Acuity Scheduling Reviews

Pros
It has everything you need for scheduling. It integrates seamlessly with my Google Calendar, so it pulls my availability from calendar and updates calendar with appointments when they get scheduled. Makes my life extremely easy. Plus, it sends out reminders to people - email and SMS - to make sure they show up for the meeting. I have multiple calendars for multiple things, all work well together with my Google Calendar. The scheduling page the users see to book an appointment is by far the best one out there. It's easy to use and understand what's going on. I don't like scheduling meetings with other people that use other scheduling tools, so convoluted.

Cons
Only thing that I thought would be nice that I haven't seen done yet is being able to specify a number of appointments available per week. So I have time available from 10am - 5pm Mon - Fri, so anyone can book an appointment. But I would like to limit bookings to 10 appointments per week, regardless what day/time they get booked. So after 10th appointment is booked, the whole week becomes unavailable. Other than this, everything works great.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We have 6 different team members. Most of the time, 2 or more team members will be involved with a client at a time. Before we were trying to juggle times back and forth on Outlook using scheduling assistant, which doesn't work if the client is not within your outlook network, which they never are. Also, we used to send a long list of meeting times out when someone would request an appointment. We would wait until we had a handful of appointment requests before sending them out because it was so labor intensive to do so. Our reminders have never been more helpful to our clients nor more consistent.

Cons
We have run across some training hurdles, especially when using "blocked" times vs appointments. For one, blocked times do not actually transfer to our calendars on Outlook. Also, if someone has multiple calendars, for instance we usually have 2 team members in every meeting, and the team pairing is not always the same, then we have to remember to block off time on every calendar that team member is associated with. Also, I still do not know exactly how the locations function works. We have 3 different offices and lets just say we've manually changed our reminders to spell out the address and have different appointment types titled with the correct location. Lastly, our team has found the mobile app to be inconsistent at best. We have used both the Android and iOS version of the application and feel like we cannot rely on the information we see within the app. Appointments on the same calendar always work, but when you have an appointment on one calendar that also blocks off time on other calendars, the reliability has been spotty and multiple times we have had to go back to our clients and request a new meeting time.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Ease of use, the ability for clients to schedule/reschedule without my help, ability to set up an e-mail automation after meeting has wrapped, custom confirmation and reminder e-mails, ability to adjust availability dependent on meeting type.

Cons
I wish we could customize the look and feel of each different custom scheduling link. Whatever look you settle on for your main link (usernamehere.as.me) becomes the standard look across all direct links (usernamehere.as.me/direct/) unless you embed the code into your website. I actually set up a second Acuity account so I could keep my "landing page" look for the first account. The way I am using it is totally unorthodox, however, and when I spoke with Acuity's team, they were even surprised in how I adapted their tool for my uses. The mobile app is also a little lacking. It doesn't have as much functionality as working with your account through a browser.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
By far, the best feature is the ability to have clients schedule their own appointments. As a busy person, I don’t often have the time for the back and forth of scheduling a client. With Acuity, they can look at my schedule, see when I’m free, and then put themselves in wherever it’s convenient for them. I also like that the calendars adjust for time zones. This is helpful if you have clients all over the country yet don’t want to have to figure out the time differences. The tutorial for Acuity was very informative and made using the program a breeze. Having the calendars sync up for groups is also very handy rather than having everyone input the info individually.

Cons
Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much. Acuity has so many features that it’s overwhelming. There is no way I could use every single feature, so it seems like overkill. It’s also made even more difficult because there is no phone support. If I had a number I could call, perhaps they could explain to me what each of the features does that way I’m not so overwhelmed. Phone support would also be handy in case something breaks, most likely from trying to figure out the different features. With something as important as your schedule, you need to have almost instant solutions, and lack of phone support means you have to wait to get a response, which costs time and money lost.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I was looking for software that A) Had the ability to seamlessly coordinate shared appointments across multiple calendars B) was REALLY easy to use and C) was HIPAA compliant. I couldn't easily find the dual calendar feature, and contacted customer support before I moved on, their executive was AWESOME. He understood my question (not easy!), pointed me in the right direction, set up the behind-the-scenes setting that I needed, was super helpful, and made me laugh. I've had a month to play with the software, and I'm really appreciating the features and ease of use. We don't use any of the customer-interfacing portion of the software, nor have we dabbled yet in the integrating of billing, but the core client/calendar management features have been SO great. I also really love the corporate culture of Acuity. Their on-screen prompts, quirky sense of humor, and human element (go read the bios of the employees), make me want to be part of their team. And their commitment to super-serve their clients made me feel like I was the most important client in the world, even though I was just one tiny little trial client checking them out. Finally, no matter how much I liked the product or the company, it would have been a dead-end if I couldn't ensure HIPAA compliance for our data protection and client confidentiality. Great features, robust security, and amazing support - all I need now are flowers and chocolate!

