Acuity Scheduling vs YouCanBookMe

Acuity Scheduling

• Salons, studios, coaches, tutors and other appointment-based businesses
• Taking a deposit or full payment at the time of booking
• Selling packages, memberships and gift certificates alongside appointments

YouCanBookMe

• Solo professionals and small businesses that want a branded booking page
• Taking payment through Stripe at the moment of booking
• Teams that need round-robin assignment across members

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.

YouCanBookMe

• The Free plan allows 1 calendar connection and 1 booking page, and its pages and emails carry a 'Powered for free' button.
• There is no mobile app; YouCanBookMe says its pages are mobile responsive and bookings are managed from a browser, calendar or email.
• Automated workflows, analytics, promotion codes and the HubSpot and Zapier integrations start on Professional; round robin and API access need Team.
• The lowest listed prices require paying for 2 years up front, and UK customers have 20% VAT added.

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.

YouCanBookMe

Customizable booking pages

Every plan takes your logo and text; paid plans add a brand color, background image and footer. Pages can be embedded on a website or shared as a link or QR code, and support over 40 languages.

Appointment types and availability

Offer appointment types with their own durations, prices and locations, and control availability with buffers, minimum and maximum notice periods and a daily meeting limit.

Payments at booking

The Stripe integration takes credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay before a booking is confirmed. Promotion codes are available from the Professional plan.

Notifications and workflows

Email and SMS confirmations, reminders and follow-ups can be customized. Professional adds automated workflows with no-show management. SMS carries an extra charge.

Team scheduling

The Team plan lists several team members on one page, distributes meetings by round robin, and manages members, roles and billing from one dashboard.

Meeting polls and Chrome extension

Polls let a group vote on times before a meeting is fixed, and the Chrome extension shares preferred times from the browser. Both are listed on the Free plan.

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.

YouCanBookMe

• Free$0

  1 calendar connection and 1 booking page, with your logo and text, Stripe payments, Zoom, Teams and Meet links and up to 7 form questions.

• Individual$7.20

  per month, billed every 2 years ($8.10 yearly, $9 monthly)

  2 calendar connections and 2 booking pages, custom colors and backgrounds, reminders, group sessions, notice periods and password protection.

• Professional$10.40

  per month, billed every 2 years ($11.70 yearly, $13 monthly)

  6 calendar connections and 10 booking pages, automated workflows, promotion codes, analytics, and HubSpot and Zapier integrations.

• Team$14.40

  per member / month, billed every 2 years ($16.20 yearly, $18 monthly)

  10 calendar connections and 15+ booking pages per user, a team dashboard, roles, round robin, centralized billing and API access.

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.

YouCanBookMe

• Annual discount

  10% off yearly billing, 20% off 2-year billing

  The pricing page lists 10% off when billed yearly and 20% off when billed every 2 years. Individual falls from $9 a month to $8.10 or $7.20.

• Education

  Educators' discount on application

  YouCanBookMe says schools can get a discount in certain circumstances and links to an application form for educators. No rate is published.