Choosing the wrong booking software costs you time, money, and clients. The market has expanded significantly — there are now dozens of platforms competing for appointment businesses' budgets. This comparison cuts through the noise.
We've evaluated eight of the most popular booking platforms on five criteria: feature depth, ease of setup, pricing transparency, no-show reduction tools, and suitability for different business types.
How we evaluated
We tested each platform hands-on and scored across: multi-staff scheduling, SMS reminders, intake forms, payment collection, client CRM, branding control, and pricing. All pricing is as of May 2025.
1. Inboker — best for service businesses that want to grow
Inboker is an AI-powered booking engine built specifically for appointment-based service businesses — clinics, salons, barbershops, personal trainers, wellness centres, and professional services.
- AI scheduling that optimises slot allocation and reduces gaps
- Three-touchpoint SMS and email reminder system (proven to cut no-shows by 92%)
- Per-staff calendars with role-based permissions
- Digital intake forms with e-signature support
- Built-in client CRM with full appointment history
- White-label branding — custom logo, colours, and domain
- Stripe payment integration with deposit collection
- Waitlist management with automatic notifications
Pricing: £29/month (Starter), £69/month (Pro), £149/month (Business). 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Best for: Clinics, salons, barbershops, wellness centres, personal trainers, physiotherapists, consultants.
2. Calendly — best for meeting scheduling
Calendly is the dominant tool for 1-to-1 meeting scheduling — sales calls, interviews, and consulting sessions. It's not built for service businesses and lacks the features they need: SMS reminders, intake forms, and multi-service scheduling are absent or limited.
Pricing: Free (basic), $10–16/month (paid). USD pricing — expect conversion costs for UK businesses.
Best for: Sales teams, recruiters, independent consultants, coaches who primarily schedule meetings.
3. Acuity Scheduling — solid all-rounder
Acuity (now part of Squarespace) is a well-established scheduling platform for service businesses. Good feature set including intake forms and payment collection. SMS reminders are a paid add-on. AI scheduling is absent.
Pricing: $20–61/month. USD pricing. 7-day free trial.
Best for: Established service businesses already in the Squarespace ecosystem.
4. Fresha — best free option for beauty businesses
Fresha's headline is "free forever" — but that hides the 20% commission on new clients booked via their marketplace. For salons with a large share of marketplace-acquired clients, this becomes expensive quickly. For salons with an established direct client base, Fresha can work well as a free management tool.
Pricing: Free (with marketplace commissions). No subscription cost.
Best for: New salons or beauty businesses that need marketplace discovery and don't mind commission.
5. Booksy — marketplace + booking management
Booksy combines a consumer marketplace with booking management tools. Good for salons and barbershops wanting new client discovery. Commission applies to marketplace bookings. Less feature depth than Inboker on the management side.
Pricing: $29.99/month + marketplace commission.
Best for: Barbershops and salons in markets with strong Booksy consumer presence.
6. Setmore — good free plan, limited advanced features
Setmore's free plan is genuinely useful for basic scheduling — multiple staff, booking page, and card payment. The paid plan adds more features but lacks AI scheduling, advanced CRM, and white-label branding.
Pricing: Free (limited), $12–19/month (paid).
Best for: Small businesses or sole traders on a tight budget who need basic scheduling.
7. Square Appointments — payments-first scheduling
Square Appointments is built on Square's payment ecosystem. Works well if you're already using Square for in-person payments. Scheduling features are solid but secondary to the payment infrastructure. Not ideal for businesses outside the Square ecosystem.
Pricing: Free (1 location, limited), $29–69/month (paid). USD pricing.
Best for: Businesses already using Square POS for in-person transactions.
8. Treatwell — marketplace focus
Treatwell is primarily a consumer marketplace for beauty and wellness — it's where consumers go to find a salon. Its management tools are secondary and significantly less powerful than dedicated platforms. High commission rates apply to marketplace bookings.
Pricing: Commission-based (up to 30%+ on marketplace bookings).
Best for: Salons that primarily want new client discovery via a high-traffic marketplace.
Feature comparison: all 8 platforms
| Feature | Inboker | Calendly | Acuity | Fresha | Booksy | Setmore | Square Appt | Treatwell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMS reminders | ✓ | ✗ | Add-on | ✓ | ✓ | Paid | Paid | ✓ |
| AI scheduling | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Intake forms | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | Limited | Limited | Limited | ✗ |
| Client CRM | ✓ | ✗ | Basic | Basic | Basic | Basic | Basic | ✗ |
| White-label | ✓ | ✗ | Paid | Limited | Limited | ✗ | Limited | ✗ |
| Deposits | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Waitlist | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| No marketplace | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| GBP pricing | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Our recommendation by business type
- Clinics, physiotherapy, aesthetics → Inboker (GDPR compliance, intake forms, multi-staff)
- Hair salons, barbershops (established client base) → Inboker (commission-free, white-label)
- Hair salons, barbershops (need marketplace discovery) → Fresha or Booksy
- Personal trainers, fitness coaches → Inboker (package credits, group sessions)
- Consultants, lawyers, accountants → Inboker or Calendly (depends on meeting vs service focus)
- Budget-constrained businesses (basic needs) → Setmore free plan
- Square POS users → Square Appointments