We don't try to be everything. We do one thing better than anyone: an AI assistant that actually talks to your customers on your own website and books them in, day or night — included in the plan, not sold as an add-on, with no commission on what you earn, ever.
- Books 24/7 in conversation
- Catches after-hours enquiries
- No commission, flat NZD
- A form, not a chat
- AI often a paid add-on
- Commission on new clients
- Missed calls = lost bookings
- Nothing after hours
- All admin on you
Side by side
| What matters to you | Suddenly Sorted | Fresha | Timely | Square Appointments | Kitomba | Pen & paper / DIY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI chat that answers questions & books | ✓ Built around it, included in the plan | ✓ AI Concierge, paid add-on (~NZ$250/location/mo)† | Not a built-in flow† | Not a built-in flow† | Not a built-in flow† | ✗ |
| Books in a conversation, not just a form | ✓ 24/7 chat, every paid plan | Via the paid AI add-on†; form otherwise | Booking form only | Booking form only | Booking form only | ✗ Phone / voicemail |
| Catches after-hours enquiries & callbacks | ✓ 24/7, even when closed | Via the paid AI add-on†; form otherwise | Booking form only | Booking form only | Booking form only | ✗ Goes to voicemail |
| Deposits, no-payment holds, groups, waitlist & rebooking in one booking flow | ✓ All in the same conversation & booking page | Spread across features / tiers | Spread across features / tiers | Partial (Plus tier) | Spread across modules | ✗ |
| Owner AI assistant: ask about your business | ✓ Yes (Pro) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Reports, not chat | ✗ |
| AI suggested actions: drafts you approve | ✓ Rebooking & lead follow-ups, one-tap | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Marketing tools (Pro), not an approve queue | ✗ |
| Owner insights with after-hours value visibility | ✓ Estimates the $ Sally captured while you were closed, plus growth, quiet windows & regulars to win back | Reports / dashboards | Reports / dashboards | Reports / dashboards | Reports / dashboards | ✗ |
| Group & multi-service bookings, auto stylist-matched | ✓ Parties & stacked services, matched to a free, capable stylist | ✓ Group bookings | ✓ Multi-service | Classes (Plus tier) | ✓ Multi-service | Manual |
| Waitlist that auto-fills when a slot frees | ✓ Offered in chat; emails the moment a slot opens | Waitlist | ✓ Waitlist | Waitlist (Plus tier) | Waitlist (higher tier) | ✗ |
| No-show handling without charging a deposit | ✓ Tracks & auto-holds repeat offenders for your OK | Via deposits / policy + cut | Tracking + policy | Policy (Plus tier) | Client history | ✗ |
| Works on the website you already have | ✓ One line of code | ✓ Link / widget | ✓ Widget + mini-site | ✓ Booking site / embed | ✓ Online booking widget | ✗ |
| Free bookable website included (no site needed) | ✓ Built from your details | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Commission / marketplace fee | ✓ None, flat monthly | 20% one-time on a new marketplace client (min ~US$6); none on your own | ✓ None | ✓ None | ✓ None | Free |
| Online booking deposits | ✓ Yes, commission-free, and inside the chat | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No NZ payments | ✓ Yes | ✗ |
| Automatic confirmations & reminders | ✓ Email & SMS | ✓ (SMS may cost extra) | ✓ Email; SMS metered | Email; SMS needs paid tier | ✓ Email & SMS (SMS metered) | ✗ Manual |
| Automatic Google review requests | ✓ Built in | Not a built-in flow* | Not a built-in flow* | Not built in* | Not a built-in flow* | ✗ |
| Self-serve reschedule, calendar sync & staff logins | ✓ All included | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Built & supported in New Zealand | ✓ NZ-based | ✗ Global (UK/US) | ✓ NZ-founded (Dunedin) | ✗ US; no NZ support | ✓ NZ-born (Wellington) | n/a |
| NZ public holidays & timezone native | ✓ Yes | Timezone yes; holidays no | ✓ NZ-native | Timezone yes; holidays no | ✓ NZ-native | n/a |
| Time to get live | ✓ Under an hour | Self-serve, hours | Self-serve, hours | Self-serve, fast | Demo + onboarding | n/a |
| Free plan to start | ✓ Yes | Free core tier | ✗ | ✓ Free tier | ✗ | NZ$0 |
| Starting price (NZD/mo) | Free, then from NZ$23 | Free core; paid from ~US$14.95/staff (USD) + fees | From ~NZ$42/staff +GST | Free tier; US pricing, no NZ payments | Quote only (book a demo) | NZ$0 |
| Contract / lock-in | ✓ None, cancel anytime | Month-to-month | Month-to-month | Month-to-month | By quote | n/a |
Comparison for NZ service businesses, based on each provider's official pricing/feature pages as of July 2026; many competitor features are tier-dependent and prices change. Check each provider's website for the latest. Every tool here offers 24/7 self-service online booking via a form; the difference is that Suddenly Sorted books in a conversation. Kitomba pricing is quote-based (no public price). Fresha's marketplace fee is a one-time 20% (min ~US$6) on the first booking of a new client it sends you, never on your own or direct clients; Fresha's published subscription rates are in USD. Square card payments aren't currently available in New Zealand. Suddenly Sorted now takes optional, refundable deposits to lock in a booking, on the booking page and inside the chat; you connect your own Stripe account and the money goes straight to you, with no commission to us. Deposits are opt-in per service; the rest of the bill is still paid however you like (in person, your own EFTPOS/card terminal). *Google review-request automation is not a clearly published built-in feature for these tools at the time of writing. †Fresha now offers an autonomous "AI Concierge" (chat and phone) in New Zealand as a paid add-on, around NZ$250 per location per month at the time of writing, on top of its subscription and marketplace fees. It's a real product and worth a look if you're already deep in Fresha. The difference with Suddenly Sorted: the AI assistant is included in every paid plan (no add-on), there's never a commission, and the same conversation handles deposits, no-payment holds, group bookings, the waitlist and rebooking nudges, not just the simple case. Other tools listed have shipped partial or experimental AI features; check each provider for the latest. There are also budget NZ suites like Pointa (~NZ$7/week, salon management with online booking but no AI assistant) if all you want is a cheap calendar.
Where we genuinely stand out
The AI is the plan, not an add-on
Some tools now sell an AI receptionist as a paid extra on top of your subscription. Ours answers "how much?", "are you open Sunday?", and books them in — on every paid plan, at a flat NZD price.
It knows the whole booking, not just the chat
Deposits, no-payment confirm-to-hold, group bookings, the waitlist, rebooking regulars — one assistant handles all of it in the same conversation, using your real availability and policies.
You keep 100% of what you earn
No per-booking commission, no marketplace taking a slice. One simple monthly price, and the bookings are yours.
Made for here
NZ-built and NZ-supported, with local public holidays, timezone and phone formats baked in, so you're not bending a global tool to fit.
Live today, not next month
Paste one line on your site (or share a link) and you're taking bookings within the hour. No onboarding project, no consultant.
Built to talk, not to run your whole back office
We're not trying to replace your POS or stock system. We're the receptionist that never sleeps, answering and booking your customers in plain conversation, on the site you already have.
See for yourself
Try the live demo assistant on our home page, read how it works end to end, or check our simple pricing.