Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling: Pricing, Features, Use Cases [2026]

Calendly and Acuity Scheduling are both established appointment scheduling platforms, each with its own loyal customer base. However, if you're evaluating scheduling tools, you may be wondering: "Calendly vs. Acuity: which is better?"

Calendly built its reputation on simplicity, making it the go-to for solo entrepreneurs and small teams who want something that just works. 

Acuity Scheduling (now owned by Squarespace) took a different path, offering advanced features for service businesses that require payment processing, client management, and deep customization.

In this guide, we'll compare Calendly and Acuity head-to-head, then show you why Cal.com might be the smarter choice for your scheduling needs.

What Makes a Great Appointment Scheduler?

Before we compare these 2 head-to-head, let's discuss what matters most in a scheduling tool.

Easy to Set Up and Use

The best scheduling apps don't require you to watch tutorial videos or spend an afternoon configuring settings. You should be able to set up your availability and share a link within minutes.

Smart Calendar Integration 

Your scheduler needs to sync with your actual calendar (Google, Outlook, Apple) to prevent double bookings and keep everything in one place.

Flexible Scheduling Options

Different meetings need different setups. Sometimes you need a quick 15-minute call. Other times, you need a 2-hour consultation with a payment upfront. Your tool should handle both.

Professional Client Experience 

Your booking page is often the first impression clients get of your business. It should look professional, load quickly, and be dead simple to use.

Automation that Saves Time 

Reminders, follow-ups, time zone conversion, buffer times between meetings. These automations should handle themselves so you don't have to.

With those criteria in mind, here's how Calendly and Acuity stack up.

Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling at a Glance

Calendly Pricing, Features, Pros, and Cons

Calendly is the scheduling app most people start with. It's not the most feature-rich option on the market, but it’s been around the longest and has built a solid brand. The interface is clean and intuitive for both you and your clients.

When you sign up, Calendly walks you through connecting your calendar, setting your availability, and creating your first event type. Within minutes, you have a shareable booking link (something like calendly.com/yourname) that people can use to book time with you. It checks your calendar for conflicts, handles time zones automatically, and sends confirmation emails. Done.

The free plan is legitimately useful. You get unlimited meetings, one calendar connection, and one event type active at a time. That's enough for freelancers, consultants, or anyone who just needs a simple "schedule a call with me" link. Once you need multiple event types active simultaneously (e.g., a 15-minute intro call and a 60-minute strategy session), you'll need to upgrade to the Standard plan for $10/month.

Key Features

• Seamless calendar integrations with Google, Outlook, iCloud, and more

• Automated scheduling with reminders, confirmations, and workflows

• Advanced team scheduling (round-robin, collective meetings, routing forms)

• Over 100 tool integrations, including video conferencing, CRM, and payments

• Customizable scheduling links, booking pages, and event types

Calendly Pros

• Easy to set up

• Excellent integrations with video conferencing, CRMs, and productivity tools

• Team features make coordinating group availability straightforward

• Clean, professional booking pages that clients actually enjoy using

Calendly Cons

• Customization options are limited compared to competitors

• Many power features (like Workflows and multiple calendar connections) require paid plans

• Can feel too basic for businesses with complex scheduling needs

• Payment processing requires paid plans and supports fewer gateways.

Calendly Pricing 

• Free plan available with basic features

• Standard plan starts at $10/month

• Teams plan starts at $16/user/month

• Enterprise plans start at $15,000/year

Are you a Calendly user and frustrated by the tool?

Check out our list of the best Calendly alternatives and take your pick. 

Acuity Scheduling Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons

Acuity Scheduling (now owned by Squarespace) is what you get when a scheduling tool is built by people who actually run service businesses. It's packed with features that matter when you're running a salon, a therapy practice, a personal training business, or any operation where the scheduling is just one piece of a larger client management puzzle.

The setup process takes longer than Calendly. Expect to spend at least 30 minutes configuring things properly. But that's because Acuity gives you greater control over your booking experience. You can create custom intake forms that collect specific information from clients before their appointment. You can set up appointment types with different durations, pricing, and required information. You can even use conditional logic in your forms.

Payment processing is where Acuity really separates itself from Calendly. It integrates with Square, Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net. You can also set up package deals, memberships, and gift certificates directly in the system. If you're running a business where clients pay at the time of booking, Acuity handles this far better than most competitors.

