Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling: Cost and Fit

October 24, 2026·Nataliia· 8 min read All posts

Calendly suits a solo owner who wants a free booking link, while Acuity Scheduling suits a business that takes deposits, sells packages and sends text reminders. Calendly has a free plan and paid plans at $10 and $16 per seat. Acuity has no free plan and starts at $20 a month for one calendar, or $16 a month billed annually. The two price differently, per person against per calendar, so the cheaper one depends on your headcount.

This guide is for small local businesses such as salons, studios, groomers and consultants choosing a scheduling tool. We opened both pricing pages on 2026-10-24. Examples with invented inputs are labelled as assumptions.

$0→

Calendly Free plan

Calendly pricing page, 2026-10-24

$10→

Calendly Standard, per seat per month

Calendly pricing page, billing cycle not labelled

$20→

Acuity Starter, monthly billing

Acuity pricing page, 2026-10-24

$16→

Acuity Starter, per month billed annually

Acuity pricing page, 2026-10-24

Estimates for illustration; actual numbers vary.

What Does Calendly Cost?

Calendly's pricing page lists Free at $0, Standard at $10 per seat per month, Teams at $16 per seat per month, and Enterprise from $15,000 a year starting at 50 seats. The page has a billed monthly or billed yearly toggle but, in the text we could read, did not label which cycle the $10 and $16 figures reflect. It says "Save up to 20%". Check the toggle on the live page before you budget.

The Free plan allows one event type, one calendar connection and one-on-one scheduling with a customizable booking page. Standard adds unlimited event types, multiple calendar connections, automations and reminders, and Stripe and PayPal payments. Teams adds round-robin and team scheduling.

What Does Acuity Scheduling Cost?

Acuity lists three plans and no free plan, only a 7-day trial that does not require a credit card.

Plan	Monthly billing	Annual billing, per month	Calendars
Starter	$20	$16	1
Standard	$34	$27	Up to 6
Premium	$69	$55	Up to 36

Annual billing saves 20%, and prices exclude taxes. The page says there are no setup, cancellation or support fees, and that you can cancel at any time. It does not address refunds.

Which Takes Payments and Deposits?

Both can, with different strings attached. Acuity says all plans accept payments and deposits through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo. Calendly's Free plan lists no payment features, and Standard lists Stripe and PayPal connections. What Stripe, Square or PayPal charge per transaction is set by those providers, and neither page states it.

If your business takes deposits to reduce no-shows, Acuity gives you that from its cheapest plan, while Calendly needs a paid plan. Acuity's Standard plan also adds appointment packages with payment plans, and sales of subscriptions, memberships and gift certificates.

How Do Reminders and No-Show Tools Compare?

Acuity's Starter plan includes email confirmations, reminders and follow-ups, plus custom client forms. Text message reminders come from Standard, and availability varies by region. Standard also adds a waitlist for fully booked times. Premium adds an AI Booking Assistant and removes the "Powered by" footer.

Calendly lists automations and reminders from Standard. The page we read does not show a text-message reminder line, so ask support if SMS matters to you. For a deeper look at no-shows, our booking software guide for salons covers what Calendly leaves out for appointment businesses.

How Do Calendly and Acuity Compare Side by Side?

	Calendly	Acuity Scheduling
Free plan	Yes, one event type, one calendar	No, 7-day trial
Entry paid price	$10 per seat (cycle not labelled)	$20 monthly, $16 annual, one calendar
Pricing unit	Per seat (person)	Per plan, by number of calendars
Payments	Stripe and PayPal on Standard	Stripe, Square, PayPal, Venmo on all plans
Text reminders	Not shown on the page we read	Standard and Premium, region dependent
Packages, memberships, gift certificates	Meeting packages listed, plan not clear	Standard and above
Team scheduling	Round-robin on Teams, $16 per seat	Several calendars on Standard and Premium
Cancellation	Not stated in text we read	Cancel any time, no cancellation fee

Which One Should a Small Local Business Pick?

Pick Calendly if you are a one-person service, consultant or coach, and a free booking link with one event type is enough.
Pick Calendly Standard if you need several event types and Stripe or PayPal payments, and you have one or two people booked.
Pick Acuity if clients book your time and need to pay a deposit, buy a package or get text reminders, as in a salon, studio or groomer.
Pick Acuity Standard if you have several staff calendars, because it covers up to 6 in one plan.
Pick neither if you need a full salon system with products, stock and staff payroll. See Fresha vs Square vs Vagaro, or compare Acuity with Square in our Square Appointments vs Acuity guide.

A Worked Example: Three People Taking Bookings

All inputs are assumptions. They show how the pricing units behave, not what you will pay.

Input (assumption)	Value
People taking bookings	3
Needs deposits and text reminders	Yes
Calendly Standard	3 seats at $10, about $30 a month, and no text reminder line found
Acuity Standard	$34 monthly, or $27 billed annually, for up to 6 calendars

On these inputs the two are within a few dollars, so price is not the deciding factor. The deciding factor is whether the features you need are in the plan. Acuity Standard includes text reminders, waitlist and packages for all three calendars. If Calendly's $10 is the annual-billed price, the monthly-billed gap could widen, which is why checking the toggle matters.

Do This Today

List your must-haves: deposits, text reminders, packages, number of calendars. Strike off any plan missing one, then compare only the survivors.

What Should You Do Before You Choose?

Start the free Calendly plan or the 7-day Acuity trial and book yourself three test appointments, one with a deposit. Check how the confirmation looks on a phone, since most clients book from one. Then decide, and set a calendar reminder to review the plan after three months.

If a chat assistant could take over repetitive booking questions, our post on AI agents for appointment booking shows what is realistic.

FAQ

Is Calendly free?

Yes, Calendly has a free plan with one event type, one calendar connection and one-on-one scheduling. Payments and unlimited event types need a paid plan.

Does Acuity Scheduling have a free plan?

No. Acuity offers a 7-day free trial without a credit card, then Starter at $20 a month, or $16 billed annually.

Which is cheaper for a solo owner?

Calendly, because it has a free plan. If you need deposits or packages, compare Calendly Standard at $10 per seat against Acuity Starter at $16 to $20.

Can I take deposits in both?

Acuity accepts payments and deposits through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo on every plan. Calendly lists Stripe and PayPal connections on Standard and above.

Is there a contract?

Acuity says you can cancel any time and charges no cancellation fee. Calendly's text we could read does not state contract terms, so check before paying annually.

Sources

Calendly: Pricing (checked 2026-10-24; plans, seat prices, free plan limits; billing cycle of the $10 and $16 figures not labelled, FAQ text not readable)
Acuity Scheduling: Pricing (checked 2026-10-24; plan prices, calendars, trial, payments, cancellation)

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Nataliia

Local marketing strategist with 10+ years at global agencies — OMD, Dentsu, GroupM, and BBDO. Now helping small businesses get the same data-driven edge. Based in Europe, working with clients in the US, UK, Australia, and beyond.

About Nataliia