Acuity Scheduling vs When I Work

Acuity Scheduling lets businesses offer online appointment booking and manage payments, calendars, and client information. Customers can book, reschedule, or cancel through branded pages that businesses can embed on a site or share by link or QR code. It supports one-to-one appointments, classes, workshops, and events, along with group booking and round-robin scheduling. Payments, including deposits and tips, can be collected through Stripe, Square, PayPal, or Venmo. Two-way calendar sync is available with Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud, and automated reminders can notify clients. Client profiles can hold intake-form submissions and appointment history. The iOS and Android admin app manages calendars, availability, clients, invoices, and payments; developer options include an API, OAuth2, and webhooks. Plans start at $16 per user per month with annual billing, and every plan has a seven-day trial without a credit card. There is no free plan, and applicable taxes are extra.

When I Work brings employee scheduling, shift swaps, team messaging, and time tracking together for shift-based workplaces. Auto scheduling assigns shifts using staff availability and qualifications, and managers can oversee multiple stores, departments, or job sites from one dashboard. The time clock tracks attendance, breaks, and time off, while staff can message without sharing phone numbers. It runs on the web, Android, and iOS. Essentials costs $2.50 a month billed per user per month; Pro is $5 a month billed per user per month; Premium is $8 a month billed per user per month. A 14-day trial offers complete access and requires no credit card, but there is no free plan. API key access, webhooks, and SAML/SSO are included in Premium. When I Work says it uses AWS, TLS, daily backups, multiple-disk writes, and mobile two-step verification. It does not offer an SLA, although its hosting partners guarantee 99.9% uptime.