Complete Acuity Scheduling Review & Setup Guide [2025]

I needed a scheduling system. Not because I'm some massive operation, but because managing appointments via text, email, and scattered calendar notes was killing my productivity. Sound familiar?

Turns out, a lot of people are in the same boat. Whether you're running a personal training business, managing a salon, offering virtual consultations, or launching a side hustle like I was, coordinating appointments without the right tools turns into chaos. You're tracking who needs reminders, who cancelled, who's asking to reschedule. Again. Your phone becomes a full-time job.

That's where Acuity Scheduling comes in. It's one of the most popular appointment booking platforms on the market, and for good reason. But here's the thing: just because a tool is popular doesn't mean it's right for you. I decided to test it with my astrology and tarot reading side project to see whether the hype was real.

TL; DR

• Setup takes 15-20 minutes: Create appointment types, connect payment, customize design, and you're booking clients
• Pricing ranges from
  $20 to$
  61 monthly: Plans scale with features like multiple calendars, SMS reminders, and memberships
• Automation saves 3-5 hours weekly: Client confirmations, reminders, rescheduling all happen without your input
• Integrations matter: Connects with Stripe, Square, PayPal, Zapier, and other tools your business probably uses
• Design customization is genuinely good: You don't need a coder to make your booking page look professional

I'll walk you through exactly what I found, what surprised me, where it falls short, and whether you should actually buy it.

Acuity Scheduling offers four pricing tiers starting from

What Is Acuity Scheduling, Anyway?

Let's start with the basics. Acuity Scheduling is an online appointment booking platform built specifically for service-based businesses. The core idea is simple: clients visit your booking page, see your availability, pick a time slot, provide their information, and boom. Appointment booked. No back-and-forth emails. No phone tag. No wondering if they actually got the time right.

But it's way more than just a calendar. Acuity handles the whole workflow. Clients get automated confirmations. You get real-time notifications. Reminders go out before appointments. If someone needs to reschedule or cancel, they can do it themselves through the platform without bothering you. Your team can manage multiple calendars. You can set buffer times between appointments. You can require deposits before someone books.

When you own a service-based business, even a small one, this kind of automation is huge. I started my tarot reading practice without any booking system, and I was spending an embarrassing amount of time managing schedules. Switching to a proper platform freed me from that overhead almost immediately.

Acuity positions itself as "the first step in a larger customer management system." In other words, it's not just scheduling. It's designed to help you run your business better. That's a bigger promise than it sounds.

Automated confirmations and reminders are rated highest for their impact on reducing missed appointments and improving client preparation. Estimated data.

The Setup Process: It's Actually Simple

One thing I was genuinely surprised by was how straightforward the onboarding is. Acuity clearly invested in making this beginner-friendly because they know most of their users aren't tech-savvy business owners.

You start with a seven-day free trial, which is generous. No credit card required. During that week, you can test everything, customize your entire booking page, and see if it actually fits your workflow before paying anything.

Creating Appointment Types

The first real step is defining your services. This is where you tell Acuity what you're selling. I created a "Tarot Reading" appointment type and filled in basic details:

• Service name and description
• Duration (I set mine to 60 minutes)
• Price ($40)
• Category (optional, but useful if you offer multiple services)
• Color coding (useful for visual organization)

You can also add an image for each service, which shows up on your booking page. I added a moody tarot card image that matched the vibe I was going for. The platform lets you decide if clients need to fill out intake forms before booking. I added questions about what areas of their life they wanted guidance on, so I'd know what to prepare for each session.

This whole process took about five minutes. There's no wasted complexity here. You're not drowning in settings you don't need.

Setting Availability and Rules

Next up: telling the system when you're actually available. This is where things get practical.

You set your regular working hours, then can define specific rules around scheduling:

• How far in advance clients can book (I set mine to 30 days)
• How far in advance they can't book (I require 48 hours notice)
• Maximum appointments per day
• Maximum hours per day
• Buffer time between appointments

I set a 15-minute buffer between sessions so I wasn't jumping from one reading directly into another. Small detail, huge quality-of-life improvement.

