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Scheduling & Booking · head to head

Chili Piper vs Square Appointments

Chili Piper logo

Chili Piper

Scheduling & Booking

Meeting scheduling and lead routing for revenue teams

From
On request
Rated
-
Square Appointments logo

Square Appointments

Scheduling & Booking

Free scheduling for beauty businesses

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Square Appointments has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Chili Piper entry Routing & Scheduling tier costs $1,250/month ($15,000/year) for 15 seats; additional seats cost $45/seat/month on top; Square Appointments the free plan is aimed at solo professionals; booking across multiple staff requires the paid Plus plan

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chili Piper and Square Appointments actually diverge.

Attributes where Chili Piper and Square Appointments differ
AttributeChili PiperSquare Appointments
Starting priceOn requestFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
FoundedUnknown2009

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Scheduling & Booking).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chili Piper

Nothing recorded that Square Appointments does not also cover.

Only in Square Appointments

  • Online booking
  • Client management
  • Point of sale
  • Payment processing
  • Automated reminders
  • Instagram booking
  • Google booking
  • Mobile app

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chili Piper

No use cases recorded yet. See the Chili Piper review.

Square Appointments

  • Online appointment booking for salons, barbers and personal servicesnot Chili Piper
  • Taking card payments and deposits at the time of bookingnot Chili Piper
  • Managing staff calendars, waitlists and no-show policiesnot Chili Piper

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chili Piper

  • Entry Routing & Scheduling tier costs $1,250/month ($15,000/year) for 15 seats; additional seats cost $45/seat/month on top
  • Only annual billing is offered; there is no monthly billing option
  • ChiliCal Standalone, the cheapest per-seat option at $12/user/month, requires a minimum of 200 seats

Square Appointments

  • The free plan is aimed at solo professionals; booking across multiple staff requires the paid Plus plan
  • Cancellation policies, no-show fees and waitlists require the Plus plan
  • Resource management, service cost tracking and the future bookings report require the Premium plan
  • Custom processing rates are reserved for Square Pro, which is aimed at businesses processing over $250,000 a year
  • Card processing fees are charged on top of the plan fee on every tier including the free one

Pricing, plan by plan

Chili Piper

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Chili Piper review.

Square Appointments

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited appointments
    • Online booking
    • Client management
  • Plus$29/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Multiple staff calendars
    • No-show protection
  • Premium$69/month
    • Everything in Plus
    • Multi-location
    • Staff management

Which should you pick?

Choose Chili Piper if

Nothing in the data separates Chili Piper from Square Appointments on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Choose Square Appointments if

  • You need online booking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want client management.

Questions people ask

Is Chili Piper or Square Appointments better?
Neither clearly leads. Chili Piper starts at On request and Square Appointments at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chili Piper or Square Appointments?
Square Appointments has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Chili Piper and Free for Square Appointments.
Does Chili Piper or Square Appointments run on more platforms?
Chili Piper runs on Web. Square Appointments runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Square Appointments for free?
Yes. Square Appointments has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Chili Piper starts at On request.
What can Chili Piper do that Square Appointments cannot?
Square Appointments covers Online booking, Client management, Point of sale, Payment processing.

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