When deciding between Calendly vs Acuity, you're comparing two of the most established scheduling platforms on the market. Both tools handle appointment booking efficiently, but they take notably different approaches.
Throughout this Calendly vs Acuity comparison, we'll have a look at their features, pricing, and use cases to help you determine which fits your business best. We'll also introduce Zeeg, a modern alternative that combines powerful CRM features with advanced scheduling features that neither Calendly nor Acuity can match.
What is Calendly?
Before diving into the Calendly vs Acuity debate, let's first have a look at what makes Calendly so popular. This scheduling platform has built its reputation on removing the back-and-forth emails that usually ruin appointment setting.
The platform integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Office 365 (but not Apple Calendar) while supporting various event types from one-on-one sessions to group events and round-robin scheduling. With over 100 integrations available, Calendly connects with most tools businesses already use daily. The interface prioritizes getting users up and running quickly, which makes it especially popular among individuals and teams who prefer simple functionality over extensive customization options.
What is Acuity Scheduling?
On the other side of the Calendly vs Acuity comparison sits Acuity, which approaches scheduling from a service-business perspective. Rather than just booking meetings, Acuity functions as a advanced client interaction platform that handles everything from initial booking through payment collection.
With Acuity, you get customizable availability settings, advanced client management tools, online payment processing, invoicing capabilities, and extensive workflow automation. This makes Acuity especially useful for personal trainers, coaches, consultants, and wellness providers who need to manage paid appointments rather than simply coordinating meeting times. The platform excels when businesses require detailed client profiles, package offerings, or HIPAA compliance for healthcare services.
Interface: Calendly is easier to use
When examining Calendly vs Acuity from a usability standpoint, Calendly takes a clear lead. The platform has a clean, uncluttered interface that allows users to create their first booking page within minutes. Everything feels intuitive: from setting availability rules to sharing scheduling links across different communication channels.
Acuity, however, presents users with a lot more options upfront. While this depth enables powerful customization for businesses with complex scheduling requirements, it also creates a steeper learning curve. Service providers appreciate Acuity's ability to create deeply customized client-facing experiences, but this flexibility comes at the cost of initial complexity. For teams simply wanting to eliminate scheduling friction without extensive configuration, Calendly's simple approach feels more practical.
Calendly vs Acuity: A detailed feature comparison
Now that we've covered the basics, let's have a look at specific features where Calendly vs Acuity diverge most noticeably.
Calendly has a small advantage in mobile scheduling
In our Calendly vs Acuity analysis of mobile capabilities, both platforms offer solid mobile experiences with only minor differences.
Calendly provides responsive mobile apps for iOS and Android, browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, plus easily embeddable booking links for websites. This broad browser support gives Calendly a slight edge for users who frequently switch between different browsers on various devices.
Acuity matches most of these capabilities with mobile apps for on-the-go scheduling and a Chrome extension for desktop users. The platform also supports website embedding for booking pages. While functionally similar to Calendly, Acuity's slightly narrower browser support means some users might encounter occasional limitations depending on their preferred tools.
Integration: Calendly takes the lead
Looking at the Calendly and Acuity integrations, Calendly has a big advantage with approximately 100 integrations compared to Acuity's 40. This broader connectivity especially benefits businesses heavily reliant on CRM systems and video conferencing platforms.
Calendly's integration library emphasizes CRM and video conferencing tools, covering everything from sales and marketing to customer service and human resources workflows. This versatility makes it easy to incorporate scheduling into existing business processes across multiple departments.
Acuity focuses its integration efforts mainly on accounting software and payment processing tools. This targeted approach serves service-based businesses prioritizing financial operations, though the smaller integration count may limit options for companies requiring connections to specialized business tools.
Calendly shines in team scheduling
Turning to team features in this Calendly vs Acuity comparison, Calendly delivers more sophisticated options for managing team availability and distributing bookings.
The platform's round-robin scheduling automatically distributes appointments among team members to ensure equitable workload. Collective scheduling enables booking meetings with multiple team members simultaneously, which is ideal for panel interviews or multi-department consultations. Also, Calendly's routing features direct bookings to the most suitable team member based on customizable criteria, maximizing both efficiency and client experience.
Acuity offers functional team scheduling but with less automation. It supports multiple staff members and locations, allowing businesses to manage diverse workforces across various sites. What Acuity does good is its client-centric approach, which enables clients to choose specific team members when booking appointments. This comes handy for businesses where personal relationships with particular staff members matter, such as consulting or healthcare services.
Acuity is better at payment processing
Shifting to payment capabilities in our Acuity vs Calendly evaluation, Acuity gains an edge with broader payment options across all plans.
