Why switch
Both buttons open an email to [email protected]. We reply within one UK business day. We open your account and answer every email. The trial needs no card.
Nine problems
Each one in three parts: what clinics report (our paraphrase, with no provider named), what BookingSimple does, and where it falls short.
Problem 01 of 9Money
What clinics report
Marketplace fees on a new client's first booking. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
There's no marketplace and no commission. Patients book on your clinic's own page, under your name, and every payment is made on your own Stripe account, so the money settles with you.
Where we fall short
We don't bring you new patients. Stripe's own card fees still apply. (note 5)
Problem 02 of 9Patients
What clinics report
Patients ring or message to move an appointment, because the software only lets them cancel, or blocks changes altogether. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
A Manage link in the confirmation email and in the 72- and 24-hour reminders lets patients move or cancel online, with no account. You set separate rules for moving and for cancelling: any time, 2, 24, 48 or 72 hours before, or by phone only.
A paid booking can still be moved, and the payment moves with it. When online changes are closed, patients are shown how to reach you, never a dead end.
Where we fall short
No patient accounts or booking history, and refunds go through the clinic. When a booking is cancelled the patient is emailed straight away, but that email has no button to book a new time. It offers Contact clinic instead.
Problem 03 of 9Price
What clinics report
Price rises per staff member, free allowances that shrink, and extra charges for reminders or text messages. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
One flat monthly price for each plan, from £29 a month. No VAT is charged. No per-booking fees and no commission.
Email reminders, deposits and online payments are part of every plan.
Where we fall short
Plans step up with the number of practitioners. Text messages aren't available yet: reminders go by email.
Problem 04 of 9Emails
What clinics report
Patient emails that look generic and can't be changed much, and reminders that fail without anyone noticing. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
Write the six main patient emails in your own words, colours and typeface, right on the email, and send yourself a real test before anything reaches a patient.
Failed or skipped emails are flagged on the appointment. Confirmation, moved and cancellation emails carry a calendar invite that updates or removes the same event in most calendar apps.
Where we fall short
Six emails can be edited. No attachments or newsletters, and no receipt or refund emails of our own yet. Emails come from “Your Clinic via BookingSimple”, not your own domain. Replies reach you if you set a support email in Branding.
Problem 05 of 9Website
What clinics report
Getting booking onto the clinic's own website is fiddly, and the result often looks out of place. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
Add a booking calendar that grows to fit your page, a Book now button that opens booking on top, or a plain link. Each can open on one practitioner, service or location. Copy two lines of code from your admin, or just the link.
Written steps cover WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow.
Where we fall short
On Wix we recommend the link. Other systems offer website widgets too; ours adds a calendar that grows to fit with no inner scroll, a script of about 5 KB, and opening on one service, practitioner or location.
Problem 06 of 9Reception
What clinics report
Calendars designed for a desktop screen that are fiddly to use on the reception tablet. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
The reception calendar is built for touch: practitioners side by side, large tap targets, drag or tap to move, and drawers that stay above the on-screen keyboard. It refreshes every 30 seconds.
Where we fall short
It's a web app in Safari or any browser. No native app, offline mode or check-in kiosk.
Problem 07 of 9No-shows
What clinics report
Missed appointments that cost the clinic money, and deposits taken over the phone with a card number read out. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
Take a deposit, the full price or nothing up front, by card on your booking page. For phone bookings, reception can email a payment link.
For no-shows, choose no charge, keep the deposit, or charge the rest to a card saved at booking. Charging the rest needs the patient's tick on your wording and a card saved with Stripe, with their bank's 3-D Secure check if the bank asks for one. It happens only when your staff mark a no-show after the start time, and a failed charge is never retried.
Where we fall short
Deposits are common in other systems too. Patients pay by card; we don't promise Apple Pay or Google Pay yet, and there's no card terminal.
