# Acuity Scheduling API vs YouCanBookMe API

> Acuity Scheduling scores 42.5 (E) to YouCanBookMe's 22.5 (F) for calendar booking. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-youcanbookme
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-youcanbookme.md (~4,400 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-04

Acuity Scheduling API scores 42.5 (E) on agent readiness against YouCanBookMe API's 22.5 (F), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. YouCanBookMe API leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do calendar booking.

- Acuity Scheduling API: grade E, 42.5/100, rank #1169 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/acuity-scheduling.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/acuity-scheduling.json
- YouCanBookMe API: grade F, 22.5/100, rank #1286 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/youcanbookme.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/youcanbookme.json
- Best calendar and scheduling APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/scheduling/index.md
- All 89 scheduling comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/scheduling/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Acuity Scheduling API (E)

Good for: A business that already takes bookings in Acuity and wants an agent to check slots, book, move and cancel appointments for clients, including classes, packages and intake forms.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 58 against 15
- Schema & documentation, 56 against 10
- Agent ergonomics, 44 against 13

Watch for: The pricing page lists custom API access on Premium only, $61 a month or $49 billed yearly

### YouCanBookMe API (F)

Good for: A booking-page product for small businesses, closest to calendly and savvycal in scheduling.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 28 against 15
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 55

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The API reference at ycbm.stoplight.io could not be read without JavaScript, and the help centre's API article sat behind a Cloudflare challenge


## Why the edge

### Schema & documentation: Acuity Scheduling API +46

- Acuity Scheduling API (56): Each reference page carries an OpenAPI 3.1 fragment for its own operation, generated by the docs platform from hand-written pages. No single downloadable specification was found (15). `llms.txt` is published and every page has a Markdown copy, but the index lists only five of 36 reference pages (8). Pages explain client and admin booking modes and when availability is validated, without when-not-to-use guidance (10). Parameters are typed with required fields, but there are no enums and `datetime` is any string PHP's strtotime accepts (8). Request examples, an error table and per-endpoint error codes (12). The path is versioned as v1, with no changelog found (3). Total 56.
- YouCanBookMe API (10): The reference lives on Stoplight at ycbm.stoplight.io, which usually renders an OpenAPI file, but our reader got only the workspace shell, and no spec file was found at the usual paths; the help centre article on support.youcanbook.me sat behind a Cloudflare challenge. Scored absent (0 of 25). No llms.txt on youcanbook.me, the help centre or the Stoplight host (0). Descriptions, typed inputs and required fields unread (0 of 20, 0 of 15). The one response we saw is a JSON envelope with `code`, `errors`, `httpCode`, `message` and `status`, and the help centre gives a worked webhook payload (4 of 15). A /v1 path and `x-api-version: 1.18` and `x-api-revision` headers, with a product updates page dated by month and no API changelog (6 of 15). 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 4 + 6 = 10.

### Reliability: Acuity Scheduling API +43

- Acuity Scheduling API (58): Graded as a hosted API. Statuspage site at status.acuityscheduling.com with incident history, though one component stands for the whole product (20). In the 90 days to 8 October 2026 the feed shows a critical disruption of 2 hours 5 minutes on 19 July and one of 18 minutes on 12 August, both marked as possibly affecting all users and services, plus a four-day iOS app fault and three minor integration incidents. Read as one major outage (10). 10 requests a second and 20 concurrent connections per IP (15). The 429 body is documented, with no `Retry-After`, backoff advice or idempotency key for booking writes (3). No SLA found, and the Developer Terms disclaim uninterrupted service (0). The v1 API is generally available (10). Total 58.
- YouCanBookMe API (15): Read with the hosted lines. The help page links a status page at www.youcanbookmestatus.com, but the host did not resolve from our reader with or without www on 3 November 2026, so it is scored as not established rather than as a finding about the vendor (0). No readable history (5). No rate limit with a number in the help centre articles, the pricing page or the API's own error response; the API reference could not be read (0). No 429 or retry guidance and no idempotency key found (0). No SLA, and the terms say the service is not guaranteed to be available 100 per cent of the time (0). The API reports version 1.18 in its headers and is sold on the Team plan, so generally available (10). 0 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 15.

