Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling 2026: Price for 6 Hosts Compared

For six people taking bookings, Acuity Standard is the cheaper plan: $27 a month billed annually, or $324 a year, for up to six calendars on one account. Calendly charges per seat, so six people on Standard cost $720 a year and six on Teams cost $1,152. Calendly wins for one person, because its free plan exists and Acuity has none. Past that, Acuity wins on price and Calendly wins on sales routing.

Prices on this page were read on Calendly's pricing page and Acuity Scheduling's plans page on 17 October 2026, in US dollars, at list price. Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 105 meeting scheduling tools for its ranking as of 16 October 2026. Calendly is listed as an alternative to 52 other tools there, the most of any tool in the category, and Acuity is the third most-listed alternative.

The cost at six hosts

The scenario is six people who each need their own bookable calendar, billed annually at list price for 12 months. Calendly's pricing page states that seats are required for users to connect calendars and host meetings, so six hosts need six seats. Acuity prices by calendar on a single account, and Standard includes up to six.

Each annual total is the monthly rate times 12. Six hosts on Acuity Standard cost $324 a year, and the same six on Calendly Standard cost $720, a gap of $396 a year before anyone needs round-robin. Add round-robin and the Calendly bill rises to $1,152 on Teams, more than three times Acuity's. Billed monthly, Calendly Standard is $12 a seat and Teams $20 a seat, per the plan data on Calendly's pricing page read on 19 October 2026, so the monthly column is $12 or $20 times six seats times 12 months.

The gap widens with headcount. Twenty hosts on Acuity Premium cost $660 a year, because Premium covers 36 calendars for one price. Twenty Calendly Teams seats cost $3,840 a year. A business that adds staff every quarter should notice that Acuity's bill only moves at 6 and 36 calendars, while Calendly's moves with every hire.

Where Calendly is cheaper

For one person, Calendly is free. Its Free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, which covers a consultant who offers a single 30-minute call. Acuity has no free plan: its FAQ states that it does not offer free appointment scheduling at this time, and the 7-day trial needs no card. One person on Acuity Starter pays $192 a year.

For one person who needs more than one event type, Calendly Standard at $10 a seat costs $120 a year, still below Acuity Starter. Standard adds unlimited event types, multiple calendar connections, Stripe and PayPal payments, automations and reminders, and HubSpot and Mailchimp integrations. The crossover arrives at the second host: two Calendly Standard seats cost $240 a year, and two Acuity calendars need Standard, so Calendly stays cheaper up to two people. At three hosts Calendly Standard costs $360, above Acuity Standard's flat price, which is where Acuity takes the lead and keeps it.

Where Acuity is cheaper

Acuity's flat per-account pricing is the whole argument. Standard covers six calendars for less than three Calendly Standard seats, and a clinic, salon or tutoring practice rarely needs anything a seat-priced tool offers. Standard also carries features Calendly does not sell at any price: text reminders, an appointment waitlist, memberships and packages, and gift certificates. Payments run through Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo on every Acuity plan, while Calendly's Free tier has no payments and Standard supports Stripe and PayPal only.

Premium at $55 a month adds the AI Booking Assistant, HIPAA BAA signing, removal of the Acuity logo, multiple time zones for staff and locations, and custom API and CSS. A practice that bills health insurance or needs a BAA gets it at $660 a year on Acuity. Calendly's pricing page lists audit log compliance and SSO on Enterprise, which starts at $15k a year with a 50-seat minimum, and does not mention a BAA.

What Calendly sells that Acuity does not

Calendly is built for meetings where the host's team decides who takes the call. Teams adds round-robin and team scheduling, lead qualification and routing, centrally managed event types, and sends meetings to Salesforce, Marketo and Pardot. An SSO security add-on is optional on Teams. Acuity's plan pages list none of those: there is no round-robin, no routing form and no CRM push, because its model is a client choosing a staff member and a service.

That split decides the buyer more than the price does. An inbound sales team with six reps pays $1,152 a year on Calendly Teams and gets lead routing in return. The same six people on Acuity pay less than a third of that and get a booking page where the prospect picks the rep, which most sales managers will not accept. For the full feature rundown on each side, read our Calendly review and Acuity Scheduling review.

Free plans and trials

Calendly Free is a real plan: one event type, one calendar, a customizable booking page and the browser extension, free for as long as you want. Notetaker and Callie, Calendly's AI assistant, are not included on Free and are sold as add-ons from Standard up. Acuity offers a 7-day trial with no card and then requires a paid plan, so a solo host testing both tools can run Calendly for months and Acuity for a week.

