Acuity Scheduling vs Calendesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Acuity Scheduling and Calendesk share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Acuity Scheduling starts cheaper, at $16 a month against $79 a month.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Acuity Scheduling
Appointment booking, payments and reminders for service businesses
Calendesk
Booking system with payments and a built-in website builder
Which one is for you
Pick Acuity Scheduling if
- Fits if you run a salon, studio, tutoring or coaching business and want clients to book and pay themselves
- Works for businesses that take a deposit or the full fee at booking to cut no-shows
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to start free: there's no free plan, and the trial lasts 7 days
- Pricey if you're one person who just needs a booking link, at $16 a month ($20 monthly) for one calendar
- Tight if you have staff or locations: Starter has 1 calendar, Standard 6 and Premium 36
- Watch out: text reminders, the waitlist, packages, memberships and gift certificates start on Standard at $27
- Pricey if you need a HIPAA BAA, the Acuity footer removed, or the custom API: all Premium only, at $49
Pick Calendesk if
- Fits if you want the booking page and the website in one place
- Works for a business of up to 5 staff taking payments for bookings
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you work alone: the entry price is $79 a month billed annually
- Tight if you send many reminders: beyond the allowance emails cost $0.03 and SMS $0.08 on Standard
- Skip it if you need the API or Zapier, which are Pro or Enterprise, from $117 a month
- Watch out: Standard stops at 750 bookings a month and 5 employees, and extra employees cost from $0.50 each
- Watch out: monthly billing is $97, and there is no free plan
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAcuity SchedulingFair | 2.2GPACalendeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $16 a month billed annually, $20 monthly, and buys exactly one calendar. The dear end of this category is $10. Then the things a real business needs climb further: text reminders, packages and memberships on Standard at $27, and the HIPAA agreement and logo removal on Premium at $49, against a $6 middle. | D$79 a month billed annually for 5 employees is about $15.80 a head, above the category's $10 dearer quarter, and one person pays the full $79 against a $6.99 middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CNothing free to keep. There's a 7-day trial of any plan with no card asked, and a week is short to build a booking page, set your availability and test a payment before the bill starts. | CA 14-day trial with no credit card. No free plan. |
| Features | BCovers the whole booking job: a branded page, intake forms, deposits or full payment through Stripe, Square or PayPal, invoices, email reminders, buffers and daily limits, group classes, and tap-to-pay in the phone app. Text reminders, packages and the AI assistant wait on higher plans. | BBooking pages, a website builder, passes, subscriptions, email and SMS reminders, Stripe payments and an employee app. Nothing in the listing is missing from the booking job. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record, and the work falls on you before any client sees it: services to define, availability rules, buffers, daily limits, intake forms, a payment processor and a calendar to sync. Clients booking themselves from a link is the easy half. | CNo store rating on record. You build the booking site, services and payment setup yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iPhone and Android, with no desktop app of its own. It does sync with Google Calendar, Outlook and iCloud so busy time is blocked, and connects out to Stripe, Square, PayPal, Zoom and Squarespace, with the custom API Premium only. | BWeb, iOS and Android, plus Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, Meet, Teams, WhatsApp, Stripe and Zapier. No desktop app. |
| Best for | taking bookings and payment in one go | a booking site with payments for a small team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Acuity Scheduling and Calendesk. How we grade
Price against what you get
Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Calendesk starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Acuity Scheduling starts $63 a month lower. Of the other calendar and scheduling apps on the chart, 17 score higher than Acuity Scheduling for less, and 18 score higher than Calendesk for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Calendesk also covers calendar and appointment booking.
At a glance
| Acuity Scheduling | Calendesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) | $79 per month, billed annually ($97 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of any plan, no credit card needed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Squarespace, Inc. | Calendesk |
| Price read from | acuityscheduling.com | calendesk.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Acuity Scheduling
- There is no free plan. When the 7-day trial ends, a paid plan is needed to keep using the account.
- Plans are capped by calendars, which map to staff or locations: 1 on Starter, 6 on Standard and 36 on Premium.