Cons
Well, apart from the fact that the one required feature I need (HIPAA compliant security) is only available at the highest paid level (regardless of what other features you may need), there's only one software challenge I've encountered. The daily calendar - where I can see one or all of the individual or shared calendars, is very useful - I can easily see open appointments as white space, so "at a glance" I can see what is available in an individual's calendar. The WEEKLY view, however, condenses the days' calendars, so it only shows the currently filled appointments and removing white space, making it difficult to visualize open appointments across multiple providers' calendars at one time. I have partially overcome this by creating color coded appointments for each provider (even though it's the same service), so that i can at least see quickly the volume of appointments by color. But the weekly calendar really only works effectively for me when looking at one provider's calendar at a time. There may be a way to customize the weekly view that I have not yet discovered, or a way to color-code the calendars rather than the appointments, worth an email to Shane in customer support, but regardless, not a deal breaker for me!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The developers seem to know what's happening in your world before any other calendar software seems to. I've tried a lot of them to find the perfect combo, and Acuity (even though I have a lifetime subscription to Book Like a Boss) has been my staple for 3+ years or maybe even more. The best thing about Acuity is its flexibility to adapt to your business, rather than forcing you to change your processes to suit it. If you want a subscription business that offers a certain amount of calls to your community each month, you can do that. If you wanted a storefront where people can buy and book as they please, you can do that. And all the little extra thoughts on the calendar, like blocking off time, and keeping only the right amount of appointments available, and adjusting your calendar availability quickly and easily. It's just so well thought out.

Cons
I would like to see their designs brought into the future a bit more. I find the storefront a bit dated and as such have always avoided using it even though it would have saved me a lot of time. I also find some of their extra-fancy features have unwanted side effects at times. For example, there is a genius new feature where Acuity will only let people book appointments next to each other, so you don't have big gaps in the day. However, for someone like me that has to have different blocks available for timezones, it confuses Acuity and thinks that things I want available shouldn't be. So occasionally with features, it's not quite as smart as you want it to be.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
On the hunt for a 'good' scheduling software I tried out many free trials, and among those Acuity stood out. Acuity seemed to be the only software I could find that allowed me to customize different appointment types to my needs, without compromising the ease of use for my clients (e.g., simplicity and ease of use). I was able customize my automated reminders/confirmation emails AND text messages for each appointment type which was not available with all softwares (text message reminders, personally, has greatly decreased 'no shows'). The confirmation emails and reminders also have a re-scheduling button, which helped the hassle of dealing with rescheduling emails. Another selling point was the ability to sync Acuity to google calendar. On the user side, this allowed me to set availability based on my google calendar availability, and also see my appointment in google calendar. For clients, there confirmation email allowed them to add their appointment to google calendar. In summer here are other reasons why I chose Acuity: client scheduling is ascetically pleasing and super simple, ability to create multiple different appointment types with different features (e.g., intake forms, availability, duration, reminders ect.). This review is based of the feature I needed from Acuity, although Acuity has other really great features I plan on someday taking advantage of such as Rooms and Resources---great aspect to the software.

Cons
The overall con of the software is I found there to be a slight learning curve. Personally, I would say I am pretty tech-savvy and have some programming experience, so scheduling software should be pretty straight forward. However, I did run in to some trouble when creating appointments. Here are some examples: there seems to be a couple ways to set a particular setting such as the start time of the appointment and the amount of clients who can schedule the same appointment--both can be set in the calendar availability and specific appointment type availability (wonder which setting overrides the other??), still have not figured out how to have different appointment types on the same calendar with the same availability that CAN BE be scheduled at the same time without being considered 'over-booking' (solved this by adding appointment types to different calendars in Acuity), customer support pages videos seemed to be based on a later version of the Acuity so are not very helpful. I also have a suggestion based on the intake forms--The forms are useful, and a good feature but it would be nice if the form included some display logic like other survey platforms. For example, I ask clients if they would like to receive cash or gift card compensation. If the participant chooses gift card I would like another question to display that asks if they would like a gift card for amazon or wawa.