### Agent ergonomics: Acuity Scheduling API +31

- Acuity Scheduling API (44): `max` caps list size and `excludeForms` trims intake forms from appointments. No field selection (10). Filters by date, calendar, type and client, but no cursor or offset is documented, so long lists need date windows (10). Errors carry a status, a named code and a message, and a 404 suggests the nearest path (16). No idempotency key or safe-retry guidance for `POST /appointments` (0). Booking needs five fields and picks a calendar when none is given. SDKs exist for Node.js and PHP, both last released in 2019 (8). Total 44.
- YouCanBookMe API (13): Response sizing, field selection and pagination are in the unread reference (3 of 25, 0 of 20). The error envelope names a machine code and a message an agent can branch on (8 of 20). No idempotency key or safe-retry guidance found (0 of 20). No official SDK, and the required parameters are unread (2 of 15). 3 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 2 = 13.

### Maintenance & community: YouCanBookMe API +13

- Acuity Scheduling API (15): No changelog or release notes found. The docs' own page dates show the OAuth guide edited on 1 October 2026 and the webhooks guide on 25 June 2026, which we count as the latest dated change (10). No three dated entries in 90 days (0). A developer email address and a support form, with no public issue tracker for the API (5). The Node.js and PHP SDKs were last tagged in July 2019 (0). No current package to assess (0). Total 15.
- YouCanBookMe API (28): Read as a closed service. The newest product update is dated September 2026 (registered SMS numbers), within 90 days but not 30, taking the month's first day (20 of 30). The previous entry is November 2025, so fewer than three in 90 days (0 of 20). A help centre, a community forum at forum.youcanbook.me and one-to-one support for paid users, with a product updates page that carries no API items (8 of 15). No official SDKs found (0). No package to assess (0). 20 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 28.

### Transparency & trust: YouCanBookMe API +6

- Acuity Scheduling API (55): Closed service under Squarespace's Developer Terms of 16 December 2025, with MIT SDKs (15). The privacy policy of 15 July 2026 names acuityscheduling.com and states no retention periods. The DPA of the same date promises deletion within 90 days of cancellation on written request (15). No deprecation policy, and the Developer Terms allow changes to developer tools without notice (0). Sub-processors are disclosed only on request by email, and data may move to any country where Squarespace or its sub-processors operate, the US in particular (4). Total 34.
- YouCanBookMe API (61): Closed service with terms (18 March 2026) naming AI Software (Capacity) UK Ltd under English law, which bar data-mining and robot tools without consent and let the company end membership without notice for a breach (15 of 30). The privacy notice (16 March 2026) states retention periods (24 months for booking data by default, 7 years for support messages), AWS hosting in the United States, a DPA on request and no training of external AI models on booking data; the security page says no subprocessor list is published, and the two agree on AWS (22 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notice, and clause 18.4 allows changes to the service without notice (3 of 20). Providers are named in the privacy notice (AWS, Stripe, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Hotjar, HubSpot) with US hosting, but there is no list with locations per processor (12 of 20). 15 + 22 + 3 + 12 = 52.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Acuity Scheduling API | YouCanBookMe API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 58 | 15 | Acuity Scheduling API +43 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 10 | Acuity Scheduling API +46 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 44 | 13 | Acuity Scheduling API +31 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 27 | 24 | Acuity Scheduling API +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 15 | 28 | YouCanBookMe API +13 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 61 | YouCanBookMe API +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **42.5 · E** | **22.5 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Acuity Scheduling API | YouCanBookMe API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Squarespace | AI Software (Capacity) UK Ltd, trading as YouCanBookMe |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://acuityscheduling.com/api/v1` | `https://api.youcanbook.me/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Squarespace's Developer Terms. The Node.js and PHP SDKs are MIT | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-12-16 | 2026-03-18 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-03-16 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 9.2k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Acuity Scheduling API

- no change on 28 October 2026: correction
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### YouCanBookMe API

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Acuity Scheduling API.** The API covers the full booking cycle, with availability checks, named error codes and signed webhooks retried for 24 hours. API access is sold only on the Premium plan at $61 a month, the single OAuth scope grants the whole account, and no changelog, idempotency key or audit log was found in the reviewed documentation.