The client management features are also significantly more robust. You can keep detailed notes on each client, track their appointment history, and set up automated email sequences that are tailored to specific appointment types. If you're a massage therapist, your post-appointment follow-up for a deep-tissue massage may differ from your follow-up for a relaxation massage.

Acuity Pros

• Deeply customizable booking pages, including custom CSS for complete brand control

• Advanced client management with intake forms, appointment history, and detailed notes

• Robust payment processing supporting multiple gateways and package/membership sales

• HIPAA compliance available for healthcare providers (on higher-tier plans)

Acuity Cons

• Steeper learning curve due to extensive features

• No free plan—starts at $20/month

• Can feel overwhelming if you just need basic scheduling

• More expensive for small teams compared to per-user pricing

• Interface feels dated compared to newer competitors

Acuity Scheduling Pricing 

• Starter plan starts at $16/month (one calendar)

• Standard plan starts at $27/month (up to 6 calendars)

• Premium plan starts at $49/month (unlimited calendars, HIPAA compliance, and custom branding).

• Custom plan tailored to your brand's needs

Need a booking or appointment scheduler that’s just not Acuity?

Then check out our list of the best Acuity Scheduler alternatives.

Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling: Comparing Key Features

User Experience and Setup

Calendly wins on simplicity. The interface is clean and modern, with a low learning curve. You'll be up and running in minutes. The booking page your clients see is equally straightforward. They pick a time, enter their info, and they're done.

Acuity requires more upfront investment but offers greater control. The interface feels dated compared to Calendly, but once you learn where everything is, you can configure exactly the experience you want for your clients.

Winner: Calendly for ease of use, Acuity for customization depth.

Calendar Integration and Syncing

Both tools sync with Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, and iCloud. Both check for conflicts across your connected calendars to prevent double bookings.

Calendly focuses on making these integrations seamless and reliable. It's particularly good at handling complex time zones and multi-calendar scenarios.

Acuity matches Calendly on calendar syncing but goes further with integrations into payment processors, email marketing tools, and specialized software for specific industries.

Winner: Tie on calendar syncing; Acuity wins on breadth of other integrations.

Automation and Reminders

Calendly handles the basics well: automated confirmation emails, customizable reminder emails (timing), and follow-up messages. You can customize these messages, but the templates are fairly straightforward.

Acuity offers more sophisticated automation. You can create different reminder sequences for different appointment types, send SMS reminders, trigger different automations based on client responses, and set up automated emails at multiple points in the customer journey.

Winner: Acuity for advanced users; Calendly for those who want simple, effective automation.

Team Scheduling

Calendly's team features work well for coordination. Round-robin scheduling automatically distributes incoming meetings across team members. Collective scheduling identifies time slots when multiple people are available. You can see team availability at a glance.

Acuity takes a different approach, giving you granular control over which team members can take which types of appointments. You can route appointments based on expertise, availability, or other criteria. The admin controls are more detailed.

Winner: Calendly for ease of use and quick setup; Acuity for complex team structures with specialized roles.

Customization and Branding

Calendly offers basic customization. You can add your logo, choose colors, and customize confirmation pages. It's enough to make the booking page look professional and on-brand, but you're working within Calendly's template.

Acuity lets you customize everything. Add custom CSS, write your own HTML, create complex intake forms with conditional logic, and build workflows that match your exact business processes.

Winner: Acuity, hands down.

Client Management

Calendly keeps things minimal. You can see who has meetings scheduled and their contact information, but there are no client history, note-taking, or relationship management features.

Acuity treats client management as a core feature. Track appointment history, keep detailed notes, send targeted communications based on client behavior, and manage the entire client relationship within the scheduling tool.

Winner: Acuity for those who need hands-on client management; Calendly for those who use a separate CRM.

Pricing and value

Calendly's free plan is genuinely useful for solo users. The paid plans start at $10/month, which is reasonable for the features you get. Team plans at $16/user/month include collaboration features.

Acuity starts at $16/month with no free tier. Pricing scales based on the number of calendars you need. For a solo practitioner, it's more expensive than Calendly. For larger operations, the pricing can make more sense.