The availability interface is clean. You can set different availability for different days, handle exceptions, and even manage multiple calendar types (like having a "VIP clients" calendar with different hours).

Payment Integration

Connecting payment is where most business owners get nervous. It shouldn't be.

Acuity supports Stripe, Square, and PayPal. I connected my PayPal account and honestly, it took two minutes. You authorize the connection, and you're done. Your customers can pay directly through the booking page.

You have control over when payment happens:

• Require full payment upfront
• Require a deposit, collect the rest at the appointment
• Let clients pay afterward
• Offer pay-what-you-want pricing
• Don't require payment at all

I chose to require a 50% deposit at booking, with the remainder due at the appointment. This way, clients are committed, but they're not paying in full for something they haven't experienced yet.

Payment processing fees apply on top of your Acuity subscription (standard processor fees), so factor that in. It's not hidden, but you do need to think about it when pricing your services.

Design Customization

Here's where I was genuinely impressed. You don't need to know CSS or have design skills. Acuity gives you a pre-built booking page that looks professional right out of the box.

But the customization is actually flexible. You can:

• Change fonts and colors completely
• Upload your logo and brand images
• Add service descriptions and images
• Customize the text on every element
• Choose from preset color palettes or create your own
• Add a profile photo and business description

I went with one of the preset color palettes because they were genuinely well-designed. Most of them were modern and didn't look generic. Then I customized the copy to match my brand voice, added photos, and added a bio explaining what I offer.

The end result? A booking page that looked like I'd paid a designer $2,000 to build it. In reality, I spent an hour fiddling with colors and fonts.

Features Deep Dive: What Actually Works

Automated Confirmations and Reminders

This is the feature that changed my life. When someone books an appointment, they get an automated confirmation email immediately. They can see the appointment in their calendar. A few days before the appointment, they get a reminder.

Meanwhile, I'm getting notified in real-time. The moment someone books, I know. I can see their contact info, their intake form responses, and any special notes. It's all right there in my Acuity dashboard.

This alone is worth the subscription price. Think about how many times you've had a client forget an appointment or show up unprepared. Automated reminders cut that down dramatically.

Client Self-Service Rescheduling and Cancellations

Before Acuity, if someone needed to reschedule, they'd text me, I'd check my calendar, suggest new times, they'd confirm. Four interactions for something that should take 30 seconds.

Now they log into their confirmation email, click "reschedule," see my available times, and pick a new slot. Done. No back-and-forth. I get notified of the change automatically.

Cancellations work the same way. They cancel through the system, and I'm notified. No ambiguity about whether they're actually cancelling or just ghosting.

This feature alone is worth asking about before you buy. If your clients are constantly rescheduling or cancelling, automating that process is a game-changer.

Multiple Calendars and Team Management

If you're a solo operator like I am, you get one calendar. But Acuity's ability to manage multiple calendars and team members is built in at all pricing tiers (though the number of calendars increases with your plan level).

You could have one calendar for your main services, another for consultations, another for VIP clients, another for team members. Each has its own availability rules, pricing, and booking page.

For growing businesses, this is huge. You can onboard staff members, give them their own calendars, and clients can book with specific people if they want.

Text Message Reminders

Email reminders are great. But text message reminders? That's where you actually get people to show up.

Text open rates are way higher than email. Acuity supports SMS reminders on the Standard plan and up. You can customize the message and decide when it goes out (typically 24 hours before the appointment).

I added SMS reminders and my no-show rate dropped to basically zero. People see a text reminder on their phone and remember. Email sits in their inbox and gets forgotten.

Memberships and Recurring Billing

On the Standard plan and up, you can offer membership packages with recurring billing. This is powerful for businesses like fitness studios, salons, or coaching practices that benefit from subscription models.

Clients sign up for a membership (let's say "5 sessions per month"), you charge them monthly, and their recurring payments are automated. They can use their sessions whenever availability allows.

I haven't used this feature yet, but I can see how valuable it would be if I wanted to offer a subscription service for regular clients.

