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Scheduling & Booking · head to head

Square Appointments vs Timely

Square Appointments logo

Square Appointments

Scheduling & Booking

Free scheduling for beauty businesses

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Timely logo

Timely

Scheduling & Booking

Smart scheduling software with AI-powered features

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; Timely starter is capped at 20 projects and a maximum of 5 users, at $11 per user per month billed monthly or $9 billed yearly
  • They diverge on capability: Square Appointments covers Point of sale, Timely covers AI-powered scheduling.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Square Appointments and Timely actually diverge.

Attributes where Square Appointments and Timely differ
AttributeSquare AppointmentsTimely
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20092015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (subscription), 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

  • Point of sale
  • Payment processing
  • Instagram booking
  • Google booking
  • Square POS
  • Google My Business
  • QuickBooks
  • Wix

Only in Timely

  • AI-powered scheduling
  • Staff management
  • Resource allocation
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Zapier
  • Slack

Both cover

  • Online booking
  • Client management
  • Automated reminders
  • Mobile app
  • Google Calendar
  • Instagram
  • SSL encryption
  • Cloud deployment

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 Timely
  • Taking card payments and deposits at the time of bookingnot Timely
  • Managing staff calendars, waitlists and no-show policiesnot Timely

Timely

  • Automatic time tracking across apps and websites for billing clientsnot Square Appointments
  • Reporting billable hours and monitoring project budgetsnot Square Appointments
  • Team capacity planning and timesheet approvalnot 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

Timely

  • Starter is capped at 20 projects and a maximum of 5 users, at $11 per user per month billed monthly or $9 billed yearly
  • Premium is capped at a maximum of 50 users, at $20 per user per month billed monthly or $16 billed yearly
  • Unlimited users requires the Unlimited plan at $28 per user per month billed monthly or $22 billed yearly
  • Capacity management and reporting, overtime and undertime tracking, Azure user management and 50+ currencies are all on the Unlimited plan only
  • Team management, budgets and costs, and accounting and project management integrations are excluded from Starter
  • The Enterprise plan is contact sales only with no published price
  • Tasks is sold as a paid add-on rather than being included

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

Timely

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic scheduling
    • Online booking
    • Automated reminders
  • Starter$29/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Staff management
    • Customer management
  • Professional$69/month
    • Everything in Starter
    • Advanced analytics
    • Marketing tools

Which should you pick?

Choose Square Appointments if

  • You need point of sale.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want payment processing.
Square Appointments review

Choose Timely if

  • You need ai-powered scheduling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want staff management.
Timely review

Questions people ask

Is Square Appointments or Timely better?
Neither clearly leads. Square Appointments starts at Free and Timely at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Square Appointments or Timely?
Square Appointments starts at Free and Timely at Free.
Does Square Appointments or Timely run on more platforms?
Square Appointments runs on Web, Ios, Android. Timely runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
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 Timely is typically brought in for.
What can Square Appointments do that Timely cannot?
Square Appointments covers Point of sale, Payment processing, Instagram booking, Google booking. Timely covers AI-powered scheduling, Staff management, Resource allocation, Analytics and reporting. Both handle Online booking, Client management, Automated reminders, Mobile app.
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