Two options artists often weigh are Inky and Fresha. Both can help you run the business side of tattooing, but they're built from very different starting points - and the one that fits depends on whether you want a general-purpose booking tool or one purpose-built for a freelance tattoo artist.
Fresha is one of the biggest booking platforms in beauty - a marketplace where clients discover salons and book appointments, with payments, POS and inventory bolted on. It's polished and broad. But "broad" is the point: it's built around hair, skin and nails, and it shows in every menu you'll never use.
What are the advantages of Fresha?
- A huge consumer marketplace - new clients can find you through Fresha itself, which is genuinely valuable if you want walk-in discovery.
- Mature payments, POS and retail inventory in one system - handy if you sell aftercare, merch, or run a front desk.
- Polished, well-funded product with reliable infrastructure.
How does Inky compare?
Inky doesn't try to be a salon marketplace. It's built for one person: the freelance tattoo artist. That changes the shape of the product:
- Booking built around tattooing - size, placement, design references and a deposit up front, not a generic "select a service" dropdown.
- A client 360 that fits tattooing - past pieces, notes, references and aftercare per client, not a generic CRM card.
- Portfolio as a first-class citizen - your work sells the next booking, in the same place you run the business.
- Consent and intake forms - digital, stored against the client and appointment, instead of paper or a separate tool.
Fresha takes a 20% one-time fee (minimum $6) on the first booking of each new client who finds you via its marketplace - and it's no longer free, with paid plans from $19.95/month plus card processing on top. If your clients mostly come from your own Instagram you never pay the marketplace fee - but you're still paying subscription for a marketplace you don't use.
What are the disadvantages of Fresha for tattoo artists?
The UI is heavy with treatments and workflows that don't apply to a solo tattooer. The marketplace model means your clients sometimes book "through Fresha" rather than through you, and you pay for that privilege. And there's no tattoo-native concept of a portfolio, a design consultation, or a consent form.
Potential downsides of Inky
Inky is newer and tattoo-first, which is also its main limitation: it does not try to be a POS, a retail inventory system, or a multi-staff salon suite. If you run a large shop with a front desk, retail stock, and a dozen chairs, a broader platform may cover more ground. Inky is built for the artist who wants the boring stuff handled so they can get back to tattooing.
Which is better for freelance tattoo artists?
There's no universal winner - it depends on what you'd rather not deal with.
Fresha may suit artists who want:
- A consumer marketplace that brings new clients
- POS and retail inventory for a shop front
- A proven, well-funded platform with broad integrations
Inky may suit artists who want:
- A tattoo-first booking flow with deposits built in
- Client records, portfolio and consent forms in one place
- No marketplace fees on clients you bring yourself
For a freelance artist who'd rather tattoo than tend to software, Inky takes more of the business off your plate - booking, clients, deposits, portfolio and consent forms in one place, built around how tattooing actually works.
