For a hairdresser, barber, beauty salon or nail bar in Brussels, a booking platform like Treatwell takes on average 2.50€ per booking made through its channel plus around 20% commission on every new client it brings, while Planity charges a monthly subscription of 79 to 149€ and Booksy hovers around 30 to 90€ per month depending on the plan. For a salon taking 40 bookings a week in Schaerbeek or Anderlecht, that quickly amounts to 2 000 to 4 000€ a year going somewhere other than your till. A proper site with integrated booking does the same thing for around 49€ a month with Pixel Noir Studio, with no commission, no third-party algorithm, and your client file staying with you.
I am an independent web developer in Brussels, I work from the Le Metropole café in Jette, and this article puts on the table what those three platforms actually charge, what you pay without seeing it, and what you recover when the site taking your bookings is yours. No moralising: just the maths, line by line, with accessible sources.
What Treatwell, Planity and Booksy really charge in 2026
Treatwell, the scissor effect
Treatwell (formerly Wahanda, acquired by TripAdvisor in 2019) works on double billing. First, the Connect or Treatwell Pro subscription, typically between 30 and 75€ per month depending on options. Then, a commission of 2.50€ before tax per booking made via the Treatwell site, and above all a commission of around 20% including tax on the first booking of any new client brought by Treatwell, taken on the average ticket, according to the tariff conditions displayed by Treatwell France and Belgium (sources: treatwell.fr/pro and 2025 public pricing). For a 90€ balayage, that is 18€ going to Treatwell on the first booking, plus the fixed fees per booking.
The trap is in the definition of "new client". A person who books once with you via Treatwell but then finds you directly on Google, calls you or walks in, remains counted as a Treatwell client as long as they book through the platform. The more loyal the client is to your salon while still booking out of habit on the app, the longer you pay commission for someone you already won.
Planity, the SaaS model
Planity does not take commission per booking, that is the upside. In exchange, the monthly subscription is heavier: three publicly communicated tiers, 79€, 99€ and 149€ per month in 2025-2026 depending on the number of practitioners and the modules activated (till, client files, SMS marketing), source: planity.com/pro. The extra marketing cost to push "promotions" from the app typically bills between 0.10 and 0.30€ per SMS sent.
The trap with Planity is not pricing, it is strategic. Your clients book via planity.com or the Planity app, not via your own site. You gain simplicity, you lose the SEO traffic and the visual identity of your salon. The day Planity changes its conditions, you have no backup ready.
Booksy, the middle option
Booksy (very present among barbers in Saint-Gilles, Ixelles and Anderlecht) charges around 30€ per month for a single practitioner and climbs to around 90€ for a multi-practitioner salon, plus an optional Booksy Boost commission of 30% on new clients brought by their internal search engine, source: booksy.com/biz. Booksy stays competitive on the monthly side, but the Boost module can quickly push the bill up on a growing salon.
The real maths on an average Brussels salon
Take a hairdressing salon in Anderlecht doing 40 bookings a week, average ticket 55€, that is a weekly revenue around 2 200€. Over 48 working weeks, annual revenue lands around 105 000€. Here is what the three platforms take in this scenario.
- Treatwell: 50€ subscription per month plus 2.50€ per booking, around 1 800€ in fixed booking fees over the year, plus 20% on new clients (estimated at 25% of the annual flow) adding around 2 600€. Annual total around 5 000€.
- Planity: middle tier at 99€ per month, 1 188€ a year, plus SMS marketing around 250€. Annual total around 1 450€.
- Booksy: 60€ per month, 720€ a year, plus Boost at 30% on new clients estimated at 1 800€ if you activate it. Annual total between 720€ (without Boost) and 2 500€ (with Boost).
Over three years, Treatwell costs around 15 000€ cumulated for a salon of that size, Planity 4 350€, Booksy between 2 160€ and 7 500€. These figures are reasonable ranges, based on public grids and typical volumes. Your case may diverge upwards or downwards depending on the mix of new and existing clients.
Why a proper site with integrated booking changes the equation
A site that takes bookings directly, with no middleman, costs a one-off setup billed on quote (typically 800 to 1500€ for a professional showcase site, I detailed the items in How much does a professional website cost in 2026?) plus a Pixel Noir Studio subscription from 49€ per month including online booking, SMS reminders the day before, the chatbot answering common questions (hours, services, parking, tram access) and maintenance.
