Does Bella Booking charge commission compared with Phorest?

Bella Booking charges 0% commission on bookings - a flat monthly subscription plus standard Stripe payment processing when you take card payments. Phorest's documented commission position: 0% - no marketplace or booking commission. Always verify current pricing on each vendor's own site.

How does Bella Booking pricing compare with Phorest?

Phorest starts from Contact for pricing (contact sales model; last verified September 2026). Bella Booking is flat per plan: Solo from $25/month (1 team member), Starter $67/month (up to 3), Professional $99/month (unlimited team members). Compare total cost for your real team size, including SMS and payment processing.

When should I choose Bella Booking over Phorest?

Choose Bella Booking when these fit your priorities: Transparent pricing published on website - no sales calls needed; Suitable for solo practitioners and small teams (Phorest targets 3+ staff); SMS reminders included in the plan (50-500/month) - no per-message charges. Choose Phorest when: You want a built-in marketing suite with campaign ROI tracking; A mature loyalty programme with cross-brand partnerships matters to you.

Can I switch from Phorest to Bella Booking?

Yes. Bella includes free onboarding on every plan and free data migration on Starter and Professional. Export steps from Phorest are documented on the switch page; estimated time 2-3 hours. Export your data from Phorest before you lose access.

Bella Booking

Phorest

Bella Booking vs Phorest

Transparent pricing. Built for teams of any size.

Name: Bella Booking - Software for Beauty, Wellness & Health Practices
Brand: Bella Booking
Price: 25 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5.0 (12 reviews)

An honest comparison to help you choose the right salon, spa or clinic software for your business - whatever its size.

Last updated: September 2026

Try Bella Booking free

Quick facts at a glance

A side-by-side overview of key differences

Prices shown in USD unless marked A$

Bella Booking

Phorest

Founded

2021

2003

Headquarters

Sydney, Australia

Dublin, Ireland

Best for

Beauty, Wellness & Health Practices - solo practitioners to multi-location groups

Growing salons, spas and aesthetic clinics (3+ staff)

Monthly Pricing

Starter/Professional

Per their pricing model

Solo (1 team member)

$25

$$$ (Custom quote)

6 team members

$99

$$$ (Custom quote)

12 team members

$99

$$$ (Custom quote)

Commission

0% (never)

0% - no marketplace or booking commission

Bella Booking: Starter plan for 1-3 team members, Professional for 4+ (unlimited). Competitor pricing from official sources, verified September 2026.

Which is right for you?

An honest look at when each platform makes sense

Consider Bella Booking if...

Transparent pricing published on website - no sales calls needed
Suitable for solo practitioners and small teams (Phorest targets 3+ staff)
SMS reminders included in the plan (50-500/month) - no per-message charges
Free trial available with no credit card required (Phorest offers no trial)
Simpler, focused interface - less overwhelming for smaller teams
Sydney-based company with responsive support across multiple timezones
Family/dependent booking (not available on Phorest)
AI Assistant for business insights
No contract lock-in
Client confirmation system with one-click links
Service-level deposit and cancellation policy overrides
Predictable monthly cost - no add-on surprises
Accessibility & personalisation - dark mode, dyslexia-friendly fonts, colour themes, density modes
Prepaid packages for selling session bundles upfront
Memberships included on Professional plan with 9 billing cycles and client self-service portal (Phorest: paid add-on, requires PhorestPay)
Loyalty programme included on Professional plan (Phorest: Treatcard on all plans, but cross-brand only)
Resource management with capacity controls and auto-assignment
31 reports with charts and comparison mode

Try Bella Booking free

Consider Phorest if...

You want a built-in marketing suite with campaign ROI tracking
A mature loyalty programme with cross-brand partnerships matters to you
You need automated Google/Facebook review collection
Commission tracking for staff is essential
You want a branded booking app for your clients
Visual consultations with face-mapping are important (medspa/aesthetics)
You want a dedicated business advisor included
Your team has 3+ staff members

We believe in helping you find the right fit, even if it's not us.

Detailed feature comparison

A comprehensive look at what each platform offers

Available

Partial / Limited

Not available

Scheduling & Booking

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Online booking (24/7)

24/7 self-service

With deposit protection

Appointment scheduling

Drag-and-drop, pick-on-calendar moves with suggested times, Find a time, gap-fill scoring

Machine learning schedule optimisation

Multi-service booking

Multi-staff parallel appointments

Multi-team-member simultaneous services

Waitlist management

Waiting list for cancellations

Incomplete booking recoveryPhorest has a basic abandoned-cart email (email only, locked template, no business pipeline). Bella sends dual-channel (SMS + email), has a Waitlist panel with Book-for-client and Dismiss actions, and an admin-side KPI card.

