COMPARE
Timely gives every plan unlimited team members and bills by the week, from NZ$10, NZ$14 or NZ$18 a week (ex GST) by plan, and the price adjusts with the bookings you take each week. Porchlight is a flat NZ$59 a month for up to 8 staff, whatever your bookings. Check it against your own Timely invoice below.
Starting prices
Timely prices ex GST; Porchlight prices are the final price - nothing is added.
Timely’s price depends on your plan and your bookings, so the best figure is the one on your own invoice. Enter what Timely charges you a week. Its starting prices are NZ$10 (Run), NZ$14 (Boost) and NZ$18 (Thrive) a week, ex GST.
TIMELY, A MONTH
NZ$61/mo
PORCHLIGHT
NZ$59/mo
YOU KEEP
NZ$20/yr
Porchlight plan applied: Team, NZ$59/mo flat for up to 8 staff.
A week is turned into a month as the weekly price × 52 ÷ 12.
Timely charges from NZ$10, NZ$14 or NZ$18 a week by plan (ex GST), and the weekly bill adjusts with the bookings you take. Its pricing page shows no table of those steps, so a busy month is hard to price ahead. Porchlight is one flat monthly price, whatever your bookings.
Texts included with each booking: one on Run, two on Boost, three on Thrive; extra texts 18c, 12c or 10c each by plan. Porchlight includes 100 texts a month on Solo and 250 on Team, then 15c or less each on prepaid packs.
Timely has unlimited team members on every plan, with advanced team management at NZ$18 a week extra. Porchlight Team is NZ$59 a month for up to 8 staff. Porchlight has a staff waitlist on every plan: you keep the list, and when a slot frees up you contact the client.
The big difference is what the price follows: your bookings, or nothing.
| Feature | Timely | Porchlight |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $10, $14 or $18 a week by plan (ex GST) | $0-$59/month (flat) |
| As you get busier | The weekly price adjusts with the bookings you take; unlimited team members | Flat - one price up to 8 staff on Team, any number of bookings |
| Free tier | No free plan; 14 days free, no card needed | Yes - 1 staff, unlimited bookings |
| Marketplace commission | 0% (Never) | 0% (Never) |
| SMS reminders | Texts included with each booking: one on Run, two on Boost, three on Thrive; extra texts 18c, 12c or 10c each by plan | 100 texts included on Solo, 250 on Team - then 15c or less each |
| Online booking | Included | Included |
| Calendar sync | Google Calendar | Coming Soon (Google Calendar) |
| Payment processing | Multiple providers | Stripe integration |
| Xero integration | Yes | Not yet (coming soon) |
| NZ-based support | Yes | Yes |
This comparison reflects Timely’s published pricing and plan facts as checked November 2026, with New Zealand selected on its pricing page. Timely is a trademark of its owner - check Timely’s own site for current pricing and terms. We’ll always tell you the truth about both.
Timely’s starting prices turned into a month, beside Porchlight’s flat plans. Timely’s figures are the least you pay: the weekly price adjusts with your bookings.
| Plan | Timely, per month | Porchlight, per month |
|---|---|---|
| Just you | From about $43 on Run ($10 a week) | $0 (Free) or $29 (Solo) |
| 2 to 8 staff | From about $43 (Run), $61 (Boost) or $78 (Thrive), the same for any team size | $59 flat (Team) |
| A busy month | More: the weekly price adjusts with your bookings | The same $59 |
At Timely’s starting prices, Run costs less than Porchlight Team and Boost about the same. The difference is that Porchlight’s price does not move with your bookings. Your Timely invoice tells you which side of NZ$59 you are on.
With texts: for 8 staff sending about 880 reminders a month, Team’s 250 included texts leave about 630 to buy. Bought as you need them, that is NZ$100 in packs (500 for NZ$70 and two of 100 for NZ$15), so Team plus texts is about NZ$159 that month. At 13c a text on the 2,000 pack (NZ$260 up front, about three months at this rate) that is about NZ$82, so Team plus texts comes to about NZ$141 a month. Timely includes one to three texts with each booking by plan, so its price already covers part of that.
Assumptions: Timely’s starting weekly prices, ex GST, checked November 2026 on Timely’s pricing page with New Zealand selected, turned into a month as the weekly price × 52 ÷ 12. Timely says your weekly bill adapts to the number of bookings you take each week, and shows no table of the steps, so a busy salon pays more than these starting prices. Porchlight prices are the final price - nothing is added. SMS costs excluded on both sides.
An honest comparison cuts both ways. Timely is a mature, capable platform - stay with it if:
If a bill that moves with your bookings is the problem, that’s where Porchlight’s flat $59 for up to 8 staff changes the math.
THE MOVE
Export your clients and bookings from Timely and we import them for you. Here is exactly what comes across. And because exports work the other way too, you’re never locked in with us either.
For help with the move, you talk directly to the people who build the product, here in New Zealand.
Step 1
Export your data from Timely.
Client list, booking history and service information from Timely’s export tools.
Step 2
Set up your Porchlight account.
Start a free trial, or book a free switch and we’ll set up your services, staff and business hours with you.
Step 3
Send us your client list.
Email us the exported client CSV and we’ll import it for you, mapping the columns with you.
Step 4
Update your booking link.
Share your new Porchlight booking page with clients - update your website and social media.
Before anything goes live we do a test import and send you the counts: clients, bookings, services and vouchers, plus any rows we could not match and why. You check it, then we switch.
For security reasons (PCI compliance), your clients’ saved card details are held by Timely’s payment processor and are not part of your export. Payment processors can move saved cards between them only by special arrangement, so in practice clients enter a card again the next time they pay. Porchlight takes deposits through Stripe. If a card is saved for no-show or late-cancellation fees, it is held on your own Stripe account; Porchlight never holds card details.
Competitor prices change. If one here is out of date, email our team and we’ll re-verify and correct it. Change history: August 2026 - consolidated our separate “Switch from Timely” page into this one. November 2026 - rewrote the price comparison after Timely moved from per-staff prices to weekly prices by bookings. Timely facts last verified November 2026.
Try it free for 14 days, no card needed. Or book a free switch and we’ll help you move across from Timely.