Life is full of choices. When you are The Boss, this means tackling important decisions on the daily. Latte vs espresso? Email vs call? Calendly vs Acuity?
The last one, in particular, is not a light decision. You know it. We know it. Time is money, and bookings need to be in a row. When you are efficient with your time, there is greater opportunity to put cash in the bank.
So, which scheduling software is better out of Acuity and Calendly, and what are the alternatives? On the matter of the latter, we have a great suggestion: Book Like A Boss. For you, we recommend only the best.
Fact. Important Scheduling Software Decisions Begin With Reflection
To answer the golden question of which software to use, let’s consider:
- Who are you - budding solopreneur, established business, franchisee?
- Which features, customization options, and integrations do you need – multiple calendar connections, beautiful landing pages, payment integrations, automated workflows, team collaboration?
- What's your budget?
The Essential Platform Low-Down
Calendly is an online tool to help you schedule meetings professionally and efficiently.
Someone has your link? Perfect! Forget all the back-and-forth emails to pick a time. Instead, display your availability for people to book according to your connected calendar.
You can automate appointment reminders to reduce no-shows. Then, there is automatic rescheduling for clients to self-manage bookings. On top of that, you can create useful workflows to help you stick to your schedule and connect with clients. The platform also has handy integrations, including Zoom, Zapier, and PayPal.
Acuity Scheduling is a Squarespace company. They have packed the platform with a few more features and, in fact, call it an online assistant.
It can handle appointment scheduling, online payments, video conferencing, and other administrative tasks. Expect to find a customizable platform to match your brand experience. You can collect your clients' details at the point of booking and send them automated reminders to stay on track.
BLAB is a landing pages builder that is optimized for bookings. Companies and solo professionals use it to create exceptional booking pages, schedule meetings, events and services, get paid, host webinars, and more.
More than ordinary calendar software, this platform has extra features and design to rake in bookings for your business.
Calendly vs Acuity: A Comparison With Alternatives
Target Audience
Calendly vs Acuity: who is the software built for?
Calendly focuses on scheduling meetings as simply as possible. As you scale up the plans, there are more integrations to automate workflows, which give you more scope with functionality.
Acuity is geared for business use. Even in its entry-level plan, the Emerging Plan, you get logo display and branding customization options. The Emerging Plan also offers confirmation emails, follow-ups, and advanced features.
BLAB is great for any business or professional that runs on bookings. The platform closes the gap between sales and leads with highly customizable, white-label booking pages. From spas and salons to marketing firms and real estate agents, there is something for everyone.
User-Friendliness
All the platforms are relatively easy to find your way around.
Calendly leads you through the setup and rules, while Acuity Scheduling has default settings to simplify the process. It is a case of selecting your desired customizations.
The prize for zero-fuss set-up goes to BLAB, though. It is the easiest of the three platforms to navigate as it is built specifically for non-techies. In just a few clicks, you have a professional booking page.
Top Features
Some of the top features these tools offer include automated scheduling, calendar sync, and confirmation and reminders.
There is also group scheduling, unlimited appointments, mobile access, online booking, and online payments.
Calendly
Acuity has a few more top features to go. For example, you can organize client information in your database. Then, invitees can set recurring appointments, as well as tip you at will.
On BLAB the top feature list is extensive, and we mean, everything but the kitchen sink-extensive. Here, you can create unlimited booking pages, all beautifully customized to reflect your brand. You can even use your own domain name. This way, the brand experience carries over and clients know exactly who they are booking with, every time.
Calendar Scheduling
A critical aspect in the Calendly vs Acuity comparison is calendar scheduling.
A paid Calendly plan will connect you with up to six external calendars that you can use for different clients or employees.
Simply set availability rules and send out your link to customers, who can then choose when to meet with you. Scheduled meetings automatically pop into your calendar, making it easy for you to manage your schedule.
With Acuity, you select which calendar to show your colleagues and clients. Anyone with the link can see your availability and book a meeting.
With BLAB, you can add unlimited calendars to your account, which will show your availability.
Clients receive a clean, branded, and customized booking page with a personalized URL. And with one single place to check your appointments from, consider calendar sync to be your new best friend.
All platforms auto-adjust time zones, send reminders, and allow clients to reschedule or cancel on their terms.
Calendar Customization Options
On Calendly, you can set rules to cut last-minute scheduling and pre-determine the number of meetings per day. There is the all-important time buffer feature, maximum meeting times, and limit of how far in the future invitees can book.
When it comes to Acuity, we’re looking at a rinse and repeat. The availability rules are similar to those you can create with Calendly.
BLAB has all the above. You can also set a manual approval option so that you can choose whether to approve or decline bookings. Did we mention the custom intake form?
Third-Party Integrations
Calendly has mobile apps for iOS and Android, as well as apps for Outlook, Chrome, and Firefox.
Naturally, the paid plans allow greater integration. Google Meet, Salesforce, Hubspot, Slack, and PayPal are some of the big hitters on the list.
Acuity has a similar tally. PayPal, Quickbooks, Office 365, iCloud, MailChimp, and Zapier are just a handful of what’s available.
Book Like A Boss also integrates with the usual suspects. On the lineup, we have Zoom, Square, WordPress, Zapier, Stripe, Facebook Pixel, Google Tag Manager, YouTube, and more.
Price and Specials
On Calendly, there are four plans available. You get:
- Basic Plan - free
- Premium Plan - $10 per month
- Pro Plan - $15 per month
- Enterprise Plan - custom
Opt for annual billing, and you will save $24 on the Premium version and $36 on the Pro Plan.
To try it out, you can sign up for Calendly Pro with a 14-day trial. Once that is up, you can opt out if it isn't the right scheduling tool for your business.
In comparison, Acuity is more expensive. It also has four subscriptions, with pricing at:
- Emerging Plan - $15 per month
- Growing Plan - $25 per month
- Powerhouse Plan - $50 per month
- Enterprise Plan - custom
Choose to pay annually and save between 6 and 10 percent. Acuity also offers a 7-day free trial during which you can test out the platform as much as you’d like.
BLAB offers Company and Solopreneur plans.
The company plan starts at a three-seater and goes up to 100 seats. If you pay annually, you receive two months free.
- The three-seater - $35 per month
- Anything upwards from there - $10 per seat per month
- Once you hit 100 seats - contact the good team for pricing
Solopreneurs have it easy with:
- Espresso Plan - $9 per month
- Mocha Plan - $12 per month
- Cappuccino Plan - $19 per month
- Latte Plan - $29 per month
To save, select the annual pricing. To get started, sign up for the 14-day free trial.
So, Which Platform To Use?
The question here doesn’t have to be about Acuity vs Calendly. There are so many alternative scheduling platforms that you can use instead.
Aside from BLAB, some of the runners are ScheduleOnce, Doodle, Setmore, YouCanBook.me, and Appointy Scheduling.
But, we are convinced that you won’t need to look past Book Like A Boss. If you are a company or solopreneur who wants to schedule meetings, book appointments, offer services, grow leads, and drive sales, our platform is for you.
The difference is in the better booking pages. Expect less hair pulling and more sales.
Get in touch for a demo today.