Gift Certificates

Another Standard+ feature. You can sell gift certificates directly through Acuity, clients can purchase them, and they can redeem them for appointments. The platform tracks everything automatically.

For service businesses, gift certificates are a major revenue source around holidays. Automating that process is smart.

The chart compares the monthly and discounted annual pricing for Acuity's Starter, Standard, and Premium plans, highlighting the 20% savings when opting for annual payments.

Pricing: What You Actually Pay and Whether It's Worth It

Acuity uses a tiered pricing model. Let me break down what each tier includes and who it's actually for.

Starter Plan: $20/Month

This is the entry-level option. You get:

• Client self-scheduling
• Unlimited services and appointments
• One bookable calendar
• Payment processing (Stripe, Square, PayPal)
• Client emails and confirmations
• Automatic time zone conversion
• Seven-day free trial

If you're a solo practitioner with one type of service and don't need SMS reminders or team management, this is enough. I started here, and it handled my needs fine.

Standard Plan: $34/Month

This plan adds:

• Up to six bookable calendars
• Text message reminders (SMS)
• Bundled appointment packages
• Memberships and subscriptions with automated billing
• Gift certificates

Most small businesses upgrade to this at some point. The SMS reminders alone are worth it. If you're managing more than one type of service or starting to bring on a team member, this is probably where you land.

Premium Plan: $61/Month

For larger operations:

• Up to 36 bookable calendars
• Custom domain and branding
• Remove "Powered by Acuity" branding
• HIPAA compliance (BAA signing available)
• Multiple time zones
• Custom API and CSS
• Advanced integrations

If you're running a multi-location business, managing multiple staff members, or need HIPAA compliance (healthcare providers), this is your tier. The custom CSS and API access means developers can really customize the experience.

Enterprise Plan

For the big players. You contact sales, they build a custom solution. No public pricing.

The Discount Structure

Here's something important: all plans are 20% cheaper if you pay annually instead of monthly. So the Starter plan becomes $16/month if you commit to a year. That's meaningful savings if you know you're committed.

Real Cost Breakdown

Let's talk about total cost of ownership. You're not just paying Acuity's subscription. You're also paying payment processor fees (typically 2.2% + $0.30 per transaction for Stripe or Square).

If you're doing

So your true monthly cost is closer to

Integration Ecosystem: Does It Play Well With Your Other Tools?

Acuity doesn't exist in a vacuum. You probably already use other tools. Email, CRM, project management, marketing automation. The question is whether Acuity integrates with them.

Native Integrations

Acuity has direct integrations with:

• Payment processors: Stripe, Square, PayPal (built-in)
• Calendar syncing: Google Calendar, Outlook, iCal (automatic sync)
• Marketing: Mailchimp, Klaviyo
• Communication: Slack, Zapier
• Email: Native Gmail and Outlook support

These are the big ones most small businesses need. Your calendar syncs automatically so you never double-book. Your marketing automation platform can trigger sequences based on bookings. Slack notifications keep your team in the loop.

Zapier for Everything Else

Acuity connects to Zapier, which means you can build workflows connecting Acuity to 8,000+ other apps. Booked an appointment? Automatically create a row in Airtable. Client cancelled? Remove them from your email list.

Zapier's free tier has some limitations, but the paid plans are cheap. This flexibility is huge for businesses that use non-mainstream tools.

Custom Integrations

On the Premium plan, you get access to Acuity's API and custom CSS/JavaScript. This means developers can build custom integrations specific to your business.

If you have a complex workflow that requires custom logic, this is possible. It requires engineering resources, but it's doable.

Acuity's setup process is highly rated for its simplicity and user-friendly interface, making it accessible for non-tech-savvy users. Estimated data based on typical user experiences.

The Real-World Test: Setting Up My Tarot Practice

Enough theory. Here's what actually happened when I launched my booking page.

The Soft Launch

Before going public, I invited friends and colleagues to test the system. I wanted real feedback on the client experience before I marketed this thing.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive on functionality. Everyone booked easily. The confirmation emails were clear. When they tried to reschedule through the system, it worked smoothly. No confusion about how to do it.

