Calendly vs Acuity: which is the best scheduling app?

Which one should you go for: Calendly or Acuity?

Calendly and Acuity Scheduling are the most well-known apps in the scheduling market. Though they are often pitted against each other , in our opinion, the apps are meant for different set of audiences. We will take a look at each app, then do a comparison, and derive our conclusions. If you would like to discuss it on an online meeting, you can book a call with us.

Acuity Scheduling  

Acuity Scheduling is the most versatile scheduling tool in the market. They have the depth and breadth in features to address the needs of various functions and different industries.

While that is definitely a plus, Acuity’s UI is not able to present these features in a user-friendly way. There are pop-ups, long pages, hidden sub menus… some times discovering features is a task.

Calendly 

Calendly is the most popular and widely used appointment scheduler. Calendly has covered many use cases in appointment scheduling without overloading the user interface. Their biggest attraction is their minimalistic UI which inspires confidence that you can get automated appointment scheduling in a few minutes.

Calendly’s strengths:  

Almost everyone who wants to automate their scheduling! However, Calendly has a target audience – sales teams, consultants, and recruiters. The existing features and new developments are influenced by this.

Calendly has the following advantages:

  • More integrations than other appointment scheduling apps.
  • Setting up availability on Calendly is flexibile too.
  • The pricing is reasonable and meets the benchmark of $1o per user

Calendly’s weaknesses

Service-based businesses: Calendly is not suitable for salon visits that involve multiple treatments. There is no cart-like feature you to add multiple treatments and book an appointment.

Classes: You cannot run classes with Calendly as they do not support recurring group appointments yet.

Meeting Polls: Calendly does not offer meeting polls. You will miss this if you are coming to Calendly from the Doodle scheduling world.

Branding and Customization: Calendly has only limited capabilities here.

  • Limited branding options on the booking page
  • No html editor for email notifications
  • You cannot map the booking page to your domain

Pricing: Calendly can become expensive for teams larger than 5 members if you are on a tight budget for a scheduling tool.

Acuity is the best for:

Anyone who wants to automate their schedule, from sales teams to small businesses in the service industry.

Is Acuity good for salons? 

While Acuity is definitely useful for the service industry, you may find it limiting if you are into specific verticals like salons. There are dedicated software for that industry and if your operations are fairly large you will find Acuity limiting. Acuity does not have payment terminal integration or an inventory module.

How about Acuity’s pricing? 

Acuity’s pricing structure can be discouraging for some people. They follow a slab-wise pricing. The Emerging plan allows one staff, the Growing plan allows 6 and the Powerhouse allows 36. If you 7 staff, you have to upgrade from Growing to Powerhouse.

Compare Calendly and Acuity 

FeaturesDetailsAcuity: Powerhouse planCalendly: Pro plan
  $45 per calendar$12/per user
 Number of staff/locations36No location
CalendarsCalendar connections per user    Unlimited6
 Calendar integrationsGoogle, Office365, Outlook.com, iCloud, ExchangeGoogle Calendar, Office 365, Outlook and iCloud
ServicesOne-on-one meetingsYesYes
 Group events (for tours, webinars, classes, etc.)YesYes
AvailabilityRound-robinYesYes
 CollectiveYesYes
 Set max number of meetingsYesYes
 Offer unlimited services and appointmentsYesYes
SharingPersonalized booking page linkYesYes
 Embed scheduler into your websiteYesYes
 Brand your scheduler’s colors and copyYesYes
 Removable vendor brandingYesYes
 Add links to event confirmation pages    YesYes
 Invitee redirect    YesYes
 Automatic time zone conversion for clientsYesYes
 Multiple time zones for your different staff/locationsYesNo
 Display your logoYesYes
 Remove “Powered by” on your schedulerYesYes
 Sign BAA for HIPAA complianceYesNo
 Custom API & CSS for DevelopersYesYes
 Accept payments and deposits through Stripe, Square, or PayPalYesYes
 Vault credit cards for charging clients laterYesNo
 Color customization for booking pageYesYes
 Optionally let clients tip youYesNo
 Offer coupons and vouchers for discountsYesNo
 Copy and Paste TimesNoYes
 Chrome, iOS & SlackNoYes
 Intake formYesYes
Notifications and remindersAutomated event notifications    YesYes
 Customizable email notifications and reminders    YesYes
 SMS notificationsYesYes
 Workflows    See commentYes
IntegrationsIntercom integration    YesYes
 Over 700 app integrations with Zapier    YesYes
 Microsoft Teams conferencing integration    YesYes
 Salesforce integration and support    NoYes
 HubSpot integration    NoYes
 Google Analytics integration    YesYes
 Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting integrations for online meetingsYesYes
 QuickBooks and Freshbooks for invoicing and accountingYesNo
 MailChimpYesYes
 Pipedrive integration for sales/CRMYesNo
 Facebook Pixel integration    YesYes
SupportLive ChatNoYes
Calendly vs Acuity

Calendly vs Acuity: Conclusion   

Their audience

Acuity focuses on small businesses in the service industry. Calendly has focused on making it easier for sales people to connect with their customers faster, update the CRM. They are providing plug-ins and integrations to work with the apps salespeople use daily. Additionally, they are good for recruiters and consultants.

Feature set

Acuity has developed features that help businesses generate more revenue. They have Gift certificates, memberships, coupons. Also, they allow vaulting credit cards: those are important for businesses taking paid appointments. Calendly is better for free appointments even though they allow online payment.

The apps they compete with

Both apps compete with different set of apps. While Acuity will eventually have to face Mindbody, Fresha, and Phorest, Calendly is facing tougher competition from the likes of ChiliPiper.  

User experience

Acuity is rich in features to cover any use case in scheduling while Calendly allows teams to go live with automated appointment scheduling in no time with their minimalistic UI.

Pricing

On the pricing front, Acuity will get cheaper if you have more than 5 staff below which Calendly will be the cheaper option.

To wrap it up

If you are from sales, go with Calendly or its alternatives. If you are a service based business, go with Acuity. They are not alternatives in the true sense, they just do similar things for different audiences.