Over three years, that model represents around 800 to 1500€ of setup plus 1 764€ of subscription, so 2 600 to 3 300€ in total. For a salon billed by Treatwell around 15 000€ over the same period, the gap is more than 11 000€ coming back into your till, or a refresh of your space, or a raise for your employees. The exact logic of why this subscription model works better than a site paid once is in Website on subscription in Brussels.
Beyond the maths, you get back three things no platform gives you: the complete client file (name, email, phone, history), exportable to CSV at any time; local SEO on your own domain name, lifting you on "hairdresser Schaerbeek", "barber Saint-Gilles" or "salon Anderlecht" instead of feeding Treatwell with reviews that benefit the platform; and the ability to push your promos directly by SMS or email, without a third-party algorithm deciding who sees them. That is the idea I developed in Automate beauty salon bookings.
When to leave the platform, and when to keep it
Quitting Treatwell or Planity overnight is rarely the right move. The rule I advise my Brussels clients works in three steps. First, put the proper site with integrated booking in place, saying nothing to the platform. For two to three months, the site captures new bookings from loyal clients via QR code at the till, link in email signature and a discreet incentive ("5 percent off if you book through our site next time"). Then, you turn off the Booster subscription or paid marketing options on the platform, keeping a minimal free presence for discovery. Finally, you cut the platform once at least 70 percent of the flow goes through your site.
Keeping a Treatwell or Booksy presence can stay useful under two specific conditions: if you open a new salon in an area you do not know (Etterbeek, Forest, Auderghem), the platform brings fast discovery traffic; or if your clientele is mainly tourist or passing through (centre, Sablon, Dansaert), in which case the app is their natural reflex. In other cases, on a neighbourhood salon in Schaerbeek, Anderlecht or Jette, the proper site becomes profitable in under a year.
The Brussels specificity: 19 communes, 3 languages, 1 local SEO to win
Brussels has a particularity that neither Treatwell nor Planity really handle well: 19 communes with very different dynamics, and three commercial languages (French, Dutch, English around the European quarter). A hairdresser in Jette does not play in the same league as a salon in Saint-Gilles or a nail bar in Anderlecht. Local SEO on "hairdresser Jette", "barber Schaerbeek" or "manicure Anderlecht" is a battle you win with a site you own, not with a profile buried in a platform's search engine. The method is in Local SEO and Google Business in Brussels.
The other Brussels specificity is the bilingual effect. A proper site lets you choose your languages (FR, NL, sometimes EN), with content thought for the neighbourhood. A platform forces its standard interface on you. In Anderlecht, where half the clients consult in French and the other half in Dutch, that is anything but a detail.
How I do this, concretely
I am alone at Pixel Noir, I code the sites I deliver myself, and I work with Brussels salons and beauty parlours on the basis of a free 30-minute audit by video call or at the Le Metropole café in Jette. I look at your current booking flow, your Treatwell commission or your Planity subscription, and I tell you frankly whether the switch is profitable for you or not. If it is, I deliver a site with integrated booking, private client file, SMS reminders and local SEO pre-configured for your commune. For the details of the model (build billed at launch plus monthly subscription), everything is explained in Hire your website in 2026.
If you run a salon or a beauty parlour in Brussels and the Treatwell or Planity bill weighs on you, write to me at contact@pixelnoir.dev with your commune, your type of activity and the average number of bookings per week. I send back a personalised calculation within 48 hours, no commitment. Or come and see me directly at the Le Metropole café in Jette, we have a coffee and look at your case in twenty minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Does Treatwell really take 20% on every booking?
No, Treatwell takes around 20% including tax only on the first booking of a new client brought by the platform, plus a fixed commission of around 2.50€ before tax per booking made via the Treatwell site, plus the monthly subscription. For a loyal client who books repeatedly via the app, it is the fixed per-booking fee that applies, not the 20%.
How much does a site with booking cost in Brussels?
A professional showcase site with integrated booking in Brussels ranges between 800 and 1500€ for the initial setup billed on quote, plus a subscription from 49€ per month for maintenance, SMS reminders and the chatbot. The detail of the items is priced in my article on the cost of a website in 2026.
Can I keep Treatwell and have my own site in parallel?
Yes, that is actually the transition strategy I recommend for two to three months. You keep Treatwell for discovery traffic while you shift your loyal clients to your own site, then you cut the paid subscription and possibly keep a free listing.
Who owns the client file on Treatwell or Planity?
On Treatwell, you receive the client's name and email but the full history and contact channel remain controlled by the platform. On Planity, you have more access to the data but the export remains limited depending on the plan. On a proper site, you own 100% of the client file, exportable to CSV at any time.