Zatrovo vs Acuity Scheduling: Which Is Better for Class-Based Studios?

Acuity Scheduling starts at $20/mo and is purpose-built for solo service providers. Zatrovo's Studio plan is $79/mo and is built for class-based studios — the kind running 30+ classes a month, selling packs and memberships, and managing multiple instructors. If you're still running appointments only, Acuity is probably the right call. If you've added classes, this comparison is for you.

Disclosure: Zatrovo publishes this blog. We've done our best to represent Acuity accurately. All pricing is sourced from vendor websites as of April 2026 and linked below.

Is Acuity Scheduling actually good?

Yes. For what it was built for, Acuity is excellent.

Solo aestheticians, personal trainers, coaches, and consultants book millions of appointments a month on Acuity. The intake form builder is best-in-class. The Squarespace integration is native and polished. The calendar UI is clean. Acuity's package feature (buy 5 appointments, use them over time) works reliably. Client reminders are configurable and have been refined for years.

Acuity earns its user base. This comparison isn't about Acuity being bad — it's about where the product design stops and your studio's needs begin.

What does Acuity lack for class-based studios?

Three things: native class scheduling, membership management, and instructor logistics.

Acuity's "classes" are group appointments. You set a slot, set a max attendee count, and multiple clients book it. That works for one-off workshops. It doesn't work for a studio with a weekly timetable of 40 recurring classes across five room types, four instructors, and variable capacity.

There's no concept of a class type with its own schedule, recurring weekly cadence, or per-session attendance log. Waitlists are manual. Instructor substitutions don't exist at the platform level. Memberships require a Stripe recurring charge plus a manual or Zapier-based system to track which classes are covered.

Studios running on Acuity past a certain scale typically add a spreadsheet, a second tool, or a Zapier workflow. Each addition is a failure mode and a maintenance burden.

How does the feature set compare head to head?

What does pricing look like at each tier?

The pricing math shifts when you account for add-ons. A studio on Acuity's $61/mo Powerhouse plan that also pays for a membership plugin ($15/mo), a waitlist tool ($10/mo), and a Zapier plan to connect them ($20/mo) is spending $106/mo for a worse experience than $79/mo on Zatrovo's Studio plan.

How does class scheduling actually work in each tool?

In Acuity, you create a group appointment type, set the capacity, and clients book individual slots. If you run the same class every Tuesday at 6pm, you re-create the appointment or clone it. There's no timetable view showing a week of classes across room types. Clients browse available time slots, not a class schedule.

In Zatrovo, you create a class type (e.g., "Reformer Pilates — Intermediate"), set its default capacity and duration, assign it to a room, and build a recurring schedule. Clients see a class timetable — a real schedule, not a calendar of individual slots. Bookings deduct from class capacity. The waitlist auto-promotes when a spot opens.

For studios with 20+ classes a week, the difference is operationally significant. Read the scheduling software playbook for a deeper breakdown of how timetable-based scheduling affects client retention.

How does pack and membership management compare?

Acuity packages work: a client buys 10 sessions, uses them over time, and Acuity tracks the count. That's sufficient for a solo PT or massage therapist.

The limits show when you need more structure. Acuity packages don't enforce which appointment types count. There's no freeze or pause feature for memberships. Recurring membership billing is a Stripe subscription, and connecting that subscription to a class access rule requires a workaround.

Zatrovo's pack system deducts credits per class and lets you configure which class types a pack applies to. A "10-class reformer pack" can be restricted to reformer classes only. Memberships include configurable freeze windows, pause limits, and auto-debit. Staff can see a member's remaining credits on the booking screen without leaving the app.

For studios selling the majority of revenue through packs and memberships — common in pilates, yoga, lash, and nail — this is the core operations layer. The class packs and memberships guide covers how to structure these for maximum retention.

Who should stay on Acuity Scheduling?

Acuity is the right tool if you match this profile:

• Solo service provider — massage therapist, PT, coach, consultant
• Appointments only — no classes, no recurring timetable
• Squarespace website — the native integration is genuinely good
• Simple intake forms are a priority
• Price sensitivity — $20–34/mo is your ceiling

Acuity is a polished, reliable product in this lane. Switching to Zatrovo for a solo appointment book is unnecessary overhead.

Who should switch to Zatrovo?

Switch if you match one or more of these:

• Running 20+ classes per week with a recurring timetable
• Selling class packs or memberships as your primary revenue model
• Managing two or more instructors or technicians
• Tracking attendance and following up on no-shows
• Tired of maintaining a Zapier stack to connect Acuity to a membership tool
• Planning to add a second location

The friction you feel in Acuity — workarounds for waitlists, manual membership tracking, no timetable view — is structural. It's not a configuration issue. Acuity wasn't designed for this use case, and no amount of Zapier automation changes that.

For a broader look at how Zatrovo stacks up against enterprise options, see Zatrovo vs Mindbody.

Is migration from Acuity to Zatrovo hard?

The technical migration is straightforward: Acuity exports clients and appointments as CSV. Zatrovo's onboarding imports client records, contact history, and appointment history. The setup typically takes one to two business days.

The operational migration — rebuilding class types, room configs, recurring schedules, pack rules — takes longer, usually a week for a mid-size studio. Zatrovo provides setup support on all paid plans.

One honest note: Acuity's intake form builder is more flexible than Zatrovo's current intake fields. If complex pre-appointment questionnaires are central to your workflow, verify Zatrovo meets your intake needs before committing.

What do real studio operators say about the switch?

Studios that switch from Acuity to Zatrovo consistently cite two catalysts: the moment they added a second instructor, and the moment they launched a class pack or membership. Both expose Acuity's appointment-first architecture immediately.

The studios that stay longest on Acuity after adding classes are the ones most invested in their Squarespace website. The integration is a real switching cost. If that's your situation, weigh it honestly before moving.

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Sources:

• Acuity Scheduling pricing — verified April 2026
• Squarespace acquires Acuity Scheduling — Business Wire, April 2019