Acuity Scheduling vs Calendly: Compare Pricing & Features
Table of Contents
Are you looking for suitable appointment management software? Then we invite you to our comparison of Acuity Scheduling vs Calendly, two of the most popular scheduling solutions. For any business that provides services, appointment scheduling tools are of the utmost importance.
No wonder this is a highly competitive sphere as software developers do their best to deliver features that are asked for by small and medium businesses. Today, we’ll compare some of such apps, including their features, pricing options, and differences.
Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly: Advantages & Pricing Options
So what are the abovementioned apps known for besides being top-rated appointment management tools? Acuity Scheduling, for example, provides an easy and customizable way to streamline service appointments and improve workflows.
By delivering easy-to-use automation & time management tools, Acuity Scheduling is a real-time-saver for anyone who wants to sell their services online and avoid any routine work planning. Unfortunately, if you’re asking “Is Acuity Scheduling free?”, we’ll have to disappoint you. The app developers provide multiple paid pricing plans with a 7-day free trial allowing you to choose the right option for your business.
| Emerging | Growing | Powerhouse | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emerging features plus:
| Growing features plus:
| Powerhouse features plus:
|
| $16/mo | $29/mo | $47/mo | Custom |
Similar to Acuity Scheduling, Calendly is a SaaS-based solution designed to simplify and enhance planning & scheduling processes. Suited for diverse parts of your business ranging from marketing to education, the app is built to support your company from all sides. With its features that include website booking, reminders, and CRM integrations, the app presents a multitude of opportunities for your business and employees. When comparing Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly, it’s easy to notice that the latter is available for free & at a reasonable price thanks to diverse pricing options.
| Free | Standard | Teams | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free features plus:
| Standard features plus:
| Teams features plus:
|
| Free | $10/seat/mo | $16/seat/mo | from $15k/year |
Popular Features of Acuity Scheduling & Calendly
As you see, both Calendly & Acuity Scheduling apps provide an extensive variety of functional advantages combined with affordable & diverse pricing plans. Due to that, business owners can choose what fits them best and enhance their business with automated scheduling. However, when it comes to pricing, Calendly offers the advantage of a free plan with the basic features that are enough for a small business. Both software options listed above mostly provide similar features, while also offering some unique functionality.
| Features | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Self-scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Online payments | Yes | Yes |
| Appointments & services | Yes | No |
| Booking form customization | Yes | No |
| Notifications & reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar sync | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile apps | Yes | Yes |
| Team scheduling | No | Yes |
| Third-party integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Custom booking triggers | Yes (for notifications) | Yes (through Workflows) |
1. Online Scheduling for Clients
Client self-scheduling is one of the main purposes of any appointment management software. This is especially important in this comparison of Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly as the first app aims to deliver simple and effective booking for your clients and website visitors. Thanks to its high customization potential, a business owner can configure the application to fit the needs of their company. From adding your logo and brand colors to the booking system to creating custom forms, Acuity Scheduling can help you make the scheduling process smooth and tailored to your business.
Unlike Acuity Scheduling, Calendly is more optimized for scheduling business meetings rather than managing appointments booked by your customers. This makes the app a suitable choice for teams of all sizes that need to automate scheduling. Thanks to quick setup and user-friendly UI, your employees won’t have any trouble using Calendly to improve their workflow. Note that by using this solution you get quite limited app customization. The reason for this lies in the purpose of Calendly. It is built to assist business teams rather than enhance the online booking process of your company’s services.
| Booking features | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment scheduling | Yes | No |
| Meeting scheduling | No | Yes |
| 1-on-1 appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Group appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable appointment access | Yes | No |
| Custom appointment categories | Yes | No |
| Cancelling | Yes | Yes |
| Rescheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Embed booking form | Yes | Yes |
2. Notifications & Reminders
One of the most common features in Acuity Scheduling vs.Calendly is connected with email reminders. To avoid no-shows a well-configured reminder system is necessary and that’s exactly what Acuity Scheduling provides. With this app, you can set up different appointment reminders, define various triggers for them, and create or customize email & SMS Acuity Scheduling templates that you regularly use as well as notifications for your employees.
