Acuity Scheduling vs Waitwhile (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Acuity Scheduling grades higher than Waitwhile: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Acuity Scheduling grades higher on features and platforms. Waitwhile grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
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
Waitwhile
Virtual waitlist and appointment booking for walk-in businesses
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 Waitwhile if
- Fits if you run a walk-in business such as a clinic or a salon
- Works for a single location staying under 50 visits a month
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are staying free, as 1 location and 50 visits a month is the cap
- Pricey if you grow, as the price rises with locations and visits and SMS credit is only $2
- Watch out: the API, webhooks and SMS team notifications need Business at $55
- Watch out: SAML, SSO and the report builder are Enterprise only, through sales
- Watch out: the page does not say if listed prices are monthly or annual billing
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAcuity SchedulingFair | 2.0GPAWaitwhileFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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$31 a month for 1 location and 250 visits, in the dearer half of calendar tools; the middle one is $8. |
| 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. | CFree plan: 1 location and 50 visits a month, which a busy shop passes fast. |
| 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. | CWaitlist, booking, messaging, kiosk and analytics. The synchronized waitlist and bookings need Business. |
| 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 configure services, locations and the kiosk. |
| 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. | CWeb only, and no integrations are named in the listing. |
| Best for | taking bookings and payment in one go | waitlists and walk-in queues |
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 Waitwhile. 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. Waitwhile starts at $31 a month and scores 2.0.
Acuity Scheduling scores higher and starts $15 a month lower. Of the other calendar and scheduling apps on the chart, 17 score higher than Acuity Scheduling for less, and 75 score higher than Waitwhile 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.
- Waitwhile also covers appointment booking and dashboards.
At a glance
| Acuity Scheduling | Waitwhile | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) | $31 per month for 1 location and 250 visits; billing basis not shown |
| Free plan | None | 1 location, 50 visits a month, 2-way customer messages, single-location statistics and basic branding. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of any plan, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Squarespace, Inc. | Waitwhile |
| Price read from | acuityscheduling.com | waitwhile.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Waitwhile
- The free plan stops at 1 location and 50 visits a month, and the plans include only a $2 SMS credit.
- API and webhooks, SMS team notifications and the synchronized waitlist need Business.
- SAML and SSO and the report builder are Enterprise only, sold through sales.
- The page does not say whether the listed prices are for monthly or annual billing; it offers 20% off for annual billing.
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.
Waitwhile
- Virtual waitlist
- Customers join a line from their phone, and a TV display can show the live waitlist on any screen.
- Appointment booking
- A bookings module lets customers schedule slots, with services, staff and resources set up per location.
- Customer messaging
- Two-way SMS, email and web chat with customers. SMS runs on credits; the plans include a $2 credit to try it.
- Check-in kiosk
- A self sign-up and check-in kiosk lets customers register their arrival on a device at the location.
- Waitlist and booking sync
- The Business plan merges appointments and waitlisted customers into one queue with its LineSync feature.
- Multi-location analytics
- Single-location statistics are on every plan; basic multi-location analytics start on Starter and advanced ones on Business.
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.
Waitwhile
Free$0
1 location, 50 visits a month, 2-way customer messages and team notifications by email and push.
Starter$31
per month, 1 location and 250 visits; billing basis not shown
Up to 10 locations and 2,500 visits a month. Price rises with locations and visits.
Business$55
per month; entry tier, billing basis not shown
Up to 10 locations and 5,000 visits a month, custom user roles, API and webhooks, and a synchronized waitlist and bookings.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom locations and visits, report builder, SAML and SSO, SLA and invoicing, and white-label branding.
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.
Waitwhile
- Annual discount
Save 20% on annual billing
Waitwhile's pricing page says annual billing saves 20% compared with monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Acuity Scheduling or Waitwhile?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Acuity Scheduling is cheaper to start with: $16 a month, against $31 a month for Waitwhile. Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly), and Waitwhile starts at $31 per month for 1 location and 250 visits; billing basis not shown.
Which has a free plan, Acuity Scheduling or Waitwhile?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Waitwhile has a free plan. Acuity Scheduling does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Acuity Scheduling and Waitwhile run on?
As of Nov 13, 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.