Barbr is a slick UK app for individual barbers — a profile and booking link on their platform, free to start with a paid premium tier. It's genuinely good at what it does. But it's a profile ON a platform: the app your clients download is Barbr's, and your presence lives inside their ecosystem.
| Barbr | BossBooks | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose brand does the customer see? | Theirs — their app, their emails, their platform | Yours — your name on the website and on the App Store |
| Who owns the customer list? | It lives in their system | You — it sits in your own database, exportable, forever |
| Your own app on the App Store? | No — customers use the platform’s app | Yes — iOS + Android, your name and logo |
| Commission on bookings? | Often, especially on new clients | Never — flat fee only |
| Listed next to competitors? | Usually — marketplaces monetise comparison | Never — your site and app are yours alone |
| If you leave… | You start again from zero | You keep the site, the app and every customer |
How Barbr charges: Freemium app — your profile and booking link live on their platform. Platform models and prices change — check their site for current details. The structural difference doesn't: on a platform you rent your presence; with BossBooks you own it.
A four-barber shop in Long Eaton left their booking platform with BossBooks: their own website, their own app on the App Store, and 2,025 customers in their own database — migrated for them, free.
Read the full case study →Yes — BossBooks replaces Barbr with something you own: your own booking website on your own domain, your own iOS and Android app, and your customer list in your own database. Flat fee, no commission, free migration.
Yes. BossBooks migrates your customers and bookings across for you, free, as part of setup — so you don't start from zero.
The Chair (website + booking) is £399 setup then £39/month. The Shop (adds your own iOS + Android app and in-app payments) is £999 setup then £69/month. No commission, ever.
Five minutes to tell us about your shop. We build the site, the app, and migrate you off Barbr — free.