Calendly applies a similar notification system, especially when it comes to informing your employees about upcoming 1-on-1 meetings or group video calls. Properly set up notifications can help you with reminding your team about an upcoming event, allowing more space for canceling or rescheduling if necessary. Besides, with the Workflows feature that is unique to Calendly, you can define custom behavior for your email reminders and notifications, while automating them in a few clicks.
| Notification features | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Email confirmations | Yes | Yes |
| Reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar invitations for employees | No (Notifications only) | Yes |
| Follow-ups | Yes | Yes |
| Email personalization | Yes | Yes |
| Custom notification triggers | Basic | Detailed |
3. Online Payment Support
When comparing Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly, you may find that support of online payment services & gateways is an integral part of both apps. The reason for that is the simplicity and security of modern digital payments. Acuity Scheduling supports credit card payments as well as payment processors. The latter include Stripe, Square, and other similar services. To allow your clients to pay online for your services, you need to configure the payment options beforehand and customize how clients pay after the booking.
Despite being a business-oriented scheduling tool, Calendly also supports online payment services. When you schedule events or meetings with your customers before the service is delivered, you can accept payments digitally by using the integrated features. After specifying your financial details and configuring other necessary options, your business will start accepting payments right away as well as sending receipts and track payment analytics.
| Payment methods | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal | Yes | Yes |
| Stripe | Yes | Yes |
| Square | Yes | No |
| Stax Payments | No | Yes |
4. Mobile Apps
Mobile apps serve as a great addition to any appointment software. Sometimes they can help you decide between choosing Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly. They allow your employees to manage bookings efficiently without always having to use their PCs. This is exactly what the Acuity Scheduling mobile app provides. Available for iOS and Android, it can help with accessing your schedule, accepting payments, rescheduling existing appointments, and much more.
Calendly also provides a mobile app that perfectly complements the existing features of this software. For example, it helps you manage your planned meetings, share the link for bookable meetings, and modify your schedule if necessary. With over 1 million downloads on Android, Calendly Mobile is of use to everyone who uses the standalone software and wants to manage their events and meetings from any device.
| Mobile app features | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Viewing appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Managing schedules | Yes | Yes |
| Creating new appointments | Yes | No |
| Editing appointment types | Yes | No |
| Sending confirmation emails | Yes | No |
| Accepting payments | Yes | No |
| Generating invoices | Yes | No |
| Adding coupons | Yes | No |
| Editing app settings | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting a problem | Yes | Yes |
| In-app notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Available for iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Available for Android | Yes | Yes |
5. Third-Party Integrations
Lastly, we need to mention third-party integrations of Acuity Scheduling vs.Calendly as they make the appointment & scheduling apps even more flexible and multifunctional. When it comes to Acuity Scheduling, the app can boast of a wide range of available integrations. From online payment services to messengers and calendars, this appointment-booking platform allows you to integrate more useful features than almost any other app without paying extra for them. This also includes Acuity Scheduling API which can further improve your booking workflow.
As for Calendly, it supports an impressive variety of business-oriented integrations that perfectly suit this app’s purpose. Like Acuity Scheduling, it also syncs with calendars, video conferencing apps, and payment systems. However, it provides support for ATS & recruiting apps as well as marketing integrations, including recruitment marketing tools. You can also embed Calendly because it is optimized for platforms such as WordPress, Sendspark, or Squarespace.
| Integrations | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks | Yes | No |
| HubSpot | No | Yes |
| Zoom | Yes | Yes |
| Grammarly | Yes | Yes |
| Mailchimp | Yes | Yes |
| Zapier | Yes | Yes |
| Google Analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Google Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Office365 | No | Yes |
| GreenHouse | No | Yes |
| ReferralCandy | Yes | No |
| API | Yes | Yes |
Acuity Scheduling Alternative for WordPress
Our comparison of Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly defined that both apps may be a great choice for your business. They are especially useful for automating and enhancing appointment scheduling. But if you want a similar booking system that’s native to WordPress, we recommend you to try out the Appointment Booking plugin by MotoPress. It is a flexible and affordable solution designed to help you manage your appointments and the services you provide.
