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Session alternative for UK saunas
Olladay vs Session for UK saunas.
Session (bookasession.org) is built only for saunas, and it’s the sauna-only system we found most often on UK sauna websites. Its pricing is hard to beat if you pay the fee yourself: 0.5% of each paid booking, capped at £100 a month, with nothing added for your guests. Olladay costs you nothing on Free for you, where guests pay £0.45 a place inside your price. If you’d rather pay the fee yourself, our 1% costs more than Session. With Olladay Pro you also get texts, a door code for every booking, heater control, a card reader and Xero, none of which Session’s site lists.
Session facts checked against bookasession.org on 13 October 2026. Sources linked below. In Ireland? Prices in euro
At a glance
| Olladay | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay per booking | £0 on Free for you; or 1% if you pay (0.5% for life for founding venues), no cap | 0.5% per paid booking, capped at £100 a month (source) |
| Booking fee for your guests | £0.45 a place on Free for you, inside every price shown; none if you pay | None |
| A £15 seat costs your guest | £15.45 on Free for you; £15.00 if you pay | £15.00 |
| Monthly fee | £0, or £35 a month (£350 a year) for Pro | £0 (source) |
| Community and non-profit saunas | Same pricing for everyone | Partnership terms through the Community Sauna Network (source) |
| Texts to guests | With Pro: 300 a month included, then £0.06 each | Not listed on their site |
| Your own web address for bookings | Yes, free on every plan | Not listed on their site |
| A door code for every booking | With Pro (Seam, igloohome) | Not listed on their site |
| Heating that follows the bookings | With Pro (HUUM, Shelly) | Not listed on their site |
| Card reader at the counter | With Pro | Not listed on their site |
| Xero and QuickBooks | With Pro | Not listed on their site |
| Close a run of dates | Yes, with a note on your booking page | Not listed on their site |
| Shared sessions and private hire | Yes, from one pool | Yes (source) |
| Memberships, packs and gift vouchers | Yes | Yes (source) |
| Per-guest health terms | Yes, if you switch it on: each guest signs on their own phone | Yes, per-guest waivers (source) |
| Payments go to | Your own Stripe account, in pounds | Your own Stripe account |
“Not listed on their site” means we couldn’t find it on Session’s public pages, not that it doesn’t exist. Pro features are switched on for each venue once its heater, lock, card reader or partner account is connected, so ask us what’s ready for your hardware before you subscribe. Spot something out of date? Email hello@olladay.com.
What a UK sauna pays a month
Neither charges a subscription for taking bookings. The table shows the platform fee only; Stripe’s card fee (1.5% + 20p on a standard UK card) is the same on both.
| Paid bookings a month | Olladay, Free for you | Olladay, you pay 1% | Olladay, founding 0.5% | Session, 0.5% capped at £100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £0 | £20 | £10 | £10 |
| £5,000 | £0 | £50 | £25 | £25 |
| £10,000 | £0 | £100 | £50 | £50 |
| £20,000 | £0 | £200 | £100 | £100 |
| £30,000 | £0 | £300 | £150 | £100 |
On Free for you, your guests pay the £0.45 a place instead: £135 across 300 places. If you want your guests to pay exactly your price and you pay the fee yourself, Session costs the same or less.
Where Olladay fits better
- You’d rather the platform cost you nothing. On Free for you your guests pay £0.45 a place, shown in the price, and £0.45 a session in a pack and £0.89 a gift voucher, inside the price; each membership visit costs you £0.45.
- Unstaffed early sessions. With Pro, each booking gets its own door code and the heater comes on in time for the first guest.
- Texts. With Pro, confirmations, reminders and waitlist offers go out by text as well as email.
- The till and the books. With Pro, take cards at the counter and send each day’s takings to Xero or QuickBooks.
- Your own web address. Take bookings at an address like book.yoursauna.co.uk, free on every plan.
- Storms and quiet slots. Close a run of dates with a note, refund or move everyone at once, and set a minimum to run.
Where Session may suit you better
- You pay the fee yourself and you’re busy. Session never charges more than £100 a month. Our 1% has no cap.
- Your guests must pay exactly your price and you don’t want to pay 1%.
- You run a community or non-profit sauna. Session offers partnership terms through the Community Sauna Network.
- You sell retail and add-ons like towels, hats and drinks alongside bookings.
- You want reviews to read. Session reports a 5.0 rating on Capterra. Olladay is new and has no public reviews yet.
Moving from Session
- Paste your Session booking link and Olladay drafts your sessions, times and prices.
- Export your customers and passes from Session and import them, with pack balances and upcoming bookings. Check the preview, and undo it if anything looks wrong.
- Run both side by side, then swap the link in your Instagram bio, website and Google profile.
Read the full switching checklist.
Questions
Session or Olladay in the UK: questions.
What does Session cost in the UK?
Session charges 0.5% of each paid booking, capped at £100 a month, with no setup fee or subscription. Stripe’s card fee goes to your own Stripe account separately (Session pricing, checked 13 October 2026).
Is Session cheaper than Olladay?
If you pay the fee yourself, yes. Our 1% is twice Session’s 0.5%, and Session stops charging at £100 a month. Our founding 0.5% matches Session up to £20,000 a month, then costs more because it has no cap. On Free for you, Olladay costs you nothing and your guests pay £0.45 a place, shown in your price, where Session adds nothing for them.
Why would a UK sauna choose Olladay over Session?
To pay nothing for the booking platform, with the fee shown in the price. Or for what Olladay Pro adds that Session’s site doesn’t list: texts to guests, a door code for every booking, heating that follows the bookings, a card reader, Xero and QuickBooks, Viator and GetYourGuide, and busy and quiet pricing. Your own web address and closing a run of dates are free on every plan.
Can I move from Session to Olladay?
Yes. Paste your Session booking link to draft your timetable, import customers, pack balances, memberships and upcoming bookings from Session’s exports, and run both side by side until you swap your link.
Get started
Paste your Session link and see your week on Olladay.
Sign in with Google, add your sessions and prices, and preview your booking page in minutes. Connect Stripe when you’re ready to take payments.
Start freeTry the demo sauna as a customerBook a 15-minute call
Setting up is free and needs no card. Switching from another system? Email us and we’ll move you over.