- Text reminders, the waitlist, memberships, packages and gift certificates need Standard or Premium.
- Hiding the "Powered by Acuity Scheduling" footer, signing a HIPAA BAA, and custom API and CSS are Premium-only.
Calendesk
- No free plan; paid plans start after a 14-day trial at $79 a month billed annually.
- Emails and SMS beyond the monthly allowance cost extra, for example $0.03 per email and $0.08 per SMS on Standard.
- API access, Zapier and 5 GB customer uploads are limited to Pro and Enterprise.
- Extra employee accounts are sold from $0.50 per employee per month on Pro and Enterprise.
Key features
Acuity Scheduling
- Branded booking page
- Clients self-schedule, reschedule or cancel on a page with your logo and colors. Share it as a link or QR code, or embed it in a Squarespace site or another website.
- Payments, deposits and invoicing
- Take full payment, a deposit or a card on file at booking through Stripe, Square or PayPal, and send invoices. The mobile app accepts in-person payments, including tap-to-pay.
- Reminders and intake forms
- Automated email confirmations, updates and reminders on every plan, with custom intake forms at booking. Text message reminders start on Standard.
- Calendar sync and availability rules
- Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook and iCloud to block busy times. Set daily appointment limits, buffers between bookings and room or resource restrictions.
- Classes, packages and memberships
- Offer one-to-one services or group classes and workshops. Standard and Premium can sell appointment packages, subscriptions, memberships and gift certificates.
- AI Booking Assistant
- An AI chat bot that helps clients get booked on the scheduling page. It is available on the Premium plan only.
Calendesk
- Booking page and website builder
- Build a branded booking site with a drag-and-drop editor, a custom domain and a built-in payment form.
- Passes and subscriptions
- Sell session packages or monthly memberships, with payments collected through Stripe on a schedule.
- Reminders by email and SMS
- Standard sends email and SMS reminders at chosen times; Pro lets you set any number and type of reminders.
- Employee mobile app
- A companion app for staff on iOS and Android shows who booked, when and for which service.
- Privacy tools
- Includes a cookie banner, automatic deletion of guest booking data and a privacy policy generator.
- Integrations and MCP server
- Connects Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and WhatsApp, with an MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude.
Plans
Acuity Scheduling
Starter$16
per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
1 calendar, payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo, email reminders, custom client forms and automatic time zone conversion.
Standard$27
per month, billed annually ($34 billed monthly)
Up to 6 calendars, plus text reminders, an appointment waitlist, memberships, packages and gift certificates.
Premium$49
per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly)
Up to 36 calendars, plus the AI Booking Assistant, a BAA for HIPAA compliance, logo removal, per-staff time zones, and custom API and CSS.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited calendars and scheduling instances, VIP account management, additional APIs and a central dashboard; priced through sales.
Calendesk
Standard$79
per month, billed annually ($97 billed monthly)
5 employees, 750 bookings a month, 1 website, 5,000 visits, 500 emails and 50 SMS included.
Pro$117
per month, billed annually ($147 billed monthly)
15 employees, 2,500 bookings, 3 websites, 10,000 visits, API access, Zapier and 5 GB customer uploads.
EnterpriseCustom
Individual annual contract with no stated limits on employees or bookings, plus dedicated support.
Ways to pay less
Acuity Scheduling
- Annual discount
Save 20% by paying annually
Acuity's pricing page lists a 20% saving on annual billing: Starter is $16 instead of $20 per month, Standard $27 instead of $34 and Premium $49 instead of $61.
Calendesk
- Annual discount
Two months free with yearly billing
The pricing page shows Standard at $79 and Pro at $117 a month billed annually, against $97 and $147 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Acuity Scheduling or Calendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Acuity Scheduling is cheaper to start with: $16 a month, against $79 a month for Calendesk. Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly), and Calendesk starts at $79 per month, billed annually ($97 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Acuity Scheduling or Calendesk?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Acuity Scheduling nor Calendesk has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.