Calendly integrates payment processing through Stripe and PayPal, but these features remain locked behind paid plans. While functional for businesses requiring payment collection, the limitation to higher-tier plans may frustrate smaller operations working with tight budgets.
Acuity takes a more inclusive approach, offering integration with Square, Stripe, and PayPal across all plans. Worth noting, Acuity doesn't offer a free plan, but the availability of multiple payment gateways at every tier may be an advantage for service-based businesses that depend on upfront payments or deposits.
Automated notifications: Acuity is simple but beautiful
Examining automation in the Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling comparison, both platforms offer notification systems, though Acuity's implementation feels more polished.
Calendly's Workflows feature creates customizable reminders and follow-ups to reduce no-shows. Users can remind invitees of upcoming meetings, reconfirm attendance, request post-meeting feedback, send thank-you notes, and follow up for next meetings. An interesting capability allows marking invitees as no-shows to prevent sending unnecessary follow-up workflows.
Acuity's automated notification system allows customizable email and text message reminders, confirmations, receipts, and follow-ups. Templates can be adjusted to match brand voice and tone, with the ability to create multiple templates for different appointment types. The platform offers summary emails about upcoming appointments and tracks all notifications sent for specific appointments through a changelog. Notably, Acuity's Growing and Powerhouse plans include text message reminders, which prove highly effective at reducing no-shows.
Security and compliance: Calendly does it better
Considering security measures in Calendly or Acuity, both platforms implement strong protections, though Calendly holds more certifications.
Calendly maintains SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications while complying with GDPR and CCPA regulations. The platform encrypts data in transit and at rest, uses secure data centers, and conducts regular third-party penetration testing. For businesses processing payments through scheduling tools, Calendly also maintains PCI DSS compliance.
Acuity, now part of Squarespace, emphasizes GDPR and CCPA compliance without explicitly mentioning SOC 2 or ISO certifications. One standout feature is Acuity's HIPAA compliance option available on higher-tier plans, making it particularly attractive for healthcare-related businesses requiring patient data protection during appointment scheduling.
- GDPR Compliance for US Companies: Full Guide & Checklist
- What is GDPR? Full Guide to Europe's Data Protection Law
- 12 Best GDPR Compliance Software Tools to Avoid Hefty Fines (2025)
Calendly vs Acuity pricing: Calendly has a free option
When comparing costs in the Acuity Scheduling vs Calendly debate, Calendly provides more budget-friendly options with a free tier and generally lower pricing across plans.
Calendly's advantages include a free tier for basic needs, lower entry points for paid plans, and per-seat pricing that can prove more economical for small teams. Acuity's strengths lie in more features included in base paid plans, flat-rate pricing for multiple users, and HIPAA compliance on higher-tier plans.
The best of both worlds: Discover Zeeg
After examining Calendly vs Acuity across multiple dimensions, you might wonder if there's a platform that combines both tools' strengths while adding capabilities neither offers. That's exactly where Zeeg comes in: not just as another scheduling tool, but as a complete CRM solution designed for modern business needs.
Unlike the Acuity or Calendly debate where you're choosing between simplicity and depth, Zeeg gives you both. With Zeeg, you get intuitive scheduling that rivals Calendly's ease of use while incorporating the advanced client management features Acuity users appreciate. But Zeeg goes further by integrating CRM functionality directly into the scheduling experience, which eliminates the need for separate systems.
What makes Zeeg different
Full CRM capabilities: While both Calendly and Acuity require integration with external CRMs, Zeeg gives you custom objects, deal tracking, and pipeline management natively. Your scheduling data flows directly into customer records without middleware or complex integrations.
AI-powered phone system: Neither Calendly nor Acuity offers built-in communication tools. Zeeg includes an AI phone system that can handle appointment confirmations, reschedules, and basic customer inquiries automatically, reducing administrative burden while maintaining a personal touch.
Smart routing with lead qualification: Zeeg's routing forms don't just direct bookings: they qualify leads through customizable intake questions, automatically assigning prospects to team members based on deal size, industry, location, or any custom criteria you define.
Advanced team scheduling: Round-robin distribution, collective scheduling, and territory-based assignment all come standard. Unlike the Calendly vs Acuity choice where you sacrifice some team features for others, Zeeg has team management out of the box.
Native payment processing: Process payments through Stripe or PayPal directly within Zeeg, with automatic invoice generation and payment tracking tied to customer records.
Complete customization: Zeeg offers extensively customizable booking pages that match your brand, plus the flexibility to create unique booking experiences for different services, team members, or customer segments.
GDPR compliance: With end-to-end encryption and European data hosting, Zeeg prioritizes data privacy beyond what either Calendly or Acuity provides.