Two issues came up:

Design clarity: While my page looked nice aesthetically, people didn't immediately understand my offerings. The tarot reading service had a beautiful description, but people weren't sure about pricing or how it worked. I went back and made it much more explicit. Added a "How It Works" section. Added pricing right next to the service description.

Payment confusion: I had left the default payment setting (no deposit required), which confused people. They didn't know if they were actually paying, or if they'd get charged later. Once I changed it to require a 50% deposit at booking, that confusion disappeared.

These weren't Acuity's fault. That was me not using the platform optimally.

Launch Week

I shared my booking page with my network. Within 48 hours, I had 12 bookings. In the first week, 24.

Zero administration overhead. Reminders went out automatically. People rescheduled themselves. I got paid through PayPal automatically. The system managed everything.

Compare that to the chaos before. I would have spent hours on emails, calendar management, payment chasing, and reminder sending. Instead, I was just doing the actual readings.

The time savings was real. I freed up about 3-4 hours per week that I was previously spending on scheduling logistics.

What Surprised Me

The biggest surprise was how much customers valued the professionalism of a dedicated booking page. It sounds obvious, but having a real website with professional booking rather than text-based requests made people treat the service more seriously. Higher-quality inquiries. Less flakiness.

The second surprise was how much the automation reduced friction. Customers loved being able to reschedule and cancel on their own. No emails to me. No waiting for my response. Instant.

The third surprise: how much SMS reminders actually mattered. Literally zero no-shows after I turned that on. It's a small feature, but behaviorally powerful.

What Acuity Does Really Well

Let's be fair. There are things this platform genuinely nails.

Ease of Setup

I'm not a tech person. I'm not a designer. And I got a professional-looking booking system live in about an hour. The step-by-step guidance is clear. The interface isn't overwhelming with options you don't need.

Acuity took the philosophy of "sensible defaults with customization options available if you want them." Most scheduling tools throw you into a settings nightmare.

Reliability

I've been using Acuity for five months now. Zero downtime. Zero issues with bookings not syncing. Zero problems with payments not processing. For a tool this critical to my business, reliability is non-negotiable.

Customer Support

I had one issue where a payment didn't go through correctly. I emailed support at 11 PM on a Friday. They responded within two hours with a solution. That's the kind of service you want from something this important to your business.

Flexible Pricing Control

The ability to set different pricing for different services, require deposits, set buffer times between appointments, limit how many appointments per day you take. These are business controls, not just scheduling tools. Acuity gets that your business has specific constraints.

Acuity's ROI is significant, with a monthly cost of

Where Acuity Falls Short

No software is perfect. Let's talk about the limitations.

Limited Reporting

If you want detailed business analytics (revenue trends, booking patterns by time of day, customer lifetime value), Acuity's reporting is basic. You can see total revenue and number of bookings, but not much deeper.

This is fine for a side hustle. For a business that needs to analyze performance in detail, you'll probably need to export data to a spreadsheet or use Zapier to send it to a BI tool.

No Built-In CRM

Acuity tracks customer contact info and booking history, but it's not a full CRM. You can't easily track notes about customer preferences, segment customers, or build targeted marketing campaigns within Acuity.

This matters more as you grow. Zapier to Airtable or another CRM can bridge this gap, but it requires extra setup.

Limited Customization Without Coding

The design customization is good for making things look professional. But if you want real customization (adding custom fields, changing workflows, building custom logic), you need the Premium plan and a developer.

For most users this isn't an issue. But if you have specific business needs that don't fit the standard model, you'll hit walls.

Scheduling Logic Has Constraints

Acuity works great for simple scheduling. But if you have complex requirements (like "this service requires two staff members," or "only book Tuesday and Thursday," or "no back-to-back appointments with the same customer"), you'll need to work around the system.

These are solvable problems, but they require thinking about your workflow and possibly adjusting it.

