Do a little Googling around to find the best scheduling app for your business, and you’re likely to come across Schedulicity and Booksy…
Which isn’t surprising. Both apps are made for appointment-based service providers, like hair stylists, barbers, and massage therapists.
The question is: What’s the difference between the two apps?
And how do you know which one to choose?
In this blog, we’re breaking down both apps to learn more about them — covering everything from their customer service to their best features — to help you decide which scheduling app is best for your business.
Schedulicity vs Booksy: A Breakdown
What are their top features?
Booksy: Like Schedulicity, Booksy was built for folks in the beauty industry: hair stylists, barbers, estheticians, or massage therapists.
So, they have some handy tools for marketing your business and managing your clients.
- Email and social media templates: Stay in touch with your clients about upcoming sales or discounts.
- Inventory management: With inventory built right into your scheduling app, you always know how much you have in stock, and you can easily sell products to clients. (Just like Schedulicity!)
- Payment processing: Collect payments from clients when they book or in person. Securely store client credit cards on file. (What are Booky’s payment processing fees? More on that below!)
Head over to Booksy’s features page to see a full list of features.
Schedulicity: Schedulicity is made with service providers in mind, too. From barbers to estheticians and massage therapists, we have you covered!
- Pay-by-text: Schedulicity offers pay-by-text and -QR code, allowing you to text a client their bill straight to their phone, eliminating any awkward “tipping moment.”
- Killer marketing tools: Schedulicity’s marketing tools include automated emails to welcome new clients, say thank you after appointments, and send out birthday deals for their special month.
- Promotion management: Schedulicity’s Deal Manager is a unique feature that allows you to create promotions, or discounts, and share them on social media or via email marketing.
Be sure to check out Schedulicity’s full list of valuable features to help your business!
What’s their customer service like?
How important is customer support to you?
Do you prefer help via email, chat, by phone? Or do you like researching your own questions?
It’s important to know what kind of support to expect before signing up with a scheduling app.
Let’s take a look at what Booksy and Schedulicity have to offer.
Booksy: According to their Capterra page, Booksy customer service offers support via email, chat, and phone. They also have FAQs for folks who like to find their own answers.
Schedulicity: Schedulicity’s award-winning support team is known as The Rockstars. They’re here for you via email, in-app chat, and by phone.
Need help with a feature?
Or want to learn more about how Schedulicity can help you increase traffic?
The Rockstars are always there to help!
How much do they cost?
How much does Booksy cost compared to Schedulicity?
Pricing is an important piece to look at when researching which scheduling app is right for you.
Let’s break down both apps’ pricing costs.
Booksy: Booksy offers a free 14-day trial to learn their app before being charged. However, they do not offer a free version businesses can use.
From there, Booksy’s subscription pricing starts at $29.99/month and goes up, depending on the amount of providers you have on the account.
They charge $20 more/month for each additional provider or staff member.
So, if you’re a larger operation, you’ll be looking at higher subscription rates.
Booksy also offers a Pro account with more robust features, like inventory and reporting.
Schedulicity: Schedulicity offers one subscription: Schedulicity Unlimited.
Starting at $34.99/month, Schedulicity’s Unlimited Plan comes with all the tools you need to manage and grow your business, including automated marketing, text reminders for your clients, payment processing, and more.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to check out Schedulicity’s price comparison chart, so you can see how it compares to other scheduling software.
What are their reviews like?
When researching the best online booking apps, you want to know what other businesses have to say about them, right?
Of course. Capterra is a great source for real user reviews of software, like Booksy and Schedulicity.
Let’s see how the two apps stack up on Capterra!
Booksy: Booksy has a 4.4/5 on Capterra — with over 300 reviews. Booksy’s overall rating is fairly high, but they fall short in two important areas: Alerts/Notifications (3.2) and Calendar Management (3.9).
Visit Booksy’s Capterra page for full reviews and more details on feature ratings.
Schedulicity: With a 4.5/5 rating for Ease of Use, Customer Service, and Value for the Money, Schedulicity has a 4.4/5 overall rating on Capterra.
The biggest stat? Schedulicity comes in at 5/5 for appointment scheduling and a 4.7/5 for client management!
Visit Schedulicity’s full Capterra page to learn what other businesses have to say about their Schedulicity account.
Do they have a mobile app?
Booksy: Yes, Booksy has an iOS and Android app for both you and your clients. So, you can manage your calendar on the go, and your clients can book with you from anywhere.
Schedulicity: Absolutely! Schedulicity has mobile apps for you and your clients, as well. You can find them in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android users.
From the Schedulicity business app, your info is fully synced, so you can manage your business on the go: appointments, schedule preferences, sales history, and more — right from your phone or tablet.
Who are their competitors?
Taking the time to research other competitors is always a smart step. Here’s a breakdown of some of Booksy’s and Schedulicity’s biggest competitors.
Acuity: Acuity is a great fit for well-established salons and other appointment-based businesses that need more customizable features (including integration with external marketing and financial tools).
- Like Schedulicity, Acuity allows businesses to customize their booking page, and clients are able to book their own appointments.
- Acuity, Vagaro, and Schedulicity can all manage multiple locations and service providers, which makes these schedulers ideal for growing salons and spas.
- Both scheduling platforms offer discounts, deals, and packages to upsell services and products.
Mindbody: Mindbody’s main focus is on the fitness industry. While they’ve recently expanded features to appeal to the hair and beauty industries, their bread and butter is in yoga studios, gyms, and any class-based business.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Mindbody’s app is beautiful. Since they’re targeting businesses that book classes and workshops and folks who might care more about branding, that’s not surprising.
- They have a partnership with ClassPass, so if that’s something you use for your business, it could be a huge selling point.
- With such a beautiful app and a ton of special features, there’s no surprise Mindbody is one of the most expensive scheduling softwares out there.
Vagaro: Vagaro is best for larger salons, especially ones that depend on Yelp for a lot of their business.
- Vagaro is all about scalability. They can handle larger businesses with a staff of twenty or more, and they can help manage multiple locations.
- One of their neatest features is their payroll management feature which allows your staff to clock in and clock out.
- They also have several integrations with other useful tools, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Yelp.
So, How Do You Pick the Best Scheduling App for Your Business?
Finding the best scheduling app for your business means researching the best ones out there, knowing the features you need, and of course, chatting with their support teams about any questions you have.
Our biggest piece of advice is to watch demos, too. This gives you a chance to see what it’s like to use the software before you dive in.
