Why would I pay $90/mo [1] with Square when I can pay for the same services and features directly from BookFresh for just $20/mo [2]?<p>In case you are not aware, Square purchased BookFresh back in February [3].<p>I think it's a safe assumption that Square Appointments is just rebranded BookFresh<p>[1] <a href="https://squareup.com/appointments#pricing" rel="nofollow">https://squareup.com/appointments#pricing</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.bookfresh.com/pricing" rel="nofollow">https://www.bookfresh.com/pricing</a><p>[3] <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/26/square-acquires-bookfresh-to-add-booking-services-for-merchants/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/26/square-acquires-bookfresh-t...</a><p>EDIT: links
Thanks HN for these comments.<p>I was looking for an appointment SaaS for a dental office and was only aware of ZocDoc[0] which charges a steep $300 per month.<p>[0]<a href="http://www.zocdoc.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.zocdoc.com</a>
Most of the comments here seems to be about the pricing. IMO if you're a small business, the pricing is fair. Yes, competition may be better/cheaper but keep in mind that Square is trying to create an entire platform here. They've got payments, point of sale, invoicing, and analytics.
So I wonder what ran through patio11's mind when he read that...<p>Though it is an all or nothing proposition - you can't take just the appointment reminding features and leave everything else.
Is there any automation of the common yet difficult problem of "your dentist / hair stylist / doctor has called in sick today and we're trying to reschedule all of todays appointments". This is not all that unusual. My wife's hair stylist was sick two appointments ago and my kids pediatrician office (windowless) had a summer time air conditioning failure.<p>Its not in the PR page so I assume its not handled although this would be a very handy feature. "One click reschedule everyone for today"
Why is it not free? These additional features are to lure you in to using the payment platform and lock businesses in. More so I need end-users to also install the square app to use this feature. So there is that additional friction as well. This is really not something they should be charging for.
I'm interested in this new wrinkle, and always looking for something that will help out my day. But is $30 a month, for a single person, a competitive pricing plan?
I shopped around for a service like this a week ago.<p>We went with Setmore: <a href="http://www.setmore.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.setmore.com</a>. Clean design, their branding is subtle on the free tier, multiple staff/services, ical, and most of all it's extremely easy for customers to create/re-schedule/cancel appointments.<p>Over Square Appointments I'd say their pricing is much more keen (substantial free tier, $25/month premium).
Another example of Google squandering a good thing. They had appointments built into calendar, pushed Google apps to businesses, then promptly shut down appointments.<p>I just recently noticed They slipped appointments back in to Google Apps Calendar, but it's still just wonky and not integrated well in typical Google fashion.
I wonder why there don't seem to be many open-source options in this space?<p>I did a Google before, but I could only find a single option - <a href="https://code.google.com/p/easy-appointments/" rel="nofollow">https://code.google.com/p/easy-appointments/</a>, a PHP app.<p>Is anybody aware of any others?
Congrats to Square on their new product. Execution looks a bit "cheap" but I'm sure they will be working hard on it.<p>I recommend <a href="https://www.appointlet.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.appointlet.com</a> for online appointment scheduling.
Seems like they are competing with MyTime - <a href="http://www.mytime.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.mytime.com</a>. The only thing they lack is good search to find businesses