Comparisons🇵🇭 PhilippinesApril 10, 2026·8 min read

The best Fresha alternative for Philippine salons and clinics

Fresha is a great product — built for London and LA. Run a salon in Manila, Cebu, or Davao and the gaps add up fast: no GCash, no BIR receipts, support timezones that don't overlap yours. Here's what to use instead.

W

Wemu Team

Product

FeatureWemuFreshaSquareGCash / Maya nativeBIR-compliant receiptsBookings + POS + shopPlatform fee (PH)1.5%3.5% + ₱152.9% + $0.30Local PH supportAuto BIR 2550M draft

If you run a salon, spa, nail bar, or clinic in the Philippines, you've probably tried Fresha. It's polished, the free tier is generous, and the booking experience is slick. But the further you run it against a Manila reality, the more gaps show up.

Below is the honest side-by-side we wish existed when we started building Wemu for SEA.

Where Fresha falls short for PH businesses

  • No GCash or Maya at checkout. Customers pay with credit cards — or they don't pay at all.
  • No BIR-compliant Official Receipts or Sales Invoices. You need a separate system for compliance.
  • Payments processed through Stripe (PH), locked to 3.5% + ₱15 per transaction.
  • Support is UK/US timezone. Issues on Friday night Manila get answered Monday morning London.
  • No BIR 2550M or 2550Q filing assistance. Your bookkeeper has to pull reports manually every month.
  • Marketing is Europe/US-focused — promotions, holidays, seasonal triggers don't match your calendar.
FeatureWemuFreshaSquareGCash / Maya nativeBIR-compliant receiptsBookings + POS + shopPlatform fee (PH)1.5%3.5% + ₱152.9% + $0.30Local PH supportAuto BIR 2550M draft
Feature-by-feature comparison: Fresha vs Wemu for a Philippine salon.

What Wemu does differently

Native GCash and Maya at checkout

Wemu integrates Airwallex + GCash's QR Ph + Maya directly. Customers book, tap GCash or Maya at checkout, and you see the payment land in your dashboard in seconds. Platform fee is 1.5% — less than half of Fresha's effective rate for PH cards.

BIR-ready receipts and invoices

Every order and invoice generated in Wemu is BIR-format: serial numbers, TIN fields, VAT breakdown. Pull them as a batch for your eFPS filing — or let the Bookkeeper Agent draft 2550M automatically.

Multi-vertical in one app

Fresha is bookings-only. If your salon also sells retail products — shampoos, tools, gift sets — you need a second POS. Wemu is bookings + POS + inventory + invoicing in the same account. One login, one database, one monthly bill.

ORDER SUMMARYSingle-origin Latte ×2₱360.00Ube Loaf₱140.00Cold Brew Box₱620.00VAT (12%)₱134.40Total₱1,254.40Pay with GCashSCAN WITH GCASHWemu Café · ManilaQR Ph compatibleAlso works with Maya, BPI, UnionBank
GCash QR Ph at checkout — the native PH payment experience Fresha doesn't offer.

Pricing compared

FreshaWemu
SubscriptionFreeFree trial, then ₱1,490/mo
Card processing (PH)3.5% + ₱151.5% platform fee
GCash / MayaNoYes, native
BIR receiptsNoYes
Retail + bookings in oneNoYes
Local support (PH hours)NoYes

For a salon doing ₱500K/month in card sales, Fresha's processing fees alone run ₱17,500/month. Wemu's 1.5% caps that at ₱7,500 — a ₱10,000 saving every month, before counting the subscription difference.

Switching from Fresha to Wemu

Migration typically takes a weekend:

  1. 1Export your services and staff from Fresha as CSV.
  2. 2Sign up for a Wemu trial and import the CSV — services, pricing, staff schedules transfer directly.
  3. 3Connect Airwallex for GCash/Maya, or Stripe for international cards. Both optional at launch.
  4. 4Redirect your Fresha booking link to your new Wemu storefront URL (or point your custom domain).

Migration support included

Wemu's PH support team (local timezone) will hop on a call and migrate your data for you during the trial. Free.

See Wemu in action

Start a free trial, import your Fresha services in 10 minutes, and keep your existing booking page live while you test.

Start free trial

Frequently asked questions

Is Wemu really free to start?+
Yes — 7-day free trial with full access to every feature including Pro Storefront, AI Bookkeeper, and unlimited team members. No credit card required to start.
Will my customers notice I switched from Fresha?+
They'll notice you now accept GCash and Maya. Otherwise the booking flow is faster and cleaner — customers typically report it's an upgrade, not a change.
Can I run Wemu alongside Fresha during the switch?+
Yes. Many salons run both for a week or two during migration. You can toggle online booking on/off in each system independently.
Does Wemu work outside the Philippines?+
Yes. Wemu serves businesses across SEA and Australia — Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and AU. The product is multi-currency and respects local compliance per country.

Keep reading