Acuity Scheduling Review: Is This App Good For Your Business?

Main Acuity Scheduling Features

Here is an overview of the main Acuity Scheduling features. They are well-balanced and have a strong emphasis on self-service.

• Client self-scheduling
• Third-party integrations
• Integrations with online meetings apps
• Notifications, reminders, and follow-up emails
• Text message reminders
• Appointment packages
• Automatic time zone conversion for clients
• Multiple time zone support
• Customization options

The Acuity features are well organized and best serve small businesses that rely on direct contact with customers, primarily in the service industry, training centers, cosmetics studios, salons, spas, fitness centers, health and dental clinics, and similar businesses.

The appointment booking and emphasis on client self-service make things simple for everybody. The clients can see the available dates and times and schedule their booking at the time and date best for them. This type of client booking simplifies online bookings, as Acuity also enables canceling and rescheduling without any hassle, as clients do this on their own.

Pricing Plans

Acuity Scheduling comes in three-tier price plans:

There are discounts for users who’ll opt for the annual plans will get slight discounts on the prices:

Acuity offers a custom plan adjustable to the business’s exact needs for businesses with more extensive needs, namely with more than 36 locations/staff. The business needs to contact Acuity’s support team to find out more about this option. All the paid plans can be tested for free for seven days, and after the free period ends, you either buy a plan or cancel the service. All Acuity paid plans come with access to the advanced features:

• Embedding the scheduler into a website
• Vault credit cards for charging clients later
• Let clients tip you (optional)
• Offer discount vouchers or coupons
• Offer classes, workshops, and group events
• Upsell clients with check-out add-ons
• Optimize availability options
• Advanced reports about appointments, no-shows, and performances
• Sync with Google Calendar, iCloud, Outlook.com, Exchange, and Office 365
• Integrations with QuickBooks and FreshBooks for invoices and accounting
• Integrate with MailChimp, AWeber, and similar platforms
• Integration with 500+ apps via Zapier

To see how Acuity Scheduling fares against its main competitors, I’ve prepared the table below outlining the features from the most popular plans from several cloud-based scheduling platforms.

How Acuity Scheduling Fares Against The Competition

I’ll use Setmore and SimplyBook, two other cloud-based scheduling platforms, to compare Acuity’s scheduling features. The features of all of these platforms are well-designed to suit the needs of small to medium businesses. Still, Setmore has some advanced features that fit the needs of large companies, which Acuity lacks.

Customer support is another aspect that Acuity lacks compared to its competitors, especially with a lack of a live chat option. Acuity’s price is lower compared to the competitors, which is quite appealing considering the range of features it offers. However, I need to note that Acuity lacks staff scheduling management, which many competitors offer.

Acuity Scheduling User Experience

The Acuity Scheduling user experience is close to perfect. The platform has intuitive navigation and an easy to observe the interface, with quite an extensive list of customizations to make things easier for the managers and clients.

The main menu is on the right side, with important links on top of the window on desktops. The upper right corner holds the calendar where you can add/remove available dates, and the central part of the page has the available times. The great thing is the color coding you can add, making everything observable and easy to note.

Of course, the many customizations available make Acuity even better, with client profiles where you can add names, prices, manage times and dates of appointments, and more. The scheduler can also be customized, and not only can you add your brand and logo, but you can also follow client appointments from all over the world.

Acuity Scheduling has an automatic time-zone conversion for clients, so no matter where your clients are, the scheduler makes the necessary time conversions to suit everybody’s needs. The most expensive plan also allows multiple time zones for different locations and staff.

Acuity Scheduling Integrations

To help its clients, Acuity Scheduling allows plenty of third-party integrations and syncs with essential tools. Acuity Scheduling directly integrates with:

Calendar Programs:

• Google Calendar
• Outlook
• iCloud

Email Marketing

• MailChimp
• AWeber
• Mad Mimi
• Constant Contact
• Convert Kit
• Drip

Video Conferencing:

• Zoom
• Google Meet
• GoToMeeting
• Join.me

Invoicing Programs:

• Classic FreshBooks
• New FreshBooks
• QuickBooks
• Xero

Form Builders:

• Wufoo

Conversion and Referral Tracking:

• Google Analytics
• Referral Candy
• Facebook Ads

Website Builders:

• Squarespace
• WordPress
• Weebly
• Joomla
• Wix
• Drupal

Social Media Platforms:

• Facebook
• Instagram

CRM Systems:

• Pipedrive

Acuity Scheduling also offers integrations with over 200 other apps supported by Zapier. Some of these are:

• Salesforce
• Active Campaign
• Infusionsoft
• Google Glass
• Capsule CRM
• Highrise
• Basecamp

By integrating the scheduling platform with other apps and platforms, a small business simplifies many things like accepting payments, sending notifications and email blasts, keeping invoices, improving accounting, and more.

Customer Support

Acuity Scheduling has good customer support in place, with email/help desk support, a significant FAQ section, and a forum where people exchange tips and tricks on the platform. Acuity Scheduling also has an extensive knowledge base with articles on every particular topic related to the software’s features and use.

On top of this, there is chat support, but no phone support, something many people have found as a downside. Still, the overall quality of the customer support team is good, with timely responses to all inquiries. Many users have notes on late email responses, but the consensus is that Acuity Scheduling has good customer service in place with adequate response time. The two inquiries I sent for testing the service were responded to on time.

Acuity Scheduling User Reviews

From the many online reviews on Acuity Scheduling, the general opinion is that the platform is easy to use and has an intuitive design and navigation. There are many notes on the optimization opportunities that many Acuity users have found appealing and valuable.

Many users have emphasized how the client self-service helps them better manage their business. Namely, they don’t lose time finding appointment times that suit both sides, as the Acuity platform manages this, and the clients themselves book the appointments that work best for them.

There are some negative reviews in the sea of positive reviews, and these mainly pertain to the appearance and lack of color coding for different appointments. The other notes I found on the Acuity Scheduling software are related to the lack of text reminders for the least expensive plan, which many small businesses start with.

Conclusion

Acuity Scheduling is a part of the Squarespace family of online apps and is now among the most popular appointment scheduling apps. This cloud-based platform is ideal for small businesses from the service industry who rely on direct contact with customers. Acuity allows client self-scheduling, where the business sets up the available times, and the client makes the appointment based on mutual availability and convenience.

All the other features are designed to help with appointment scheduling and smooth the running of small businesses. The app integrates with payment processors Stripe, Square, PayPal, allowing in-app payments. It also integrates with online meeting apps, accounting apps, and other third-party software. I find the customization aspect very interesting, as it allows different types of small businesses to arrange the features to their liking and needs. Overall, an affordable and valuable cloud-based appointment scheduling app.