Acuity Scheduling (now part of the Squarespace ecosystem) is one of the most elegant tools on the market for online bookings. Customizable forms, deep Squarespace integration, great for consultants who live online. BookHero serves a different purpose: managing the day-to-day of a physical business - barbershop, hairdresser, physio, esthetics, pet grooming. It's not Acuity bad, BookHero good; it's each made for a use case, and the use cases aren't the same.
Who each was built for
Acuity shines when
- You're a consultant, coach, online trainer with Zoom/Meet calls.
- You already use Squarespace for your site - native integration.
- You need pre-booking forms with custom questions.
- You sell services with online payment (paid sessions in USD/EUR).
- You work alone or in a small team of interchangeable professionals.
Acuity falls short when
- You manage a physical business with in-person checkout.
- You have a team with complex individual schedules and time off.
- You need automatic per-staff commissions.
- You sell products at the end of the service (shampoos, creams, etc.).
- You need invoices with tax ID and PT fiscal rules.
- You want native WhatsApp reminders.
- You operate in your local market and want support in your language.
Full side-by-side table
| BookHero | Acuity | |
|---|---|---|
| Online booking with shareable link | ||
| Customizable pre-booking forms | ||
| Squarespace integration | - | |
| Automatic email reminders | ||
| SMS reminders | ||
| Native WhatsApp reminders | ||
| Online payment (Stripe) | ||
| In-person checkout (POS) | ||
| Split payments cash + card | ||
| Sell products at checkout | ||
| Team with individual schedules | ||
| Time off and exceptions per staff | ||
| Automatic per-staff commissions | ||
| Auto-assign (round robin) | ||
| Invoices with PT tax ID and fiscal data | ||
| Automatic PT/EN bilingual | ✗ (EN only) | |
| Human support in Portuguese | ||
| Self-service setup in <10 min | ||
| Revenue reports per staff/service |
When Acuity is the right choice
- Consultant / coach / trainer purely online.
- Already have a Squarespace site and want integration.
- Working with international clients (no need for PT invoices).
- Focus on rich pre-booking forms.
When BookHero is the path
- In-person service business (barbershop, hairdresser, esthetics, physio, pet grooming, etc.).
- Team with individual schedules and commissions.
- Need for checkout, PT invoicing, WhatsApp reminders.
- Operation with local clients in your country.
The quick choice
Online work with no in-person checkout or team? Acuity. Physical business with everything that implies? BookHero, clearly. No reason to use a brilliant tool in the wrong category - the friction you feel daily costs more than it seems. Create a free BookHero account and in 10 minutes you have a real page operating.