Online booking systems for small businesses: how to choose

1. Who is being booked? Just you, or several staff with different services and hours?
2. What is being booked? A 30-minute appointment, a two-hour job, a class with ten places, or a room?
3. Do you need a deposit or card on file? If no-shows cost you money, this matters most.
4. How should reminders go? Email is usually included. Text reminders often cost extra.
5. Where will people book? Your website, a booking page link, Instagram, WhatsApp or your Google Business Profile.

Calendly's plans are built around event types and seats, so check it handles your service lengths and staff before you set it up.

Square Appointments is £29 a month per location on Plus and £69 on Premium. Its free plan already includes unlimited calendars, text and email reminders and prepayments. The paid plans add a cancellation policy that lets you charge a fee to the card on file for a no-show or late cancellation. Online card payments cost 1.4% + 25p for UK cards. The page shows monthly prices and doesn't mention VAT.

SimplyBook.me charges by bookings a month: Basic is £10.90 a month billed annually (£12.90 monthly) for 100 bookings, Standard £20.80 (£25) for 500, Premium £45.80 (£55) for 2,000. Text messages are extra and priced in dollars: 100 credits for $8. It says it doesn't add its own transaction fees.

Setmore Pro is $5 per user per month on annual pricing, with 500 text credits a month and deposits included. The page shows dollars only.

Acuity Scheduling (owned by Squarespace) says "all prices are in USD". Starter is $16 a month billed annually or $20 monthly for one calendar. Text reminders start on Standard, $27 or $34.

When a price is in dollars, you're billed in dollars, so what you pay in pounds moves with the exchange rate.

If you take deposits or charge for late cancellations, the CMA's unfair contract terms guidance is the place to look. In summary:

• A genuine deposit can be kept if you made clear at the start that a deposit was needed and exactly when it wouldn't be refunded. The CMA says it "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price".
• Making a large prepayment completely non-refundable, whatever happens, is more likely to be unfair.
• Cancellation fees are more likely to be fair if they're a genuine estimate of what you lose, and never "disproportionate or punitive".

Put your policy on your booking page, in plain words, before the customer pays. Our guide to appointment reminder texts has wording for reminders and cancellation policies. This is a summary of the guidance, not legal advice.

Customers can book from your Google Business Profile if you use a booking provider that works with Reserve with Google. Google says providers show up on your profile within a week, and that "your provider might charge you" for bookings made through Google (Google). SimplyBook.me lists Reserve with Google as an integration. For others, check the provider's own help pages. Our Reserve with Google guide covers this in more detail. Without a provider, you can still add a link to your booking page on your profile.

• Two calendars. If you also keep a paper diary or a phone calendar, double bookings happen. Pick one place where availability lives.
• Services set up wrong. A cut and colour that takes two hours, booked as one, wrecks the afternoon. Set real service lengths and gaps between appointments.
• Text costs creeping up. Check whether texts are included or bought as credits, and what happens when credits run out.
• Getting your data out. Before you commit, check you can export your customer list and future bookings if you ever switch.

We set up online booking for small businesses across the UK, on the system you already have or one that suits how you work. We set up the booking rules, confirmations and reminders, and agree your cancellation rules with you before anything goes live. If customers keep asking questions before they book, a chatbot can answer them and share your booking link.

• Online booking systems
• Chatbot for your website or WhatsApp