Rating breakdown

Pros
If you're a small new business, you can not go wrong with Acuity Scheduler! It is easy to get started, book appointments, make gift certificates, add in discounts, connect it to apps such as Quickbooks, MailChimp, Constant Contact - and many others. If your a wellness worker, THIS IS the only low cost small business scheduler that offers HIPPA compliance! Our clients like the view of the site, intigration tools and SEO markers for web sites - its all there!

Cons
There are going to be problems with every program - but having a small studio that we share, it would be nice to see a wait list for clients when we are totally booked out. I needed a program that was HIPPA compliant - which is why I went with Acuity - but the forms are chunky and hard to manage. Clients don't like the way that they read - and I know that they are long - but acuity makes them seem even longer - which equates in people only doing half of the health intake forms. Also, they limit how much you can put into a section. It would be nice to expand a section, make it a little longer to read, but a simple yes or no question at the end to make the document seem less lengthy. It is hard to make a change to an instructor if they have a sub come in to teach the class - while it does not happen all that often, attaching the proper instructor to the class at the last minute would be a great benefit so that the participants know who is teaching without having to pretty much re-write the schedule and re-book clients into the changed class. Better integration with our book-keeping system - while it transfers over fairly well - differentiating tips, the use of passes (Acuity uses 'codes' for passes) showing the discounts as line items would be extremely helpful.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Quick support service - priceless! Unlimited customer intake form customization! Easy to use software. Clean design.

Cons
Could expend a bit more in customization to implement descriptions of repetitive tasks/procedures, that businesses perform for their customers. i.e. If gas station employee has to write about what he has done for every customer during his shift it would be beneficial for him to have a field that he can select saying; fill up gas tank or wash windshield or pomp all 4 tires.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
That I can do almost everything for free. It's also easy to use. And the staff are really nice and helpful. And they have decent promos on now and then it seems (like for writing a honest review).

Cons
No weekend support. Also, to get multiple calendars, I need to pay :( That won't be a con for most people but in my situation it was.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
My favorite feature about Acuity is the overall ease of use. It is not complicated to manage for someone who isn't too tech savvy. It has easy to understand instructions, modern and clean user-interface and even a little wit and personality thrown into the design, which makes this software completely unique. I know that anyone looking to manage their client appointments will be more than satisfied with the benefits and features that Acuity offers as I have referred several people including real estate agents, personal stylists, web designers, interior designers, pet sitters and business coaches. The platform is so flexible and so customizable that there really isn't anyone who can't use it for their business needs. There are even intake forms that can be individually assigned to an appointment type, which helps streamline my process of taking on new clients. I love the fact that I can create "Add-on" for specific appointment types if I want to offer an additional service, and the fact that I can hold a customer's credit card with or without charging. Like I said, there are numerous options! The last and most important benefit is that Acuity enables an easy embedding for your website so you can maintain a professional look while keeping your customers on your website.

Cons
The only thing I can think of that I would like is to have intake forms that provide IFTTT, meaning that I could create questions that only show up if a user selects a specific response. The intake forms are great for the information that they do provide, but they could use a little upgrade in my opinion.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
Besides the obvious, most important piece: it actually works (others did not), here are some other key pros. So much customization. I'm astounded at how much you can modify the client's scheduling page. There's the root code and table(s) to actually get the job done but, on top of that, you can customize everything around it: the wording, the look, the buttons, the colors, the options, etc. The wording was especially important to me. I prefer that the scheduling system gives off a feel that is congruent with the rest of the business. Clients have the option of creating an account/password if they want to manage all of their appointments. Everything syncs immediately with my personal google calendar. You create your blanket availability but then you can also manually block out times. You can 'pad' before and after appointments to make sure you're doing all you need to. You don't have to, but you can create different appointment types with different settings. You can also create a 'class' / 'group' and allow clients to reserve spots. The other crucial part for me was the client-emails. Some of the systems provided little to no customization. They were basically going to talk to your clients however they felt like. You can customize all of it with Acuity. You can word the emails the way you want to. Clients get confirmations when you schedule something, cancel something, etc. You can choose to get a copy of the emails that are sent to clients so that you know exactly how it looks. You can even add a custom note (in addition to the original custom email) so that it's two-fold customized to that particular client for that particular situation. In case I haven't been clear: it's the customization that is so crucial to me. :) All this in mind, it's actually cheaper than many of the other systems. And I want to emphasize one more time: not only is the customization crucial, but other systems flat out didn't work. The actual coding seems so solid here.

