Square Appointments vs PLEY
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Square Appointments
This app streamlines business operations by offering online booking, appointment scheduling, automated reminders, and secure payment processing. It provides a point-of-sale system, client management tools, and team management features, all accessible from mobile devices.
- Online booking and scheduling
- Automated appointment reminders
- Secure payment processing
- Client management and notes
- Team calendar and permissions
- Integrated point of sale
- Customizable booking site
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Square Appointments is an all-in-one solution for booking and scheduling appointments, sending reminders, and accepting payments. ► THE ALL-IN ONE POINT OF SALE FOR BOOKING, PAYMENTS, AND MORE It has everything you need to run your business from anywhere: online booking that’s easy for you and your customers, a point of sale that tracks customer details, and a secure, fast payment system. There are three monthly plans: Free, Plus, and Premium, and each is on a per-location basis. Custom pricing is available for businesses that process over $250K in annual revenue. ► NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED, NO LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS Get 24/7 online booking, automatic appointment reminders, seamless payment processing, and no-show protection with Square Appointments for iPhone, iPad, and desktop. This is especially beneficial for barbershops and nail salons that need to manage appointments efficiently. ► PRICING PLANS TO FIT YOUR BUSINESS Pricing for Square Appointments is based on the features that fit your business best. There are three monthly plans: Free, Plus, and Premium, and each is on a per-location basis. Custom pricing is available for businesses that process over $250K in annual revenue. ► LET CLIENTS BOOK 24/7 No website? No problem—Square Appointments includes a pre-built booking site, so your customers can book anytime, from anywhere. Easily manage and accept bookings from your iPhone or iPad. With our Square Online integration, you can customize layouts, colors, and fonts that reflect your brand and even add pages for products, testimonials, and more. This feature is perfect for nail salons and barbershops looking to enhance their online presence. ► CHECK OUT CLIENTS SEAMLESSLY Accept payments, sell products, or send invoices easily, all from one app. Let customers have Square save their card on file for even faster checkout. ► REDUCE NO-SHOWS Set up automated appointment reminders, request prepayment or charge a cancellation fee for online booking. ► MANAGE AN ENTIRE TEAM EASILY Manage your whole team’s calendars, set their access and permissions, and see individual sales and appointment reports all from one place. ► GET TO KNOW YOUR CLIENTS Keep notes on all your clients so you can keep track of their preferences, appointment and sales history. This is valuable for barbershops, nail salons, and health & beauty businesses aiming to provide personalized services. This is more than just a calendar. Square Appointments is powerful appointment scheduling, a point of sale, and payment processing—all in one place.
PLEY
This app connects clients with beauty professionals, allowing users to discover services, manage appointments, and maintain a beauty history. Professionals can showcase their work, message clients, and track earnings, while salons can manage their teams and post opportunities.
- Discover beauty professionals and salons
- Book appointments and manage beauty history
- AI-powered bio and caption suggestions
- Direct messaging between clients and pros
- In-app tipping for professionals
- Salon profiles and job postings
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Booking is an appointment. PLEY is the relationship. Discover beauty professionals, stay connected, keep your beauty history in one place, and tip your pro through PLEY. PLEY is built for hairstylists, barbers, estheticians, nail technicians, makeup artists, lash and brow specialists, massage therapists, the salons they work in, and the clients who follow them. WHY PLEY - A marketplace for the beauty community, not another calendar - AI built into the work: ask PLEY AI, draft a bio, suggest hashtags - Messaging, beauty history, discovery and tipping in one place - Free for clients, with no ads FOR BEAUTY PROFESSIONALS - Share your work as photo and video posts - Message clients directly in the app - Keep formulas, product notes and service history for every client - Collect reviews and build your PLEY Score - Receive tips and track your earnings and payouts - Use PLEY AI for captions, hashtags and profile copy FOR SALONS - A profile for the shop and the professionals who work there - Post openings, booth rent and collaborations to the community - See the team's service history and reviews in one place FOR CLIENTS - Discover and follow beauty professionals and salons near you - Message them directly - Keep your own beauty history: what was done, by whom, with which products - Leave reviews and share the results - Tip from a profile, a station QR code or a shared link THE MARKETPLACE - Inspiration - share looks and discover new ideas - Events - find classes, demos and community events - Opportunities - salon openings, booth rent and collaborations - Looking For - ask for a service or a professional you need - Discussions - professional conversations for PLEY pros PLEY TIP Make every thank-you easy. Clients can tip a beauty professional from their profile, a station QR code, or a shared link, entering their own amount or using suggested amounts based on the service total. Professionals track their tips and earnings in PLEY.
Screenshots
Verdict
Square Appointments and PLEY both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of PLEY's written reviews are positive against 69% of Square Appointments's. PLEY also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.1). Square Appointments's advantage is ratings volume (195K vs 15) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Square Appointments against 4.7 for PLEY. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Square Appointments has 195K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Square Appointments's written reviews are positive against 100% of PLEY's.
Square Appointments ships an update every 6 days, PLEY every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Square Appointments | PLEY |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (195K ratings) — better | 4.7 (15 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 68.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 195K — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.1 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 803 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Block, Inc. | Pley |
Customer experience
Square Appointments
PLEY
Bugs and requests
Square Appointments
Reported bugs
5 issues- Appointments disappearing or not syncing
- Issues with changing or rescheduling appointments
- Unreliable notification system
- Incorrect time/date display
- Trouble connecting with Square payment system
Requested features
6 requests- Ability to customize text/email reminders
- Option to block time slots for personal use
- Integration with more calendar apps
- Easier way to manage multiple locations
- Feature to collect deposits or prepayments
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- Improved reporting and analytics
PLEY
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Square Appointments
No in-app purchases
PLEY
No in-app purchases









