vs Acuity
Acuity is a great generic scheduling tool, built for therapists, tutors, coaches, and yes, beauty pros. BKRDY is built specifically for beauty businesses. You get a real designed website (Velvet Theory, The Fade Room, Opaline, and four others) with booking, deposits, and a gallery already wired in. No Squarespace bolt-on. No two separate products. Here is how the two compare.
Short answer
Acuity is the right choice if you book across many different industries, need a deep API and integrations ecosystem, or already live inside Squarespace. BKRDY is the better choice if you run a beauty business, want a designed website included, and want everything (booking, deposits, gallery, reminders) in one product instead of two.
Side by side
A line-by-line look at how the two stack up. Prices in USD. Last updated June 2026.
| BKRDY | Acuity | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $15/mo (Solo) | $20/mo (Emerging, billed annually) |
| Free trial | Free plan + 30-day trial | 7 days |
| Transaction fees | 0% (BKRDY) | 0% (Stripe/Square processing on top) |
| Designed templates | 13 named, designed templates | No website (Squarespace separate) |
| Website included | Yes | No, pair with Squarespace ($16+/mo extra) |
| Beauty-specific features | Yes (galleries, IG bio link, deposits sized for beauty) | Generic scheduling |
| Per-staff calendars | Yes (Studio plan) | Yes (Powerhouse plan) |
| Online booking | Yes | Yes |
| Smart calendar (per-date overrides, drops, capacity) | Yes (Availability 2.0) | Limited (weekly schedule + date blocks) |
| After-hours premium slots | Yes (native) | No |
| Squeeze-in slots on full days | Yes (native) | No |
| Cancellation waitlist queue | Yes (built-in, auto-claim flow) | Limited (add-on / manual) |
| Custom booking-form intake | Yes (free) | Yes |
| Deposits at booking | Yes (Stripe Connect) | Yes |
| Tips + balance due | Yes (token-gated post-appointment flow) | Deposits only |
| Customer hub (history, VIP) | Yes (built-in) | Limited |
| Reviews collection | Yes (Reviews 2.0, post-appointment, owner-moderated) | Separate tool / add-on |
| Coupons / discount codes | Yes (built-in) | Add-on |
| Social-media content cards | Yes (Content 1.0: 7 formats × 3 sizes) | No |
| SMS + email reminders | Email now, SMS soon | Yes |
| SMS marketing | Roadmap | No native (third-party) |
| Class booking | Roadmap | Yes |
| Google Calendar sync | Yes (two-way) | Yes |
| Outlook + Apple Calendar sync | Roadmap | Yes |
| API + integrations | Stripe, Google Calendar, Resend | Deep API + Zapier (1,000+ apps) |
| Squarespace integration | No (you don't need one) | Yes (native) |
| Free migration | Yes, same day | Self-serve |
BKRDY wins
Designed website included
Acuity gives you a booking widget. To get a real website, most people pair Acuity with Squarespace ($16-$23/mo extra), which means two products to manage, two bills, and a Frankenstein checkout where the design ends and the form starts. BKRDY includes the designed website. One product, one bill, one experience.
Beauty-specific by default
Galleries with before-and-after toggles. Service durations that match the trade (color, fills, full sets). Deposits sized for hour-plus services. IG-bio-link-optimized booking flow. Acuity supports beauty, but it is built to support anyone who books appointments, and that compromise shows.
Free same-day migration
Acuity migration is do-it-yourself. Export your data, re-import to wherever you go. BKRDY handles the entire move for you, free, usually the same day, including your services, hours, staff, client list, and standing recurring appointments.
Templates that look like a brand
The Fade Room reads like a late-night barbershop. Velvet Theory reads like editorial beauty. Opaline reads like quiet luxury. Whatever your brand is, one of the templates already matches it. Acuity has no design system at all. Squarespace has thousands of generic ones.
Acuity wins
No platform is right for every business. Here is where Acuity is genuinely stronger today.
You book across many industries
If you run sessions across very different categories (beauty + coaching, or therapy + classes), Acuity is more flexible. BKRDY is built specifically for beauty businesses, and we lean into that. If your business is half something else, Acuity stretches further.
You live in the Squarespace ecosystem
If you already run on Squarespace and want to keep that, Acuity is now Squarespace-owned (since 2019) and integrates natively. You can keep your Squarespace site and add Acuity scheduling without rebuilding. BKRDY replaces both.
You need deep integrations
Acuity has been around since 2011 and built out 1,000+ integrations through Zapier. If you have a custom workflow that depends on connecting your scheduler to a CRM, an email tool, and three other apps, Acuity is more battle-tested. BKRDY has the integrations most beauty businesses actually use (Stripe, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar) and adds new ones based on real customer requests.
Switching from Acuity
Your Acuity export gives us your services, hours, staff, and client list. We rebuild it inside BKRDY and walk you through the new template. Usually the same day, included on every plan, no setup fee. You stay on Acuity until you decide to flip your Instagram bio link.
Questions
Yes. Acuity exports your appointments, services, and client list as CSV. We import all of it on your behalf during free migration. You keep every name, email, phone number, and standing recurring booking.
No. BKRDY includes the website, so you can cancel Squarespace too. Most studios save $20+/mo just from that consolidation, on top of whatever they save on the BKRDY vs Acuity comparison.
Class booking (group sessions with multiple attendees) is on the roadmap for Q1 2027. If most of your revenue is class-based today, Acuity is the stronger pick. If most of your revenue is one-on-one appointments, BKRDY handles that better.
BKRDY has intake forms for new clients (allergies, prior reactions, contraindications, custom fields you define). They save to the client profile so you have them at every visit. Same as Acuity, just baked into the booking flow.
BKRDY has a more focused integration set today (Stripe, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar). If you need a custom integration that does not exist, contact us. We are building integrations based on real customer needs, not building a thousand and hoping ten get used.
No. BKRDY is free to start, so you can run both while you switch. Cancel Acuity on your own timing, after BKRDY is live and you have confirmed bookings are landing.
Yes. Acuity keeps your link live until you cancel. We set up your BKRDY site (custom domain or bkrdy.me subdomain) before you switch your bio link. You decide when to flip.
On the entry plans: Acuity Emerging ($20/mo) + Squarespace Personal ($16/mo) = $36/mo. BKRDY Solo = $15/mo. Save $21/mo, plus you keep your time managing one product instead of two.
Try BKRDY
Start free. no card. We will migrate you from Acuity for free, usually the same day.
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