Cons
This isn't a con - it's just an unknown. It's a new practice and I'm the only staff. Once there are other service providers, I don't know how well Acuity will flow with that. Considering the solid coding that they seem to have, I'm guessing it will work very well (with a lot of customization! haha) but I thought it's fair to mention that I'm not aware of how well the system works with multiple staff members. One other tiny piece of con: how the actual system looks from the inside (on our end). It's not aesthetically joyous but I didn't buy Acuity as a piece of art that I can gaze into with a glass of wine. So I don't care that much. It works. And it lets me customize it so it integrates with my business and provide consistency and function for my clients. I love it and am relieved to have it.

Rating breakdown

Pros
-I can embed my schedule on my website. -Acuity gives me a personal link per my schedule and/or per each service. I am able to send the direct link to clients. -It is easy to set-up, and Acuity allows for multiple calendars and multiple services. -I can group my services and offer add-ons for an additional cost. -Acuity sends reminders to my clients, confirmation emails, and a thank you note to my clients. -It syncs well with PayPal and Stripe to accept payment from external vendors. -It also allows me to make packages, gift certificates, and coupons to offer to clients. -Acuity is very customizable; I can input my logo and change the colors on my calendar to indicate certain services and times. -When clients book, I can include a form that I would like for them to complete before submitting the booking, which allows for me to ensure that they read my terms and conditions and to ensure that they are a great fit for my business. -The mobile app is just as great.

Cons
-The free subscriber options are limited. You will have to pay to get the full service, but you cannot pay to add-on single aspects of a service.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Highly Customizable, and we are also able to have better control on the Time Slots allocated, blocking off days and times, intake forms help a lot, lot of flexibility built in, constant updates on new features, and also constantly evolving and getting better. Lots of tools to integrate with our website and options for different calendars, Buffer time slots, ability to give more comps to customers, Decent Customer Management. Time Zone Ca lenders etc

Cons
(For India) - Price Barrier (Converting to our Currency), Not being able to integrate payments for Indian Businesses. Could have better Customer Management - such as dash boards, assigning customers to groups, business or time spent per customer or based on type of appointments etc. (Some thing like Toggl). Multi Lingual Support for few Basic Indian Languages would help us out more.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
what brought me to acuity was the flexibility in the client view. being able to categorize and organize services was extremely important to me! also the simplicity of the client view makes it very easy for my clients to quickly pick what they want and get scheduled in faster.

Cons
two things i really really did not like about acuity. #1: no customer service: i emailed customer service when i first began about how confusing the admin (set-up) screens are. (i guess you are trying to update the interface, it still is horrendous either view i use) the rep emailed me back and simple stated (in a nutshell) acuity isn’t for every business so you can cancel before your trial. like this is my business and my clients! and i can not afford to switch back and forth between sites. if i have a problem or a question i would hope to have a customer advisor who will go the endless mile to make sure my business needs are met (one big reason i will miss squareup PHONE customer service) you feel so much more comfortable when your talking to a live agent! now i read where it stated you were trying to keep cost down and blah blah but come on these are NOT personal schedules these are BUSINESSES! and we sincerely need that level of communication to be successful. (chat, call me back.. ANYTHING!) i also thought having the paid advisors (all of which start out at 100/hr for a phone call) was just an insult to the face especially when most issues stem from your site. (i am still learning acuity and i will keep trying to navigate it best myself but i’m not sure i would advise businesses similar to myself to use your interface unless they are tech savvy, independent, and established. #2: the look of the interface (admin view)

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
Good interface; available on a variety of platforms. Almost does everything well.

Cons
Smiley face options for support mood! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Brain dead support vision and zero "we'll get right on it" attitude.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 1/10

Pros
Mostly User Friendly, Syncing Feature for Multiple Calendars, Creating Multiple "Groups," & Email Reminders

Cons
Groups: when you're schedule varies, you need to add in your availability all over again; no option for a 'cut-and-paste' from an existing group's calendar and then add/subtract time as needed.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
What I love most about this software is the direct deposit feature. As a cosmetologist, it is well known in our industry for clients to book an appointment but never make it to their appointment. There may be a few exceptions of clients who will contact their hair dresser to cancel or re-book but 80% do not bother. As a cosmetologist, we would wish for a better way to take control of securing our appointments and not allowing clients to fill up a slot they do not wish to show up for. With the direct deposit feature our clients are 90% more likely to show up for his/her appointment because they have already placed money down. Now that is how to build a clientele!

