Calendly vs Acuity: Which is best for a small team?

It can be tough to keep your calendar organized whether you work full-time, a student, an individual who tries to keep healthy work-life balance, or someone who is just trying to get through each day with their jam packed schedule, which is why scheduling tools can be a great option to tackle this problem. Scheduling tools are an extremely helpful tool to help you stay on top of your tasks and manage your time to increase productivity and organization. Small teams may have difficulty creating and managing a comprehensive schedule that optimizes efficiency and productivity due to the lack of project management tools to help streamline workflows, track progress, provide insights of project performance and improvements, etc.

Fortunately, by integrating scheduling tools with IFTTT, small teams can enhance flexibility, productivity, and collaboration by streamlining processes and automating repetitive tasks. Not sure where to start and which scheduling platform to pick? Don’t worry! We are here to introduce two popular scheduling tools: Calendly and Acuity, to take a closer look at their features so you can choose the right scheduling tool for your team.

BTW IFTTT is an automation platform for soloprenuers, freelancers, and small businesses. Join IFTTT today!

Table of Contents

• What is Calendly?
• What is Acuity?
• Comparing Calendly vs Acuity
• Calendly vs Acuity Pricing
• Calendly vs Acuity Features
• Calendly vs Acuity Integrations
• Which is Best for Small Businesses
• Automate Your Scheduling Tool with IFTTT

What is Calendly?

Calendly is a scheduling tool that allows users to seamlessly schedule appointments and meetings without the unnecessary back-and-forth emails. When you’re a busy individual looking to streamline your schedule or a team leader juggling multiple calendars, Calendly offers customizable features that cater to your specific needs. From one-on-one meetings to meetings to large group events, the platform takes care of all the scheduling details so you can focus on more important tasks. Additionally, users can integrate other calendar platforms, such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and Office 365, to maximize organization as users do not have to switch between multiple calendars. Interested in learning more about Calendly? Explore our guide to discover if it is the right scheduling tool for your team!

What is Acuity?

Acuity Scheduling is an online scheduling platform that allows users to easily book appointments and manage their calendars from anywhere at any time. It includes a range of features, such as customizable availability and bookings, client management, and online payments. It is commonly used by service-based organizations, such as personal trainers/coaches, small businesses, and consultants to efficiently streamline their scheduling process and enhance client experience.

Comparing Calendly vs Acuity

Calendly and Acuity are two popular scheduling tool options that offer unique features and benefits. Calendly is known for its user-friendly interface and streamlined scheduling process, making it easy for users to book appointments and manage their schedules. On the other hand, Acuity offers a customizable experience with advanced features, such as the ability to book classes and recurring appointments. Ultimately, the choice between the two comes down to personal preference and the specific needs of the user.

Calendly vs Acuity pricing

When it comes to choosing between Calendly and Acuity for scheduling appointments or meetings, one of the major factors to consider is pricing. Both platforms offer various pricing plans, so it can be a bit overwhelming to decide which one is the best value for money. However, with a careful analysis of the features offered and the pricing structure of both platforms, you can make an informed decision.

Calendly’s billed monthly plan:

Calendly has an option where users can pay monthly where pricing ranges by the type of plan of your choice:

• Basic (free): Calendly offers a basic plan that is completely free, but with limited features, such as the ability to connect with one calendar, customize your booking link, connect to other platforms, such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack, and other features listed above.
• Essentials ($10/seat/month): With the Essentials plan, users will be able to enjoy the basic plan features plus additional features, such as the ability to connect with not just one, but two calendars, send email reminders and follow-ups to invitees, and other features listed above.
• Professional ($15/seat/month): The Professional plan has the benefits of both the Basic and Essentials plan with six additional features, such as the ability to view analytics and insights, create collective event types, and other features listed above.
• Teams ($20/seat/month): The Teams plan offers basic to professional features, along with four additional features, such as the ability to connect to Salesforce and create round robin event types.
• Enterprise (varies): The Enterprise plan offers basic to team features, along with seven additional features, such as the ability to access expedited support, enable SSO and SCIM user provisioning, and other features listed above. In order to get the pricing, users would need to talk to a sales representative for more details.

Calendly’s Billed Annually Plan:

Calendly also provides an option where users can be billed annually for a discounted price, offering the same features.

• Basic (free)
• Essentials ($8/seat/month)
• Professional ($12/seat/month)
• Teams ($16/seat/month)
• Enterprise (varies)

Acuity’s pay monthly plan:

Acuity offers three tiers where users can pay monthly where the pricing ranges from $20 to $61:

• Emerging ($20/month): The Emerging plan is good for users and teams that are new(er) to online scheduling. It is a good option for users that are looking for a basic scheduling as they get a limited amount of features for an affordable price.
• Growing ($34/month): The Growing plan offers a few more features than the Emerging plan: the ability to add five more staff and locations, text message reminders, appointment packages, and users can sell memberships, subscriptions, and gift certificates.
• Powerhouse ($61/month): The Powerhouse plan offers all features available with the addition of having multiple time zones for different staffs and locations, a removed watermark on your scheduler, custom API and CSS for Developers, and sign BAA for HIPAA compliance.

