Gigpie vs Acuity Scheduling for Tutoring Businesses

Acuity Scheduling (now part of Squarespace) is a popular appointment scheduling tool used by service businesses. Many tutoring businesses start with Acuity because it's straightforward and affordable. But as they grow, they hit limitations that Gigpie was specifically designed to solve.

The Fundamental Difference

Acuity Scheduling is built for general service appointments: hair salons, consultants, therapists, and fitness classes.

Gigpie is built exclusively for tutoring, coaching, and enrichment businesses.

This difference matters because tutoring has unique workflows that general scheduling tools simply don't support.

Core Feature Comparison

Why Acuity Falls Short

1. No Package Hour Tracking

Tutoring businesses typically sell packages: "Buy 10 hours, use them over 3 months." Acuity can't track this.

Acuity's approach:

• Each appointment is a separate transaction
• No concept of package balances
• Can't prevent overbooking beyond purchased hours
• Parents must manually track remaining hours

Gigpie's approach:

• Sell packages of hours (10, 20, 40 hours, etc.)
• Automatic deduction after each session
• Real-time balance visibility for parents
• Low-balance alerts trigger repurchase

2. No Family Context

Tutoring businesses serve families, not isolated individuals. Parents manage multiple children, siblings share packages, and household context matters.

Acuity's limitation:

• Each client is independent
• No household relationships
• Duplicate contact information
• Can't see family spending
• No sibling coordination

Gigpie's family hub:

• One parent account for household
• All children linked to parents
• Shared or individual package balances
• Complete family history in one view
• Coordinated scheduling across siblings

3. Limited Coach Management

Acuity treats service providers as:

• Independent calendars
• Basic availability settings
• No specialization matching
• No performance tracking

Gigpie provides:

• Coach profiles with subjects/specialties
• Smart student-coach matching
• Earnings and utilization dashboards
• Role-based permissions (admin, coach, parent)
• Commission or hourly payroll tracking

4. Payment Collection Gaps

Acuity's payment system:

• Requires Square or Stripe integration (add-on)
• One-time appointment payments only
• No package purchase flow
• No subscription billing
• Manual invoicing for bulk hours

Gigpie's integrated billing:

• Native Stripe integration
• Package purchase with automatic hour tracking
• Subscription billing for ongoing programs
• Automatic payment collection when balance runs low
• Payment plans for expensive packages

5. No Progress Tracking

Parents want to know: "What did my child learn today?"

Acuity provides:

• Appointment completed (yes/no)
• Basic notes field
• No structured feedback

Gigpie provides:

• Session notes visible to parents
• Progress tracking toward goals
• Homework assignments logged
• Skill development over time
• Historical learning path

Pricing Comparison

Acuity Scheduling Pricing

• Emerging: $20/month (1 calendar)
• Growing: $34/month (6 calendars)
• Powerhouse: $61/month (36 calendars)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Add-ons increase cost:

• Payment processing: additional fees
• SMS reminders: additional cost
• Advanced features: higher tiers required

For 5 tutors: $34-61/month base cost, plus add-ons

Gigpie Pricing

• Starter: 5% platform fee (up to 5 coaches)
• Growth: 2.5% platform fee (unlimited coaches)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

For a business doing $15,000/month:

• Starter: $750/month
• Growth: $375/month

For a business doing $8,000/month:

• Starter: $400/month
• Growth: $200/month

What Acuity Does Well

Acuity excels at:

• Simple appointment scheduling - Clean, intuitive interface
• Quick setup - Can be running in minutes
• General service businesses - Perfect for consultants, stylists, etc.
• Squarespace integration - Seamless if you use their website platform

If you're a solo tutor with 3-5 students, charging hourly, Acuity might suffice.

When You Outgrow Acuity

Most tutoring businesses hit these problems:

Growing Student Base

• 10+ active families
• Can't remember who has hours remaining
• Spending hours on "balance check" emails
• Manual spreadsheet tracking

Team Management

• Hired your first tutor
• Need to coordinate schedules
• Track earnings per tutor
• Assign students based on specialty

Package-Based Pricing

• Selling 10-hour, 20-hour packages
• Parents ask "how many hours left?"
• Overbooking happens
• Refund requests due to confusion

Professional Growth

• Want to look more established
• Parents expect modern self-service tools
• Competitors have better portals
• Losing deals to more professional-looking businesses

The Typical Migration Path

Most tutoring businesses follow this journey:

1. Start with Acuity - Simple, works for first few clients
2. Add spreadsheets - Track packages manually
3. Add Venmo/Zelle - Supplement payment collection
4. Hire an admin - Someone to manage the complexity
5. Realize it's unsustainable - Too many moving parts
6. Switch to Gigpie - Purpose-built solution

What You Gain with Gigpie

Beyond scheduling, Gigpie adds:

For Your Business

• Package management and hour tracking
• Automated payment collection
• Coach payroll and commission tracking
• Revenue analytics by subject, tutor, and time period
• Family relationship management

For Parents

• Self-service portal with balance visibility
• Book/reschedule sessions themselves
• View progress notes from every session
• See all their children in one place
• Pay for packages online

For Tutors/Coaches

• Student goals and learning history
• Session note templates
• Earnings dashboard
• Schedule management
• Student assignment logic

Real-World Comparison

Julia's Math Tutoring Company:

With Acuity (Year 1):

• $34/month for Acuity Growing plan
• • Google Sheets for package tracking
• • Venmo for quick payments
• • 12 hours/week on admin work
• • Parent confusion about balances

Switched to Gigpie (Year 2):

• $300/month (2.5% of $12k revenue)
• Everything in one platform
• 3 hours/week on admin work
• Parents can self-serve
• Looks professional to prospects

Result: Julia recovered the cost difference in time savings within the first month. Parent satisfaction increased because they could finally see their balances and book makeup sessions themselves.

Making the Switch

Migrating from Acuity to Gigpie is straightforward:

Week 1: Setup

1. Sign up for Gigpie (free trial)
2. Create your package offerings
3. Import active families (CSV or manual)
4. Set up coach profiles and availability

Week 2: Parallel Run

1. Keep Acuity active for existing bookings
2. Start new bookings in Gigpie
3. Invite parents to the portal
4. Test booking workflows

Week 3: Cutover

1. Migrate remaining appointments
2. Pause Acuity bookings
3. Communicate change to families
4. Cancel Acuity subscription

Most businesses complete the switch in 2-3 weeks while maintaining operations.

Key Decision Factors

Choose Acuity if:

• You're a solo tutor with fewer than 5 students
• You charge strictly hourly (no packages)
• You already use Squarespace for your website
• Your needs are very simple
• You're just testing tutoring as a side hustle

Choose Gigpie if:

• You have 5+ active families
• You sell packages instead of hourly sessions
• You employ other tutors
• Parents ask about package balances regularly
• You want to scale beyond solo practice
• You need a professional parent experience

Feature Deep-Dive

Booking Experience

Acuity:

• Parents select date/time from calendar
• Book one appointment at a time
• Receive confirmation email
• Must rebook manually for next session

Gigpie:

• Parents see package balance before booking
• Can book multiple sessions at once
• Automatic reminders as sessions approach
• Option for recurring weekly scheduling
• Makeup session self-service

Communication

Acuity:

• Automated confirmation emails
• Reminder emails/SMS (add-on)
• Basic custom form questions
• No built-in messaging

Gigpie:

• Automated booking confirmations
• Session reminders (email and SMS)
• Progress notes after each session
• Two-way messaging with tutors
• Announcement broadcasts to families

Reporting

Acuity:

• Appointment counts
• Revenue by service type
• Basic attendance data
• No client lifetime value

Gigpie:

• Revenue by subject, tutor, time period
• Family lifetime value tracking
• Package utilization rates
• Coach earnings and utilization
• Student progress analytics
• Retention cohort analysis

Integration Ecosystem

Acuity integrations:

• Squarespace (native)
• Zoom (native)
• Google Calendar, Outlook
• Stripe, Square, PayPal (payment add-ons)
• Zapier for everything else

Gigpie integrations:

• Google Calendar (native)
• Stripe (native, built-in)
• Zoom (native)
• QuickBooks (via export)
• Email tools (Mailchimp, etc.)

The difference: Gigpie's integrations are designed specifically for tutoring workflows, not general purpose.

Support and Onboarding

Acuity:

• Knowledge base documentation
• Email support
• Community forum
• Self-service setup

Gigpie:

• Dedicated onboarding call (Growth plan)
• Launch success manager
• Priority email/chat support
• Video tutorials for tutoring-specific scenarios
• Help parents adopt the portal

The Bottom Line

Acuity Scheduling is excellent appointment software. Gigpie is complete business management software for tutoring companies.

• Choose Acuity if you need basic appointment booking and have very simple needs
• Choose Gigpie if you're running a real tutoring business with packages, families, and growth plans

Many businesses start with Acuity and migrate to Gigpie within 6-12 months. You can make that jump whenever you're ready.

Frequently Asked Questions