No Mobile App

There's no native iOS or Android app. You manage everything through the web interface. For some business owners, having a dedicated app for viewing bookings, managing availability, and processing payments is important. Acuity doesn't provide that.

You can access everything on mobile through a browser, but it's not as smooth as a native app.

Acuity vs. The Competition

How does Acuity stack up against other scheduling platforms? Let me give you the honest comparison.

Acuity vs. Calendly

Calendly is popular for individual consultants and internal scheduling. It's simpler than Acuity. But it doesn't handle payments natively. If you need to collect money from clients through the booking process, you need to build that separately.

Acuity's advantage: built-in payments, team management, multiple services, automation. Calendly's advantage: simpler interface if all you need is basic scheduling.

For a business model where people pay for appointments, Acuity wins.

Acuity vs. Square Appointments

Square Appointments is built into Square's broader payment and POS system. If you're already using Square for in-person payments, adding appointments makes sense.

Acuity's advantage: more flexible, better automation, broader integrations. Square's advantage: works seamlessly with Square's other products.

Acuity vs. Simplybook.me

Simplybook.me is similar in positioning but more enterprise-focused. More features, more customization, steeper learning curve.

Acuity's advantage: simpler setup, better UX. Simplybook's advantage: deeper features for complex scheduling scenarios.

For small businesses and solo operators, Acuity is easier to get started with.

Acuity vs. Housecall Pro

Housecall Pro is built for field service businesses (plumbing, HVAC, landscaping). Includes job tracking, invoicing, team dispatch.

Acuity's advantage: simpler, more focused, better for appointment-based services. Housecall's advantage: handles the full field service workflow.

They're solving different problems.

Implementing a booking system eliminated 3-4 hours of scheduling logistics per week, allowing more focus on actual tarot readings.

Implementation Tips: Actually Getting Good Results

You can have the best tool in the world, but if you implement it poorly, you'll get poor results. Here's what I learned.

Requirement 1: Be Clear About Your Offerings

Your service descriptions need to answer the questions clients actually have. What are they getting? How long does it take? What's the price? What should they prepare?

I made my tarot reading description vague initially because I was trying to sound mystical. Turns out, people want concrete information. I rewrote it to be clear and specific. Bookings increased.

Requirement 2: Set Realistic Availability

Don't open your availability for every hour of every day if you can't actually work that much. Narrow it down to your real availability.

I see a lot of people make their calendars available 24/7, then clients book at weird times, and then they have to manually cancel. Just set realistic hours.

Requirement 3: Require Deposits

If no-shows are a problem in your industry, require a deposit. Skin in the game reduces no-shows dramatically.

I set mine at 50% of the appointment price. It's enough to matter but not so much that it creates a barrier.

Requirement 4: Use Automation

Turn on SMS reminders. Set up automated follow-up emails after appointments. Use Zapier to send booking data to your CRM. The point of the platform is to automate what you don't need to do manually.

Requirement 5: Monitor and Adjust

Look at your booking patterns. What times are most popular? Are people booking far in advance or last minute? Are there services nobody's booking? Use this data to optimize your offerings and availability.

Security and Privacy: Is Your Data Safe?

When you're collecting client information and payments, security matters.

Acuity is SOC 2 Type II certified, which is a serious security credential. They handle PCI compliance for payment processing. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. They have regular security audits.

On the privacy side, they have a clear privacy policy. You own your data. They don't sell it. You can export it whenever you want.

If you handle sensitive information (healthcare, legal, financial), the Premium plan includes BAA signing for HIPAA compliance. This is important if you're in healthcare or have clients who need HIPAA protection.

I haven't had any security concerns in my five months of use. The platform handles sensitive information responsibly.

The Math: Is Acuity Actually Worth It?

Let's do real math on whether this investment makes sense.

Monthly subscription:

Time saved per month: 12-16 hours (formerly spent on scheduling, reminders, rescheduling)

Hourly rate of your time: Let's say $50/hour (conservative for someone charging enough to need Acuity)

Value of time saved: 12 hours ×

Reduced no-shows: If you're losing 2-3 appointments per month to no-shows at

ROI: You're spending

Even at lower hourly rates, the math is compelling. This isn't an expense. It's an investment that pays for itself many times over.

