OpenDog vs Acuity Scheduling: test the route, pet record, and booking rules.

The honest short version.

Acuity is the stronger general self-scheduling and appointment-automation product. Its current materials cover unlimited appointments and services, intake forms, calendar syncing, email reminders, payments, packages, subscriptions, gift certificates, classes, multiple calendars, and a mobile admin app. OpenDog is the more purpose-built mobile-grooming workflow when address, route fit, van context, dog-specific care, money status, and the next visit must stay together.

• Consider Acuity when flexible online booking, forms, packages, subscriptions, classes, multiple calendars, and broad website embedding solve the core problem.
• Consider OpenDog when the business needs pet-specific records and an owner-reviewed request and route workflow more than a general appointment calendar.
• Neither a long feature list nor a polished booking page settles the choice. Run the same difficult grooming day and calculate the complete cost.

Compare the exact Acuity plan and every separate cost.

As checked September 8, 2026, Acuity lists Starter at $16 per month billed annually or $20 month to month, Standard at $27 or $34, and Premium at $49 or $61. The plans include one, six, and 36 bookable calendars respectively. Acuity is a separate subscription from a Squarespace website, and payment-processor charges still apply.

• Starter includes self-scheduling, unlimited services and appointments, payments and deposits, forms, and email confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups.
• Standard adds global text reminders, packages, memberships and subscriptions with automatic billing, gift certificates, and more calendars.
• Premium adds more calendars plus features such as removing Powered by Acuity, multiple staff or location time zones, API and CSS access, and a HIPAA BAA.
• OpenDog lists Solo at $49 for up to 125 completed appointments, Team at $99 for up to 500, and Business at $149 for up to 1,500; vehicles do not affect the plan and its 14-day trial requires no card.

Test the road separately from the appointment calendar.

Acuity’s reviewed official materials describe availability, appointment types, calendars, locations, resources, time zones, and external calendar syncing. They do not present a mobile-grooming route engine that evaluates service areas, orders stops by geography, assigns vans, or compares saved and suggested route orders. An integration may extend Acuity, but the actual operating workflow still needs proof.

• Build eight stops with a fixed window, multi-pet household, distant request, lunch, cancellation, van change, late groom, and urgent added stop.
• Watch where addresses appear, whether travel time blocks availability, how stop order is chosen, who approves a route change, and what the groomer sees next.
• If Acuity needs a map, mileage, route, ETA, or field-service integration, test the full handoff and include its subscription, setup, support, privacy, and failure risks.
• Treat calendar sync, maps, traffic, route suggestions, and arrival estimates as separate capabilities.

Make the booking form prove a grooming-safe decision.

Acuity supports client self-scheduling, appointment types, availability rules, custom intake forms, payments or deposits, packages, and an embedded scheduler. Those are meaningful strengths. A mobile groomer should still test whether a request remains pending until the business reviews the address, dog, service, duration, price, care notes, and route fit—or whether the selected time becomes booked immediately.

• Submit one dog, two dogs, a new client, an existing household, a large-coat request, a distant address, a blocked service area, a waitlist case, and a recurring request.
• Check required fields, conditional questions, consent, attachments, duplicate clients, service duration, buffers, taxes, deposits, coupons, packages, and confirmation language.
• Verify exactly when inventory is held, who can approve or override it, what the client can change, and which notification fires at each state.
• Do not assume a configurable intake form automatically creates a dedicated pet record or route-aware approval workflow.

Test a household with two dogs—not one client row.

Acuity’s reviewed materials present client profiles, notes, appointment history, and customizable intake forms, but they do not present a dedicated multi-pet grooming record. Forms and notes may capture dog information; the buyer should prove whether each dog keeps its own alerts, breed, birthday, vaccination, handling, service, photos, history, and next-visit context without duplicating or overwriting the household.

• Create two dogs with different breeds, weights, temperaments, vaccination dates, services, prices, handling warnings, and rebooking intervals under one owner.
• Book both together, then reschedule only one, update one warning, attach a photo, record completed care, invoice correctly, and find each dog’s history later.
• Search by owner, phone, address, and dog name; test merged duplicates and a dog moving between households.
• Export the data and confirm that household and pet relationships remain understandable outside the product.

Acuity has stronger live text reminders today—but not a two-way inbox.

Acuity publishes confirmation, reminder, cancellation, rescheduling, and follow-up emails. Standard and Premium include one automated text reminder per appointment at no added Acuity fee, although carrier charges may apply. The reviewed text-reminder guidance describes a one-way reminder, not a two-way conversation channel. OpenDog’s confirmation and reminder emails are live; SMS, two-way texting, and automatic ETA texts are Coming Soon.

