Square Appointments is a great free scheduling tool. We are studio operations software. The moment you sell your first session package, you will outgrow Square Appointments. Every plan includes unlimited clients.
Square Appointments is exactly what its name says. A calendar, basic payments, simple appointment reminders. Free for one user. For a solo PT just starting out, it is genuinely excellent. Book a session, take a card after, repeat.
The moment you sell a 12-session package, hire a second trainer, or want to track who's about to run out of sessions, the gap shows. Square has no concept of packages, contracts, FIFO drawdown, commissions, or retention. We were built around those.
Square Appointments is a fine starting tool. We are the studio software you graduate to.
| My Training Studio | Square Appointments | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking and Scheduling | ||
| 1-on-1 session booking | Yes | Yes |
| Online client self-booking | Yes | Yes |
| Trainer-specific availability + conflict detection | Yes | Basic |
| Recurring weekly sessions from contract | Yes | No |
| Session Packages and Contracts | ||
| Session packages with balance tracking | Yes | No |
| FIFO drawdown across overlapping packages | Yes | No |
| Contract-to-schedule linking | Yes | No |
| Sessions-remaining alerts | Yes | No |
| Studio Operations | ||
| Trainer commission tracking | Yes | No |
| Trainer payouts | Yes | No |
| Retention and attendance reports | Yes | No |
| Square Appointments' Core Strengths | ||
| Free for solo trainer (1 user) | $50/mo solo | Free |
| Built-in card reader and POS | No | Yes |
| Square ecosystem (POS, payroll, gift cards) | No | Yes |
| Payments | ||
| You own the merchant account | Your Stripe | Square is the merchant |
| Recurring billing rate | 2.9% + $0.30 | 3.5% + $0.15 |
| Take payment data with you if you leave | Yes | No |
Three things Square Appointments does not have. We treat them as core.
| Trainer | Sessions | Revenue | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach Dan | 42 | $3,150 | $945 |
| Coach Lia | 28 | $2,100 | $630 |
| Coach Marc | 18 | $1,350 | $405 |
| Total commission | $1,980 | ||
| Client | Sessions | Months | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Mitchell | 148 | 14 | Active |
| Lisa Kim | 87 | 11 | Active |
| Mike Rodriguez | 62 | 6 | Active |
| Tom Watson | 34 | 3 | Inactive |
Square Appointments is free for one user. We are not. We are also not a scheduling tool.
| Your business | My Training Studio | Square Appointments |
|---|---|---|
| Solo trainer | $50/mo | Free |
| 2-staff studio | $199/mo | $29/mo + $20/staff |
| 5-staff studio | $199/mo | $69/mo + $35/staff |
| Session packages, contracts, FIFO | All included | Not modeled |
| Trainer commissions and payouts | Included | Not modeled |
| Recurring payment processing | 2.9% + $0.30 (your Stripe) | 3.5% + $0.15 (Square) |
Square Appointments tier prices are public on squareup.com/appointments. The pattern that matters: they price for a scheduling tool, we price for studio software.
Square Appointments is a scheduling tool with basic payment processing. It works well for a solo PT who books 1-on-1 sessions and charges a card after each session. The moment you sell a session package, hire a second trainer, or want to track retention, you will hit the limits. Square has no concept of session packages, FIFO drawdown across packages, contracts, trainer commissions, or retention reporting. My Training Studio is built around those primitives.
Square Appointments is free for 1 user, $29/mo plus $20 per staff member for the Plus tier, and $69/mo plus $35 per staff for Premium. My Training Studio starts at $50/mo solo and is $199/mo for up to 5 trainers with unlimited clients. Square wins on sticker price for tiny studios. MTS wins on what your business actually needs once you sell packages or hire trainers.
No. Square Appointments has no native concept of a session package or a multi-session contract. You can sell items in Square's POS, but the platform does not track sessions remaining, draw down a balance on attendance, or alert you when a client is running out. My Training Studio treats session packages as a core primitive with FIFO drawdown across overlapping packages.