Guide · 7 min read

Booking app or your own booking website? The real five‑year cost

Booking apps are quick to start with, and some bring you new clients. But the monthly fees and commissions add up, and the client list isn't really yours. Here's how to compare the two honestly, with your own numbers.

By Amandeep Kaur, SolidSite Studio ·

What you pay for a booking app

  • A monthly subscription, often more for each extra team member.
  • Commission on "new" clients the app's marketplace sends you, on some apps. Read the rules on what counts as "new".
  • Card processing on every payment.
  • Add-ons: text reminders, marketing tools or a branded page can cost extra.

What you pay for your own booking website

  • A one-time build, or a monthly website plan if you go that way.
  • Running costs: hosting, the booking calendar, text messages and a domain name, usually a small monthly total.
  • Card processing on card payments, the same as with an app. Bank-transfer deposits cost nothing per payment.
  • Upkeep, if you want someone to handle updates and backups.

A worked example

Example numbers, to show the method. Put in your own.

Booking app: $50 a month, plus a 20% commission on 8 marketplace bookings a month worth $60 each ($96). That is $146 a month, or $8,760 over five years.

Own website: a $1,199 one-time build, plus running costs of about $30 a month ($1,800 over five years). That is about $3,000 over five years.

Card fees are left out of both, because they're much the same either way.

The gap depends mostly on the commission. If an app sends you very few marketplace clients, the difference is smaller; if most of your bookings come through it, the difference is larger. The booking-cost quiz runs the numbers for your business in two minutes.

What the money doesn't show

  • Who owns the client list. On your own site, every client record is in your account. If you leave an app, check what you can take with you.
  • Your brand. Clients book on your page, not next to competitors in a marketplace.
  • Lock-in. Prices and rules on an app can change; a site on your own accounts keeps running if you stop working with whoever built it.
  • Discovery, to be fair. A marketplace can bring people who have never heard of you. That is the one thing your own website doesn't do on day one.

When a booking app is the better choice

If you're just starting, have no following yet and rely on the marketplace to find clients, an app can be worth its fees for a while. Many studios do both: they keep an app listing for discovery and send regulars, Instagram followers and Google searchers to their own site, where there's no commission.

How to switch without losing anyone

  1. Export your client list and upcoming bookings from the app, if it allows it.
  2. Pick a switch-over date and honour existing bookings where they were made.
  3. Change the booking link in your Instagram bio, on your Google Business Profile and in your messages.
  4. Tell your regulars: a short message saying where to book from now on is usually enough.

Your own booking website, ready to try

SolidSite Studio builds booking websites for a one-time $1,199 (Booking package), with running costs of about $21–39 a month billed to you directly by the providers and no commission, ever. Everything is set up in your name. Compare the packages on the plans page.