Is Cardel an alternative to Acuity Scheduling or Substack?

Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Acuity Scheduling or Substack when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Acuity Scheduling and Substack are marked.

Can I use Cardel with Acuity Scheduling or Substack?

Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Acuity Scheduling or Substack for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

How much does Cardel cost compared with Acuity Scheduling and Substack?

You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Acuity Scheduling and Substack set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

How do I switch from Acuity Scheduling or Substack to Cardel?

Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.

Compare

Acuity SchedulingvsSubstack

Acuity Scheduling runs appointment businesses with intake forms, reminders, and payments. Substack is the simplest way to write a newsletter, grow it through its network, and get paid.

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How Acuity Scheduling and Substack compare

Acuity Scheduling is built for businesses that live by the appointment. Client self-booking, calendar sync, intake forms, automated reminders, packages and memberships, gift certificates, payments at booking, and multiple staff calendars keep a salon, clinic, or coach running. It is part of Squarespace and works with or without a Squarespace site.

Substack made paid newsletters normal. You write, it sends, and readers can subscribe or pay in one click. The network effects are real: recommendations, Notes, the app, and discovery bring new readers you did not have to find. There is no monthly fee, and for a writer who wants to write rather than run software, that is a gift.

Where they are different

Acuity Scheduling

Acuity is the appointment system.
Acuity keeps a client list with notes.
Acuity sends confirmations.

Substack

Substack is a network you publish into.
Substack takes a percentage of paid subscriptions.
Substack chat and comments live in its app.

Choose Acuity Scheduling when appointments are the business and you need reminders, intake, packages, and staff calendars.

Choose Substack when you want to write, get paid, and be discovered with the least possible setup.

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What's on Acuity Scheduling and Substack

A check means that capability is available. Acuity Scheduling and Substack are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

Workspace site
Acuity Scheduling: Not included
Substack: Included
Custom domain
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Included
Theme and fonts
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Included

Public content

Blog
Acuity Scheduling: Not included
Substack: Included

Audience and email

Audience
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Included
Marketing emails
Acuity Scheduling: Not included
Substack: Included

Commerce

Shop payments
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Not included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Not included

Team

Admin users
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Included
Per-admin permissions
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Included
AI Assistant
Acuity Scheduling: Included
Substack: Not included

Feature comparison for Acuity Scheduling and Substack
Feature	Acuity Scheduling	Substack
Site and brand
Workspace site	Not included	Included
Custom domain	Included	Included
Theme and fonts	Included	Included
Public content
Blog	Not included	Included
Audience and email
Audience	Included	Included
Marketing emails	Not included	Included
Commerce
Shop payments	Included	Not included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.	Included	Not included
Team
Admin users	Included	Included
Per-admin permissions	Included	Included
AI Assistant	Included	Not included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Acuity Scheduling or Substack, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Acuity Scheduling or Substack may add or remove features that are not shown here.