With the support of online payments and employee schedules, the mentioned plugin can be one of Acuity Scheduling alternatives or any SaaS-based scheduling platform. Appointment Booking is fully customizable and comes with a step-by-step booking wizard. The latter allows your clients to schedule an appointment from any device and even submit a payment online. Moreover, with the free version of the plugin, Appointment Booking Lite, you can always try out the basic functionality before considering an upgrade or global plugin integration. Here are other features this solution is known for:
- Individual & group bookings;
- Customizable booking form & notification templates;
- Unlimited service & employee management;
- Easy-to-use appointment calendar;
- Optimized for multiple locations & services.
Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly: Try and Decide for Yourself
Now that you know more about the core features of Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly, choosing the right solution for your team & business may be a lot easier. We have already mentioned that the main difference between the two apps lies in the scheduling purpose. For example, Acuity Scheduling is more flexible and better suited for companies providing paid appointment-based services. Calendly, on the other hand, is a nice fit for team-oriented businesses that need to manage the scheduling of meetings and events. Besides, you can always check Acuity Scheduling reviews to find out about the experience of app users.
So, depending on your goals, you may either use something more flexible or traditional in terms of an appointment management approach. The diverse flexibility is also obvious when it comes to the customization of Acuity Scheduling. With its numerous options and configurations, you can make the built-in scheduling system suitable for your business in no time. But if you are looking for something that only requires a quick setup and can be instantly integrated into your team’s workflow, Calendly may be a better option. Still, thanks to the Acuity Scheduling pricing free trial option and a free plan provided by Calendly, finding what suits you best won’t require any financial commitment and lots of time.
| Acuity Scheduling | Calendly |
|---|---|
| Self-scheduling | Unlimited meeting scheduling |
| Online payment support | Editable booking page |
| Calendar synchronization | 1-on-1 and team-based meetings |
| Notifications, reminders, and follow-ups | Email & SMS notifications |
| Wide customization | Support of online payment gateways |
| Embed support | Embed booking form |
| Individual & group bookings | Group & collective bookings |
| Multiple third-party integrations | 100+ app integrations (calendars, CRM, recruiting, etc.) |
| Vouchers and coupons | Custom form triggers via Workflows |
| Advanced reporting & analytics | Activity logging |
| From $16/mo | Free or from $10/seat/mo |
Conclusion
We hope this overview and comparison of Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly helped you choose the right app for your business. While both apps are worth being your business assistants, you may find one of them to be more fitting than the other because of various reasons that include the feature range, UI design, accessibility, etc.
Pros of Acuity Scheduling vs. Calendly:
- Best for service-oriented businesses;
- Better client management features;
- Advanced tools for analytics;
- Supports Square as an online payment gateway.
Pros of Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling:
- Optimized for scheduling business meetings;
- Workflows feature for customized notification triggers;
- Supports embeds for WordPress, Squarespace and other platforms;
- Provides a free pricing plan with basic features.
Note that when you’re looking for a scheduling app or any of Acuity Scheduling alternatives, it’s necessary to pay attention to:
- Ease of use: For any app, it is necessary to provide tools that are easy to use for both your employees and customers. This ensures a smooth booking process as well as a steep learning curve when it comes to integrating new small business software into your company’s workflow.
- Pricing options: Pricing plays an important role in choosing the right scheduling app, especially for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. You may not be able to afford pricey software from the start so going for something flexible yet reasonably priced is always a better choice.
- Integrations: Many appointment management solutions come with a wide range of integrations. From CRM to third-party automation platforms and messaging apps, it is recommended to use software that is integrated with apps that you already use. It simplifies the working process and makes the introduction of new software easier for everyone.
- Scalability: It is no secret that businesses grow and their requirements change over time. That’s why it’s useful to pick a scalable scheduling app right from the start. This ensures you won’t have any trouble when you decide to go bigger and manage several locations while still applying the same app to schedule service appointments in all of them.
