Acuity Scheduling vs Cal.com in 2026

Compare Acuity Scheduling, Cal.com, and Connections Booking for booking pages, pricing, setup, and choosing a tool.

By Uncommon Comforts · 2026-10-09

Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.

Acuity Scheduling lets businesses set up a branded booking page where clients can self-schedule appointments. ^[1] Cal.com provides scheduling features in its free plan, including unlimited kinds of appointments, calendar syncing, workflow automation, payments through Stripe, the card payment service, and Cal Video. ^[2] Connections Booking gives clients a booking link where they can pick a time without logging in. ^[3] Acuity Scheduling says its features help with self-scheduling on a branded booking page, and with accepting payments and tracking bookings and revenue in one place. ^[1] ^[1] Cal.com offers calendar syncing, workflow automation, Stripe payments, and Cal Video in its free plan. ^[2] Connections Booking claims clients open a booking link and pick a time without logging in. ^[3] Hosts can reschedule, cancel or mark a no-show from the booking, bookings use Google Calendar busy times, and each booking can get its own Google Meet link. ^[3] ^[3] ^[3]

Option	Own fee	Card fee
Acuity Scheduling	Starter plan: two prices listed, $16 per month and $20 per month; Standard plan: two prices listed, $27 per month and $34 per month. ^[4] ^[4]	not published
Cal.com	Teams tier: $16 per user per month; Organizations tier: $37 per user per month; Enterprise tier: custom pricing. ^[2] ^[2] ^[2]	not published
Connections Booking	not published.	not published.

The short answer

Acuity Scheduling lets businesses set up a branded booking page where clients can self-schedule appointments. ^[1] Cal.com provides a free plan with unlimited kinds of appointments, calendar syncing, workflow automation, payments through Stripe, the card payment service, and Cal Video. ^[2] Connections Booking is a booking option made for letting clients choose a time through a booking link without logging in. ^[3] Acuity Scheduling says it meets needs around appointment self-scheduling, payments, booking and revenue tracking, and calendar connections. ^[1] ^[1] ^[1] Cal.com says it meets needs around scheduling, payments, and video conferencing. ^[2] ^[2] ^[2] Connections Booking says it supports booking pages, Google Calendar busy times, Google Meet links, and booking management actions. ^[3] ^[3] ^[3] ^[3]

What Acuity Scheduling and Cal.com are built for

Acuity Scheduling says businesses can set up a branded booking page where clients can self-schedule appointments. ^[1] Acuity Scheduling says businesses can collect client information with custom intake forms and prevent double-bookings with calendar sync. ^[1] Acuity Scheduling says businesses can offer packages, subscriptions, gift certificates, add-ons, and coupons. ^[1] Acuity Scheduling says it accepts payments and tracks bookings and revenue in one place. ^[1] Cal.com says its free plan includes unlimited event types, calendar syncing, workflow automation, Stripe payments, and Cal Video. ^[2] Cal.com says it provides a public API for building integrations and scheduling components that can be added to apps. ^[2] ^[2] Cal.com says it connects with Slack, Salesforce, and more than 100 other tools. ^[2]

What Connections Booking is built for

Connections Booking is made by the team that publishes this site. ^[3] Connections Booking lets clients open a booking link and pick a time without logging in. ^[3] A host can use booking actions to reschedule, cancel, or mark a no-show from the booking. ^[3] A client can give a reason when cancelling, and the host's cancellation email shows it. ^[3] A booking type can have a price, and it charges for it. ^[3] Each booking can get its own Google Meet link. ^[3] Booking uses Google Calendar busy times and writes events to it. ^[3] Hosts can list dates that are closed or open only for set hours. ^[3] Hosts can add their own questions to the booking form. ^[3]

Pricing and fees

Acuity Scheduling lists two prices for its Starter plan: $16 per month and $20 per month. ^[4] Acuity Scheduling lists two prices for its Standard plan: $27 per month and $34 per month. ^[4] Cal.com says its Teams tier costs $16 per user per month. ^[2] Cal.com says its Organizations tier costs $37 per user per month. ^[2] Cal.com says its Enterprise tier has custom pricing. ^[2] The page does not publish a price for Connections Booking.

Getting started

Acuity Scheduling says signing up does not require a credit card and can be done with email. ^[1] Acuity Scheduling invites businesses to get started for free. ^[1] Cal.com says individuals can use unlimited and free scheduling features. ^[2] Cal.com says its free plan includes calendar syncing, workflow automation, payments through Stripe, the card payment service, and Cal Video. ^[2] Connections Booking says a host opens their booking pages from the bookings area. ^[3] Clients can use the booking link to choose a time without logging in. ^[3] The confirmation has an Add to calendar option. ^[3]

Things to check before you choose

Check whether the booking flow matches how clients find and choose times. Check whether the calendar connections, payment options, and video needs match the tool's stated features. Check how each option handles questions on booking forms, cancellations, and changes. Connections Booking claims hosts can add questions, manage bookings, and set a cancel notice, a daily booking limit, and gaps between bookings. ^[3] ^[3] ^[3] Acuity Scheduling and Cal.com state different scheduling features, so compare the features that matter for the way the business runs. ^[1] ^[2]

How to choose

A person who needs a branded appointment page can look at Acuity Scheduling because it says clients can self-schedule on a branded booking page. ^[1] A person who needs a free scheduling option can look at Cal.com because it says its free plan includes unlimited event types and scheduling features for individuals. ^[2] ^[2] A person who needs clients to pick times from a booking link can look at Connections Booking because clients can open the link and choose a time without logging in. ^[3] A person who needs Google Calendar busy times and Google Meet links can look at Connections Booking because it says bookings use Google Calendar busy times and can get Google Meet links. ^[3] ^[3]

Frequently asked questions

Is Acuity Scheduling free to start?

Acuity Scheduling says businesses can get started for free, and it says signing up does not require a credit card. ^[1] ^[1] A person comparing tools should check which features are available during that starting option and which needs require a paid plan.

Does Cal.com have a free scheduling option?

Cal.com says its free plan includes unlimited event types, calendar syncing, workflow automation, Stripe payments, and Cal Video. ^[2] Cal.com also says its scheduling features are unlimited and free for individuals. ^[2] A comparison should check whether those stated features match the booking process needed.

Can Connections Booking let clients choose a time without an account?

Connections Booking claims that clients open a booking link and pick a time without logging in. ^[3] It also claims that clients can choose their own time zone and see slots in that time zone. ^[3] A person comparing tools can check whether this matches the client experience needed.

Does Connections Booking support calendar and meeting features?

Connections Booking claims that it uses Google Calendar busy times and writes events to it. ^[3] It also claims that each booking can get its own Google Meet link. ^[3] A person choosing a tool can compare these needs with the calendar and meeting options stated by other tools.

What should be checked before choosing Acuity Scheduling vs Cal.com?

A person comparing Acuity Scheduling and Cal.com should check the features needed for scheduling, payments, integrations, and client booking. Acuity Scheduling states that it connects to calendars, payment processors, marketing apps, and automation platforms. ^[1] Cal.com states that it connects with Slack, Salesforce, and more than 100 other tools. ^[2]

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. ^[3] Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product. ^[3]

Try Connections Booking