Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling
Calendly sells a link that connects meeting hosts to invitees, with seats for hosts. Acuity Scheduling sells a booking system for a practice, with calendars as the unit and client intake and payment included. Pick by whether you book meetings between colleagues and prospects or paid sessions with clients.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose Calendly ifyou want one link for sales calls or interviews, only hosts should pay, and invitees should need no account.
Choose Acuity Scheduling ifyou take bookings from paying clients and want intake forms, card payment and text reminders under one subscription.
Calendly and Acuity Scheduling side by side
| Calendly | Acuity Scheduling | |
|---|---|---|
| Our appointment scheduling rank | #5 of 18 | #6 of 18 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| List price, 4 November 2026 | Free; Standard $10 and Teams $16 per seat per month; Enterprise from $15k per year | Starter $16, Standard $27, Premium $55 per month on annual billing (USD); 7-day trial |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Individuals and sales teams replacing scheduling emails with one link | Therapists, coaches and small clinics that take payment at booking |
| Not for | Clinics or workshops booking staff and equipment together | Multi-location businesses coordinating shared rooms and equipment centrally |
Both are reviewed in full in our appointment scheduling ranking: Calendly and Acuity Scheduling.
Where they differ
Calendly 2 · Acuity Scheduling 2 · open 0- 01
What a plan is counted in
Calendly counts seats: Standard is $10 and Teams $16 per seat per month, and its pricing page says invitees need no seat. Acuity counts calendars: Starter has 1, Standard up to 6 and Premium up to 36, with a flat monthly price per plan. A practice with many calendars and few staff fits Acuity's model better.
Edge: Acuity Scheduling
- 02
Getting started for nothing
Calendly has an always-free plan with one event type, one calendar connection and one-on-one scheduling. Acuity gives each plan a one-week trial, no card needed, and shows no free tier. For a lone consultant who wants to stay at zero cost, Calendly is the only choice here.
Edge: Calendly
- 03
Money and client paperwork
Acuity lists Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo payments, custom intake forms and email reminders from its entry plan, with packages, memberships, gift certificates and text reminders from Standard. Calendly connects Stripe and PayPal from Standard, and its pages list no client intake form or package selling.
Edge: Acuity Scheduling
- 04
Routing between several people
Calendly's Teams plan adds round-robin scheduling, lead qualification and routing, centrally managed event types and Salesforce meeting logging. Acuity's pricing page describes separate calendars per employee or location and a waitlist, but lists no round-robin or lead routing. Teams that distribute inbound leads favour Calendly.
Edge: Calendly
When neither fits
If you need rooms and staff booked together, look at SimplyBook.me or Reservio; neither Calendly nor Acuity states that it allocates shared resources.
Calendly or Acuity Scheduling: questions
3 answersWhich is cheaper for a team of five?
Calendly Standard at $10 per seat comes to $50 a month for five hosts. Acuity Standard is $27 a month on annual billing for up to 6 calendars, though the two differ in what they include.
Can clients pay when they book?
Yes on both. Acuity lists payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo on every plan, while Calendly connects Stripe and PayPal from Standard.
Does Acuity have a free plan?
Its pricing shows no free tier, only a one-week trial on every plan.
Sources
Checked 4 November 2026- Calendly pricing: Seat prices, free plan limits, invitee seat note, Teams routing, payment connectors, Enterprise starting price.
- Acuity Scheduling pricing: Calendar counts per tier, annual monthly prices, trial, payment providers, intake forms, packages, text reminders, waitlist.