**YouCanBookMe API.** A booking-page service with a Team-plan REST API over HTTP Basic auth and one account-wide key, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 on its security page, and a 14-day trial without a card. Its API reference renders only by JavaScript and its status page did not resolve for us, so endpoints, limits and incidents are unverified.

## Before you call either

### Acuity Scheduling API

1. Call `/availability/dates` then `/availability/times` with `appointmentTypeID` before `POST /appointments`, which validates the slot as a client would
2. Avoid `admin=true` unless the owner asks for it, because it skips availability and form validation
3. Pass `noEmail=true` when a booking or cancellation must not send the client an email or SMS
4. Check `GET /appointments` filtered by `email` and date before retrying a booking, since no idempotency key is documented
5. Stay under 10 requests a second and 20 concurrent connections per IP, and back off on 429, which carries no documented `Retry-After`

### YouCanBookMe API

1. Ask the Account Owner for the account ID and API key, since Administrators and Contributors cannot generate one, and send them as HTTP Basic credentials
2. Read the API reference at ycbm.stoplight.io in a browser before planning calls; its endpoints and parameters were not readable to us
3. Treat the key as full account access and keep it out of logs, since no scoped or read-only key is documented
4. Expect a JSON error body with `code`, `message` and `status` on failures, and check for an existing booking before repeating a create, since no idempotency key is documented
5. Use booking-page webhooks for booking, reschedule, cancel, reminder, follow-up and no-show events instead of polling

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Acuity Scheduling API or YouCanBookMe API?

Acuity Scheduling API scores 42.5 (E) on agent readiness against YouCanBookMe API's 22.5 (F), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. YouCanBookMe API leads on maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Do Acuity Scheduling API and YouCanBookMe API need an API key?

Acuity Scheduling API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. YouCanBookMe API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Acuity Scheduling API and YouCanBookMe API without installing anything?

Yes. Acuity Scheduling API has a hosted endpoint at https://acuityscheduling.com/api/v1 and YouCanBookMe API at https://api.youcanbook.me/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-youcanbookme.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-youcanbookme.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "acuity-scheduling", "b": "youcanbookme"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare acuity-scheduling youcanbookme`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/acuity-scheduling.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/youcanbookme.json

## Other comparisons with Acuity Scheduling API or YouCanBookMe API

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- [Acuity Scheduling API vs Apiroc Unified Calendar API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-apiroc.md)
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- [Acuity Scheduling API vs Nylas Calendar and Scheduler API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-nylas-calendar.md)
- [Acuity Scheduling API vs SavvyCal API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-savvycal.md)
- [Acuity Scheduling API vs Zoom Scheduler API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/acuity-scheduling-vs-zoom-scheduler.md)
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- [Cal.com API v2 + MCP vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cal-com-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [Calendly API + MCP vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/calendly-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [Cronofy API vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cronofy-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [Nylas Calendar and Scheduler API vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nylas-calendar-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [SavvyCal API + MCP vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/savvycal-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [YouCanBookMe API vs Zoom Scheduler API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/youcanbookme-vs-zoom-scheduler.md)
- [Apiroc Unified Calendar API vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apiroc-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [Google Calendar API vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-calendar-api-vs-youcanbookme.md)
- [Microsoft Graph Calendar API vs YouCanBookMe API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-graph-calendar-vs-youcanbookme.md)

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