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Scheduling & Booking · head to head

Square Appointments vs Cal.com

Square Appointments logo

Square Appointments

Scheduling & Booking

Free scheduling for beauty businesses

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cal.com logo

Cal.com

Scheduling & Booking

Scheduling infrastructure for everyone

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Square Appointments the free plan is aimed at solo professionals; booking across multiple staff requires the paid Plus plan; Cal.com free plan limited to single user only
  • They diverge on capability: Square Appointments covers Online booking, Cal.com covers Custom booking pages.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Square Appointments and Cal.com actually diverge.

Attributes where Square Appointments and Cal.com differ
AttributeSquare AppointmentsCal.com
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Mobile app, Browser extension
Founded20092021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Square Appointments

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

Only in Cal.com

  • Custom booking pages
  • Team scheduling
  • Collective scheduling
  • Routing forms
  • Webhooks
  • Outlook
  • Zoom
  • Google Meet

Both cover

  • Google Calendar
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Square Appointments

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

Cal.com

  • Schedule meetings and manage availabilitynot Square Appointments
  • Accept payments via Stripe and PayPalnot Square Appointments
  • Integrate with Salesforce and HubSpotnot Square Appointments

Where each one falls short

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

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

Cal.com

  • Free plan limited to single user only
  • Free plan restricted to 1 user account
  • Teams plan requires yearly billing at $12/user/month
  • Organizations plan requires yearly billing at $28/user/month
  • Free plan lacks team collaboration features

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Cal.com

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cal.com review.

Which should you pick?

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.
Square Appointments review

Choose Cal.com if

  • You need custom booking pages.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile app, Browser extension.
  • You also want team scheduling.
Cal.com review

Questions people ask

Is Square Appointments or Cal.com better?
Neither clearly leads. Square Appointments starts at Free and Cal.com at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Square Appointments or Cal.com?
Square Appointments starts at Free and Cal.com at Free.
Does Square Appointments or Cal.com run on more platforms?
Square Appointments runs on Web, Ios, Android. Cal.com runs on Web, Mobile app, Browser extension.
Can I use Square Appointments for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Square Appointments best used for?
Square Appointments is most often used for online appointment booking for salons, barbers and personal services, taking card payments and deposits at the time of booking, managing staff calendars, waitlists and no-show policies. Of those, online appointment booking for salons, barbers and personal services and taking card payments and deposits at the time of booking are not what Cal.com is typically brought in for.
What can Square Appointments do that Cal.com cannot?
Square Appointments covers Online booking, Client management, Point of sale, Payment processing. Cal.com covers Custom booking pages, Team scheduling, Collective scheduling, Routing forms. Both handle Google Calendar, Web support.
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Related pages

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More on Cal.com

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