Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling: Which one should you use?

Can you use a social media profile to learn more about a lead when they schedule an appointment? Find out in this Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling comparison.

Businesses struggle with scheduling appointments, especially if they receive large applications.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Using a scheduler can help simplify the booking process.

Now, two schedulers that have received praise are Bookafy and Acuity Scheduling. They claim to streamline appointment booking for both startups and large enterprises.

However, how do they compare, and what makes them unique?

Let’s find out in this Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling comparison.

Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling: At a Glance Table

Criteria	Bookafy	Acuity Scheduling	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	8/10	9.3/10	Acuity Scheduling
Appointment Workflow Automation	✅	✅	Bookafy
Customization Options	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Calendar Management Features	✅	✅	Tie
Automated Reminders and Notifications	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Client Management & Communication	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Automatic Rules	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
In-Meeting Tools	❌	❌	Bookafy
Meeting Templates	✅	✅	Tie
UX and UI	Bit outdated	High user-friendliness	Bookafy
Integrations & API Capabilities	✅	✅	Bookafy
Supported Platforms	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Customer Support	Live chat Self-help	Support tickets	Tie
Pricing	Free – $10/mo (per user)	$20/mo – $61/mo	Bookafy
Scalability	❌	✅	Acuity Scheduling

Bookafy: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Bookafy is an all-rounded appointment scheduler that helps all business types simplify booking meetings. The platform automates real-time calendar syncing, sending reminders, and video conferencing.

Businesses also get lead routing, where the software matches clients with a representative who has expertise. Unlike Acuity, Bookafy offers an optional white-label rebrand.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Bookafy’s pricing model is straightforward, offering 3 plans. The pricing on the premium packages is one of the best in the market compared to competitors like Calendly.

Now, the entry package is free, making it suit budget-conscious businesses. The other two plans rise with tiers offering more functionality than the free package.

Here are the plans:

• Free: $0
• Pro: $9 per user monthly
• Pro+: $13 per user monthly

Acuity Scheduling: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Acuity Scheduling is a scheduler created by Squarespace to help medium to large enterprises streamline appointment booking.

The software caters to a broad spectrum of businesses with meetings, consultations, and appointments.

Some of its key functionalities include time-zone conversion, automated appointment reminders, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Acuity pricing model is straightforward and offers 3 plans. You can choose between monthly or annual subscriptions, with the annual plan saving you 20%.

Unlike Bookafy, Acuity lacks a free plan, but customers can access a week-long trial period to test the software.

Here are the plans:

• Emerging: $20 monthly
• Growing: $34 monthly
• Powerhouse: $61 monthly

Appointment Workflow Automation

Bookafy has provided admins with an auto-assigning feature that’s standard on all plans. Unlike Acuity, Bookafy allows you to create skill-based meeting routing.

The software then assigns a staff member with the ideal expertise to the appointments.

Not only that, you can set a round-robin assignment and allocate it to a team member with free time. The best part is that Bookafy allows for a location-based assignment to team members near a customer’s location.

Now, businesses with recurring appointments will find Bookafy offers it in all its plans. You can create recurring meetings and customize the duration and frequency.

Sending follow-up messages is also standard on Bookafy. The software also integrates with CRMs like Constant Contact for sending advanced content.

Acuity Scheduling also provides businesses with an auto-assigning feature in its plans. It allows admins to create a round-robin and location-based assignment similar to Bookafy.

However, the skill-based appointment routing is not available on Acuity.

Acuity also provides recurring appointments on all its plans. You can create recurring meetings and personalize the frequency and duration according to your preferences.

Acuity also supports sending follow-up messages. The software also integrates with popular CRMs like Mailchimp for sending advanced messages.

✅ Winner: Bookafy

Customization Options

Bookafy and Acuity Scheduling allow admins to create and manage different meeting types. Whether they’re recurring, group, or one-on-one.

Now, admins can set parameters like the duration of appointments and even tweak them to their liking.

However, Acuity offers more functionality than Bookafy. Acuity supports various appointment gift certificates and packages.

Both platforms also allow the setting up of booking policies such as payment options, cancellation fees, advance notices, and more.

You can also add a buffer time between meetings and tweak availability settings to avoid burnout. However, Bookafy offers more control, allowing admins to create skill-based appointment routing limits.

Customizing the scheduling page on Bookafy is complex since admins need to have coding skills. However, it offers higher levels of customization than Acuity.

You can customize almost every aspect of the scheduling page, such as email content, links, color, and more.

On the other hand, Acuity scheduling page customization is basic. However, it still offers decent options through its native editor.

You can customize intake forms, email content, and more.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Calendar Management Features

Bookafy and Acuity Scheduling allow managing multiple staff members’ schedules and resources. Admins can assign various permissions and their availability to staff members and have an overview of their shared calendar and schedules.

Now, Bookafy provides skill-based appointment routing to match a team member with an appointment based on expertise.

