is where the model earns: a “20% one-time commission” on a brand new client, with a “minimum fee of A$8 per client”, charged on their first appointment. Returning clients are free forever, and that is a fair deal as far as it goes.

It still applies if “you or your team cancel an appointment on the client’s behalf”, and if the booking is rescheduled or left unmanaged.

The part to know before you build on it: you cannot leave the marketplace and keep your own booking page. “Unlisting your profile will disable online bookings and any booking links you have, appointments will need to be manually added to your calendar.” The website button, the Instagram link and the QR code on your counter all go with the listing. There is no off switch that leaves your own front door open. Seglo takes nothing on a booking, and your booking page is yours either way.

Where Fresha is the better answer

The marketplace is real distribution. If not enough people know you exist, a one-off commission for an introduction is a fair trade, and we do not have a marketplace at all.

Their in-person card rate of 1.29% plus 26 cents is sharper than most salons get on their own account, and they are further along on reviews, campaigns and payment options. On vaccination expiry neither of us keeps you compliant, so do not switch for that.

The visit that pays the rent

Look at how Fresha prices the marketplace and it tells you what they think they sell: 20% of the first appointment, then “no fee ever” on every visit after it. They charge for the introduction. Which is fair, and it is also the smaller half of a grooming business.

A dog comes back every six to eight weeks. Almost none of what you earn from a client happens on the day you meet them. It happens on the sixth visit, and the eighth, and it happens because somebody remembered the matting behind the ears and that she goes short in November.

That is what Seglo is built for: the pet’s record, the photo that lands as a photo, the phone that knows who is calling, the cancellation that refills itself. None of it fills an empty diary in week one. All of it is why the client is still yours in year three.

On Fresha the keeping is priced separately too, at A$89.95 a location for loyalty, A$24.95 for rating boost and A$15.95 a member for insights. You pay to be introduced, then you pay again to hold on.

And then the phone rings

Fresha answers it with software. AI Concierge is A$229.95 per location a month on top of the subscription, with 200 minutes included and A$1.38 a minute after that. To use the number already on your shopfront you “will need to set up call forwarding”.

And it has a limit worth knowing before you rely on it: “Booking appointments, or making changes to bookings, can only be done by the client themselves on the phone number that’s connected to their client profile.” So the husband ringing about the family dog, or anyone calling from the shop phone, gets a message taken.

Seglo puts the call in front of your own people, on your own number, the pet and the standing note already on screen. The AI is optional and most salons never switch it on. The finished groom goes back as a photograph rather than a link. Why that is rare in Australia.

Which should you pick?

Read from Fresha’s own published pages in August 2026. Products and fees change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. Fresha is a trademark of its owner and Seglo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Fresha.