TL;DR
- Acuity Scheduling:
- $16-49/mo. Monthly subscription.
- FairCal:
- $0.10-0.25/booking. No subscription. Full features from day one.
A Acuity Scheduling alternative that charges what it costs.
Acuity Scheduling charges $16-49/mo. The infrastructure to run scheduling — servers, APIs, storage, delivery — costs roughly $0.03/booking. FairCal charges $0.10-0.25/booking. No subscription. No seat limits. No annual contract.
Why people leave Acuity Scheduling
Now owned by Squarespace
Interface feels dated
No free tier
FairCal vs Acuity Scheduling
| FairCal | Acuity Scheduling | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per use | Monthly subscription |
| Price | $0.10-0.25/booking | $16-49/mo |
| Free tier | Free actions included | 7-day trial |
| Contract | None | Monthly available |
| Zero-usage month | $0 | Still charged |
| Feature gating | All features included | Some features gated |
| Infrastructure cost | $0.03/booking | Not disclosed |
What it actually costs to run
The infrastructure cost for scheduling — servers, APIs, storage, delivery — is roughly $0.03/booking. Acuity Scheduling charges $16-49/mo.
Fair charges $0.10-0.25/booking — cost plus a small margin.
When to choose which
Choose Acuity Scheduling if
Service businesses needing payment collection with scheduling
Choose FairCal if
You want scheduling without a subscription. FairCal charges $0.10-0.25/booking. Use a lot? Pay a little more. Use nothing? Pay nothing. All features included from the first use.
Where Acuity Scheduling gets expensive
- No free plan anymore
- Integration with Squarespace ecosystem may not benefit everyone
Switch from Acuity Scheduling. Keep the features. Lose the subscription.
FairCal — $0.10-0.25/booking. No subscription. No seat pricing. No annual contract. Your first actions are free.
Related comparisons
Fair is the anti-subscription. 13 tools, one account, pay for what you use.