PRICING
All prices in NZD, cancel anytime. No commission on your bookings, no lock-in - your client list exports to CSV any time.
Yearly plans are paid up front for 12 months. You can cancel the renewal at any time; the rest of a year already paid is not refunded.
FREE
NZ$0
forever
For getting started or trying Porchlight properly - no time limit.
SOLO
NZ$29/mo
one operator
or NZ$290/yr - 2 months free
For independents - one staff calendar, with text reminders included and deposits, set up with you.
14 days free, no card needed
TEAM
NZ$59/mo
flat, for up to 8 staff
or NZ$590/yr - 2 months free
Your whole team, up to 8 staff. The price never moves when you hire.
14 days free, no card needed
Solo includes 100 text reminders a month and Team includes 250. As a guide, 8 staff with 5 bookings a day each, 22 days a month, send about 880 reminders. Past the included texts, texts are 15c or less each on prepaid packs (100 for NZ$15, 500 for NZ$70, 2,000 for NZ$260). A text is one SMS segment, so a long reminder, or one with macrons or emoji, counts as two or three. Credits you buy never expire, and email reminders are always unlimited and free. If your credit runs out, text reminders stop until you top up: email reminders still go to clients who get them, and your dashboard warns you when credit runs low.
HOW IT WORKS
The same team, priced on each platform’s published plans.
| Compared | Porchlight | Timely | Fresha | Kitomba |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8-staff team, per month | NZ$59 flat (Team) | From about $43 to $78 by plan ($10 to $18 a week), more as your bookings grow | ~$239.60 (8 × $29.95) | Quote-only - no published pricing |
| Solo, per month | NZ$0 (Free) or NZ$29 (Solo) | The same: Timely prices by plan and bookings, not by staff | $44.95 | Quote-only |
| Free plan | Yes - own booking page, unlimited bookings | No free plan; 14 days free, no card needed | No free plan - paid plans come with a 7-day trial | No - demo-led |
| Marketplace commission | None, ever | None | 20% one-time on new marketplace clients (min NZ$7) | None |
With texts: at the guide above, 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 prices already cover part of that.
Competitor prices are standard pricing, ex GST: Timely checked November 2026 (its starting weekly prices as a month, × 52 ÷ 12), Fresha and Kitomba checked October 2026. Porchlight prices are the final price - nothing is added. Kitomba does not publish prices; it quotes after a questionnaire or a demo. If a price here is out of date, email our team and we’ll re-verify and correct it.
Every active team member with a login counts, whether or not they take bookings. The account owner doesn’t count. For example: you plus 8 stylists is 8, so Team covers it. You plus a receptionist with a login and 7 stylists is also 8. You plus 9 people with logins is past Team’s 8, so talk to us.
No. Never. Clients book you directly through your own booking page - every dollar of every appointment is yours. Porchlight is a software fee, full stop.
No. The price you see is the price you pay. We don’t charge setup fees, cancellation fees, or marketplace commissions. The only extra costs are prepaid text packs, if you send more texts than your plan includes, and Stripe’s standard payment processing fees if you take payments online.
Yes - annual billing saves you 2 months (pay for 10, get 12): Solo is NZ$290/yr and Team is NZ$590/yr, both final. Choose annual when you pick your plan in the app.
No long-term contracts. Monthly plans run month to month and you can cancel anytime. Yearly plans are paid up front for the year: cancelling stops the next renewal, and the rest of a year already paid is not refunded. We believe in earning your business, not locking you in. Cancelling and refunds are set out in our terms.
Yes - you can move between plans at any time, and you’ll never lose your data or existing bookings when you do. If anything gets stuck, email us: someone from Porchlight writes back within 24 hours on weekdays.
Yes - your client list and booking history export to CSV any time, on every plan, including Free. Your client list is yours.
Talk to us - we’ll sort something fair. Flat pricing is the whole point of Porchlight, and that doesn’t change when you grow.
The free plan is genuinely free forever. It includes 1 staff member, your own online booking page, unlimited bookings, email reminders, gift vouchers, reports and CSV export of your data any time - no credit card required. Text reminders are not included on Free: you can buy prepaid text packs if you want them.
Yes - Solo and Team come with 14 days free, and you don’t need a card to start. If you haven’t added one when the trial ends, your account moves to the Free plan: nothing is charged, and your bookings and client list stay put. The Free plan itself has no time limit.
Put what you pay today into the calculator and see.