MindBody software is used by many yoga studios, massage therapists, and other providers around the world who offer their services by scheduling time slots. The platform lets anyone purchase and book massage appointments, yoga classes, and more.
A client of mine’s been using MindBody for scheduling appointments for their massage practice since 2012 and they’ve been mostly satisfied with the product. MindBody has many functionalities built-in and it also has its own app where users can schedule appointments at those businesses that choose to use MindBody for scheduling. I used their app once to schedule a yoga class and to me, it looked a bit confusing and clunky.
Unfortunately, MindBody’s been increasing their price gradually in the past several years and in early 2020 they announced again that they would be increasing their already high pricing which pushed my client to look for an alternative. To find the right tool first we set up a series of meetings to identify the business needs, must-haves, and nice-to-haves. We identified a handful of scheduling tools with promising features. We then worked on a comparative process that helped us eliminate some of those and create a shortlist. In our shortlist, we had FullSlate by Intuit, Schedulicity, SOAP Vault, Square, and Acuity (which is now owned by SquareSpace). Each of these tools offers great features and they were head to head almost all the way.
Why did we choose Acuity/SquareSpace Scheduling?
1. Ease of use. I mentioned earlier that MindBody had several UX barriers to overcome for a user to understand how it all worked before they could schedule their session, and there was an added requirement of creating an account which is good and also bad. Many customers prefer not to create a new account these days, so Acuity offers that flexibility where users can schedule as guests.
2. Pricing, while Acuity is not the most cost-effective option, it comes at a much lower cost than MindBody, saving my client thousands.
3. Gift Cards and Package Purchase sale options were not included with some of the tools mentioned above which come included with Acuity (SquareSpace Scheduling).
4. A modern interface and improved user experience.
5. Easy and seamless integration with SquareSpace website. My client’s website was due for an update and we learned that SquareSpace recently acquired Acuity Scheduling which made our decision even easier to make. We rebuilt their website with SquareSpace’s Scheduling add-on. One of the benefits is that my client can now login to a single platform and manage their business from there.
6. Customizable email templates like reminders, offers, order confirmations, cancellations, and more.
Further, my client chose to also move their email marketing from MailChimp to SquareSpace’s Email Campaigns that allows them to run their business from one platform without ever leaving SquareSpace.
If your business needs help with choosing the right tool for its operations or if you are looking to get help with moving out of MindBody to another platform let me know, I may be able to help you.