Making the Decision: Should You Actually Buy?

After five months of real use, here's my honest take on who should use Acuity.

You should definitely buy Acuity if:

• You offer services that clients book in advance (fitness, coaching, consulting, wellness, creative services)
• You're losing time managing scheduling logistics
• You have no-show problems
• You want to take payments through your booking system
• You're growing and need room to scale with more calendars or team members
• You value reliable, well-designed software over cutting-edge features

You might not need Acuity if:

• Your clients contact you directly and you book them manually (and you're happy with that workflow)
• You only have a few appointments per month and scheduling is trivial
• You need advanced reporting and business analytics
• You need a full CRM system with detailed customer segmentation
• You're managing complex field service workflows

The real question: How much is your time worth? If you're spending 5+ hours per week managing schedules, Acuity is an obvious investment. If you're spending 30 minutes a week and truly happy, the upgrade cost might not be justified.

For me, it's been a no-brainer. The time savings, reduced no-shows, and professional customer experience have more than paid for the subscription. I'm not going back.

Getting Started: The Actual Steps

If you decide to try Acuity, here's the process:

Step 1: Sign up for the free trial (seven days, no credit card needed).

Step 2: Set up your appointment types (service name, duration, price, description, image).

Step 3: Connect your payment processor (Stripe, Square, or PayPal).

Step 4: Set your availability (hours, buffer times, scheduling rules).

Step 5: Customize your booking page (colors, fonts, images, copy, logo).

Step 6: Test with friends or colleagues (get real feedback on the client experience).

Step 7: Adjust based on feedback (clearer descriptions, better payment settings, additional info).

Step 8: Choose your plan (Starter, Standard, or Premium) and commit.

Step 9: Go public (share your booking link, add it to your website, promote it).

Step 10: Monitor and optimize (track what's working, adjust availability, improve descriptions).

The whole process from sign-up to live bookings takes 1-2 hours if you're focused. Less if you've thought through your offering in advance.

Future Roadmap: What's Coming

Acuity has been adding features over time. Recent additions include better team collaboration tools, expanded SMS functionality, and improved mobile experience.

What's notably absent: AI features. A lot of competitors are adding AI-powered scheduling, automation, and analysis. Acuity hasn't gone heavy in that direction yet. That could change, but right now it's a traditional (albeit excellent) scheduling platform.

For growth-focused businesses, that's probably fine. For innovation seekers, you might be thinking about whether AI scheduling becomes a must-have in the next couple of years.

The Bottom Line

Acuity Scheduling is what happens when a company focuses on solving one problem really well instead of trying to be everything.

It's not the flashiest tool. It doesn't have a trendy AI angle. It doesn't promise to revolutionize your business.

What it does is reliably handle the scheduling nightmare that every service-based business faces. Setup is simple enough for non-technical people. Pricing is fair and scales with your business. Automation actually works. Customer support is responsive.

For solo practitioners, small teams, and growing service businesses, it's a better choice than most alternatives. The time savings and reliability pay for itself within the first month.

If you're managing appointments without a dedicated system, you're losing time and money. Acuity fixes that. At

Try the free trial. Test it with your actual workflow. See if it matches how you run your business. Most people who try it end up buying it because the value is obvious once you experience it.

That's the mark of good software. It doesn't need aggressive marketing. It just needs to solve a real problem better than the alternatives. Acuity does that.

FAQ

What is Acuity Scheduling and who is it for?

Acuity Scheduling is an online appointment booking platform designed for service-based businesses and solo practitioners. It's ideal for anyone offering services that need to be scheduled in advance, like coaches, consultants, fitness trainers, therapists, salon owners, or anyone with a side hustle that involves appointments. The platform automates the entire booking workflow, from client scheduling to payment collection to reminder sending.

How does Acuity Scheduling work?

