SimBook vs Square Appointments for golf simulator booking

SimBook vs Square Appointments for golf simulator and indoor golf venues: bay booking, memberships, pricing, waivers, reminders and league holds, compared side by side.

Updated September 30, 2026

The short answer

SimBook is best for golf simulator venues that want booking, memberships and the tee sheet in one place.
Square Appointments is best for venues already using Square POS that want booking in the same system.

Of the 10 things golf simulator venues ask for most, SimBook (golf-specific booking software) fully covers 10 and Square Appointments (general booking software) covers 4, based on what each company publishes.

Golf-specific booking software

SimBook

SimBook is booking and membership software built by an indoor golf venue owner for golf simulator clubs. It covers online booking on your own website, one tee sheet for every bay, pricing by time and season, and memberships that bill themselves.

Best for: Golf simulator venues that want booking, memberships and the tee sheet in one place

Pricing: $99/month per location, unlimited bays and staff, no per-bay fee. 14-day free trial. Enterprise pricing for multi-location groups.

General booking software

Square Appointments

Square Appointments is Square’s scheduling product, tied to Square payments and POS. It supports online booking, SMS reminders, packages and, on the Premium plan, bookable resources such as rooms or stations.

Best for: Venues already using Square POS that want booking in the same system.

Pricing: A free plan and paid monthly plans per location, plus card processing fees. See Square’s pricing page for current prices.

SimBook vs Square Appointments: features for golf simulator venues

Feature	SimBook	Square Appointments
Booking widget on your own website	Yes Booking page plus an embeddable widget	Yes
One schedule across every bay	Yes One tee sheet for every bay	Yes Resources on Premium plan
Peak, off-peak and seasonal pricing	Yes By day, time, season and bay type	Check with vendor
Memberships with recurring billing	Yes Auto-renewing billing through Stripe	Partly Separate Square Subscriptions product
Member perks: early booking, included hours	Yes Early booking windows, hour banks, member rates	Check with vendor
Punch passes or prepaid packages	Yes Punch passes	Yes Packages
Waivers signed during booking	Yes Signed in the booking flow	Partly Forms sent after booking; Plus and up
Text (SMS) reminders	Yes Sent in your club’s name	Yes
Hold bays for leagues	Yes League blocks lock bays during league hours	Check with vendor
Built for golf simulator venues	Yes	No
Pricing	$99/month per location, unlimited bays and staff, no per-bay fee. 14-day free trial. Enterprise pricing for multi-location groups.	A free plan and paid monthly plans per location, plus card processing fees. See Square’s pricing page for current prices.

Where SimBook and Square Appointments differ

Peak, off-peak and seasonal pricing

SimBook

Yes

By day, time, season and bay type

Square Appointments

Check with vendor

Memberships with recurring billing

SimBook

Yes

Auto-renewing billing through Stripe

Square Appointments

Partly

Separate Square Subscriptions product

Member perks: early booking, included hours

SimBook

Yes

Early booking windows, hour banks, member rates

Square Appointments

Check with vendor

Waivers signed during booking

SimBook

Yes

Signed in the booking flow

Square Appointments

Partly

Forms sent after booking; Plus and up

Hold bays for leagues

SimBook

Yes

League blocks lock bays during league hours

Square Appointments

Check with vendor

Built for golf simulator venues

SimBook

Yes

Square Appointments

Strengths and trade-offs

SimBook

Strengths

Built around golf simulator bays: right-hand-only bays, left-handed flags, league blocks
Memberships with early booking, included hours and punch passes built in
One flat price per location with unlimited bays and staff
Moves your members, customers and booking history over, with a dedicated onboarding specialist

Worth knowing

Focused on golf simulator venues, not other kinds of businesses
League scoring and leaderboards are a separate product (LeagueNight)

Square Appointments

Strengths

Booking, payments and POS in one Square account
Free plan available
Automatic SMS and email reminders

Worth knowing

Bay-level resource booking requires the Premium plan
General scheduler: golf-specific features like league holds need workarounds

Questions owners ask

Is SimBook or Square Appointments better for a golf simulator business?

It depends on how you run your venue. SimBook suits golf simulator venues that want booking, memberships and the tee sheet in one place. Square Appointments suits venues already using Square POS that want booking in the same system. Based on what each publishes, SimBook fully covers 10 of the 10 features golf simulator venues ask for most, and Square Appointments covers 4.

How much does SimBook cost?

$99/month per location, unlimited bays and staff, no per-bay fee. 14-day free trial. Enterprise pricing for multi-location groups.

How much does Square Appointments cost?

A free plan and paid monthly plans per location, plus card processing fees. See Square’s pricing page for current prices.

Can SimBook and Square Appointments sell memberships with recurring billing?

SimBook: Yes (auto-renewing billing through Stripe). Square Appointments: Partly (separate Square Subscriptions product).

Can I hold bays for a league in SimBook or Square Appointments?

SimBook: Yes (league blocks lock bays during league hours). Square Appointments: We couldn’t confirm it from Square Appointments’s website; check with them directly.

A note on fairness: we make SimBook, so read this with that in mind. Facts about other tools come from their own websites and were last checked September 30, 2026. Features and prices change, so for other tools we describe how they charge and point you to their pricing pages rather than quoting numbers. Where we couldn’t confirm something, we say “Check with vendor” rather than guess. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.

Sources: Square Appointments (squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing), Square Appointments (squareup.com/us/en/pricing), Square Appointments (squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7065-square-appointments-resource-management), Square Appointments (squareup.com/us/en/appointments/features/reminders), Square Appointments (squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8268-create-and-manage-packages-with-square-appointments), Square Appointments (squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7104-contracts), Square Appointments (squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5355-set-up-online-booking-with-square-appointments), Square Appointments (squareup.com/us/en/subscriptions)

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