Setmore vs. Acuity Scheduling: Which software is better?

Discover the differences between Setmore and Acuity Scheduling. Our detailed comparison helps you decide which scheduling software fits your business needs best.

Choosing the right scheduling software can be challenging. In the Setmore vs. Acuity Scheduling debate, which one comes out on top?

Setmore, a powerful appointment scheduling tool, and Acuity Scheduling, renowned for its client booking capabilities, have their merits.

This comparison will demystify your questions and help you make an informed decision.

Let’s delve deeper into the features and functionality of both platforms.

Setmore vs. Acuity Scheduling: At a Glance

At SMB Guide, we use a strict set of guidelines to evaluate the software in each category on our website.

We do this to give you an honest view of what you can expect from each platform.

Criteria	Setmore	Acuity Scheduling	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	9/10	9.3/10	Setmore
Appointment Workflow Automation	✅	✅	Tie
Customization Options	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Calendar Management Features	✅	✅	Acuity Scheduling
Automated Reminders and Notifications	✅	✅	Tie
Client Management & Communication	✅	✅	Tie
Automatic Rules	✅	✅	Tie
UX and UI	Simple, Easy to Use	High user-friendliness	Setmore
Integrations & API Capabilities	50+ integrations	37+ integrations	Setmore
Supported Platforms	✅	✅	Setmore
Customer Support	24/7, multiple options	Support tickets	Setmore
Pricing	Free – $12/user/mo	$20/mo – $61/mo	Setmore
Scalability	✅	✅	Tie

Setmore: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Setmore is a leading appointment scheduling software known for its versatility and user-friendly interface.

The platform offers a range of features to simplify the booking process for businesses and customers alike, including calendar sync, customizable SMS reminders, service categories and hours, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Setmore offers three plans to choose from – one free and two paid. An enterprise plan 

• Free: $0 – forever for up to four users. Unlimited appointments, accept payments, custom booking page, mobile apps, customized notifications, email reminders, integrations
• Pro: $12/user/month for up to two users ($5/month/user with annual subscription). Free plan features plus: remove Setmore branding, SMS and email reminders, recurring appointments, calendar sync, and pro integrations
• Team: $9/user/month ($5/month/user with annual subscription). Everything in the Pro plan with the option to add unlimited users.

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

Acuity Scheduling is a comprehensive scheduling software that offers various features, such as automatic reminders and confirmations, custom branding options, automated workflows, payments, and bookings, integration capabilities and more.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Pricing ranges from $20 to $61/month, before annual discounts. Plans are as follows:

• Emerging: $20/month or $192/year
• Growing: $34/month or $324/year
• Powerhouse: $61/month or $588/year

Appointment Workflow Automation

For both tools, all it takes is a few minutes to create your appointment types, set available, and provide clients with your scheduling link.

Once set up, clients will be able to select their appointment type and timeslot. If payments are required and enabled, they’ll be able to process payment to secure their spot.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Customization Options

With Acuity Scheduling, you have multiple options for customization, including:

• Whether clients see a daily or monthly calendar
• Business name and logo
• Custom scheduling instructions
• Font and button/accent color on the scheduling page.

Several settings can be toggled on and off as needed, such as the details you want visible to clients and required information before booking.

With Setmore, you cannot customize the colors, buttons, etc., or the general look and feel of the booking page.

Adding a cover photo and logo and adjusting your business hours is still possible. You can also customize the URL, add custom messages, and include a link to terms and conditions.

Both offer customization options, but because there’s more flexibility with Acuity Scheduling, it’s the winner here.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Calendar Management Features

With Setmore, you can look at your appointment calendar right when you first login, after you’ve completed the setup.

It works with Google Calendar or Outlook, but you won’t have two-way sync unless you upgrade to a paid plan.

With Acuity Scheduling, you can choose between one-way and two-way sync with Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCloud.

✅ Winner: Acuity Scheduling

Automated Reminders and Notifications

With Setmore, you get 500 email reminders with the free plan. Paid plans allow you to add SMS reminders.

With Acuity Scheduling, you can send email reminders on the base plan, but won’t be able to add SMS reminders unless you pay for the Growing or Powerhouse plans.

✅ Winner: Tie

Client Management and Communication

Acuity Scheduling offers a client tab where you can manage your list of clients. You can import or export a spreadsheet if you’re switching to or from another platform.

Click on the client name for more information, including notes you’ve kept about their appointments, intake forms, and past and upcoming appointments.

Setmore allows you to do the same, even down to importing an existing list of clients. You can make notes on customer profiles as needed, too.

✅ Winner: Tie

Automatic Rules

Both platforms have rules to adjust the time zones for each participant, set working hours, send automatic appointment confirmations and reminders, etc.

✅ Winner: Tie

User Experience and User Interface

Overall, Acuity Scheduling lacks an intuitive interface. It’s still usable but takes more effort to use out the gate than Setmore does.

The monochrome black-and-white user interface makes things a bit harder to understand at Acuity.

✅ Winner: Setmore

Integrations & API Capabilities

Setmore offers a variety of integrations, including payment gateways, video meeting platforms, and social media channels.

More integrations are available if you upgrade to a paid plan. Acuity Scheduling offers over 37 integration options of the same nature.

✅ Winner: Setmore

Supported Platforms

Both Acuity and Setmore offer Android and iOS apps for use on the go. Setmore wins here because it also offers a Windows app, which Acuity does not.

✅ Winner: Setmore

Customer Support

You have to submit a help request on the Acuity Scheduling website. It may take a while to get a response, based on staffing and availability.

There is no phone support available. Setmore, on the other hand, offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, email, and phone.

✅ Winner: Setmore

Pricing

Acuity Scheduling offers flat-rate monthly pricing, and Setmore offers per-user pricing.

Setmore wins overall because the $5/user price point with annual billing means that you can have up to 12 users for the price of the most expensive Actuity plan.

And, Setmore offers a free forever plan, while Acuity offers a 7-day trial.

✅ Winner: Setmore

Scalability

Both platforms can scale with your business as you grow. If you need more than the 36 staff or locations included with Acuity Scheduling, you can inquire about the Enterprise plan, which is scaled and customized according to your business needs.

With the Setmore Team Plan, you can have unlimited users, but if you need more than what the plan offers, there’s also an enterprise plan with a customized plan and pricing.

✅ Winner: Tie

Standout Features of Setmore

Setmore offers a free plan, whereas Acuity doesn’t offer one. Granted, the free plan is limited on Setmore, but it gives users a bit more flexibility.

Setmore also offers a callback feature that allows users to request a callback, which is not something Acuity offers.

Standout Features of Acuity Scheduling

Acuity Scheduling offers a vault for credit cards so you can charge clients later, if and when needed.

This is not a feature available in Setmore.

Setmore vs. Acuity Scheduling: SMB Guide’s Verdict

Generally speaking, we always try to declare a winner in our head-to-head comparisons of two platforms.

The truth is both these platforms scored the same in their individual reviews, and because of that, we have to declare a tie.

It’s impossible to declare a clear winner here because they share many of the same features.

It will come down to the nuances in the software and how they compare to your specific business needs.