Calendly, Square Appointments, Acuity or HelpWin Book Button: which fits a small service business?

The comparison

A filled dot means the vendor's own page states it. A hatched dot means we did not find it stated, which is not the same as the vendor lacking it.

Which one fits which job

You take a payment or deposit when someone books

Calendly, Square Appointments and Acuity each state payment support on their pricing pages (Calendly lists it on a paid plan). The Book Button page does not mention payments, so if a deposit is essential to your booking, start with one of those three.

You quote jobs before you schedule them

Trades such as landscaping and roofing often price a job before choosing a time. HelpWin's Book Button page states that customers can pick a time or ask for a quote. The other three pricing pages do not say either way, which is not the same as no: check each vendor's help pages before you rule one out.

You want to start free

Calendly's page lists a free plan, with limits you should read before relying on it. Acuity says it does not offer free scheduling and offers a free trial instead. We could not read Square's plan names or prices from its page text, so we make no claim about its free option.

You want booking on a site you already have

Square's page says a booking widget can be embedded in an existing website, and HelpWin's page says Book Button goes onto Wix, WordPress, Squarespace or any site with one line of code. Calendly's page mentions adding it to your website. The Acuity page text we read did not say. Our route map shows the install path for each builder.

What we could not verify

• Square Appointments: plan names and prices were not in the page text we could read, so its price cell is empty rather than guessed.
• Features per plan: a feature listed on a pricing page may belong to a higher plan. Where a cell depends on a plan, it says so.
• Prices change. Each quote below carries the date we read it. Check the vendor's page before you buy.
• We did not use the tools. This is a reading of each vendor's own statements, not a hands-on test of how well each one works.

How we compared

• We read each vendor's pricing page on the date shown and copied the exact sentence behind every cell.
• A filled dot means the page states the feature. An empty hatched dot means we did not find it stated, which is not the same as the vendor lacking it.
• No vendor paid for a place here, and none saw the page before it was published.
• HelpWin sells Book Button, one of the four. The only reason to trust the comparison is that every cell carries its own quote, so you can check any of them yourself.

What each page says

Questions

Is Calendly free for a small service business?

Calendly's pricing page lists a free plan and calls it always free. Taking payments at booking is listed on a paid plan, so a business that wants deposits needs one.

Does Acuity Scheduling have a free plan?

Its pricing page says it does not offer free appointment scheduling at this time, and it offers a free trial instead.

Which of these handles quote requests for jobs?

Of the four, only HelpWin's Book Button page states quote requests. The other three pricing pages do not say either way, so check each vendor before ruling one out.

Related guides

• What is the fastest way to take online bookings with the website you already have?
• Can customers book your business online? A website checklist
• How much revenue do missed booking requests cost your service business?

HelpWin publishes this guide and sells online booking tools for local businesses, including the upcoming Book Button. We wrote it to be useful whether or not you ever use them. Published 2026-10-24, updated 2026-10-24, by HelpWin.