Work Smarter —Not Harder— With an App for Scheduling Appointments
Open your business. ✔️
Set up a website and social media. ✔️
Secure a space. ✔️
Gather whatever trainings you need or permits. ✔️
Now what?
Online booking.
We’re big believers that every business can benefit from doing more online, including organizing appointments, managing classes, or scheduling meetings.
Today, we break down the best online appointment scheduling apps out there along with tips on how to pick the best one for your business.
In this article:
- Why Offer Online Scheduling?
- Benefits of Using an Online Scheduling App or Software
- Must-have Scheduling App Features: A Checklist
- 7 Best Online Scheduling Apps for Appointments, Clients, and Classes
- Best for Meetings: Calendly
- Best for Appointment-Based Businesses (Stylists, Massage Therapists, etc.): Schedulicity
- Best for Gyms, Yoga Studios, and Fitness Businesses: Schedulicity and Mindbody (Tie!)
- Best for Ecommerce: Vagaro
- Best for Tech Junkies and Freelance Creatives: Acuity
- Best for Beauty Professionals Only: StyleSeat
Why Offer Online Appointment Scheduling?
Whether you run a hair salon, work as a massage therapist, or teach music lessons, you’re here because you book a lot of appointments.
And the more your business grows, the harder it is to keep your schedule straight.
Instead of juggling a paper calendar…
Taking calls and answering DMs at all hours…
And hoping you write down appointments correctly…
Take your business to the next level with an appointment scheduling app or online scheduling software.
(This is 2023, after all!).
Online scheduling platforms are designed to save you time and money — and to grow your client base. Customers can book you any time they want, without having you on phone duty.
But with scores of appointment scheduling apps, how can you narrow down the best fit for your business?
We rounded up our favorite scheduling apps for 2022, breaking down exactly what appointment booking apps features are necessary.
What are the benefits of an online appointment scheduling app?
On the fence about online scheduling software? Let’s get specific about exactly what you get from an appointment scheduling app.
You Can Manage Your Own Schedule
Appointment scheduling apps give you access to your calendar in real-time — from any device. You can easily edit or cancel appointments 24/7.
You Save Time and Money
Are you spending your days on the phone booking appointments, interrupting time with clients to manage your schedule?
Are you throwing money at the problem, stretching your budget to pay an assistant to stay on top of your calendar?
Online scheduling software cuts down on the time and money you’re wasting, giving you more of both.
You Can Market Your Business With Ease
Any appointment booking app worth the price tag should include marketing features, like email marketing, discount management, and a business listing.
The business listing is especially key: By adding your salon or studio to the software’s online community, you benefit from their marketing efforts that bring customers to their site.
Social Media Marketing 101
Deep-dive into trends, tools, and hashtags that will take your brand – and small business – to the next level.
Get the GuideYou Can Share Information Easily and Safely
Client information can be super sensitive, and it’s not safe to share details over email or text.
Scheduling apps help you maintain all client notes in one secure platform, allowing you to provide a streamlined service without the risk.
You Can Get Paid Right Away
When you’re looking at online scheduling software, look out for a payment feature that allows clients to pay through the app.
You can take deposits (which cuts down on cancellations) and process payments all in one place, making getting paid a seamless process for you and the client.
What features should online scheduling software have?
Every online scheduling app comes with unique features, and it can be overwhelming to figure out what you need.
To help with your research, we’ve narrowed down five critical elements to consider when it comes to picking an appointment scheduling app.
- Scheduling. Scheduling software should have multiple options for booking: appointments, classes, workshops, and more.
- Marketing. These features grow your business and include promotional options, business listings, email marketing campaigns, and social media booking integrations.
- Automation. Scheduling apps should take care of daily repetitive business tasks, like client appointment reminders and follow-ups, automatic billing, and emails.
- Administrative support. Any software should deal with the logistics of staff, client management, and multiple locations.
- Cost. Scheduling software should save you money — and even help you make more of it by filling up your calendar — so apps should come with a reasonable price tag.
The Best Appointment Booking App for Every Style of Business
- Meetings: Calendly
- Service-Based Business (e.g. Stylists, Barbers, Estheticians…): Schedulicity
- Fitness: Schedulicity or MindBody (Tie)
- E-Commerce: Vagaro
- Tool Junkies: Acuity
- Beauty Industry: StyleSeat
1. Best Scheduling Software for Meetings: Calendly
If you’re looking for an simple starting point to online appointment scheduling, Calendly might be the ideal option for you.
A free account gives you access to one calendar and one type of event, but you can schedule unlimited appointments.
Calendly is also set up to easily integrate with Google Calendar, Office Outlook, and iCloud.
Paid accounts are available as well. They allow you to set up unlimited event types and include access to live support.
Calendly is the ideal what-you-see-is-what-you-get option for first-time businesses: Easy appointment scheduling and an intuitive calendar but not much else.
You need to go elsewhere for marketing tools or payment processing — which explains why most service-based businesses go for more specialized scheduling apps.
Our Favorite Calendly Feature
The Google Calendar and Office 365 calendar integrations make it easy for you and your clients to work your meetings or appointments into their regular calendar.