Winner: Calendly for budget-conscious users and small teams; Acuity for businesses where the advanced features justify the cost.

Can't decide? There's a third (better) option: Cal.com

Cal.com is a dedicated appointment scheduling app and online booking system built for individuals, teams, and businesses that need powerful scheduling without compromise. It’s built for serious booking automation, especially for brands that rely on a smooth booking workflow to drive growth.

Key Features

• Unlimited bookings: Take as many appointments as you need, even on the free plan. There are no artificial caps that force you to upgrade as your business grows.

• Smart routing: Cal.com’s routing forms collect customer information automatically and direct clients to the right team member. 

• Custom booking links: Create branded, shareable booking links for individuals, teams, or specific services. 

• Workflow automation: Easily automate confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups. Customize every message to match your brand voice and reduce no-shows with no manual work.

• Calendar sync: Fully integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, and more. This makes double booking impossible. Changes sync instantly across all platforms.

• Automated reminders: Cut down no-shows, boost attendance, and ensure optimal use of your time.  

• Team scheduling: Distribute tasks evenly across your team using the round-robin feature. Alternatively, let clients choose their preferred person.

• Customizable booking pages: Fully branded booking pages with your logo, colors, and messaging to create a polished, professional experience

• Time-based rules: Add buffers between appointments to avoid overlapping or to give yourself breathing space.

• Multi-location support: Manage bookings across multiple locations from a single dashboard. Each can have its own calendars and booking rules for smoother coordination.

• Multi-language support: Cal.com detects time zones and browser languages, making it ideal for multi-time-zone/multi-language meetings.

• App Store: Connect Cal.com to your other favorite tools via our app store. This helps enhance automations and efficiency.

Another unique feature is Cal AI. This is an AI agent that turns simple scheduling into conversations. It can book meetings, send reminders, and follow up all through natural phone calls that boost conversions, reduce no-shows, save time, and book demos.

Trusted by brands like Deel, Supabase, Framer, Ramp, Vercel, and many more, Cal.com has proven to be a powerhouse in the scheduling tool space.

Here’s what users are saying about Cal.com:

I love using Cal.com for my scheduling because it avoids any kind of back and forth between people I need to meet, and it just makes things so easy. With Cal.com, I save a bunch of time since I don't need to ask people for their time availabilities. My team can see all of my availability and when I'm not available through my Cal.com scheduler. It's super easy to set up and took no time. I love how beautiful it looks, making everything appear really sleek. This aesthetic aspect helps because it makes the person more likely to actually go and pick a time, especially clients for my business. — G2 user

Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling vs. Cal.com: Feature Comparison

Final Verdict: Calendly vs. Acuity Scheduling vs. Cal.com

For most teams, Cal.com is the clear winner. It comes with easy setup, powerful features, and complete control. You also get:

• Unlimited bookings (even on the free plan)

• Advanced routing and automation

• Full customization without restrictions

• Multi-location and multi-time zone support

• And much more

Whether you're a solo consultant, a growing team, or an enterprise with complex needs, Cal.com scales with you without forcing you to choose between simplicity and power. It's scheduling infrastructure built for how teams actually work.

Ready to take control of your scheduling? Start with Cal.com's free plan today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is easier to set up: Calendly or Acuity?

Calendly is faster, taking 5-10 minutes, compared to Acuity's 30+ minute setup. Cal.com matches Calendly's speed while offering more powerful features out of the box. You can create your first booking page and start accepting appointments in minutes.

Can I migrate my data from Calendly or Acuity to Cal.com?

Yes. Cal.com provides migration tools and documentation for importing your event types, team settings, and scheduling preferences from both Calendly and Acuity. Most teams complete the migration in a few hours without disrupting their booking flow.

Does Cal.com work with my existing tools?

Cal.com integrates with 100+ tools, including Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Stripe, Salesforce, and HubSpot. The open API also lets you build custom integrations for any tool that Calendly or Acuity supports—plus tools they don't.

What if I need HIPAA compliance for healthcare scheduling?

Cal.com offers signed BAAs for those who need HIPAA-compliant scheduling. Acuity offers managed HIPAA compliance on higher-tier plans ($49/month). Calendly doesn't offer HIPAA-specific features, making it unsuitable for healthcare providers handling protected health information.