A free Acuity Scheduling alternative for teams that book meetings
Acuity Scheduling is an appointment book for service businesses such as salons and clinics. It has no free plan: one account starts from $20 a month. 42min has every feature on the free plan, for any number of people.
No credit card · Free plan · Routing, round robin and meeting polls included
What Acuity costs as more people take bookings
Acuity bills one account by the number of calendars on it, and each person or location who takes bookings needs a calendar.
- 1 person
Starter$20 a monthPayments, intake forms, email reminders, webhooks$240per year42min$0 per year - 2 to 6 people
Standard$34 a monthText reminders, a waitlist, packages and gift certificates$408per year42min$0 per year - 7 to 36 people
Premium$69 a monthThe API, custom CSS, a HIPAA agreement, no Acuity logo$828per year42min$0 per year
Compare Acuity Scheduling features to 42min
42min's free plan next to the cheapest Acuity plan that offers each feature.
| CAPABILITY | 42min | Acuity |
|---|---|---|
| BOOKING PAGES | ||
| People who take bookings | Unlimited | 1, 6 or 36, by plan |
| Calendars you can connect | Google, Microsoft, iCloud, Zoho, Yahoo, Fastmail, Yandex, any CalDAV server | Google, iCloud, Outlook.com, Office 365, Exchange |
| Booking page languages | 14, set per event type | 12, one per account |
| Recurring meetings | Free | Starter, $20 a month |
| Paid bookings | Free | Starter, $20 a month |
| Meeting polls | Free | Not available |
| TEAMS | ||
| Round robin | Free | Standard, $34 a month, needs two calendars |
| Group events with a seat cap | Free | Starter, $20 a month |
| ROUTING | ||
| Routing forms | Free | Not available |
| Rules with AND / OR conditions | Free | Not available |
| AUTOMATION | ||
| Reminder emails | Free | Starter, $20 a month, up to 3 |
| Follow-up emails | Free | 1 on Starter, 6 on Standard |
| SMS reminders | Yes | Standard, $34 a month, 1 per appointment |
| Webhooks | Free | Starter, $20 a month |
| Public API | Free | Premium, $69 a month |
| MCP server for your AI assistant | Free | Not available |
| COST | ||
| Price per month | $0 | $20 to $69 |
Three things Acuity doesn't offer on any plan
Premium at $69 a month adds the API and a HIPAA agreement. None of these come with it, and none appears in Acuity's pricing or help center as of October 2026.
Routing forms
- An Acuity intake form asks its questions after the client has picked a service, and the answers change nothing. Acuity's own advice for showing a form to new clients only is to create a separate appointment type.
- A 42min routing form asks first, then sends each person to the right event type, an external page, a message or a second form, with rules that combine AND and OR conditions.
Meeting polls
- Acuity books one client into one time. There is no way to put several times to a group and let them vote.
- A 42min meeting poll puts candidate times from your calendar to a vote, shows the tally, and books the winning time with one click.
An AI assistant that can book
- Acuity's Premium plan has a chat bot that answers clients on the scheduling page. Nothing connects your own assistant to your schedule, and the MCP servers that exist for Acuity are other companies' products.
- 42min has an MCP server built in, so Claude, ChatGPT or any other MCP client can check your availability, book, cancel and reschedule from a chat.
FAQ
No. Acuity's pricing page says it doesn't offer free appointment scheduling, and the 7-day trial needs no credit card. After it, the cheapest plan is Starter at $20 a month for one calendar. 42min's free plan has every feature and nothing that runs out.
Teams already scheduling with 42min
Book the whole team for free
Connect the calendars Acuity synced with, rebuild your appointment types as event types and share the new link. The seventh person costs the same as the first.
No credit card · Free plan · Routing, round robin and meeting polls included




