Glow vs Treatwell: marketplace versus your own book
Treatwell is how a lot of clients still find a last-minute gel or a colour. That is a marketplace. Glow is the software that records the test, the consent and the batch on your own page, and never takes a cut of the visit.
Side by side
| Glow | Treatwell | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your booking system | Consumer marketplace with salon software |
| Monthly price | £19 flat, everything included | Software plus commission on marketplace bookings |
| Commission | 0%, ever | A cut of visits that arrive through Treatwell |
| Your page | yours on glow-uk.com | A listing next to other salons |
| Patch / skin test enforcement | Built in, per category | Not what the marketplace is for |
| Where the money goes | Your Stripe account | Through Treatwell's rails |
The real difference
Treatwell is good at one job: putting your name in front of people who opened an app looking for 'nails near me'. You pay for that with commission and with a listing that sits beside your competitors. If discovery is the only problem you have, weigh that honestly.
Glow does not run a marketplace. Your Instagram, your Google profile and the clients you already have are the channel. What Glow does is stop a new client booking a full set without a test, keep the consent, put the batch on the visit, and send the deposit to your bank. Those are different products.
Where Treatwell is genuinely stronger
Footfall. If you are empty on Tuesdays and Treatwell fills the chair, that is real money. Glow will not pretend otherwise. What Treatwell will not do is speak lash, colour or tattoo natively. A marketplace booking still lands on you to remember the allergy alert test.
For treatment businesses specifically
If you already have demand and you are tired of paying for it twice — once in commission, once in the hour you spend reconstructing whether they were tested — Glow is the book. See switching from Treatwell.
Questions
- Does Glow list me in a consumer app?
- No. Glow is your booking page, not a directory. Clients come from your own links.
- Can I keep Treatwell and use Glow?
- Some salons run both for a while. Marketplace bookings still need the same test and consent record. Glow can be the system of record even if Treatwell still sends the odd new client.
- Is migration free?
- Yes. Send the export. We map clients, services and bookings.
- Do you take a cut of the visit?
- No. 0% commission. Deposits go to your Stripe.
£19 a month. Everything included. 0% commission.
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