Problem 08 of 9Cover
What clinics report
When a practitioner is off sick, reception reshuffles the day by hand and rings every patient. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
An owner or admin opens the absent practitioner's day and picks a colleague for each appointment. Only colleagues who work at that location, offer that treatment and are free at that time can be chosen. One confirm moves them all, and the date, time, place, payment and saved card stay as they were.
New bookings for the absent practitioner close for that time unless you untick it. Patients get a short email about their new practitioner if you tick that box.
If nobody is free, block the time and email the patients affected. Their email has a Manage appointment button, so they can pick a new time themselves within your rules. Their reminders pause until it's sorted, and nothing is moved or cancelled until someone acts.
Where we fall short
It isn't automatic: a person picks each cover and confirms. It's for owners and admins, one day and one location at a time, and you need 2 or more practitioners. The patient's existing calendar entry keeps the original practitioner's name.
Problem 09 of 9Setup
What clinics report
Setup that drags on for weeks, and worry about losing bookings or patient details during the move. (note 1)
What BookingSimple does
A 30-day free trial with no card needed, and a six-step setup you can skip. Plain-English warnings say when something can't be booked yet.
Guided setup and data import is an optional add-on if you'd rather we did it with you. A person answers every email.
Where we fall short
You import patients and upcoming appointments yourself from your old system's export. Clinical notes, past appointments and payments stay behind.
Notes
How we found these problems. In October 2026 we read public reviews of clinic booking and practice software on Trustpilot and Capterra, and the providers' own pricing and help pages. “What clinics report” is our paraphrase of problems that came up again and again. We don't quote reviewers, and we don't tie a complaint to a named provider.Pages accessed 7 October 2026.
Stripe's fees. Stripe sets its own card fees, and your clinic pays them to Stripe, not to us. We don't quote a figure because Stripe's prices are Stripe's to change. See Stripe's UK pricing
Facts from other providers' own websites, each with the date we checked it. They are not linked to the reviews above. Notes 2 to 4.
Marketplace feesFresha's UK pricing page lists a one-time 20% commission on new clients who find a business through the Fresha marketplace, with a minimum fee of £4 per client. It says no fee applies to returning clients, or to new clients who find the business through its own website, Instagram profile or Facebook profile.Source: fresha.com/en-GB/pricing, checked 7 October 2026.
Patients moving their own bookingCliniko's help article “Reschedule an appointment” says: “At this time patients cannot reschedule their own appointments.” The same article says clinics can allow patients to cancel their own appointments.Source: help.cliniko.com, article updated 6 February 2026, checked 7 October 2026.
Text message pricingCliniko's pricing page says SMS credits are 10 US cents per message, and that no feature costs extra apart from optional SMS. BookingSimple doesn't send text messages yet, so there's nothing like-for-like to compare.Source: cliniko.com/pricing, checked 7 October 2026.
Other providers change their prices and features, so check their current pages before deciding. Many of them do things we don't, listed below.
Honest limits
BookingSimple runs booking, payments, reminders and the reception calendar. If you rely on any of these every day, keep the system you have, or use it alongside us.
Everything we do, and where each part stops, is on the Features page. How we look after patient data is on the security page.
Switching
Five steps, in this order. Keep taking bookings the way you do now until your new booking page is ready.
Tell us how many practitioners and locations you have, and how you take bookings today. A person replies within one UK business day.
A six-step setup covers your branding, settings, location, practitioners, services and hours. Plain-English warnings say if anything can't be booked yet, and what to fix. Or choose Guided setup and data import: We set up your services, practitioners and opening hours with you, bring your patients across from your current system and help you add the booking widget to your website. See the price
Connect your clinic's Stripe account, then switch on deposits or no-show protection when you're happy. Payments go straight to your Stripe account.
Import your patients and upcoming appointments from your old system's export, check them before anything changes, and undo it for 14 days. Guided setup and data import includes doing it with you.
Put the booking calendar, a Book now button or a plain link on your website, and point your Google profile and emails at it. Keep your old system for bookings already made there until they've passed.
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