(If you already have an account and are looking for an Calendly alternative, check out these online schedulers.)
2. Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Service-Based Businesses: Schedulicity
We couldn’t put together a list of the best online appointment scheduling apps without mentioning our own — which we happen to think is the very best option out there.
Schedulicity is an all-in-one scheduling solution for all kinds of small businesses with marketing, client management, and payment processing.
Whether you’re starting out or expanding your business to another location, Schedulicity provides all the essential features to grow as you do. Get unlimited access to every tool your business needs.
Schedulicity Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $34.99/month | ||||
| Class bookings | Automated email marketing | Package management | Staff schedule management | |||||
| Workshop bookings | Promotion marketing | Automatic billing | Multiple locations | |||||
| Personal time off | Marketplace listing | Online payments | Business analytics | |||||
| Multiple staff schedules | Waivers | |||||||
| Waitlists |
Our Favorite Schedulicity Feature
Built-in payment processing is our favorite tool. It integrates seamlessly into the scheduling experience.
We even have an industry-low flat rate, available next-day funding, and no hidden fees. It makes getting paid a snap!
3. Best Scheduling Software for Fitness Classes: Schedulicity or MindBody (Tie)
For a More Hands-On Experience: Schedulicity
In addition to tools for service providers who make their money from one-on-one appointments, Schedulicity offers features specifically for fitness industry entrepreneurs: personal trainers, yoga instructors, and gym owners.
We’re an especially great option for smaller gyms and new fitness professionals because of our hands-on support and simple, affordable tools.
This includes:
- Class waitlists and waivers
- Settings to accommodate multiple instructors and locations
Schedulicity Class-Based Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $34.99/month | ||||
| Class bookings | Automated email marketing | Package management | Staff schedule management | |||||
| Workshop bookings | Promotion marketing | Automatic billing | Multiple locations | |||||
| Personal time off | Marketplace listing | Online payments | Business analytics | |||||
| Multiple staff schedules | Waivers | |||||||
| Waitlists |
For Busy Gyms or Fitness Studios Who Want Advanced Features: Mindbody
MindBody is an enterprise-level scheduling platform marketed towards larger businesses in the fitness industry.
The health app comes with a robust set of fitness-specific features, such as fitness performance tracking, gym memberships, and more.
MindBody also services salon, spa, and wellness businesses and includes the core essentials for online scheduling.
MindBody Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $129/month | ||||
| Class bookings | Automated email marketing | Package management | Staff schedule management | |||||
| Multiple staff schedules | Promotion marketing | Automatic billing | Multiple locations | |||||
| Personal time off | Marketplace listing | Online payments | Business analytics | |||||
| Waivers | ||||||||
| Waitlists |
The Main Difference
Schedulicity costs much less than Mindbody while delivering the same essential features.
With Mindbody and some extra money, you get more bells and whistles, including branded mobile apps.
But! Schedulicity offers free, unlimited support via email and phone.
4. Best Scheduling Software With Ecommerce: Vagaro
Vagaro specializes in appointment management for the beauty industry, offering more advanced features like an e-commerce store for salon products. (They do also offer core scheduling services that could be a fit for fitness businesses.)
Mainly used by small businesses, Vagaro can grow with you as your business expands.
Vagaro Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $25/month | ||||
| Class bookings | Automated email marketing | Package management | Staff schedule management | |||||
| Multiple staff schedules | Promotion marketing | Automatic billing | Multiple locations | |||||
| Personal time off | Marketplace listing | Online payments | Business analytics |
(See how it compares to Schedulicity here.)
Our Favorite Vagaro Feature
Vagaro offers an integrated website builder with the booking app already in place. It’s perfect for a new business that doesn’t yet have a digital home.
5. Best Scheduling Software for Tool-Junkies: Acuity Scheduling
Acuity Scheduling by SquareSpace is a super-simple platform covering all the essentials:
- Website integration
- Appointment reminder emails
- Package management
This software is an especially good option if you use SquareSpace to manage your site — you can keep all of your business needs in one place.
(Here’s how it compares to Schedulicity.)
Acuity Scheduling Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $15/month | ||||
| Personal time off | Package management | Staff schedule management | ||||||
| Multiple staff schedules | Multiple locations | |||||||
| Business analytics |
Our Favorite Acuity Scheduling Feature
The beauty of Acuity Scheduling is its ability to work with other tools. The app integrates with other softwares like MailChimp and QuickBooks.
6. Best Scheduling Software for the Beauty Business: Styleseat
Styleseat is a scheduling platform built for solo providers that includes the necessary scheduling and marketing features to help manage your client relationships.
The app is geared towards only the beauty industry with highly visual features across the board, like a customized business listing banner.
Styleseat Features
| Scheduling | Marketing | Automation | Administrative | Cost | ||||
| Appointment booking | Facebook & Instagram booking integration | Client text/email reminders | Client management | Starts at $35/month | ||||
| Personal time off | Online payments | Business analytics |
Our Favorite StyleSeat Feature
StyleSeat shows verified reviews for every business listing to help boost credibility and establish trust.
To learn more, read our comparison between Schedulicity and StyleSeat.
