Acuity Scheduling pricing 2026: plans, texts and HIPAA
2026-10-25 · 7 min read
Rather not build it yourself? We build the automation on your tools and keep it running. Get it built for me→
It's Tuesday morning and you're booking appointments from your phone between clients. Someone wants Thursday at 4, so you check the paper book, then the Google calendar your assistant uses, then text back. Two people asked about the same slot. One of them didn't show last week because nobody reminded them. Acuity Scheduling keeps coming up when you search for a fix, so what does Acuity Scheduling pricing actually come to, and which plan do you need?
I checked Acuity's pricing page on October 25, 2026. Every price and feature below comes from that page or from Acuity's own reminders feature page. Pricing pages change, so look again before you sign.
Acuity Scheduling pricing at a glance
Acuity publishes three plans. The billing toggle reads "Pay annually Save 20%" next to "Pay monthly," and the page notes that "Prices do not include applicable taxes."
| Plan | Billed annually (per month) | Billed monthly | Staff calendars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $16 | $20 | 1 |
| Standard | $27 | $34 | Up to 6 |
| Premium | $55 | $69 | Up to 36 |
Every plan comes with a 7-day free trial, and you don't need a credit card to start. The page says you aren't charged when the trial ends unless you pick a paid plan.
The plans are sized by calendar. Count the people clients actually book with. Two stylists and a front desk person who never takes appointments means two calendars, and Standard covers that.
What each plan includes
Most of the rows below are the same on every plan. The ones that change are the ones that decide your plan.
| Feature | Starter | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client self-scheduling, unlimited services and appointments | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payments and deposits (Stripe, Square, PayPal, Venmo) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom intake forms | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Confirmation, reminder and follow-up emails | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoom, Google Meet and GoToMeeting links | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your logo, colors and copy on the scheduler | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text message reminders | No | Yes | Yes |
| Waitlist | No | Yes | Yes |
| Packages, including payment plans | No | Yes | Yes |
| Memberships, subscriptions and gift certificates | No | Yes | Yes |
| Booking assistant feature | No | No | Yes |
| Multiple time zones for staff or locations | No | No | Yes |
| Remove "Powered by" branding | No | No | Yes |
| Custom API and CSS | No | No | Yes |
| Signed BAA for HIPAA compliance | No | No | Yes |
Which Acuity plan fits a small business
For most small businesses the choice comes down to two rows: text reminders and the HIPAA agreement.
Starter: $16 or $20 a month
Starter suits one person who books their own time and is fine with email reminders only. The reminders page says you can "send up to three customizable email reminders to your clients as their appointments approach," timed anywhere from a week out to an hour out. If your clients read email, that may be all you need.
Standard: $27 or $34 a month
Text reminders start here. If texts are the reason you're shopping, this is your plan. You also get the waitlist and packages, which matter once you sell sessions in blocks.
Premium: $55 or $69 a month
Premium is the only plan where Acuity signs a business associate agreement for HIPAA. If you run a therapy practice, a med spa doing medical treatments, or anything else where the appointment itself is health information, read that row twice before you start on Standard. Premium also adds more calendars and staff in different time zones.
What the pricing page leaves out
The page lists no card processing rate. Acuity takes payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo, so what you pay per transaction depends on the processor you connect. Check that processor's own rates.
Text reminders show up as a plain yes or no per plan, with a link about global availability. Nothing says how many texts you get per appointment or per month. Test it during the trial with your own phone.
I also couldn't find anything on either page about replies. Clients answer reminder texts with "can we do 5 instead" all the time, so find out where that reply ends up before you count on it.
An Acuity cost worksheet
Fill this in before the 7-day trial ends.
| Line | Your number |
|---|---|
| Calendars I need (people clients book with) | |
| Plan that covers that many calendars | |
| Do I need text reminders? (Standard or higher) | |
| Do I need a signed BAA? (Premium only) | |
| Monthly or annual billing | |
| Plan cost per month, before tax | |
| Card processing rate from my processor | |
| Total monthly cost |
If you're comparing Acuity against salon software with checkout built in, I did the same breakdown for Vagaro's pricing. Vagaro bundles reminders into its base plan and charges per bookable calendar.
The jobs a scheduling tool still leaves to you
Acuity covers the booking itself. Clients pick a time, pay a deposit, fill out the intake form and get a reminder. What it doesn't touch is the work around the booking.
The call you couldn't answer mid-appointment never reaches the scheduler, and that caller books somewhere else. A no-show still needs a text offering a new time, and someone has to decide whether the fee in your no-show policy applies. A client who comes every six weeks needs a nudge in week five, and appointment reminders can't send it because there's no appointment on the books yet.
I'd fill those gaps by building around the scheduler you already pay for instead of moving you up a plan:
- A missed call gets a text within a minute with your booking link in it.
- A no-show triggers a "sorry we missed you" text with a rebooking link, and you get a note to decide on the fee.
- A rebooking reminder goes out on each client's usual cycle.
- A short weekly summary shows bookings, no-shows and open slots, so you don't have to dig through the dashboard.
If you want the wording before any of this is wired up, the appointment reminder templates are ready to copy. The automated appointment reminders guide covers a sensible schedule and what to do with replies.
What stays human
Anything where the client is anxious, upset or asking for an exception goes to a person. A first-time client nervous about a treatment shouldn't get a canned answer, and neither should a regular who missed because of a family emergency. The system can send reminders, flag the no-show and put the right link in front of the client. You decide who gets grace and who gets charged, and you have the conversations that keep people coming back.
Acuity Scheduling pricing questions
How much is Acuity Scheduling per month?
On October 25, 2026, Starter was $16 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. Standard was $27 or $34, and Premium was $55 or $69. Prices exclude tax.
Does Acuity send text reminders on every plan?
No. Text message reminders start on Standard. Starter sends email confirmations, reminders and follow-ups only.
Is Acuity HIPAA compliant?
Acuity offers to sign a BAA for HIPAA compliance only on the Premium plan. The lower plans don't include it.
Does Acuity have a free trial?
Yes. Every plan has a 7-day free trial, and the page says you don't need a credit card.
I set up the pieces around a scheduler for salons, med spas and other booked businesses: missed-call texts, no-show follow-ups and rebooking nudges, connected to the tool you already use. Builds start at $500 one-time, then a flat monthly from $99 after an included run-in period, and you can cancel. If you'd like me to look at how booking works for you today, book the free 20 minute process audit. I'll tell you plainly which plan you need and what's worth automating.