Websites · Alternative
An Acuity Scheduling alternative built into your own website
Acuity Scheduling is a booking tool with calendars per staff member or location, email and text reminders, intake forms and payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo, from 20 USD a month billed monthly. OneCraft Sites has an AI agent build booking into your own website or app, with services, staff, availability and bookings in the site's own database and double bookings refused there.
Updated , competitor details checked . Acuity Scheduling is a trademark of its owner. OneCraft is an unrelated product and claims no affiliation with or endorsement by it.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
The short verdict
Acuity is the better pick for a practice that needs text message reminders, packages, memberships and gift certificates, several payment providers and online meeting links, ready the day it signs up. OneCraft suits a small practice or studio that wants booking to be part of its own website or app, with services, staff, availability and deposits in the site's own database, paid through its own Stripe account, and no separate booking subscription.
| Feature | Acuity Scheduling | OneCraft |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Starter $20, Standard $34, Premium $69 a month billed monthly; $16, $27 and $55 a month billed annually checked 2026-10-20 | Free $0 with 100 credits a month (build and preview, no publishing), Starter $8 with 500, Pro $25 with 1,500, Pro+ $125 with 7,500 |
| Staff and locations | 1 calendar on Starter, up to 6 on Standard, up to 36 on Premium; separate calendars per employee or location checked 2026-10-20 | The bookings guide: services, staff with weekly availability and time off, a slot picker; staff count set by your own data |
| Scheduling rules | Appointments auto-adjust to each client's local time zone checked 2026-10-20 | Refused in the database by a booking function that locks the staff row and checks overlaps |
| Email reminders | Email reminders: Automate custom email updates, reminders, and confirmations for appointments checked 2026-10-20 | A signed in visitor can be mailed at their own address (20 an hour); no scheduled reminder emails to guests |
| Text reminders | Text reminders (check global availability): Send automated SMS reminders to reduce no-shows, on Standard and Premium checked 2026-10-20 | No SMS |
| Payments | Payments via Stripe, Square, PayPal, Venmo checked 2026-10-20 | Stripe only, as a direct charge on your own account; platform fee Starter 2%, Pro 1%, Pro+ 0.5% |
| Deposits | Starter accepts payments and deposits checked 2026-10-20 | The deposits guide: a deposit at booking, the balance paid online later or marked paid in person |
| Packages and memberships | Offer appointment packages (including payment plans) and Sell subscriptions, memberships, and gift certificates on Standard and Premium checked 2026-10-20 | Class passes, memberships, subscriptions and gift cards each have a capability guide |
| Intake forms | Custom client forms: Use intake forms to collect client details, terms and conditions, and more checked 2026-10-20 | The forms guide: custom forms and applications with a responses table in the admin |
| Calendars and meetings | Integrations with Google Meet, Zoom and GoToMeeting for online meetings checked 2026-10-20 | Add to calendar links and .ics downloads; no live calendar feed |
Where Acuity Scheduling is better
Text message reminders
Acuity sends automated SMS reminders on Standard and Premium. OneCraft cannot send SMS at all, and it cannot send scheduled reminder emails to guests, so no show reduction by reminder is Acuity's strength.
More ways to pay
Acuity takes payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo. OneCraft takes Stripe only, with no PayPal and no cash on delivery flow.
Video meetings and calendar links
Acuity integrates with Google Meet, Zoom and GoToMeeting. OneCraft offers add to calendar links and .ics files, but no live calendar feed and no meeting integration.
Ready on day one
Acuity works as soon as you set your hours, with a 7 day free trial and no card. A OneCraft booking page is written by the agent, and you check and adjust it before publishing on a paid plan.
Where OneCraft is different
Booking that is part of your site
The booking flow lives on your own pages at your own domain: pick a service, a staff member, a day, a free slot, then details. There is no third party page or embed, and the same site can sell classes, gift cards or products.
Double bookings refused in the database
A booking function locks the staff member's row, checks the availability rules and overlapping bookings, and only then inserts, so two people pressing Book at the same moment cannot both win the slot. Visitors cannot change a booking's time or staff directly.
No separate booking subscription
OneCraft plans run from $8 to $125 a month and include the whole website. Deposits and payments go to your own Stripe account with a platform fee of 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan.
How booking works on a OneCraft site
The bookings guide creates services with a length and price, staff with bios and photos, weekly availability rules and time off, and a bookings table. A visitor picks a service, a staff member, a day on a month grid, then a free slot computed from the rules minus that day's bookings, fills in their details and books. Signed in clients see their bookings and can cancel while the time is still in the future. The admin area has a day and week view with confirm, cancel and done.
Reminders, honestly
This is the biggest gap. OneCraft has no SMS, and the site can only email a signed in person at their own address or the owner, 20 an hour. So the dependable reminders are the in site notification bell for signed in clients, a local reminder on the phone when the business also has an app, and add to calendar links on the confirmation page. If no shows cost you money every week, Acuity's text reminders may be worth its price.
Deposits instead of reminders
A deposit is the other way to cut no shows. The deposits guide charges a percentage or a fixed amount when the booking is made, records the balance due date, and lets the client pay the balance online from their account or the owner mark it paid in person. Refunds happen in your Stripe dashboard. Show the refund terms before the client pays.
Who should stay with Acuity Scheduling
Stay with Acuity if SMS reminders, packages, video meeting links or several payment providers keep your diary full, or if you want booking working within the hour. Move if you want booking built into your own website or app, can live with email and on screen reminders for signed in clients, and take card payments through Stripe.
Questions people ask
Can a OneCraft booking page sync with Google Calendar?
Not live. There is no calendar feed that updates by itself. Clients get Google Calendar and Outlook links and an .ics download for each booking, and staff see bookings in the site's admin day and week views. If your staff must see bookings inside their own calendar automatically, Acuity is the better fit.
Can clients book without an account?
The booking function accepts bookings from visitors who are not signed in, with their name, email and phone. To see and cancel their bookings later they sign in, because only a signed in person can read their own bookings. Payments and deposits work for both through Stripe Checkout.
Can I take a deposit at booking?
Yes, on a paid plan with Stripe connected. The deposit can be a percentage or a fixed amount per service, with the balance due a set number of days before the appointment. The balance is paid online later or marked paid in person, and the admin can filter bookings with a balance due.
Does OneCraft send booking confirmations?
The confirmation page shows the time and the owner's note that they confirm by email. Automatic email is limited: a signed in client can be mailed at their own address and the owner can be alerted. Signed in clients also see updates in the notification bell, and there is no SMS.
Is OneCraft cheaper than Acuity?
As a plan, Starter is $8 a month for the whole website against Acuity Starter at $20 billed monthly, and it includes a hosted database for the booking site. Deposits and payments carry OneCraft's platform fee plus Stripe's own fees, so add those to the comparison.
Try the website side of OneCraft
The button opens the generator with a starting prompt already filled in. Change the wording to match your own work before you run it.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .