The Booksy alternative
built around walk-ins
Booksy is a big, capable platform for bookings and finding new clients. But if your shop mainly runs on walk-ins, you’re paying for a lot you don’t use, and there’s still no live queue. Quewy runs the live walk-in queue and keeps your bookings in the same app, for a flat £15 a month. Here’s an honest look at how the two compare for a single independent UK shop.
What Booksy does well
Credit where it’s due. Booksy is one of the biggest booking platforms for barbers and salons, and it earns that.
Booksy does online appointment booking, automated reminders, and card payments, all in one place. On top of that it runs a consumer marketplace, so a new client can search the app, find your shop, and book without ever meeting you first. That marketplace is the real reason a lot of barbers choose it. If your priority is being discovered by people who aren’t regulars yet, Booksy is a strong pick and Quewy doesn’t try to match it.
The one thing to know before you sign up: Booksy is appointment-first. It doesn’t run a live walk-in queue. Walk-ins get handled off to one side, by hand or squeezed into the diary. Pricing sits higher too. A UK subscription runs from around £40 a month, with an extra fee per team member on top, plus a marketplace commission on some new-client bookings. Check the current rates on their site. For a single shop that lives on walk-ins, that’s a lot of platform, and a lot of cost, for a job it doesn’t quite do.
Where Quewy is different
Quewy is built around the walk-in queue Booksy leaves out, and still lets your regulars book ahead. One app, one flat price.
A live walk-in queue
Walk-ins scan a QR code, join the queue, and watch their place update in real time. This is the piece Booksy doesn’t have.
Bookings still included
Regulars book a slot ahead of time. Their appointment sits in the same calendar as your walk-ins, so nobody lands on the same chair twice.
One flat price
£15 a month covers the whole thing. No per-seat fees and no marketplace commission taken off your bookings.
See how the walk-in side works on our virtual queue feature page, or how bookings and the queue stay in step under queue and appointments together.
Quewy vs Booksy at a glance
An honest scorecard. Booksy wins on the marketplace and payments. Quewy wins on the live queue and a flat low price. Both take bookings and text your customers.
| Feature | Quewy | Booksy |
|---|---|---|
| Live walk-in queue | ||
| Online appointment booking | ||
| SMS updates and reminders | ||
| Consumer marketplace to find new clients | ||
| Online card payments | ||
| No per-seat team fees | ||
| Price per month | £15 flat | From ~£40 + per seat |
Pricing shown at time of writing. Check each site for current rates.
The queue Booksy skips.
Booksy handles the booked side well. The trouble starts with the people who just walk in off the street. On a booking-first system they sit outside the diary, so you end up writing names on a pad and guessing who’s next while the shop fills up.
Quewy puts those walk-ins on a live queue and holds any booked slot on the same calendar. When Priya’s eleven o’clock comes up, her chair is already spoken for, so the next walk-in slots into the gap instead. You watch the shop, not the pad.
- A live queue Booksy doesn’t have
- Bookings still in the same app
- One flat price, no per-seat fees
WALK-IN
Jordan joined the queue at 10:42. 4th in line, about 25 mins.
BOOKED
Priya has an 11:00 with Sam. The chair’s already held, so the queue skips past it.
Kept cheap and simple for a single shop
Quewy is built for the independent barber running one shop, not a chain with a head office or a marketing budget. That shapes the whole thing.
Quick to set up
No long onboarding and no sales call. Print the QR code, add your services, and you’re taking walk-ins and bookings the same afternoon. If you can use a phone, you can run it, and so can whoever covers the front desk on your day off. See how it fits a shop like yours on our barbershops page.
One flat price
£15 a month covers the queue and the bookings. No per-seat fees, no commission taken off a new booking, and no upsell to switch the calendar on. See the full pricing for the detail.
Questions barbers ask
Straight answers before you decide.
Is Booksy better than Quewy?
Does Booksy have a walk-in queue?
Can I still take bookings on Quewy?
Do my customers need to download an app?
Is Quewy available yet?
So which one should you pick?
Want a marketplace that brings in new clients, and card payments built in? Booksy is great at that, and it’s worth the bigger subscription if those are the jobs you need done. Quewy doesn’t set out to beat it there.
Mainly live on walk-ins and want them on a live queue without a bigger bill? That’s where Quewy fits. You get the queue Booksy leaves out, your regulars can still book, and it’s a flat £15 with no per-seat fees. If you want walk-ins handled simply and cheaply for one UK shop, that’s exactly who Quewy is built for.
Weighing up a queue-only app as well? See our QueueAway comparison, or read the guide to managing walk-ins at a busy barbershop.
Walk-ins on a live queue, from £15
Quewy is in early access. Join the list to try it for your shop and lock in the £15/month rate before we launch publicly.
Get Early AccessNo download needed to join, app optional. Set up in an afternoon.