• Send a confirmation, reminder, reply, schedule change, cancellation, route-delay note, on-my-way message, payment request, receipt, follow-up, and rebooking message.
• Confirm plan requirements, client consent, sending identity, quiet hours, delivery status, reply behavior, history, attachments, templates, and export.
• If two-way texting is required, identify the separate product or integration, test the shared history and reply ownership, and include its cost.
• Buyers who need one-way text reminders now should treat Acuity’s current capability as an advantage.

Price payments, packages, and subscriptions with the real mix.

Acuity can connect Stripe, Square, or PayPal for payments and deposits, and its current pricing page also references Venmo with your setup. It supports cards on file, tips, invoices, packages, gift certificates, memberships, and subscriptions depending on plan and processor. Acuity does not add a Squarespace transaction fee to appointment payments, but processor fees and separate service costs still apply.

• Run cash, card, deposit, tip, package, gift certificate, subscription, failed renewal, partial payment, refund, no-show, receipt, open balance, and payout examples.
• Confirm which processor supports each payment method, stored-card action, automatic billing, refund, dispute, hardware, and mobile checkout path.
• Keep subscription revenue, package liability, appointment value, invoice gross, processor fee, tip, refund, payout, tax, and recorded payment distinct in reports.
• OpenDog supports appointment-linked invoices, deposits, tips, balances, recorded payment status, and supported Stripe card payments after setup; it does not replace payroll or accounting.

Test calendars, staff access, phones, and the weakest connection.

Acuity connects with Google, Outlook, iCloud, and Office 365 calendars and offers iOS and Android mobile apps for managing appointments. Higher plans expand bookable calendars and time-zone controls. A groomer should test what each real role can see and change, whether a calendar equals a groomer, van, location, or resource, and whether the mobile view carries enough dog and route context for field work.

• Create owner, office, groomer, contractor, and temporary roles with only the access each person needs.
• Open the day, address, directions, dog, warning, owner note, service, price, message, payment status, and next action on every real device.
• Try conflicting external-calendar events, multiple time zones, daylight-saving changes, staff reassignment, resource conflicts, and a departing employee.
• Use the weakest normal connection and check failed edits, duplicate prevention, queued work, notification delivery, recovery, logout, and audit history.

Make setup, import, support, and exit specific.

Acuity can be used without a Squarespace site and can be embedded on many websites. Its subscription, connected payment account, calendars, forms, packages, and integrations create a flexible stack, but flexibility also makes migration and ownership details important. OpenDog provides self-serve setup with support and source-dependent import review. Both need a written launch and exit plan.

• Inventory households, dogs, photos, notes, vaccinations, services, prices, staff, routes, future appointments, recurring series, forms, agreements, packages, gift certificates, subscriptions, invoices, balances, messages, and history.
• Import a representative sample and verify counts, household and dog links, dates, duplicates, special characters, long notes, documents, money totals, permissions, and future appointments.
• Confirm available import and export formats, cleanup ownership, exclusions, training, support hours, cutover, cancellation, subscription renewals, payment records, and access after leaving.
• Never move full card details through ordinary files, notes, email, or text.

Run the same finish-line test in both products.

Use one sample household, two dogs, a new request, route exception, staff handoff, reminder, payment problem, package, owner report, and next-visit decision. Score only the current workflow the team completes on its real devices and can explain without help.

• Request, approval rule, intake form, service, duration, price, deposit, package, and final appointment
• Address, service area, travel gap, route order, van, directions, calendar sync, and groomer view
• Household, separate dog records, handling alert, vaccination, photos, notes, documents, and history
• Confirmation, reminder, reply, route-delay message, receipt, follow-up, and actual communication cost
• Invoice, card, cash, tip, refund, subscription, balance, processor fee, payout, and report
• Import, setup, website embed, integrations, support, export, cancellation, and total first-year cost

Sources, date, and independence.

Acuity Scheduling details on this page were checked against official Acuity and Squarespace overview, pricing, billing, feature, text-reminder, payment-fee, and scheduling-block materials on September 8, 2026. OpenDog is not affiliated with or endorsed by Squarespace or Acuity Scheduling, and their names are trademarks of their owners. Products, prices, limits, integrations, and policies can change; verify every material detail before buying.

• Use Acuity’s current pricing page for plans, monthly and annual rates, calendar counts, and included features.
• Use official billing and payment articles for renewal, cancellation, processor, transaction-fee, trial, and separate-subscription details.
• Use official help pages for notification, form, calendar, mobile-app, website-embedding, package, subscription, and payment behavior.
• Treat vendor savings, revenue, speed, and demand statements as claims to test—not guaranteed buyer outcomes.
• Use OpenDog’s live product tour, pricing, and trial to verify OpenDog directly; measure results with your own routes, dogs, team, messages, payments, and reports.

Workflow

Which product is likely to fit your operation?