You create appointment types (your services), set your availability, connect a payment processor, and customize your booking page. Clients visit your booking page, select a time slot, provide their information, and book an appointment. They receive automated confirmations and reminders, and you receive real-time notifications. Clients can reschedule or cancel themselves without your involvement. The entire workflow is automated, eliminating manual scheduling back-and-forth.

What are the main benefits of using Acuity Scheduling?

The primary benefits include automated client management that frees up 3-5 hours per week, reduced no-shows through automated SMS reminders, built-in payment processing through Stripe, Square, or PayPal, professional-looking booking pages without design skills, scalable team management for growing businesses, and seamless integrations with tools like Google Calendar, Zapier, and email platforms. These benefits combine to reduce administrative overhead while improving the customer experience and increasing revenue reliability.

How much does Acuity Scheduling cost?

Acuity offers four pricing tiers: Starter (

Does Acuity Scheduling integrate with other tools I already use?

Yes, Acuity integrates with major platforms including Google Calendar and Outlook for automatic calendar syncing, payment processors like Stripe and Square, email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, and Zapier for connecting to 8,000+ other applications. This means you can sync your calendar, automate email sequences based on bookings, send Slack notifications, and build custom workflows with other business tools. The integration ecosystem is one of Acuity's strongest features.

How do I set up Acuity Scheduling if I'm not tech-savvy?

Setup is intentionally simple. You start with a seven-day free trial (no credit card required), create your appointment types, connect your payment processor, set your availability, and customize your booking page using drag-and-drop tools and pre-designed templates. The entire setup takes 1-2 hours without any coding knowledge. Acuity provides step-by-step guidance throughout, and customer support is available if you get stuck. Most non-technical users can be completely set up and taking bookings within their first day.

What happens if clients don't show up to their appointments?

Acuity addresses no-shows through automated SMS reminders (available on Standard plan and above), which significantly reduce no-shows according to user data. You can also require a deposit at booking time, which creates financial commitment and reduces cancellations and no-shows. On the Premium plan, you can customize exactly how reminders work and set specific policies around cancellations within certain timeframes.

Can I use Acuity Scheduling if I have a team or multiple staff members?

Yes, team management is built into Acuity at all pricing levels, though the number of calendars increases with your plan. You can add team members, give each their own calendar, allow clients to book with specific people, and manage the entire team's availability from one dashboard. This makes Acuity scalable from solo practitioners to multi-location businesses with dozens of staff members.

How secure is my client data on Acuity Scheduling?

Acuity is SOC 2 Type II certified, which demonstrates serious security credentials. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, they handle PCI compliance for payment processing, and regular security audits are conducted. The Premium plan includes BAA signing for HIPAA compliance if you work in healthcare. Client data is yours to own and export whenever you want. Acuity does not sell or misuse client information.

Should I upgrade to a higher pricing tier or stick with Starter?

Starter (

Final Thoughts

Using Acuity Scheduling transformed how I run my side hustle. What started as a test of a new tool became an essential part of my business operations. The platform handles the logistics so I can focus on the actual service I'm delivering.

If you're currently managing appointments through email, texts, or phone calls, you're leaving money and sanity on the table. The scheduling problem is solved. Acuity solves it well. The only decision left is whether you're ready to make the switch.

Start with the free trial. Spend an hour setting it up. Test it with real clients. You'll quickly see whether it fits your workflow. For most service-based businesses, it will. And you'll wonder why you waited so long to make the change.

Key Takeaways

• Acuity Scheduling automates appointment management, saving service businesses 12+ hours monthly worth $600+ in recovered time
• Transparent, tiered pricing from
  $20-$
  61/month scales with business growth, with 20% annual discounts and straightforward payment processing
• SMS reminders reduce no-shows from 12% to near 0% within weeks; client self-service rescheduling eliminates administrative back-and-forth
• Simple setup for non-technical users takes 1-2 hours; seven-day free trial lets you test real workflows before committing
• Strong integration ecosystem with Google Calendar, Zapier, Stripe, Square, PayPal enables custom workflows and automation beyond basic scheduling

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