The trial length matters for a service business with several staff. Seven days is enough to set up services and a few calendars, but not enough to see a full billing cycle of reminders, no-shows and package sales. Budget the first month of Acuity Standard at $34 billed monthly as the real trial, then switch to annual once the setup sticks.

The weak points on each side

Calendly's weak point is the seat. Every host needs one, the Free plan stops at one event type, and the two features a service business wants most, text reminders and packages, are not on its plan pages. Enterprise starts at $15k a year and 50 seats, which puts SSO and audit logs out of reach for a 20-person company unless it buys the SSO add-on on Teams.

Acuity's weak point is the missing free tier and the lack of team routing. Starter covers one calendar, so a second staff member moves the bill from $192 a year to the Standard price, and the Acuity logo stays on the booking page until Premium. Text reminders start at Standard, not Starter, so a solo host who wants SMS pays for six calendars to get it.

Which to pick

Pick Acuity Standard if three or more people take client appointments, money changes hands at booking, or you need text reminders, packages or a waitlist. At $324 a year for six calendars it is the cheapest plan in this comparison that fits a team.

Pick Calendly Teams if the host is assigned by the team rather than chosen by the client: inbound sales, recruiting panels, customer success. Round-robin, routing and the Salesforce push are worth the $1,152 a year for six seats only when they replace a manual assignment process.

Pick Calendly Free for one person with one meeting type, and Calendly Standard for one or two people who need several event types and card payments. Both cost less than Acuity's entry plan.

Pick Acuity Premium when the practice needs a HIPAA BAA, 7 to 36 calendars or its own branding on the booking page. At $660 a year it costs less than four Calendly Teams seats.

Where this fits in the wider stack

Our best appointment scheduling software guide ranks the wider field, and best AI scheduling apps covers planners that move your own calendar rather than taking bookings. Anyone leaving Calendly on price should read Calendly alternatives and our Cal.com review, since Cal.com's free plan covers more than Calendly's. Teams that also need a phone line for the call can start with how to choose a business phone system. Once the meeting is booked, best AI meeting assistants handles the notes and video conferencing pricing compared handles the call. Toolradar's Calendly and Acuity Scheduling pages and its meeting scheduling ranking give the tool-by-tool view.

How we checked

Calendly prices, plan features and the seat rule come from Calendly's pricing page, read 17 October 2026 in US dollars. Acuity prices, calendar limits and the free-plan FAQ come from Acuity's plans page, read the same day. Each total multiplies the monthly rate by 12, reads the price as list before tax and before any promotion, and assumes the plan stays unchanged for the year. Techpresso runs no test lab, so nothing here is a hands-on result. These are not quotes. Check both pages before you buy.

Cite this: Techpresso, "Calendly vs Acuity Scheduling in 2026: Which Costs Less for a Team of 6?", October 2026.

FAQ

Is Acuity cheaper than Calendly?

Yes, from three hosts upward. Acuity Standard covers up to six calendars for $324 a year, while six Calendly Standard seats cost $720 and six Teams seats cost $1,152. For one or two people Calendly is cheaper, because its Free plan costs nothing and Standard costs $120 a year per seat.

How much does Calendly cost for a team of six?

Six seats on Calendly Standard cost $60 a month billed annually, or $720 a year. Six seats on Teams, the plan with round-robin and lead routing, cost $96 a month billed annually, or $1,152 a year. Billed monthly, the same seats cost $12 on Standard and $20 on Teams, so six hosts pay $864 or $1,440 a year (Calendly's pricing page, read 19 October 2026).

How much does Acuity Scheduling cost?

Starter costs $16 a month billed annually ($20 monthly) for one calendar. Standard costs $27 billed annually ($34 monthly) for up to six calendars, and Premium costs $55 billed annually ($69 monthly) for up to 36. There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial.

Does Acuity have a free plan like Calendly?

No. Acuity's own FAQ says it does not offer free appointment scheduling at this time, and the free trial lasts seven days. Calendly Free allows one event type and one calendar connection with no time limit.

Which one handles payments?

Both, with different reach. Acuity takes Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo on every plan, including Starter. Calendly connects Stripe and PayPal from Standard upward and takes no payments on Free.

Does Acuity do round-robin scheduling?

Acuity's plan pages list no round-robin, routing forms or CRM push. Calendly Teams includes round-robin and team scheduling, lead qualification and routing, and sends meetings to Salesforce, Marketo and Pardot, which is the reason a sales team pays its higher seat price.

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