COMPARE
Serene vs Timely: the local incumbent, or the local challenger
Timely earned its place in Australian and New Zealand salons, reliable scheduling, solid staff management. Serene was built a decade later, for one vertical, with the parts Timely never prioritised: the client experience, the clinical record, and intelligence that works for you.
At a glance
| Serene | Timely | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Australian aesthetic clinics only | General hair, beauty & wellness AU/NZ [VERIFY] |
| Pricing | 1.9% of card sales, no monthly fees | Per-staff monthly subscription [VERIFY current tiers] |
| Cost in a quiet month | Falls with your revenue | Same as your busiest month |
| Unlimited staff & locations | Included | Priced per staff member [VERIFY] |
| Clinical records (photos, consent) | Structured, built in | Basic client files [VERIFY] |
| Client-facing experience | Branded online booking, reminders, aftercare | Booking widget [VERIFY] |
| AI Clinic Advisor | Included | Not offered [VERIFY] |
| Marketing automation | Behaviour-based, TGA-aware | Add-on campaign tools [VERIFY] |
Comparison based on publicly available information as at July 2026. Timely is a trademark of its owner; Serene is not affiliated with it.
Per-staff pricing punishes growth
On per-staff pricing, hiring your fourth injector raises your software bill before she's treated a single client, and January costs the same as March. Serene's 1.9% moves with your takings: quiet month, smaller bill. For a growing clinic, the difference compounds, and there's never a feature tier above you.
The client experience is the product now
Timely's consumer-facing surface is a booking widget. Serene treats everything your client touches, online booking, confirmations, pre-care, aftercare, rebooking, as the core product, in your clinic's name and voice. In a market where clients compare you to their last five-star experience, the widget era is over.
Intelligence included
Timely tells you what happened; Serene's Clinic Advisor tells you why, and what to do next, in plain English, from your own data, included in the 1.9%. That's not a feature Timely lacks so much as a generation it predates.
IN FAIRNESS
When Timely might be the better fit
If you run a hair or beauty salon without clinical records, and you prefer a fixed, predictable monthly bill over a percentage, Timely remains a solid, proven choice with deep AU/NZ roots. Serene is for clinics that need medical-grade records and want software with skin in the game.
Moving from Timely
We export and migrate your client list, treatment menu and upcoming appointments.
We set up your treatments properly, buffers, consult rules, reminder sequences.
You run your first day on Serene with an onboarding specialist on call. Timely migrations are our most common, the export path is well-worn. [PLACEHOLDER: confirm + typical timeframe]
See Serene on your clinic's real workflows
A 30-minute demo, tailored to how your clinic runs. No pressure, no obligation.