Acuity’s Pay Annually Plan:

If deciding to pay annually, Acuity offers discounted pricing for all three tiers starting from $16 a month for individuals and up to $49 a month for large teams.

• Emerging ($16/month)
• Growing ($27/month)
• Powerhouse ($49/month)

Ultimately, the choice between Calendly vs Acuity will depend on your specific needs and preferences, so take the time to explore both options and choose the one that best suits you, but keep in mind that Calendly offers both free and paid subscriptions, with prices ranging from $0 to $16+ per user per month depending on the plan. Acuity, on the other hand, only offers paid subscriptions that start at $16 per month for a single user. If you're looking for a free option or only need basic scheduling features, Calendly might be the better choice. However, if you need more advanced features like custom branding or multiple location support, Acuity might be worth the extra cost.

Calendly vs Acuity features

Calendly features

Calendly offers a variety of features, such as: scheduling links, team-based scheduling, integrations and workflows with third-party platforms, multiple event types, and advanced scheduling options, such as round-robin scheduling and buffer times between appointments. The features provided are perfect for those who are looking for basic scheduling features with an affordable price. Additionally, Calendly has a user-friendly interface, making it easy for anyone to navigate the platform and schedule meetings and appointments without the hassle of sending multiple mails or making countless phone calls.

Acuity Features:

Acuity offers more advanced features as it is often used by service-based organizations, such as: syncing calendars, client management, such as sending customized reminders emails and texts, accepts online payments, offers packages, group classes, memberships, and gift certificates, automated scheduling, and detailed reports and analytics. Although Acuity also has a user-friendly interface, compared to Calendly, it is not as straightforward due to more advanced and customizable features.

Calendly vs Acuity integrations

Using Calendly with IFTTT together can create a powerful tool that can revolutionize the way you schedule and manage your meetings. Together, Calendly and IFTTT can work wonders for your productivity and help you and your team stay on top of busy schedules. For example, users can integrate various platforms, such as ClickUp, Google, Trello, and Asana to create new tasks for new Calendly events scheduled. Additionally, users can close deals, land candidates, build relationships, and grow businesses faster by integrating the two.

Popular Calendly automations & integrations:

Add new scheduled Calendly events to a Google Sheets spreadsheet Create Google tasks from new Calendly events Create Mailchimp subscribers from new Calendly events

Browse our whole Calendly catalog here: https://ifttt.com/calendly

Integrating IFTTT with Acuity provides an effective solution for streamlining the time consuming process of booking meetings, scheduling tasks to automating anything from payments to reminders. For example, users can automatically send notifications for new Acuity Scheduling appointments from a range of platforms, such as Slack and Gmail. These integrations help automates tedious manual processes to free up time and resources.

Popular Acuity automations & integrations:

Create Google Contacts for new Acuity Scheduling appointments Send Slack notifications for new Acuity Scheduling appointments Block off Acuity Scheduling times for new Google Calendar events

Browse our whole Acuity catalog here: https://ifttt.com/acuity_scheduling

Which is Best for Small Businesses

So, which one out of the two is best for small businesses? As much as it was emphasized, then again, it is based on one’s preferences and needs as both Calendly and Acuity have their own strengths and features that can be beneficial to small businesses. Therefore, it is important to carefully evaluate key features and offerings of both scheduling platforms.

For starters, let’s talk about price. Calendly has a lower cost, but more basic features. Users can use Calendly under their Basic plan at no cost and up to $16 per month (billed annually) or $20 per month (billed monthly) with their Teams plan. Using Calendly is a great starter kit for small businesses who are just starting out as it has basic and straight-forward features, a friendly user-interface, and it is affordable. On the other hand, Acuity is priced higher starting at $15 per (billed annually) or $20 per month (billed annually) to $49 (billed monthly) or $61 per month (billed monthly), but offers more advanced features, such as custom branding and client management. It is particularly well-suited and commonly used for service-based organizations.

Next, let’s talk about ease of use for Calendly and Acuity. Then again, Calendly offers a more user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and schedule meetings with its drag and drop functionality and clear instructions. Although Acuity is still made to be user-friendly, it is a bit more complex, with a wider range of customization options and features that may take some time to learn.

Both of these scheduling tools offer a variety of useful features and integrations that can make scheduling a breeze. Calendly integrates with other tools, such as Google Calendar, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Zoom, while Acuity integrates with a range of other platforms, such as QuickBooks, Paypal, and Instagram. Luckily, IFTTT has automations and integrations for both Calendly and Acuity and when enabled, users can integrate the two with a variety of other platforms, such as Slack and Trello, to help teams be more productive and organized.

Automate your scheduling tool with IFTTT

As there are so many scheduling tools to pick from, choosing the right one can be a headache. It can be difficult when it comes to deciding which features and functionality are most important and meet your team’s needs. By automating your scheduling tool with IFTTT, it can help small teams streamline their scheduling process and save time through a wide range of Calendly and Acuity Scheduling automations and integrations you can choose from. Additionally, you have the ability to create custom triggers to fit your team’s needs in order to increase productivity and organization. Join IFTTT today to simplify your scheduling process!