Booking HandbookSquare Appointments vs Acuity Scheduling
Start with the job you want the system to own: appointments and checkout together, or scheduling connected to the tools you already use.
Which should you consider?
Square Appointments
Start here when reception and checkout are central to the day and you want to evaluate Square’s wider business tools together.
See Square plans and fitAcuity Scheduling
Start here when client self-scheduling, intake and connections to your existing website and services are the main requirements.
See Acuity plans and fitCompare the cost of your actual setup
USD figures; taxes, payment processing and optional services are extra. Check the quote for your country and account.
Subscription
US monthly plans: $0, $49 or $149 per location.
Monthly billing: $20, $34 or $61. Annual billing: $16, $27 or $49 per month equivalent.
Team size
Unlimited staff calendars; paid subscriptions are charged by location.
Starter: one calendar. Standard: up to six. Premium: up to 36.
Payment setup
Booking and checkout sit in Square’s business system.
Connect Stripe, Square or PayPal. Processor features and fees differ.
Booking entrance
Use a booking site, website button or embedded flow.
Share a scheduling page or embed it in your existing website.
Plan questions
Check rooms, processing time, classes and multi-location needs against the selected tier.
Check calendars, text reminders, packages and API needs against the selected tier.
Example: a solo business versus two locations
A solo operator can compare Square Free with Acuity Starter, then check whether the required features force an upgrade. For two locations on Square Plus, the subscription alone is $98/month. Acuity’s calendar count is a different billing measure: map staff and locations to calendars before comparing the totals.
Can Acuity and Square work together?
Yes, Acuity can use Square to accept payments. That answers a different question from choosing between two appointment schedulers. Decide where bookings will be managed and how staff will reconcile payments.
Try the same appointment in each
- Book
Use the same service, availability, staff and room requirement. Start from the customer-facing page on a phone.
- Change
Take a deposit if needed, then reschedule. Check the old slot, new slot, payment and confirmation.
- Finish
Complete checkout and inspect the final balance, client record and receipt. Include the cost of the plan that made this possible.
This comparison covers stated scope, not hands-on performance. Use the trial to establish how your own workflow behaves.
Use the comparison worksheetWhat if the booking rules still do not fit?
If a must-have workflow cannot be configured or connected reliably, write down the gap before commissioning a build. Include who will handle maintenance, payments and recovery.