Auto-capture + SMS/email reminder + Waitlist panel with "Book for client" action

Email-only auto-reminder sent ~3 hours after drop-off at payment screen

Reserve with Google

Branded booking app

Add-on

Self check-in

PhorestGuest app

Processing time (bookable gap)

Bookable gap - client stays, team member free for other appointments

Basic gap between services

Buffer time before/after

Before & after - blocks team member and resource for setup/cleanup

Basic buffer settings

Location-level timing defaultsNo competitor offers location-level default timings with per-service inheritance

Location-level defaults with per-service overrides and inheritance

Schedule optimisation

3 modes: Show All, Reduce Gaps, Eliminate Gaps - per location

Smart Booking limits slots to enforce back-to-back booking. Minimum Gap Time setting

Find a time wizard

Availability-first wizard with cross-day browsing and gap-fill scoring (Best fit / Great fit / Good fit)

Client Management

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Client CRM

Profiles, history, notes, documents

With free client data import

Client history & notes

Digital consultation forms

Form builder with ten field types including signatures and file upload, auto-send before appointments

Pre-send or in-salon on tablet

Visual consultations (face-mapping)

Premium Consultations add-on

Video consultations

All plans

Before & after photos

Client document storage with photos

Stored in client profile

Team Management

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Team scheduling

1 for solo, up to 3 for starter, unlimited for professional

Unlimited staff on all plans

Employee rostering

With clock in/out

Role permissions

4 built-in roles (3 customisable), 50+ granular permissions across 19+ modules

Tiered access levels

Staff pricing tiers

Customisable pricing tiers (e.g. Junior/Senior/Master)

Commission tracking

Team member sales report (Professional plan): each team member's sales after discounts and refunds, to pay commission from. No commission rates or payouts

Tiered or flat commission

Staff performance goals

Set and track via PhorestGo app

Payments & POS

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Integrated payments

Software-based checkout - cash, card, or card on file (charge saved cards); no integrated card reader

PhorestPay terminals + cardless checkout

Deposit collection

Fixed amount or percentage; part and full payments before the appointment

Credit card secured bookings

Gift cards (online & in-store)

Digital gift cards, both amount-based and service-based, with Stripe payment (Professional plan)

Physical and online gift vouchers

Memberships & subscriptions

Recurring plans with Stripe billing, 9 billing cycles, benefits with session tracking, online purchase, pause/resume

Add-on cost (custom pricing), requires PhorestPay

Online product store

Product shop on your booking page: clients buy online, then collect or reserve for their next appointment

Sell products and gift cards online 24/7

Courses & series packs

Sequential and parallel execution, flexible pricing (total price, discount %, free), show savings

Prepaid bookable services with automated redemption

Service add-ons

Optional or required per service, single/multi-select, price and duration

Custom fees; no dedicated per-service extras

Afterpay / Buy Now Pay LaterPhorest uses Affirm, not Afterpay

Afterpay / Clearpay BNPL for deposits, gift cards, and packages (AU, NZ, US, CA, UK)

BNPL via Affirm through PhorestPay

Discount reasons at checkout

Discount reasons at checkout with Discount summary report

Discount reason field tracked in Discounts and Special Offers report

Gift card online redemption

Clients apply gift cards at online booking payment step

Clients pay online deposits with vouchers/gift cards

Communication & Marketing

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

SMS reminders

50-500/month included

Per-message pricing (12c or 8.5c)

Email reminders

Email/SMS marketing suite

Email campaigns with audience filters, branded composer or your own HTML (paste a Canva Email design), open/click tracking - unlimited within Messages Plus (fair use)

Ready-made templates, campaign builder, ROI tracking

Online reputation management

Automated Google/Facebook review requests

Client reconnect (rebooking prompts)

Auto-predict when clients are due to rebook

Facebook & Instagram ads manager

Complete Advantage Plus only

Two-way SMS messaging

Dedicated number, threaded inbox, auto-handling replies (Messages Plus add-on)

Phorest Chat - dedicated number, conversations in PhorestGo app. $15/month add-on

Dedicated business phone number

Your own business number - clients see your number, not a platform number (Messages Plus add-on)

Dedicated number assigned on Phorest Chat activation ($15/month add-on)

AI phone receptionistNeither answers the phone with AI. Bella has no phone answering of any kind, and Phorest's Front Desk AI works by text and WhatsApp.

