Tool matchup
Acuity Scheduling vs Calendly: Calendly has a free plan and Standard at $10/mo billed yearly. Acuity has no free plan, Starter is $16, and it sells packages, memberships and gift certificates from $27.
Appointment scheduling with payments, intake forms and packages. No free plan; Starter is $16/mo billed yearly ($20 monthly), with a 7-day free trial.
Prices checked October 23, 2026acuityscheduling.com pricing page
Scheduling tool that lets clients book meetings based on your real-time availability. Share a link, skip the back-and-forth, and start every engagement on time.
Prices checked October 23, 2026calendly.com pricing page
Calendly scores 89/100 and Acuity Scheduling 82/100. Calendly leads on integrations (14/15 vs 10/15) and trust (10/10 vs 8/10), and edges UX (14 vs 13). Outcome fit (22/25), setup speed (18/20) and pricing (11/15) are level. The plans differ in what is sold. Calendly has a free plan with 1 event type; Standard is $10 per seat a month billed yearly ($12 monthly) with unlimited event types, automations and reminders, and Stripe and PayPal payments. Acuity has no free plan: Starter is $16 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for 1 calendar with payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo, email reminders and custom client forms. Text reminders, a waitlist, packages, memberships and gift certificates start on Standard at $27 ($34 monthly), and an AI Booking Assistant and a signed BAA for HIPAA on Premium at $55 ($69). Choose Calendly to start free or for the lowest paid price. Choose Acuity if you sell packages or memberships and want clients to fill in a form when they book. Both prices were read from the vendors' own pages on October 23, 2026; Acuity prices are per account, Calendly's per seat.
Calendly leads by 7 points (strong advantage).
Decision shortcuts
Both let clients book from your availability and pay. The split is what you sell: Calendly is the lighter, cheaper booking link, Acuity is built for paid sessions, packages and intake forms.
Client-ready brief
Send a concise summary of winner, trade-offs, and rollout recommendation.
Best fit
Best for: Consultants who sell paid sessions, packages or memberships and want clients to pay and fill in an intake form when they book.
Why pick it: Payments, client forms and email reminders are on the entry plan, and packages and memberships on Standard, so booking, paying and onboarding happen in one step.
Watch for: There is no free plan. If you only need a free booking link, Cal.com's or Calendly's free plan is enough.
Best for: Every consultant — eliminates scheduling friction for discovery calls, kickoffs, and recurring check-ins.
Why pick it: The universal scheduling standard. Clients already know how to use it. One link eliminates 3-5 emails of back-and-forth per meeting.
Watch for: Almost never. The only reason to skip it is if your CRM already has built-in scheduling (HubSpot does, but Calendly is still smoother).
Swipe sideways to compare all columns.
Acuity Scheduling | Calendly | |
|---|---|---|
| Quick facts | ||
| Pricing sanity | From $16/mo | Free, paid from $10/mo |
| Intelligence | Medium | High |
| Integrations | 5+ | 5+ |
| Score breakdown | ||
| Outcome fit | 22/25 | 22/25 |
| Setup speed | 18/20 | 18/20 |
| Pricing sanity | 11/15 | 11/15 |
| Integrations | 10/15 | 14/15 |
| UX polish | 13/15 | 14/15 |
| Trust & support | 8/10 | 10/10 |
| Summary | ||
| Best for | Consultants who sell paid sessions, packages or memberships and want clients to pay and fill in an intake form when they book. | Every consultant — eliminates scheduling friction for discovery calls, kickoffs, and recurring check-ins. |
| Key strength | Strong on setup speed | Strong on trust |
| Main weakness | Fewer integrations | Weaker on pricing |
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Limits (vendor's wording) |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $16 per account / month, billed annually$20 per account / month, billed monthly | 1 calendar; payments via Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo; email reminders; custom client forms; automatic time zone conversion; 7-day free trial |
| Standard | $27 per account / month, billed annually$34 per account / month, billed monthly | Up to 6 calendars; adds text reminders, appointment waitlist, packages, memberships and gift certificates |
| Premium | $55 per account / month, billed annually$69 per account / month, billed monthly | Up to 36 calendars; adds AI Booking Assistant, signed BAA for HIPAA, hide the Acuity logo, multiple time zones for staff and locations, custom API and CSS |
Prices checked October 23, 2026acuityscheduling.com pricing page
| Plan | Price | Limits (vendor's wording) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 event type; 1 calendar connection; one-on-one scheduling; customizable booking page |
| Standard | $10 per seat / month, billed annually$12 per seat / month, billed monthly | Unlimited event types; multiple calendars; automations and reminders; Stripe and PayPal payments. $12 billed monthly. Notetaker and Callie can be added |
| Teams | $16 per seat / month, billed annually$20 per seat / month, billed monthly | Everything in Standard plus round-robin and team scheduling, lead qualification and routing, centrally managed event types, Marketo and Pardot, Salesforce. Notetaker and Callie can be added |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Starts at $15k/yr, from 50 seats; adds SSO and SAML, domain control, audit log, data deletion API, dedicated account support |
Prices checked October 23, 2026calendly.com pricing page
Cost calculator
$16 per month · $192 per year
Cheapest plan that fits: Starter, $16 per seat or user
$10 per month · $120 per year
Cheapest plan that fits: Standard, $10 per seat or user
Uses list prices from each vendor's pricing page, before tax and discounts. Free plans and custom-quote plans are left out.
Method
Common questions
No. Acuity's pricing page lists Starter, Standard and Premium with a 7-day free trial and no credit card needed. Calendly has a free plan with 1 event type. Both read on October 23, 2026.
Calendly Standard is $10 per seat a month billed yearly ($12 monthly). Acuity Starter is $16 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly) for the whole account, 1 calendar.
Yes. Starter lists payments and deposits through Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo. Calendly Standard lists Stripe and PayPal payments.
Calendly scores 89/100 and Acuity Scheduling scores 82/100 on Curalo's consultant rubric. The biggest gap is Integrations: Calendly 14/15 vs 10/15.
Acuity Scheduling's cheapest paid plan is Starter at $16 per account / month, billed annually. Calendly's cheapest paid plan is Standard at $10 per seat / month, billed annually.
Acuity Scheduling lists no free plan. Calendly has a free plan: 1 event type; 1 calendar connection; one-on-one scheduling; customizable booking page.
Acuity Scheduling: $16 a month on Starter. Calendly: $10 a month on Standard. Annual list prices where available, before tax.
There is no free plan. If you only need a free booking link, Cal.com's or Calendly's free plan is enough.
Almost never. The only reason to skip it is if your CRM already has built-in scheduling (HubSpot does, but Calendly is still smoother).
Guides
Your tool needs change at every growth stage. A practical guide to the technology, processes, and decisions that take you from solo consultant to small firm — without losing what made you great.
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Stop Copy-Pasting Between Five Tabs: How to Connect Your Consulting StackThe practical guide to wiring your consulting tools together. Which integrations actually matter, what to automate first, and the mistakes that silently break your workflow.
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