Acuity Scheduling (now part of Squarespace) is one of the most widely used booking tools among coaches and therapists. It's more capable than Calendly — intake forms, packages, basic payment collection — and it's been around long enough that most practitioners know how it works.
The reasons coaches and therapists look for alternatives are consistent: cancellation fees require manual action, the session package UX is clunky for clients, there's no course hosting, and there's no unified view of a client's history across bookings. If any of those gaps are hitting you, here's what the alternatives actually offer.
What Acuity does well
- Intake forms attached to appointment types
- Package and coupon support
- Buffer times between appointments
- Group class scheduling
- Good calendar integrations (Google, Outlook, iCal)
- Squarespace integration if you use that for your website
Where practitioners hit its limits
- Cancellation enforcement is manual — Acuity can hold a card but you initiate the charge yourself
- Package UX is confusing for clients — they apply packages via coupon code, which many clients find unclear
- No automatic credit tracking — you manage remaining sessions manually
- No course hosting — if you sell courses alongside sessions, you need a second platform
- No public profile clients can browse — clients get a booking link, not a practice page
- Pricing has risen — now $20–$61/month, more expensive than early Acuity
Calendly
Stepping back from Acuity to Calendly is rarely the answer — Calendly has even fewer practice-specific features. No packages, no intake forms on the free tier, no cancellation policy mechanism.
Consider it if: You only need a simple booking link with no payments or forms, and want to cut cost.
Practice Better
Practice Better is built for health and wellness practitioners. It has scheduling, client management, forms, session notes, and a basic client portal.
Better than Acuity for: Session notes, client portal, health-focused intake forms, practitioner-specific design.
Still missing: Automatic cancellation fee enforcement, course hosting, session credit auto-tracking. Starts at $25/month.
HoneyBook
HoneyBook combines scheduling with contracts, proposals, and invoicing — a stronger fit for coaches who work through formal engagements.
Better than Acuity for: Contract and proposal workflows, professional invoicing, client onboarding automations.
Still missing: Automatic cancellation enforcement, course hosting, session credit system. $19–$79/month.
Merkora
Merkora addresses the specific gaps that push practitioners away from Acuity: automatic cancellation enforcement, a session credit system that tracks itself, and course hosting alongside booking — all from one platform.
Better than Acuity for: Automatic cancellation fee when a client cancels late (no manual action required), session credit packages with automatic drawdown tracking, course hosting with video modules and progress tracking, public practice profile clients can browse before booking.
Comparable to Acuity: Session booking, group scheduling, payment collection at booking.
Where Acuity still wins: Deeper intake form customization per appointment type, longer track record, stronger Squarespace integration if you're already on that ecosystem.
For a deeper look at what enforcement actually means in practice, see Booking Software With Cancellation Policies. To try Merkora, start free here.