Front Desk AI answers texts and WhatsApp messages, not calls. It books, reschedules and rebooks, answers common questions and hands harder conversations to your team. An add-on for any plan, with no published price

Auto-reply handling

Keyword-based: YES/Y confirms (your own Confirmed message replies), NO flags for follow-up or cancels per your setting, STOP unsubscribes

Front Desk AI, an add-on, answers SMS and WhatsApp messages: bookings, rescheduling, rebooking and common questions

Bulk SMS campaigns

SMS and email campaigns with audience filtering (incl. birthdays this month/week) and scheduling (Messages Plus add-on)

Full SMS/email campaign suite with professional templates and audience targeting

Business Management

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Sales tracking

Stock management

Barcode scanning via app

Reporting & analytics

core reports all plans; 30 total with advanced reports on Professional; custom reports upon request (Professional)

Financial, staff, client, and marketing reports

Online booking analytics

Native: traffic sources, drop-off funnel & visit-to-booking conversion - all plans, no Google Analytics

Instagram/Facebook source tags only; funnel and conversion via Google Analytics.

Payroll & commission reports

Auto-calculated wages and commission

Multi-location support

Per-location databases, copy services between locations

Centralised management, cross-branch staff rostering

Platform & Support

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Cloud-based

Pure cloud - access from anywhere

Cloud-based, unlimited devices

Staff mobile app

Installs on your phone from the browser: home-screen icon, full screen, push notifications. Not listed in the app stores

PhorestGo for owners and staff

Australian support team

Sydney-based team, with responsive support across multiple timezones

Ireland-based; AU support Mon-Sat

Dedicated business advisor

Included on all plans

Free onboarding & training

Free setup help on every plan; data migration on Starter and Professional

Tailored setup, unlimited free training for life

Free data migration

Starter and Professional

Client data import included

Transparent pricing

Published on website

Request a quote required

Unique Features

Feature

Bella Booking

Phorest

Family/dependent booking

Book for children, partners, parents, pets, and more

AI Assistant

All plans

Loyalty programme

Professional plan

Treatcard - all plans

Automatic waitlist slot matching

Automatic matching with team notifications

Activity logging (audit trail)

Full appointment audit trail

Multi-service appointment grouping

Grouped on scheduler with full-details tooltip

Attendance tracking (time clock)

Time clock with PIN, Professional plan

Client reviews

Verified appointments, AI moderation, Professional plan

Online reviews feature

Expert product recommendations SMS

Trackable personalised product SMS linked to online store

Xero/QuickBooks integration

Add-on

Digital tipping

Clients tip team members after appointments via Stripe (Professional plan, via the review-and-tip flow)

PhorestTips: clients tip by card and it is paid to the team member's PhorestPay wallet

Command palette (global search)

Cmd+K global search and navigation

Service variants with client eligibility

Named variations with per-variant pricing, duration, timing, available times, and client eligibility (first-time/returning)

Hair length add-ons (workaround)

Prerequisite services (consultation first)

Require a consult (or any service) before a treatment books online - Completed or Booked mode, Any/All, same-cart unlock in Booked mode; the team can override on the dashboard

Real-time dashboard updates

Live updates via SignalR - no page refresh

Health Check Dashboard auto-refreshes. Push notifications via PhorestGo app

Client bulk actions

Multi-select for bulk announcements and email copy, persists across pages

Bulk archive/unarchive and report downloads - no multi-select messaging

AI business digest

Weekly and monthly AI-generated performance summaries with actionable insights

Prepaid packages

Session bundles with online purchase, online redemption, auto-apply at checkout

Saved cards / card on file

Clients save cards; the team charges via card on file at checkout

PhorestPay stores a client's card for no-show charges and cardless checkout

Accessibility & personalisation (themes, fonts, density)

Dark mode, dyslexia-friendly reading fonts, colour themes, density modes, reduced-motion, focus mode

Pricing breakdown

What you'll actually pay

Prices shown are starting prices. Bella Booking Starter includes up to 3 team members; Professional includes unlimited team members. Competitor pricing may vary based on team size.

