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preenedThe Booking App for Beauty Professionals
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Cape Town pilot · founding group

Become a Preened Tester!

Thank you for your interest in joining our small group of Cape Town beauty pros. We're right at the start, and the pros who join now shape what this becomes.

Preened is a booking page built for solo beauty professionals in South Africa — whether you travel to your clients or they come to your studio. Your own link to share, clients who book in seconds without downloading anything, and not a cent of commission — ever.

Create my account
What do I get? ↓
Free
For the pilot you pay R0
0% commission
You keep every rand you earn — always
~10 min
To set up your page
24 hrs
Typical review before you're listed

Already on Preened

Independent beauty pros in the Western Cape who've set up their page in the pilot. Tap any of them to see what yours could look like.

Is this you?

The pilot is a small group, and we'd rather be clear about the fit than have you spend ten minutes finding out.

  • You work for yourself. Your clients are yours, and you set your own prices, hours and rules.
  • You travel to your clients, or they come to your studio — including a room at home — or you do both. All three work here, and your page says which.
  • You're working in and around Cape Town.
  • Bookings reach you through WhatsApp, DMs and phone calls right now, and the back-and-forth is eating your day.

A salon with a team? This pilot is for people working on their own, but Preened does run shops now — a shared calendar, a page for the venue, and each person keeping their own profile. See Preened for Business. You can set the shop up yourself — about ten minutes, and we check every new one before it appears in search.

Features you'll test for free

Every one of these is live today and yours for the whole pilot — including the parts that become paid features later. No card, nothing to cancel.

  • Your own booking page and a link to share anywhere
  • A free QR code — clients scan it and book
  • Unlimited services, with your own prices and durations
  • Unlimited bookings — keep 100%, and your clients stay yours
  • Booking requests you approve — you're always in control
  • Automatic emails — booking alerts for you, confirmations for them
  • Deposits to cut no-shows — paid straight to you through your own link
  • Service areas, travel buffer and time off
  • WhatsApp your clients from your studio, the way you already do
  • Reviews and returning-client recognition
  • Safety check-in on home visits — free on every plan, always
  • Listed in discovery once you're a Trusted Pro

More is being built — reminders, custom branding and earnings analytics among them. You get those free too as they land, and we'd rather show you the list that works today than one that reads well.

What we're trying to do

Most booking platforms grow by taking a piece of your business — a cut of every booking, a fee to reach a client who was already yours, and a client list you can never take with you. We think independent pros deserve the opposite: professional tools you pay a small flat fee for, if anything at all, and a business that stays entirely yours.

The pilot is how we find out whether we've actually built that. We're looking for a small group of working pros to use Preened for real bookings over the next few weeks and tell us honestly where it falls short. You've built a business doing this every day, so you'll spot things we can't. That's exactly what we need.

A mobile beauty professional arriving at a client's door

What you get in the pilot

Everything below is free for the whole pilot — including the features that become paid later. Nothing to cancel, no card anywhere.

Your own booking page

One link to share on Instagram, WhatsApp, your status or a business card. It's yours from the moment you finish setup.

Clients book directly

No app, no account, no sign-up for them. They pick a service and a time, you approve it.

0% commission, permanently

You keep everything you charge, and your clients stay yours. We'd never charge you to reach your own people.

Free for the whole pilot

Including the paid features — unlimited services and deposits are yours from the moment your profile is approved. No card, nothing to cancel.

Set it up your way

Your own areas, hours, services and prices. Mobile, studio, or both — travel time is built into your day.

Safety check-in, free always

Travelling to a client, or seeing a new one alone at your studio: name a trusted contact and start a check-in. Don't check out in time and they're emailed automatically.

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What we ask in return

Use it properly, and tell us what's annoying, confusing or missing. Blunt is genuinely more useful than polite — "this bit is rubbish" saves us months. If something gets in the way of a real booking, we want to hear about it the same day.

That's the whole deal. No minimum bookings, no posting requirements, nothing to sign beyond the standard terms.

What happens after you sign up

1

Create your account

Email and a password, right here on this page.

2

Build your page

Your services, prices, hours and areas. About ten minutes — you can change any of it later.

3

Go live

Your link works straight away. I review each profile before it appears in search, usually within 24 hours.

Every profile is reviewed before it goes live, so you're listed alongside real pros only.

Our promises to you

These don't change when the pilot ends. They're the reason Preened exists.

0% commission — always

Our only income is a small flat subscription, never a cut of your work.

Your clients are yours

Their details and history belong to you, and you can take them with you at any time.

We never sell ranking

Placement is earned through real reviews and repeat clients. Nobody can buy their way up.

Safety is never paid-for

Safety features are free on every plan. We will never put your wellbeing behind a paywall.

Questions

What's the catch?

There isn't one. It's free during the pilot and free to keep using afterwards on the Free plan. Pro is R99/month when it launches — you keep it free for the whole pilot, and afterwards you pay R79/month, locked for life, as a thank-you for being here first. There's never any commission.

How long does the pilot run?

There's no end date yet, and we'd rather say that than invent one. It runs until a handful of pros are genuinely using it for real bookings and telling us what's wrong. When we do set an end date, pilot pros hear it from us first and well in advance — nothing switches off without warning.

Do you hold my money?

No. If you use deposits, they go straight to you through your own payment link (Yoco, SnapScan, PayFast, Ozow). Money never passes through us.

Do my clients need an account?

No. They book from your link in seconds — no app, no sign-up.

I travel to my clients. Does that work?

Yes. Set the areas you cover and your page shows 'comes to you', with travel time built into your schedule.

I work from a studio at home. Does that work?

Yes, just as well. Choose 'studio' at setup and clients can filter for pros they can come to. Your address stays private by default — clients see your suburb, and the full address is sent only once you've accepted the booking. If you'd rather publish it, there's a switch in Settings.

I have a salon with other stylists. Can I use it?

Yes — that's Preened for Business, and it's a different plan from this one. Your team share a calendar, the shop gets its own booking page, and each person keeps their own profile and rating. You can set it up yourself at preened.co.za/for-business — it takes about ten minutes, and we check every new shop before it appears in search.

How long does setup take?

About ten minutes. If you'd rather do it together over a call or WhatsApp, reply to the message that brought you here and we'll set it up side by side.

What if I decide it's not for me?

Then tell me why — that's genuinely useful. You can delete your page at any time and take your client list with you.

Want the full detail on plans and features? See how it works for pros.

Ready to join?

Create your account and set up your booking page in about ten minutes. If you'd rather do it together, just reply to the message that brought you here.

Create my account