We tested all three with real businesses, a salon, a plumber, and a personal trainer. Here's the honest verdict, with no fluff.
| Feature | ✓ Calendly | Acuity Scheduling | Setmore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ✓ Yes (1 event type) | ◑ 7-day trial only | ✓ Yes (4 staff) |
| Paid plan starts at | $10/month | $20/month | $12/month |
| Service menus | ◑ Basic | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Good |
| Intake / intake forms | ◑ Paid plans only | ✓ All plans | ◑ Basic |
| Collect payments | ◑ Paid plans | ✓ All plans | ✓ Free plan (Stripe) |
| SMS reminders | ◑ Paid plans | ✓ Paid plans | ◑ Paid plans |
| Team scheduling | ✓ Good | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Good (free) |
| Website embed | ✓ All plans | ✓ All plans | ✓ All plans |
| Zapier / Make integration | ✓ Native | ✓ Native | ◑ Via Zapier |
| Ease of setup (1–10) | 9.5/10 | 8.0/10 | 8.5/10 |
◑ = Available but limited. Pricing as of March 2026.
The easiest booking tool to set up and share with customers
Calendly wins for most small businesses because it's the easiest tool on this list to actually use. You create your event types (like "30-min consultation" or "Home estimate"), connect your Google Calendar, and share a link. Customers pick a time that works. You get a confirmation. No back-and-forth email chains.
In our test with a plumber, Mike set up Calendly in 22 minutes and had his booking link embedded on his website the same afternoon. Within 3 days, he'd gotten 6 new estimate requests without answering a single phone call for scheduling. The free plan (1 event type) was enough to get started, he only upgraded when he wanted to create separate event types for different service areas.
Bottom line: If you just need to stop playing phone tag and let customers book themselves, Calendly is the answer. Start free, upgrade only when you need payment collection or intake forms.
Try Calendly Free → Booking Setup Tutorial →The most powerful booking tool for businesses with multiple services
Acuity Scheduling (owned by Squarespace) is the power tool of the three. If your business has a service menu, a salon with 12 different service types, a spa with packages, a personal trainer with session packages, Acuity handles it all cleanly. Clients can book specific services, complete intake forms before their appointment, pay a deposit, and get automated reminders. All on every paid plan.
Where Acuity loses to Calendly: it takes longer to set up and there's no free plan, only a 7-day trial. The interface is also slightly more complex. But if you need the features, it's absolutely worth the $20/month. A salon owner we worked with replaced her $150/month booking system with Acuity and got the same features for $20.
Bottom line: Choose Acuity if you're a salon, spa, massage therapist, personal trainer, or any business with multiple distinct services, packages, or classes. For simple scheduling, Calendly is easier.
Try Acuity Free (7 days) →Generous free plan with 4 staff members and unlimited appointments
Setmore's free plan is genuinely impressive: 4 staff members, unlimited appointments, a booking page, basic payment via Stripe, and a Facebook/Instagram booking button. For a small barbershop, auto repair shop, or any business with 2–4 people who need booking without a budget, Setmore is hard to beat at $0.
The tradeoff: Setmore's design and features haven't evolved as quickly as Calendly or Acuity. SMS reminders require the paid plan, the integration library is smaller, and the booking page looks a bit dated. But if you need a functional, zero-cost solution that works today, Setmore delivers.
Go with Calendly. Start free. You'll have your booking link ready today and can upgrade later if you need payment collection.
Acuity handles service menus, packages, and intake forms better than any other tool here. Worth the $20/month.
Setmore's free plan covers 4 staff, unlimited appointments, and basic payments. Hard to justify paying $10–20/month when Setmore is free.
Yes. Calendly has a free plan that lets you create one event type and share your booking link. For most solopreneurs and freelancers, the free plan is sufficient. Paid plans start at $10/month and add unlimited event types, reminders, and integrations.
For service businesses like salons, massage therapists, tutors, and fitness coaches, Acuity Scheduling is generally better than Calendly. Acuity handles service menus, intake forms, packages, and payment collection natively. Calendly is better for simple meeting scheduling.
Yes. Setmore's free plan is very generous, it includes up to 4 staff members, unlimited appointments, and a booking page. The main limitations are basic reminder functionality and Setmore branding on the booking page.
Acuity Scheduling is our top pick for salons and spas. It handles multiple services, multiple staff, intake forms (great for new client info), and payment collection, all in one tool. Setmore is a solid free alternative for very small salons.
Yes. All three tools, Calendly, Acuity, and Setmore, can be embedded directly into your website as a widget. Visitors can book without leaving your site. Each tool provides an embed code you paste into your website's HTML, or a plugin for WordPress and Squarespace.