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Should I self-host Acuity Scheduling?
Acuity is Squarespace's $20/mo booking page; Cal.com is the same booking page with routing forms and workflows, and we boot-verified it in this repo already. Point your domain at it and stop renting your calendar.
The math (nothing hidden, including your time)
| Acuity Scheduling (Starter) | $20.00/mo |
| VPS share + storage | −$1.00/mo |
| Your maintenance: 25 min/mo at $20/h | −$8.33/mo |
| Net saving | $10.67/mo |
| Setup: 60 min measured (one-time) | $20.00 |
| Break-even | 1.9 months |
| Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost) | 2.1× |
Price: source, checked 2026-08-06. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.
What you lose
- Squarespace-side integrations if the rest of your site lives there
- Their SMS reminders need a Twilio key on your side
What you're paying Acuity Scheduling for
- booking pages
- availability rules
- reminders
- calendar sync
Ranked alternatives
A front-desk diary on your own domain: services, providers, working hours, and customers who book without creating an account.
Send someone a link, they pick a slot, the invite lands in both calendars, and none of it runs on a domain you are renting.
Hardware
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
The tested compose file (our evidence, CI-booted)
# Cal.com — scheduling infrastructure (replaces Calendly). The heaviest single app in our
# index: big image, wants real RAM, and most of the setup time is configuration, not boot.
# Secrets are throwaway test values: openssl rand -base64 32
services:
calcom:
image: calcom/cal.com:latest
container_name: calcom
restart: unless-stopped
depends_on:
calcom-db:
condition: service_healthy
environment:
NEXT_PUBLIC_WEBAPP_URL: http://localhost:3003
NEXTAUTH_SECRET: 8Yz1kR9nQ2wX5vB7mC4tL6pJ3sD0fG8hK1aN5uE9rT2Y=
CALENDSO_ENCRYPTION_KEY: 2FduT8qM7xW3kV9zB5nC1sL4pR6jD0gH8fK2aQ5uE7rY=
DATABASE_URL: postgresql://calcom:calcom@calcom-db:5432/calcom
DATABASE_DIRECT_URL: postgresql://calcom:calcom@calcom-db:5432/calcom
ports:
- "3003:3000"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "node -e \"fetch('http://localhost:3000/auth/login').then(r=>process.exit(r.ok?0:1)).catch(()=>process.exit(1))\""]
interval: 10s
timeout: 10s
retries: 60
start_period: 120s
calcom-db:
image: postgres:16-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: calcom
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: calcom
POSTGRES_DB: calcom
volumes:
- calcom-pg:/var/lib/postgresql/data
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U calcom"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 12
volumes:
calcom-pg:
Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/acuity-scheduling has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.
Verification
Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 60 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)
Full timed log
# Acuity Scheduling — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** YES — worth it - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Setup evidence (shared) - This verdict rides on the same replacement verified for `calendly-calcom` — see `compose/calendly-calcom.yml` and its log. ## The call Acuity is Squarespace's $20/mo booking page; Cal.com is the same booking page with routing forms and workflows, and we boot-verified it in this repo already. Point your domain at it and stop renting your calendar.
Verdict history
- 2026-08-10: unscored → YES — Initial verdict: Acuity is Squarespace's $20/mo booking page; Cal.com is the same booking page with routing forms and workflows.