Acuity Scheduling handles appointments beautifully for solo professionals. Bookaster goes further for salons, clinics, gyms and restaurants — with confirmations and reminders sent from your own WhatsApp number, a point of sale, loyalty, and calendars for your whole team.
Get 3 months of the Professional plan free on every new account — no credit card required. Cancel anytime.
Acuity Scheduling, part of Squarespace, is trusted appointment-scheduling software for solo professionals and small teams who need a clean online calendar and intake forms. If that is all you need, it does the job well. But local service businesses usually run on more than a calendar: a front desk that takes walk-ins, a team of staff with separate schedules, a till that rings up sales and prints invoices, and above all a way to stop no-shows before they happen. That is where Bookaster is built differently. Bookaster keeps the 24/7 online booking page you would expect, then adds the operational layer local shops actually live in — automatic confirmations and reminders sent from your business's own WhatsApp number, a full point of sale with invoicing, customer CRM and loyalty, per-staff calendars and commissions, Google review requests, and automatic refilling of freed-up slots. It is available in 7 languages, and new businesses get 3 months of the Professional plan free, with no credit card required. The comparison below is about fit: where each tool focuses, and why booking-heavy local businesses tend to choose Bookaster.
| Feature | Bookaster | Acuity Scheduling |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp confirmations & reminders | Sent from your own WhatsApp number | Email/SMS notification focus |
| Primary focus | Local service businesses & teams | Scheduling for solos & small teams |
| Point of sale & invoicing | Built in | Scheduling-first, not a full POS |
| Customer CRM & loyalty | Built-in CRM with loyalty | Client list & records |
| Per-staff calendars & commissions | Multi-staff scheduling + commissions | Individual & small-team scheduling |
| No-show recovery | Freed-slot auto-refill | Scheduling-focused |
| WhatsApp booking bot | Customers book over WhatsApp | Web-scheduling focus |
| Google review requests | Built-in review requests | Not a core feature |
| Free trial to start | 3 months Professional free, no card | Trial then paid plans |
Bookaster sends confirmations and reminders straight from your business's WhatsApp number — the channel your customers already read. Messages get opened, appointments get remembered, and no-shows drop. There is even a WhatsApp bot so clients can book by chat.
Beyond booking, Bookaster gives you a point of sale with invoices, a customer CRM with loyalty, per-staff calendars and commissions, Google review requests, and reports. It is the day-to-day operating system for a salon, clinic, gym or restaurant.
Multiple staff, separate schedules, freed-slot auto-refill and 7 languages make Bookaster a fit for busy local teams. New businesses get 3 months of the Professional plan free with no credit card, so you can switch and see the difference risk-free.