Atelier Booking vs Acuity Scheduling
Acuity (now part of Squarespace) is a flexible general-purpose scheduling tool. The comparison with Atelier comes down to depth versus breadth.
| Dimension | Atelier | Acuity Scheduling |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Free plan · paid from $29/mo ($49 BYO processor) | Tiered; entry near ours |
| Grows with team size? | No — same at any size | Per-user team accounts |
| Per-location fees | $25/mo per extra — full plan at each | Higher tier (multi-calendar) |
| Cut of your bookings | Never — $0 per booking, no commission | — |
| Features | Unlimited staff on every plan; higher plans fold the add-ons in | Payments mid-tier; packages & memberships higher tier |
| Your own domain | Day one — no upgrade fee | No — embed on a site you host elsewhere |
| Your own texting number | Yes — two-way; with text reminders on every paid plan | No — shared number; STOP opts out platform-wide |
| AI receptionist for texts | $39/mo — books by text, staff approve by text | None |
| Booth renters paid directly | Included — each pro's own account, no extra % | No — one processor account per Acuity account |
| Whose website ranks? | Yours — full site on your domain, structured data from live booking data | Minimal — scheduling pages carry no SEO surface |
| Payment processor | Atelier Payments (Stripe), or your own Stripe/Square/Clover | Squarespace payments |
What Acuity does well
Acuity is genuinely flexible — it works well for a huge range of one-on-one appointment use cases, has a polished consumer-facing booking page, integrates cleanly with Squarespace sites, and supports calendar syncs, intake forms, and basic payments.
How they price
Acuity's public pricing has tiered monthly plans, with the entry tier supporting one calendar and higher tiers supporting multiple calendars, advanced features (like packages, memberships, and HIPAA-compliant intake), and team accounts.
How Atelier prices
Free Starter plan; paid plans from $29/month ($49 with your own processor). Acuity is tier-based: their entry tier sits close to ours (good for solos doing one-on-one consultation work), but key capabilities are tier-locked — payment collection requires the mid-tier, packages and subscriptions require a higher tier, and team accounts add per-user fees. Once you need the full feature stack on a small team, the Acuity bill catches up to or passes Atelier's — and Atelier offers things Acuity doesn't (multi-location, the directory, staff profile pages, and on Website Pro the loyalty program). Verify current Acuity pricing on their site.
Where Atelier is different
Atelier is purpose-built for service businesses with a team, walk-in dynamics, multiple service categories, and the operational depth that comes with running an actual shop or studio. The unified inbox, the staff substitution flow, the loyalty program, the staff profile pages with per-pro reviews — these are all standard features built specifically for the way service teams work, not generic add-ons.
Where Acuity might fit better
If you're a solo service provider, a coach, a consultant, or a one-person shop running simple one-on-one bookings — particularly if you already use Squarespace for your website — Acuity is a strong, well-integrated choice.
Who each is best for
Acuity fits solo operators with simple appointment needs, especially those on the Squarespace ecosystem. Atelier fits teams, multi-location operators, and any business where service-team workflow (substitutions, walk-ins, multi-service bookings, per-pro reviews) actually matters.
Start free. Take real bookings today.
Free to start — and your first month of any paid plan is free. Paid plans from $29 a month, every team size.