Workflow automation: Create sophisticated automation sequences that respond to booking events, customer actions, or CRM triggers: functionality that would require multiple tools in a Calendly vs Acuity setup.
Analytics dashboard: Track completion rates, no-shows, revenue per appointment type, team performance, and conversion metrics all within a single analytics interface.
Pricing that makes sense
Zeeg's pricing structure recognizes that scheduling shouldn't be your most expensive business tool:
Starter: Free forever for solo users getting started with scheduling
Professional: €10/month per user (billed annually) for individuals needing advanced scheduling features
Business: €16/month per user (billed annually) for teams requiring collaborative scheduling and CRM
Scale: €30/month per user (billed annually) for organizations needing full CRM capabilities
Comparing this to the Calendly vs Acuity pricing models, Zeeg delivers a lot more functionality at competitive price points. You're not just getting a scheduling tool: you're implementing a complete customer relationship management system that happens to excel at appointment booking. By the way, here's a pricing comparison article between Calendly and Zeeg.
Conclusion
The Calendly vs Acuity decision ultimately depends on your specific business requirements. Calendly wins for teams prioritizing ease of use, extensive integrations, and simple team scheduling. Acuity proves superior for service businesses requiring advanced client management, payment processing flexibility, and healthcare compliance.
However, this Calendly and Acuity comparison reveals a fundamental limitation of both platforms: they're scheduling tools that require external systems for complete customer management. Neither provides the integrated CRM capabilities modern businesses need to track customer relationships, manage sales pipelines, or automate complex workflows.
That's precisely why Zeeg is such a compelling alternative. Rather than choosing between Calendly's simplicity or Acuity's depth, Zeeg provides both while adding the CRM functionality that turns scheduling data into actionable business intelligence. With AI-powered communication, custom objects, native payment processing, and enterprise-grade security, Zeeg eliminates the need to cobble together multiple tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Calendly vs Acuity?
The main difference in the Calendly vs Acuity comparison is their target audience and feature focus. Calendly prioritizes simplicity, team collaboration, and extensive integrations, making it ideal for general business scheduling. Acuity focuses on service-based businesses with advanced client management, payment processing across all plans, and HIPAA compliance options for healthcare providers.
Is Calendly or Acuity better for team scheduling?
Calendly is better for team scheduling. In the Calendly vs Acuity comparison, Calendly offers more advanced features like round-robin distribution, collective scheduling for multiple team members, and smart routing based on customizable criteria. While Acuity supports team scheduling, it provides fewer automated options for managing team availability and distributing appointments.
Which is more affordable: Calendly or Acuity?
Calendly is generally more affordable. The Calendly vs Acuity pricing comparison shows that Calendly offers a free plan and lower entry-level pricing at $10/user/month (annually), while Acuity has no free plan and starts at $16/month. However, Acuity's flat-rate pricing can be more economical for larger teams compared to Calendly's per-seat model.
Does Acuity vs Calendly offer better payment processing?
Acuity offers better payment processing options. In the Acuity vs Calendly comparison, Acuity integrates with Square, Stripe, and PayPal across all paid plans, while Calendly only offers payment features (Stripe and PayPal) in higher-tier plans. This makes Acuity more flexible for service businesses requiring upfront payments.
Which has more integrations: Calendly or Acuity?
Calendly has a lot more integrations. The Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling comparison shows Calendly offers approximately 100 integrations with strong emphasis on CRM systems and video conferencing platforms, while Acuity provides around 40 integrations focused mainly on accounting software and payment processing tools.
Is Calendly vs Acuity better for HIPAA compliance?
Acuity is better for HIPAA compliance. While Calendly offers strong security with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, only Acuity provides HIPAA compliance options on its higher-tier plans, making it the better choice for healthcare-related businesses requiring patient data protection.
Can I use Calendly or Acuity for free?
Only Calendly offers a free plan. In the Calendly vs Acuity pricing comparison, Calendly provides a free tier with basic features and unlimited one-on-one meetings, while Acuity requires a paid subscription starting at $16/month (annually). However, both platforms offer free trials of their paid plans.
Which is easier to use: Calendly or Acuity?
Calendly is easier to use. The Calendly vs Acuity interface comparison shows that Calendly offers a cleaner, more intuitive interface that allows users to set up and start scheduling within minutes. Acuity provides more advanced features but comes with a steeper learning curve due to its comprehensive interface.
What's better than both Calendly and Acuity?
Zeeg offers advantages over both platforms in the Calendly vs Acuity debate. Unlike Calendly and Acuity, which are scheduling tools requiring external CRMs, Zeeg provides complete CRM functionality including custom objects, deal tracking, pipeline management, AI-powered phone system, and advanced automation: all integrated with sophisticated scheduling features at competitive pricing starting at $10/month.
