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Online booking and appointment scheduling apps compared

Stop the back-and-forth emails. Let clients book a time that suits you both.

At a glance

Tool	Good fit for	Free option
Calendly	meetings and consultations	Free plan
Acuity Scheduling	service businesses that take payments and intake forms	Free trial
Square Appointments	salons, studios and others who also take payments in person	Free plan

What to compare

Calendar sync with Google, Microsoft 365 or iCloud so you are never double-booked.
Payments and deposits taken at booking cut no-shows.
Reminders by email or SMS.
Team bookings if more than one person takes appointments.

Calendly

Good fit for: meetings and consultations

Calendly shares a booking link that shows your free times from your connected calendar. Paid plans add more event types, team scheduling and integrations.

Visit official site: Calendly

Acuity Scheduling

Good fit for: service businesses that take payments and intake forms

Acuity Scheduling is owned by Squarespace. It handles appointment types, intake forms, packages and payments at booking.

Visit official site: Acuity Scheduling

Square Appointments

Good fit for: salons, studios and others who also take payments in person

Square Appointments connects bookings with Square's payment hardware and point of sale. Square lists a free plan alongside its paid Plus and Premium plans; card processing fees apply on every plan.

Try Square Appointments

Our suggestion

For meetings and consultations, Calendly's free plan is the quickest start. If clients pay for appointments, look at Acuity or Square Appointments.

Sources

Sources checked 15 October 2026.