Starter
Up to 75 bookings per month
Every feature and team access included, with SMS reminders (50 credits a month).
£19/mo
Barkway vs Booksy
Barkway vs Booksy. Grooming-specific software or a broad booking marketplace?
Booksy is a mature beauty and appointment platform with unlimited bookings and a consumer marketplace. Barkway is narrower on purpose: it is designed around dogs, grooming history, recall and the shape of a grooming day.
Barkway gives clients self-service while keeping every booking tied back to the grooming-specific business record.Comparison checked 1st October 2026
At a glance
Compare the things that actually change what you pay.
Booksy publishes one £40/month subscription with all features and unlimited bookings, then charges £5/month per additional user, all subject to VAT. Barkway starts at £19/month, includes team access and scales by monthly booking volume.
Entry price
Barkway
£19/month
Booksy
£40/month plus VAT
Bookings
Barkway
75 / 150 / 300 per month
Booksy
Unlimited bookings
Additional users
Barkway
Team access included
Booksy
£5/month per additional user, plus VAT
Feature tiers
Barkway
Core features included across plans
Booksy
Booksy says all features are included in its subscription
Marketplace
Barkway
No consumer marketplace
Booksy
Booksy Marketplace included
Optional acquisition fee
Barkway
No marketplace acquisition product
Booksy
Boost: 30% of a Boost client’s first visit, minimum £5
Pet-specific records
Barkway
Dedicated pet, grooming-history and appointment context
Booksy
Booksy’s public product is built around general client and calendar management rather than pet-specific workflows
Card payments
Barkway
Stripe card payments and deposits; Barkway takes no transaction fee
Booksy
Booksy payments from 0.99% + 20p + VAT (rate depends on method)
Trial
Barkway
30-day free trial, no card required
Booksy
7-day free trial on the current UK pricing page
Pricing & limits
Compare the plan you would actually need, not just the cheapest number on the page.
Barkway
Pricing changes with monthly booking volume.
Growth
Most popularUp to 150 bookings per month
Every feature and team access included, with SMS reminders (100 credits a month).
£29/mo
Professional
Up to 300 bookings per month
Every feature and team access included, with SMS reminders (150 credits a month).
£39/mo
Booksy
Published pricing checked 1st October 2026.
Booksy subscription
One main plan with Booksy’s feature set included.
£40/month + VAT
- Unlimited bookings
- Marketplace listing
- Marketing tools
- Client and calendar management
Additional users
Booksy charges separately as the team grows.
+£5/month each + VAT
- Added to the core subscription
- Relevant for multi-groomer teams
Boost
A marketplace visibility product rather than a subscription tier.
Optional
- No monthly fee
- 30% of a Boost client’s first visit
- £5 minimum fee
- Only applies when Boost is enabled
Which one fits?
There should be a good reason to choose either.
Choose Barkway if…
- You want software that understands dogs, grooming history, recall and pet-specific appointment context natively.
- You have a team and prefer included team access rather than an additional monthly charge for each user.
- You would rather pay by booking volume than pay for marketplace reach and unlimited booking capacity you may not need yet.
Choose Booksy if…
- Unlimited bookings are essential and the £40 base subscription works for your volume.
- Booksy’s consumer marketplace is a meaningful source of new-client discovery for your business.
- You want a broader beauty/service-business ecosystem rather than software shaped specifically around grooming.
The trade-offs
The useful differences show up in the working day.
01 · Volume
Booksy wins on unlimited bookings. Barkway charges less at lower grooming volumes.
Booksy includes unlimited bookings for £40/month plus VAT. Barkway’s £19, £29 and £39 plans correspond to 75, 150 and 300 monthly bookings, so the trade-off is straightforward: unlimited capacity versus paying for the volume you actually use.
02 · Discovery
Booksy’s marketplace is a real feature, not something Barkway should hand-wave away.
Booksy can put a business in front of consumers already browsing its marketplace. Barkway doesn’t currently offer that. Booksy’s optional Boost can increase visibility further, but it carries a one-time 30% fee on a Boost client’s first visit, with a £5 minimum.
03 · Grooming context
Barkway is deliberately narrower.
Booksy is designed for many appointment-led service businesses. Barkway starts with the dog: pet history, behaviour, allergies, grooming notes, recall and the next appointment all belong to the same workflow.
How we compare
Checked 1st October 2026
We build Barkway, so this isn’t an independent review. Competitor prices and limits are taken from the companies’ own published pages and we deliberately include reasons you might prefer them. If something changes, we want to correct it.
Questions
The bits worth checking twice.
Is Barkway cheaper than Booksy?+
For Barkway’s published bands, yes on base subscription price: Barkway is £19, £29 or £39 per month, while Booksy publishes £40/month plus VAT. Booksy includes unlimited bookings, so higher-volume businesses should compare total fit rather than price alone.
Does Booksy charge per user?+
Booksy’s UK pricing page lists £5/month plus VAT for each additional user. Barkway includes team access across its published plans.
Does Booksy have a marketplace?+
Yes. Marketplace access is one of Booksy’s meaningful advantages. Barkway doesn’t currently run a consumer marketplace.
What is Booksy Boost?+
Boost is an optional marketplace visibility feature. Booksy states that it has no monthly fee, but charges 30% of a Boost client’s first visit with a minimum fee of £5 when that client is acquired through Boost.
More comparisons
Still weighing it up?
Barkway vs TuftTwo grooming-specific products with very different pricing and marketplace models.Barkway vs Savvy PetCompare Barkway’s booking-volume pricing with Savvy Pet’s feature-based tiers.Barkway vs BookdSame £19 starting price. Barkway includes 75 bookings a month; Bookd’s Starter includes 20.Barkway vs ShakeYourTailA newer workflow-led Barkway approach versus a long-running grooming platform.Barkway vs Square AppointmentsA grooming-specific workspace versus a powerful general appointments and payments ecosystem.
Still deciding?
Put a real grooming week through Barkway.
Use your own diary, clients and dogs. The difference is much easier to judge when the software has to survive a real working day.