Bella Booking

Solo (1 team member)$25

6 team members$99

12 team members$99

Commission on bookings0%

Payment processing (when used)

Stripe's standard rate for your country + 1%In the US: 2.9% + US$0.30 (Stripe) + 1% (Bella Booking) = 3.9% + US$0.30

SMS reminders50-500/mo included

Solo (1 team): $25/month USD • Starter (1-3 team): $67/month USD • Professional (4+): $99/month USD

Phorest

Solo (1 team member)Custom quote

6 team membersCustom quote

12 team membersCustom quote

Pricing modelCustom quote - 3 tiers (Grow, Complete Advantage, Complete Advantage Plus)

Commission0% - no marketplace or booking commission

Payment processing (when used)PhorestPay integrated terminals

Additional costs to consider

• SMS charged per message (12c or 8.5c depending on plan)
• Two-Way SMS add-on (additional cost)
• Memberships add-on (additional cost)
• Branded booking app add-on (additional cost)
• Xero/QuickBooks integration add-on (additional cost)

Pricing information based on publicly available data as of September 2026. Visit each provider's website for current pricing.

What Phorest does well

We believe in honest comparisons. Here's what Phorest excels at:

1Feature-rich all-in-one platform with marketing suite included
2Treatcard loyalty programme included on all plans
3Automated online reputation management (Google/Facebook reviews)
4Unlimited staff and devices on all plans
5PhorestGo staff app with performance goals and tracking
6Free data migration and unlimited free training for life
7Dedicated business advisor on all plans
8Visual consultations with face-mapping (Premium add-on)
9Online product store and gift vouchers
10Commission tracking with tiered/flat structures

Phorest might be better if...

We believe in helping you find the right solution, even if it's not us. Here are some scenarios where other options might serve you better:

1Built-in marketing suite with email campaigns and ROI tracking
2Treatcard loyalty programme on all plans
3Automated Google/Facebook review collection
4Commission tracking (tiered or flat)
5PhorestGo staff mobile app with goal tracking

Still not sure? - we'll give you an honest assessment of whether Bella Booking is right for your business.

Rated 5.0 on Capterra

“Try Bella, You Won't Regret It!”

Emma W., Owner Operator · Capterra review

“Great support for small business”

Jalpa P., Owner · Capterra review

“User-friendly and reliable booking system with quick support”

Ricky K., Hair Salon Barber · Capterra review

Read all 12 reviews on Capterra

Switching from Phorest?

We make it easy. Free onboarding on every plan, with free data migration on Starter and Professional.

Free data migration on Starter and Professional

Personal onboarding help

No credit card required

Start free trial

See the full guide to switching from Phorest

Still comparing? More Phorest alternatives

How to switch from Phorest

Step-by-step guide to export your data and move to Bella Booking. We offer free onboarding on every plan, and free data migration on Starter and Professional.

Estimated time: 2-3 hours

1
Export client email addresses
Go to Marketing > Client Export > Emails. This downloads a CSV of client email addresses.
2
Export client postal addresses
Go to Marketing > Client Export > Address. This downloads a CSV of client home addresses.
3
Export sales and financial data
Go to Manager > Business > CSV Export > + New Export > set your date range > select format > OK. Note: large date ranges may take up to 1 hour to process.
4
Export services list
Go to Manager > Services > Export all services. This includes service names and price levels.
5
Export future appointments
Go to Reports > Staff Appointments report to view and export upcoming bookings.
6
Send your exports to Bella Booking
Email your exported files to our onboarding team. We will import your clients, validate the data, and help set up your services and team schedules.

A note on appointment history

We generally recommend not importing old appointment history. Importing past appointments can trigger unintended automated messages (reminders, review requests, reminders to rebook, follow-up messages) and cause data inconsistencies. Your clients and services are the essential data for a clean start. If you do want some history carried over, we recommend a tight recent range (e.g. the last 3 months), and our migration team will ensure no notifications are sent accidentally.

Good to know

Individual staff service durations are not included in the services export. Multi-location businesses must export data separately per location. Self-service exports are free, but data exports requested directly from Phorest support may involve a charge.

Official export documentation: Phorest help centre

Can't export your data?

No problem, we can work with anything. Screenshots of your service list, a link to your public booking page, a photo of your price board, or even a typed-up list. Send us whatever you have and we will build your account from it.

Need help with the migration?

Our team will handle the data import, set up your services, and walk you through everything. Onboarding help is free on every plan, and data migration is free on Starter and Professional. We accept data in any format: CSV, Excel, screenshots, photos, links, or anything else you can send.

Sources: Information gathered from www.phorest.com. Last verified: September 2026.

Found an error? and we'll correct it promptly.

Important Notice

The information about Phorest on this page is based on publicly available data as of September 2026 and is provided for general comparison purposes only. Pricing, features, and policies may change at any time without notice. We make reasonable efforts to keep this information accurate, but we cannot guarantee its completeness or current accuracy.

Always verify directly with Phorest before making any business decisions. This comparison reflects our understanding and may not capture all nuances of their offerings.