Acuity lacks this feature but allows admins to create multiple appointment types and assign each to a team member.

Acuity and Bookafy offer a time-zone converter that helps customers schedule meetings depending on their location.

Not only that, both softwares can adjust daylight saving time and even showcase time zones on the scheduling page.

Rescheduling and cancellation of appointments on both softwares is simple. You can cancel or modify appointments from the platforms’ calendars.

Then, send SMS or email to customers as reminders or confirmations. Customers can also use the confirmation SMS or email link to cancel or reschedule appointments.

Lastly, Bookafy and Acuity integrate with calendars like Outlook, Google, and iCal. Admins can sync the calendars to help lower double-booking chances.

✅ Winner: Tie

Automated Reminders and Notifications

Bookafy allows admins to send 2 reminders per interval before a meeting. You can also send a confirmation message once a client books a slot. Now, Bookafy will enable users to send calendar-specific alerts to a phone number or email.

Users can customize the messages’ content, including the subject line or text. Not only that, Bookafy allows you to send follow-up emails up to 6 times a year.

Unlike Bookafy, Acuity allows users to send up to 3 reminders in intervals before meetings. The software also offers the capability to send confirmation emails once clients book appointments.

Admins can also send calendar-specific notifications to clients and modify the message’s content using custom templates. Like Bookafy, Acuity allows users to send follow-up emails up to 6 times a year.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Client Management and Communication

Bookafy only allows sending 2 reminders before appointments, and the intervals are not flexible like on Acuity Scheduling.

The only two options available for sending reminders are 24 or 48 hours before the meeting. The good thing is that you can send the reminders through SMS or email.

Now, Bookafy allows users to receive notifications through email or SMS for cancellations, new bookings or reschedules.

Not only that, customization of the message content is available on Bookafy, where you can tweak the basic elements, like links and text.

Acuity, on the other hand, you can send up to 3 reminders before a meeting. The platform allows you to customize the frequency and timing of the reminders to your liking, such as 1 hour, 24 hours, or a week.

Now, when receiving notifications, Acuity goes an extra step besides SMS and email. It allows users to utilize webhooks for sending customers confirmation emails, updating their CRM, and generating invoices.

Not only that, customization of message content on Acuity is available. Unlike Bookafy, users can preview the content and use the text editor to enrich the message seamlessly.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Automatic Rules

Bookafy cannot match Acuity’s auto cancelation policies flexibility. Bookafy only allows admins to set a single global policy for all team members, appointments, and customers.

Time zone adjustments on Bookafy are also rigid, only displaying offset for both parties. It lacks a preview of the meeting time in either of the time zones.

Now, setting working hours on Bookafy requires users to select timing from a drop-down menu. It can be time-consuming and cumbersome for people with many appointments.

Acuity, on the other hand, allows users to create multiple policies for each meeting type, team member, and customer.

An admin can create a lenient policy that targets loyal customers and a strict one for high-ticket meetings.

Now, Acuity time zone adjustment is far better compared to Bookafy. The software showcases the time zone name and previews meeting times for both parties.

Setting working hours on Acuity is also easier because it provides a drag-and-drop feature that simplifies adjusting time and displaying availability.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

In-Meeting Tools

Bookafy and Acuity provide admins with a meeting minutes feature to capture crucial information during meetings.

The features allow you to rate or add comments to the minutes during the interview. You can also edit and share the collected information with other staff members or customers.

Now, the Acuity meeting minutes feature is more advanced compared to Bookafy. You can create custom quizzes and forms to collect data from the leads.

Additionally, you can attach links and files to the minutes and synchronize them with a CRM system.

In note-taking, Bookafy is more convenient than Acuity. You can use voice, emojis, or hashtags to express the notes. However, Acuity lacks such functionalities of note-taking.

In file sharing, both Bookafy and Acuity allow you to upload reports, files, and invoices. Plus, share them through email.

However, Acuity offers better protection for data sharing than Bookafy. Users can encrypt files and store them on cloud servers.

In real-time collaboration features, Bookafy outshines Acuity. Besides the common integrations with Zoom for live video meetings, Bookafy goes an extra step.

It allows users to use AR gadgets like ARKit to create engaging client experiences. Not only that, you can use tools like Kahoot to motivate clients.

✅ Winner: Bookafy

Meeting Templates

In Bookafy, you’re limited to creating meeting templates with predefined variables such as pricing, availability, and other specific parameters.

Unlike Acuity, Bookafy limits the creation of meeting template rules. Acuity, on the other hand, offers more flexibility, allowing admins to create meeting templates with multiple variables.

Not only that, you can use different rules on them, like offering redeemable coupons or permitting reschedules.

In customizing the meeting templates, Bookafy edges Acuity. You can use a drag-and-drop editor to add elements and preview the templates on any device.

Acuity only offers a basic form-based editor to customize the meeting templates, and users cannot preview the meeting templates.

