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It's a split decision.
Choose Acuity Scheduling for a service business that needs appointment payments, client forms, reminders, and packages or subscriptions. Its paid plans start at $16 per month with annual billing, and there’s no free plan. Choose Cal.com for free individual scheduling, booking links, and team routing. Its Teams plan is listed at $12 per user per month with yearly billing; the monthly-billing price isn’t published. The better fit depends on whether you need business payment tools or flexible meeting scheduling.
01Side by side
| Acuity Scheduling | Cal.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Paid plans start at $16/month with annual billing | Teams starts at $12/user/month with yearly billing |
| Free plan | No free plan; 7-day trial | Free Individuals plan; 14-day trial |
| Best for | Appointment businesses taking payments and selling packages | Solo schedulers and teams routing meeting bookings |
| Core strength | Appointment booking, payments, and client management | Booking links, team routing, and automated workflows |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 7/10 | Ease-of-use review score: 7/10 |
| Integrations & booking setup | Calendar sync; Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Venmo | 100+ app integrations; embeds and API v2 |
| Team and seat costs | Up to 6 calendars at $27/month, billed annually | $12/user/month Teams; $28/user/month Organizations, yearly |
| Support | Support review score: 4/10 | Support review score: 6/10 |
Acuity Scheduling Choose Acuity Scheduling if
- Choose Acuity Scheduling if you collect appointment payments and deposits.
- Choose Acuity Scheduling if you sell packages, memberships, or gift certificates.
- Choose Acuity Scheduling if client forms and appointment reminders matter.
Cal.com Choose Cal.com if
- Choose Cal.com if you want free individual scheduling.
- Choose Cal.com if you need routing forms or round-robin scheduling.
- Choose Cal.com if you prefer per-user annual team pricing.
02Pricing compared
Acuity starts at $16 per month with annual billing, or $20 month to month, and has no free plan. Its 7-day free trial is listed separately. Standard is $27 per month annually or $34 monthly; Premium is $55 annually or $69 monthly. The pricing page says annual billing saves 20%. Enterprise pricing is not published.
Cal.com has a free Individuals plan for one user. Teams is listed at $12 per user per month with yearly billing, and Organizations at $28 per user per month with yearly billing. The monthly-billing prices for those plans are not published. Cal.com lists a 14-day free trial. For solo scheduling, Cal.com is the lower-cost starting point; for paid business booking, compare Acuity’s fixed plan prices with Cal.com’s per-user team costs.
03Features and depth
Acuity is built around service appointments: clients book on a branded page, while businesses can collect payments, deposits, and intake-form details. Its listed features also include reminders, calendar sync, and packages, subscriptions, gift certificates, add-ons, and coupons. Starter includes one calendar; Standard supports up to six, and Premium up to 36. Text reminders and waitlists are listed on Standard, while Premium adds an AI Booking Assistant and custom API and CSS.
Cal.com centers on booking links and meeting availability. Its features include team routing, forms, round-robin scheduling, automated reminders and follow-ups, embeds, API v2, Cal Video, and AI agent booking through its API. Teams includes shared availability, routing forms, analytics, and custom APIs; Organizations adds sub-teams, SSO, SCIM, compliance certifications, and role-based permissions. The practical distinction is business transactions and client management with Acuity versus meeting coordination and routing with Cal.com.
04Ease of use and learning curve
For a solo service provider, Acuity’s branded booking page, payment collection, forms, and reminders put client booking and appointment administration in one product. Its plan limits matter as needs grow: the number of calendars rises from one on Starter to six on Standard and 36 on Premium.
Cal.com’s free Individuals plan is a direct starting point for sharing booking links. Team features such as round-robin scheduling and routing forms add choices to configure, while Organizations adds permissions and identity-management features. The better fit depends on the workflow you need to set up: appointment operations and payments, or availability sharing and team routing. Cal.com’s listed team prices are per user, so team costs scale with user count.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, Acuity Scheduling or Cal.com?
Cal.com is cheaper for an individual who can use its free plan. Acuity has no free plan and starts at $16 per month with annual billing. For teams, Cal.com lists Teams at $12 per user per month with yearly billing; its monthly-billing price is not published.
Does Cal.com accept appointment payments?
The Cal.com feature and pricing details provided here do not list payment collection. Acuity does list payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Venmo on Starter, and also describes deposits. If taking payment during booking is essential, Acuity is the clearer fit based on these details.
Can I use Cal.com for a service business?
Cal.com supports booking links, availability, team routing, reminders, and embeds, which can cover scheduling needs. Its listed features do not include Acuity’s payment collection, intake forms, or packages and subscriptions. Choose based on whether the business needs meeting coordination or appointment and payment workflows.
Which is better for team scheduling?
Both offer team features, but they address different needs. Acuity Standard includes up to six calendars and Premium up to 36. Cal.com Teams lists shared availability, round-robin scheduling, and routing forms at $12 per user per month with yearly billing; monthly pricing is not published.