Choosing a sauna booking platform you can trust
A booking platform you can trust pays you directly, never handles card numbers itself, lets customers book on their phone without an app or an account, and lets you take your data with you. Here is what to check, and how Session does each one.
By Wil Grace, founder of Session · Updated 1 November 2026
Free to set up · No subscription · No card required
WHAT TO CHECK
Six things to check before you choose
Where the money goes
Card payments should land in your own account, not the platform’s. With Session they go straight into your own Stripe account and are settled to your bank on Stripe’s payout schedule. They never pass through a Session account.
Connecting Stripe →
Who sees card numbers
Card numbers never reach Session. Stripe captures them directly at checkout, so your booking system is out of scope for card data.
Data protection →
No app to download
Customers book from your booking page in any phone browser. They can add it to their home screen as an app if they want to, and your staff get a separate admin app, with no app store involved.
Installing the app →
No account needed
Customers book and pay as a guest, and manage their booking later through a secure link in their confirmation email.
How customers manage bookings →
Fast on a phone
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay appear automatically, so customers can pay in a couple of taps. That matters when almost half of sauna bookings are made less than a day ahead.
Payment methods →
Your data, when you leave
Download everything Session holds for your venue in one file, whenever you want, without asking. Customer data is hosted in the Republic of Ireland, and a Data Processing Agreement is published for you to read.
Exporting your data →
BUILT FOR SAUNAS
It has to understand how a sauna sells
Trust also means the system never oversells your room. A sauna isn’t an appointment: many guests share one session, and some want the whole room. Check the platform handles these without workarounds.
Shared spaces
Many guests book spaces in one timed session, up to the capacity you set, and it never sells more spaces than the room holds.
Compare 14 booking tools →
Private hire
A private hire of the whole sauna competes with individual spaces for the same slot. Whichever sells first wins, so there is never a double booking.
Private hire →
A choice of length
Customers can choose how long they stay, such as 60 or 90 minutes, and overlapping starts share the session’s spaces.
Session lengths →
A waiver for every guest
Each guest signs their own waiver on their own phone, and staff check who has signed at check-in.
Waivers →
PRICING
Clear pricing is part of trust
A platform should tell you what it costs before you sign up, and separate its own fee from the card processor’s. Session is free to set up, with no subscription and no contract. It charges 0.5% per paid booking, capped monthly in your own currency (£100, US$150 or €90), and free bookings carry no fee.
Stripe’s card fee is separate, set by Stripe and paid from your own Stripe account. On a £20 UK card booking that is roughly £0.10 to Session and £0.50 to Stripe.
A capped percentage and a flat monthly fee suit different venues. A percentage costs least in quiet months and rises with your bookings until the cap. Session’s cap is reached at £20,000 of paid bookings in a month (US$30,000 or €18,000), so a busy month never costs more than the cap. A flat fee costs the same every month, however quiet. Compare what each would cost at your own takings, including card fees.
A CHECKLIST
Questions to ask any booking provider
Whose account do payments land in, and how quickly do they reach my bank?
Does card data ever touch your system, or does the payment processor capture it?
Can customers book without downloading an app or creating an account?
Can it sell spaces in one shared session, and private hire of the same slot, without overbooking?
What is the full cost per booking, including card processing, and is there a cap?
Can I export all my bookings and customers myself, without asking, if I leave?
Where is my customers’ data hosted, and is there a Data Processing Agreement?
Frequently asked questions
Is online sauna booking secure?
It is when the platform leaves card data to the payment processor. With Session, Stripe captures card numbers directly at checkout, so they never reach Session, and payments go into the venue’s own Stripe account.
Do customers need to download an app to book a sauna?
No. Customers book from the venue’s booking page in any phone browser. They can add the page to their home screen as an app if they want to, but they never need an app store.
Do customers need an account to book?
No. Customers book and pay as a guest, and can still manage their booking through a secure link in their confirmation email.
Where does the money from sauna bookings go?
Into the venue’s own Stripe account, settled to its bank on Stripe’s payout schedule. It never passes through a Session account.
Can I take my data with me if I leave?
Yes. Session has a single download that gives you everything held for your venue, including bookings, customers, signed waivers, sessions and prices, in one file, whenever you want it.
How much does Session cost?
It is free to set up, with no subscription. Session charges 0.5% per paid booking, capped monthly in your own currency (£100, US$150 or €90), and free bookings carry no fee. Stripe’s card fees are separate and paid from your own Stripe account.
Is a flat monthly fee better than a percentage per booking?
It depends on your takings. A percentage costs least in quiet months and rises with your bookings. Session’s 0.5% is capped monthly (£100, US$150 or €90), so a busy month never costs more than the cap, which is reached at £20,000 of paid bookings in a month. A flat fee costs the same every month, however quiet.
What should sauna booking software handle that appointment software doesn’t?
Shared spaces in one timed session up to a capacity, private hire of the whole room competing for the same slot, a choice of session lengths that share the same spaces, and a waiver for every guest, not just the person paying.
See it for yourself
Set up your booking page free and try a booking on your own phone. Or see how the options compare.