How much does Hot Pepper Beauty charge per booking? The cost per booking compared with other booking sites
Listing fees are quoted salon by salon, but the cost of each online booking can be worked out from the terms. Here is the comparison for a salon with an average ticket of ¥8,800 (tax included).
In short
- Each online booking on Hot Pepper Beauty (Recruit's salon booking site in Japan) costs 1% of the booking amount (the shared online booking fee) plus the cost of the points given to the customer — roughly 2% in total. On top of that there is a monthly listing fee (quoted individually).
- With an average ticket of ¥8,800 (tax included), that is about ¥170 per online booking, or about ¥8,400 for 50 bookings a month.
- Under the same conditions, Rakuten Beauty costs about ¥880–1,320 per booking and minimo ¥880 per booking. Your own booking page (Salon Zukan) costs ¥0.
What you pay on Hot Pepper Beauty
Salons pay Hot Pepper Beauty for two main things. The terms of use name the "listing fee" and the "shared online booking fee" as the charges, and the salon also covers the cost of points.
| Cost | What it is | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | The monthly cost of being listed. Depends on the area and plan | Not published (quoted individually)*1 |
| Shared online booking fee | For each online booking on Hot Pepper Beauty | 1% of the booking amount*2 |
| Cost of points | The points given to the customer who booked | Basic points are 1% of the amount before tax*3 |
How is the "booking amount" set?
The terms of use (Article 4, paragraph 2) set the fee at 1% of the lower of these two amounts:
- The menu total shown on the booking confirmation screen (before points and similar are applied)
- The amount actually paid at the visit, plus any points and similar that were used
If the menu ends up cheaper on the day, the lower amount is used. Discounts other than points, such as shareholder benefits or gift certificates, are not counted in the amount actually paid. Each month's amount is finalized on the 6th of the following month. Months below a set amount are carried over for up to six months, and in March and September everything up to then is billed even if it has not reached that amount.
The cost of points
Separately from the shared online booking fee, the salon covers the cost of the points given to customers under the point program terms. The basic points for a customer who books online and visits are 1% of the amount before tax. Extra points from campaigns have their own conditions.
Rough listing fees
The official listing guide does not publish prices; it says they "vary depending on the area and plan you choose", and you ask for a quote. Articles by booking-system companies and others give rough figures starting from the ¥20,000s–¥30,000s a month for the cheapest plans, up to several hundred thousand yen a month for higher plans.
Compared per booking and for 50 bookings a month
These are the per-booking costs for a salon with an average ticket of ¥8,800 (tax included; ¥8,000 before tax) that takes 50 online bookings a month. Listing and setup fees are not included.
| Booking channel | Per-booking charge | Per booking | 50 a month | Fixed monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Pepper Beauty | 1% of the booking amount + cost of points (1% before tax) | about ¥168 | about ¥8,400 | Listing fee (quoted individually) |
| Rakuten Beauty | 15% of the service price + tax (10% + tax during a campaign)*4 | ¥880–1,320 | ¥44,000–66,000 | ¥0 on the basic plan (varies by area); setup fee extra |
| minimo | A flat amount by menu price (¥880 tax included for ¥6,601 and up)*5 | ¥880 | ¥44,000 | ¥0 |
| Your own booking page (Salon Zukan) | No fee per booking | ¥0 | ¥0 | ¥0 (add-ons are monthly, only for the ones you use) |
How we calculated: Hot Pepper Beauty is ¥8,800 × 1% = ¥88, plus ¥8,000 × 1% = ¥80. Rakuten Beauty's price page does not say whether the service price includes tax, so we used ¥8,000 before tax (¥1,200 + tax at 15%, ¥800 + tax at 10%).
Hot Pepper Beauty's pricing is built mainly around the monthly listing fee, with a small cost per booking. Rakuten Beauty and minimo have no fixed monthly cost but a larger cost per booking. Which works out cheaper depends on how many bookings you take and how many of them are new customers.
Think of it as the cost per new customer
Booking-site costs are easier to compare when you treat them as advertising spent to bring in each new customer.
For example (made-up numbers): with a ¥30,000 monthly listing fee and 15 new customers a month, that is ¥2,000 per customer. The online booking cost (about ¥170 per booking) is added on top.
If that customer keeps booking on the same site from the second visit on, the booking cost applies each time. If their later visits are booked on your own booking page or at the front desk, you only pay for the first one.
In other words, the quickest way to cut fees is not to quit the booking site but to move your regulars' bookings to a channel with no fees. We collected practical ways to do that in "5 ways to move repeat customers to your own booking page".
Set up your own booking page for free
On Salon Zukan, your salon's website and online booking are free, with no fee per booking. Salons in areas whose registration lists are public are already in the directory, so just enter your salon's name and your page is ready right away. You can also put the booking link in your Google Maps listing or on your Instagram profile. For how its role differs from Hot Pepper Beauty, see "Salon Zukan vs. Hot Pepper Beauty".
- *1 Recruit, "Hot Pepper Beauty and SALON BOARD: listing, prices and applications" (in Japanese). Rough figures are from columns by Four Design and Reservia (not official figures).
- *2 Recruit, "HOT PEPPER Beauty Hair / HOT PEPPER Beauty Kirei Terms of Use", Articles 4 and 5 (as revised and effective September 14, 2026; in Japanese).
- *3 The same terms of use, Article 4 (cost of points), and Recruit, "Point earning and use conditions" (HOT PEPPER Beauty basic points; in Japanese).
- *4 Rakuten Beauty, "Listing information" (shown during a 5%-off performance-fee campaign with no end date given; in Japanese).
- *5 minimo, "[For listers] What are minimo's fees?" (¥110 for a ¥0 service, ¥440 for ¥1–2,200, ¥660 for ¥2,201–6,600 and ¥880 for ¥6,601 and up, all tax included; a fee also applies to cancellations made by the salon; in Japanese).
- Prices and terms were checked in October 2026. They can change with campaigns and revisions, so please check each company's latest information before you apply. Service names are trademarks of their respective companies. This article was compiled by Salon Zukan (CLT NY INC.) from public information and is not affiliated with any of these companies.