✅ Winner: Tie

User Experience and User Interface

Bookafy provides a modern interface that’s easy to navigate. The dashboard is the central hub, and accessing any feature is one click away.

Furthermore, you have the option to customize the platform by adding or removing widgets, adjusting colors, or choosing fonts that align with your brand’s identity.

Not only that, the experience on the platform is also satisfying. Acuity Scheduling has a dull interface, but its dashboard is flexible and easy to navigate.

The design of the software is more advanced, providing more diversity than Bookafy.

Onboarding is also seamless, where the platform has simple instructions and helpful customer support.

✅ Winner: Bookafy

Integrations and API Capabilities

Bookafy integrates with over 500+ systems, including HR tools like BambooHR and payroll platforms. The integrations help simplify appointment booking and payroll management all within the platform.

Users looking to add a custom application or retrieve data from the database will find an open API.

It offers more flexibility than that found on Acuity Scheduling. Acuity integrates with over 200+ integrations, including systems like Gusto, but the stack is not as extensive as Bookafy.

The software also allows you to retrieve data through a Restful API. The Acuity API has limitations because it focuses on updating and retrieving data compared to Bookafy’s open API.

✅ Winner: Bookafy

Supported Platforms

Bookafy is a web-based platform accessible through a browser on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

However, unlike Acuity, the software lacks a mobile app. Accessing the booking app requires users to utilize the web version of the platform.

Acuity is a web-based platform users can access through a Windows, macOS, and Linux browser. Unlike Bookafy, Acuity offers a mobile application that is compatible with Android and iOS.

It makes it easy for admins to access the appointment pipelines on the go. The good thing is the app syncs well with the web version seamlessly.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Customer Support

Bookafy offers only two channels for reaching customer support: email and ticket. The response times on both can take up to 6 hours.

The platform also has a customer education resource, a help center, and a vibrant forum. The guides’ content in the help center is in-depth, covering the platform’s inner workings.

Acuity also offers two channels for contacting customer support: email and ticket. The response times can take up to 24 hours. Acuity also has a resource center with a blog.

The articles in the blog are in-depth, covering various topics like marketing.

✅ Winner: Tie

Pricing

The pricing models of Bookafy and Acuity are similar, offering 3 packages, but they have some distinctions.

Bookafy offers tiered plans, with the entry package being free. The paid plans start at $9 per user, and the topmost package costs $13.

Like Acuity, Bookafy offers a week-long trial period for software testing. Acuity also offers tiered plans like Bookafy but lacks a free plan.

The entry plan costs $20 monthly, and the topmost package costs $61. Similar to Bookafy, Acuity offers a week-long trial period but lacks a demo.

✅ Winner: Bookafy

Scalability

Bookafy offers scalable packages, providing more advanced features as you rise through the tiers. The plans suit budget-conscious businesses and can also cater to large enterprises looking for advanced automation.

Acuity also offers scalable plans that rise with tiers. The packages fit different types of users, mainly growing and large teams.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Standout Features of Bookafy

Besides offering the basic scheduling features, Bookafy has 2 unique ones that make it stand out against the competition.

They include:

Custom API development

It is a service that Bookafy provides to admins who need to integrate advanced systems into their existing ones. The software allows users to create custom functionalities that match their needs.

Customer social profile display

It is a feature that showcases customers’ social media profiles whenever they schedule a meeting. It comes in handy for personalizing client interactions.

Standout Features of Acuity Scheduling

Acuity is a flexible software, making it one of the best schedular currently in the market. Let’s look at the 2 features that make it stand out.

Multiple location support

It is a feature that allows businesses to set their pricing, availability, and team members at every location. You can also sync your calendars on varied platforms and locations.

Coupons and gift certificates

It is a feature that allows you to create gift certificates and coupons to sell to customers when scheduling appointments. You get the option of managing and tracking coupon expiration and usage.

Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling: SMB Guide’s Verdict

Our Bookafy vs. Acuity Scheduling comparison cements that both softwares are powerful enough to help streamline appointment scheduling. The platforms share similarities in their integration stack and API.

Not only that, they are web-based platforms accessible through a browser. However, each software has its uniqueness. For example, Acuity has a mobile app, which gives it an edge.

That’s why, after comparing all factors, Acuity is the winner of this comparison and here is why:

Acuity offers admins multiple location support, where they can set the availability and pricing of their services in clients’ neighborhoods.

The software also allows the creation of coupons and gift certificates to sell to clients when booking appointments. Combining all these factors and features is why Acuity wins this duel.

Bookafy is a decent alternative offering a client social media display whenever a customer books an appointment.

Plus, a custom API development for admins that need to integrate advanced applications into their existing ones. However, the lack of a mobile app and free plan are reasons it loses to Acuity.

Choose Bookafy If:

You need an affordable scheduler to route meetings and use an open API to customize apps.

Choose Acuity Scheduling If:

You are a mid to large enterprise looking to create and manage intake forms and streamline appointment workflows.