Comparison
JoinCPR vs general booking apps for CPR classes
General booking apps take bookings and payments well, and some handle group classes, waivers and waitlists too. What none of Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, Bookeo or Eventbrite lists is the CPR side of the job: certification expiry dates and renewal reminders, AHA and Red Cross rosters, and a pass or fail for each student.
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The short answer
Use a general booking app if you only need people to pick a class or a time and pay, and your certifying body’s system already keeps your cards and renewals. Acuity Scheduling and Calendly are built for appointments, Bookeo for classes and tours, and Eventbrite for ticketed events.
Use JoinCPR when you also need what certification classes leave behind: expiry dates and renewal reminders, AHA and Red Cross roster exports, pass and fail results, your own verifiable certificates, online course keys and a portal for corporate clients. It costs $59 a month, with a 15-day free trial.
What CPR classes need that appointment apps don’t list
A CPR class ends with records that last for years: who passed, the roster the certifying body needs, and a card that expires on a date you’ll want to remind the student about. The table shows what each app’s own website lists.
| What CPR classes need | JoinCPR | Acuity Scheduling | Calendly | Bookeo | Eventbrite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certification expiry dates and renewal reminders | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| AHA and Red Cross roster exports | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Pass, fail or incomplete for each student | Yes | Not listed No-shows can be marked | Not listed No-shows can be marked | Not listed Custom booking statuses | Not listed Check-in only |
| Your own certificates, verifiable online | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Online course keys handed out at checkout | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Corporate client portal | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| One payment for a group of students | Yes | Yes One client can book several spots | No Each invitee books and pays for their own spot | Yes With each participant’s details | Yes Details for each ticket holder |
| Waivers or agreements at checkout | Yes Agreed at checkout, with the time and IP address | Yes Agreement checkbox; no e-signatures | Yes Consent checkbox | Yes Signed waivers, a paid add-on | Yes Terms checkbox |
| Waitlist for a full class | Yes Seats offered automatically | No Appointments only, not classes | Not listed | Yes Automatic notice when seats open | Yes The organizer releases seats by hand |
| Email and text reminders | Yes Text reminders included | Yes Texts on the Standard plan and up | Yes On paid plans | Yes Texts use credits bought separately | Yes Email; texts not listed |
| Payments to your own account, no platform fee | Yes Stripe or Square | Yes Stripe, Square or PayPal | Yes Stripe or PayPal, on paid plans | Yes Stripe, Square or PayPal | No Eventbrite processes payments and charges a fee per ticket |
JoinCPR is built around those records. Passing a student records their certification with the expiry date the AHA, Red Cross, HSI, NSC or ECSI uses, the renewal email goes out before it expires, and the roster exports in AHA or Red Cross format. See certification tracking and class rosters and roster exports, or every JoinCPR feature.
Acuity Scheduling
What it is: Online booking and appointment scheduling software.
Pricing: From $16 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly); 7-day free trial, no card. No free plan. No booking fee on top of Stripe, Square or PayPal.
Strengths: one-time and recurring group classes with a class size limit, custom intake forms, packages, memberships and gift certificates, email reminders and text reminders on the Standard plan and up, Stripe, Square or PayPal payments, and integrations with Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and Zapier.
Trade-offs for CPR classes: its help center says the waitlist works for appointments but not classes, intake forms can’t capture electronic signatures, and you can’t point your own domain at the scheduling page, only embed it on your website. It lists no certification tracking or rosters.
Best for: one-to-one sessions booked by time, such as a skills check each student schedules around their own calendar.
Calendly
What it is: Meeting scheduling software.
Pricing: Free plan for one-on-one meetings; paid plans from $10 per seat a month billed yearly ($12 monthly). Stripe or PayPal payments on paid plans, with no Calendly fee.
Strengths: quick to set up, with a free plan for one-on-one meetings, group events on paid plans where many people book the same slot, custom questions, email and text reminders on paid plans, and HubSpot, Mailchimp and Zapier integrations.
Trade-offs for CPR classes: invitees can’t add guests to a group event, so each person books and pays for their own spot, and its help center lists no waitlist, certification tracking or rosters.
Best for: scheduling calls and consultations, such as a first conversation with a company about on-site training.
Bookeo
What it is: Booking software for classes, courses, tours and appointments. Its training page names CPR and safety training among the businesses it suits.
Pricing: Classes & Courses from $39.95 a month for up to 1,000 bookings; 30-day free trial, no card. Waivers and text messages are paid add-ons. No commission on payments.
Strengths: of the four, it lists the most class tools: recurring classes with seat counts, details for every participant in a group booking, signed waivers (a paid add-on), automatic notices to a waitlist when seats open, class passes, memberships and gift vouchers, and Mailchimp, Zapier and an API.
Trade-offs for CPR classes: waivers and text messages cost extra, and its site lists no certification tracking, renewal reminders, rosters or certificates.
Best for: class businesses that don’t issue certifications, or that keep them somewhere else.
Eventbrite
What it is: An event ticketing and event management platform.
Pricing: Free for free events. Paid tickets in the US carry a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing, paid by the buyer unless you absorb them.
Strengths: events with a capacity and repeating dates, details collected for each ticket holder, a check-in app, a waitlist, promo codes, and Mailchimp and Zapier integrations.
Trade-offs for CPR classes: Eventbrite processes the payments and charges its fee per paid ticket, the organizer releases waitlist seats by hand, and your custom link is yourname.eventbrite.com. Its policy prohibits self-paced events without live facilitation, so the online part of a blended course can’t be listed there on its own.
Best for: a free community event, such as a hands-only CPR session, that you want people to find and share.
When a general booking app is enough
A booking app is enough when all you need is a list of who’s coming and their payment, and the certifying body’s own system keeps the cards and renewals.
- You teach a few classes a year and the certifying body’s system already tracks your students’ cards.
- Your sessions don’t lead to a certification, such as an awareness talk or a Family & Friends CPR course.
- Students pick their own time for one-to-one sessions. JoinCPR schedules classes at set times and doesn’t offer choose-your-own-time appointments.
- You already run another part of your business on one of these apps and your CPR classes are a small add-on.
When classes, certifications and corporate clients become a regular part of the business, the records are what takes the time. See JoinCPR pricing. Moving from a booking app? See switching to JoinCPR.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Calendly for CPR classes?
Yes, for bookings. Calendly’s paid plans have group events where several people book the same time slot, with custom questions, reminders and Stripe or PayPal payments. Each invitee books and pays for their own spot, and Calendly’s site lists no certification tracking, rosters or renewal reminders, so those stay in a spreadsheet or your certifying body’s system.
Is Eventbrite good for CPR classes?
It handles ticketed events well, with details for each ticket holder, check-in and a waitlist. On paid tickets in the US, Eventbrite adds a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket and 2.9% payment processing, paid by the buyer unless you absorb them, and its site lists no certification tracking or rosters. JoinCPR charges no fee per ticket: $59 a month, with payments to your own Stripe or Square account.
Do booking apps track CPR certification expiry dates?
None of Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, Bookeo or Eventbrite lists certification tracking or renewal reminders on its website or in its help center. JoinCPR records each certification with the expiry date its certifying body uses and emails the student before it runs out.
Is JoinCPR more expensive than a booking app?
At list price, often. Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 a month billed yearly, Calendly at $10 a seat and Bookeo’s class plans at $39.95, and JoinCPR is $59 a month. JoinCPR’s price includes text reminders, certification tracking and roster exports, with no fee per booking.
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Put your schedule online, take registrations and payments, and let reminders, rosters and renewals run themselves. $59 a month with every feature included.
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