Cons
What I like less, and I may be wrong, the inability to post our best work on the scheduling. Maybe this is an available feature I have yet to spot (because you have so much too offer!).

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The depth of clever and little niche features for the price you pay is excellent value, and the tight integration with a wide variety of the different services we use (G Suite, GoToMeeting, Google Analytics etc) is pretty amazing. Acuity seem to listen hard when you request features, as I've been notified on multiple occasions when features requested in the past have been rolled out at no extra charge. The customer support team are deeply skilled with their product, and always have substantive recommendations to solve for my specific goals when I reach out. As someone with a background in Business Analysis, I can appreciate the deep skills of the Acuity staffer(s) that write the online help article, as they are consistently and surprisingly comprehensive.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
There are a few reasons why Acuity is a great calendar tool. 1. There's a free option! This is wonderful for the newer or beginner entrepreneurs (I mostly work with coaches who need to get people on their calendar to do sessions or calls - and a free tool is a great way to start) 2. Inexpensive - even once you upgrade, the pricing is very affordable. 3. It allows for you to add forms to the booking. So, I particularly like this. I used this tool for booking people on my podcast and couldn't use other tools because I couldnt customize the forms as much. I can add a requirement for people to read terms and conditions, check mark to agree to my terms, answer short questions AND long-ended questions and even upload files. It's a great way to get everything I needed to get my guests booked on the podcast. 4. You can also get a direct link to each specific calendar or event, which makes life way easier. 5. You can easily have clients see how many sessions they have or have booked. This makes it easy for them to navigate and keep up to date with when their next call should happen.

Cons
1. It does not allow me to automatically redirect to another page. I'd like to have people who booked a call to go directly to a Typeform or a page on my website, but right now it can only go to their own AS page and then from there, a user can click a link to continue and move to that next page. This makes it tricky if I want to run ads and tracking conversions. 2. I can't move the calendar events in my Google Calendar. If I do, it doesn't update the actual event in AS and it does not notify the person who booked it which is annoying. I often move appts manually and I want my invitee to be notified. 3. Doesn't seem to have a very good integration with 3rd party tools. I didnt see one for Infusionsoft.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
This product was almost perfect for us, a lot of features and integrations, friendly interface and great customer support.

Cons
Unfortunately, we couldn´t customize it enough to fit all our needs, since we have very complex registration system, I will describe our situation more in the overall experience section.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
First off price. I am an ex Mind Body user, and I have a small business. Running a business in New Zealand is not an easy thing to do in my industry. I wanted something more affordable, but Acuity Scheduling has all the features of Mind-Body, and more, that suits my business except Retail Sales and that did not bother me. I have a few elements of my business, and AS has so many well thought out features that I have always been able to do everything I wanted to do. As they continue to make on going improvements, it's great. I especially like the payment options, for my business, people can prepay. Thats really useful for a mobile and clinic in Massage. They are contactable and always respond (unlike MindBody), there vidos are easier to understand. I think I have only ever contacted them for 1 or 2 things. Its modern, has a fun vibe, and has a good list of prices for the staff levels. Its really easy to update your account, I have had a period with more staff and gone to unlimited then now back to the next plan down, super easy. No hassles.

Cons
The only thing I would like is a shop to sell products. I did like that feature in Mind Body. Asides from that its not got any cons.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Seamless integration with iCloud. I manage a lot of calendars: my work, my volunteering, my kid's events, and more. I exclusively use Apple products, so I manage these events in a way conducive​ with Apple's interface. Acuity allows me to bring in all of those complications so I can present a relatively clean picture to clients when they try to find time on my schedule. It allows us to remove the schedule back and forth - they just find a time that works for them, so we can then focus our energy where it matters most: doing our good work.

Cons
There are some options that could be easier​ to find. For example, "Direct Scheduling Links" are found in two places. However, whenever I have been confused or didn't understand how to do something​, their support team responds usually within a few hours. So I am never long without knowing and usually have a quick solution in a short amount of time.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Rating breakdown