Acuity Scheduling vs Setster (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Acuity Scheduling and Setster share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Setster starts cheaper, at $8 a month against $16 a month.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Acuity Scheduling grades higher on features. Setster grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
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
Setster
Appointment scheduling priced per bookable seat, with an API
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 Setster if
- Fits if you have a handful of bookable people at one location
- Works for developers who want an API to book appointments
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if staff work in several places: one person at two locations counts as two seats
- Skip it if you want the API cheaply, as it needs Developer at $96 a month plus seats
- Watch out: Dedicated is $12,000 a year and sold through sales
- Watch out: the pages read name no mobile apps, and there is no free plan
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAcuity SchedulingFair | 2.2GPASetsterFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C$8 a month plus $8 per seat billed annually, so one person pays $16 and five about $9.60 a head, inside the category's $6.99 to $10 band. |
| 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 15-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. | CAvailability, appointment types, locations, payments, waiting lists and an API. The pages carry a 2024 copyright line, so how current it is is unclear. |
| 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. Availability, locations and seats need setting up first. |
| 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 only, with Google Calendar, Office 365, Outlook.com, Salesforce, Zapier, Stripe and PayPal, plus an API on Developer. |
| Best for | taking bookings and payment in one go | scheduling priced by each bookable seat |
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 Setster. 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. Setster starts at $8 a month and scores 2.3.
Acuity Scheduling scores higher, and starts $8 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other calendar and scheduling apps on the chart, 17 score higher than Acuity Scheduling for less, and 26 score higher than Setster 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
- Acuity Scheduling also covers invoicing.
- Setster also covers workflow automation and appointment booking.
At a glance
| Acuity Scheduling | Setster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) | $8 per month plus $8 per seat, billed annually ($10 plus $10 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of any plan, no credit card needed | 15-day free trial, no credit card required. |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Squarespace, Inc. | Setster Inc. |
| Price read from | acuityscheduling.com | setster.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.
Setster
- The price rises with every seat, and one person working at two locations counts as two seats.
- API and developer toolsets need the Developer plan, which starts at $96 a month plus seats on annual billing.
- The Dedicated plan is yearly only and sold through sales.
- The pages read carry a 2024 copyright line and name no mobile apps, so check current details before buying.
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.
Setster
- Defined availability
- Block time off, add holidays and control availability by team member or appointment type, with advance-notice rules and padding or prep time between bookings.
- Appointment types and locations
- Offer appointments with a specific person, a department or a conference room, each with its own rules, across physical and virtual locations.
- Calendar sync and payments
- Sync with Google Calendar, Office 365 and Outlook.com, and accept online payments through PayPal, Stripe or invoices.
- Requests and waiting lists
- Let customers request a time before it is confirmed, and keep a waiting list to fill cancelled slots, with notifications you configure for customers and staff.
- API and Studio
- The Developer plan opens the scheduling API for booking, cancelling and rescheduling. Studio is described as a low-code option for building logic flows and collecting client data.
- Integrations
- Pre-built connections include Salesforce and Zapier, alongside calendar and payment links.
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.
Setster
Growth$8
per month, plus $8 per seat, billed annually ($10 + $10 monthly)
All scheduling features with unlimited appointments and events. A seat is one bookable person at one location, or one room.
Developer$96
per month, plus $6.40 per seat, annual ($120 + $8 monthly)
Everything in Growth, plus unlimited API access and developer toolsets.
Dedicated$12,000
per year, plus $6 per seat, yearly plan only
Dedicated server hosting and a custom code base for more capacity; sold through sales and priced from this amount.
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.
Setster
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
Setster's pricing page labels its annual option as a 20% discount on the month-to-month plan price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Acuity Scheduling or Setster?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Setster is cheaper to start with: $8 a month, against $16 a month for Acuity Scheduling. Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly), and Setster starts at $8 per month plus $8 per seat, billed annually ($10 plus $10 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Acuity Scheduling or Setster?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Acuity Scheduling nor Setster has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Acuity Scheduling and Setster run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Acuity Scheduling lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.