Our comprehensive guide for 2024 covers 11 exceptional scheduling apps for your various workflows and needs.
6 min read
Updated on May 28, 2024
Published on May 28, 2024
Scheduling apps have helped eliminate one of the most relatable and frustrating experiences of the digital age: email tag. You email a client, prospect, or business partner with some proposed times to meet. By the time they respond, you’ve already booked those slots. You exchange multiple email messages throwing out dates, confirming availability, and sending out a calendar invite. Not only is the whole experience time-consuming and frustrating for everyone involved, it could also potentially cost you a client or a contract.
Scheduling software gets rid of the need for back-and-forth communication by allowing your contact to book a meeting at their convenience based on a range of available dates and times you provide. Scheduling tools sync with your calendar in real time, eliminating double bookings if your contact tries to select a time slot that’s already been chosen. And when your meetings involve multiple teams or organizations, adding further complexity, scheduling apps help coordinate everyone’s availability.
Calendly is a popular scheduling app that provides scheduling links for your customers and prospects to book one-on-one time with you or larger group meetings. You can create a customized booking page and automate certain tasks like reminder emails or follow-ups. However, some features like unlimited team scheduling links and custom notifications are only available with paid plans. If you’re looking to eliminate the back-and-forth of appointment scheduling with a solution that’s easy to use with your existing tools, we’ve rounded up a list of Calendly alternatives to explore.
While you may have heard of Calendly, it’s not the only scheduling app available. You might find that the best scheduling app for you is one that’s built into the video conferencing platform you already use, or one that helps you manage your schedule in addition to booking appointments, or allows you to accept payments from your clients as part of the booking experience. See whether these options below fit your needs and budget.
If Zoom Workplace is your go-to for your work communications, you can pull up your scheduling tool in the same platform where your video meetings, chat messages, and phone calls happen. Zoom Scheduler is tightly integrated with Zoom Workplace, making it an ideal choice not just for sharing your availability, but also for creating a seamless workflow with less toggling between apps. All it takes is a few simple clicks to go from chatting with your colleagues to sending a scheduling link.
Zoom Scheduler integrates with Google and Microsoft 365 calendars, as well as Zoom Mail & Calendar Service, and supports up to six calendar connections per user. This syncs your availability with Scheduler, meaning the person scheduling a meeting with you will only be able to select times when you’re free. When an appointment is set, your meeting attendees can receive reminders by email or text message. Best of all, you’ll benefit from the convenience of one app to manage your scheduling, calendar, and meetings.
You don’t have to worry about multiple contracts or logins — it’s all right in Zoom Workplace, and already included in Business plans and above. For small businesses with Basic or Pro accounts, you don’t need to upgrade to a plan that you don’t need just to have access to Scheduler. Zoom Scheduler is available as an add-on for $5.99/month and comes with features you’d have to pay a premium for with Calendly. Try it for yourself: get started with a 14-day Zoom Scheduler free trial.
Google Workspace users might be wondering if you have a built-in calendar alternative. Within Google Calendar on Google Workspace, you have the ability to create a bookable appointment schedule. This feature allows you to customize your booking settings in a variety of ways, like limiting the number of bookings you’ll accept in a single day or building in buffer time between meetings so you don’t have back-to-back appointments. You can use appointment scheduling with Google Meet meetings and Google Calendar, but you don’t have the ability to integrate with third-party services like your Microsoft Outlook calendar or Zoom Meetings.
If you want to give customers the ability to schedule group meetings with multiple people on your team, you need to manually add up to 20 co-hosts to the appointment schedule.
Doodle is an appointment scheduling tool with a polling feature that enables you to get feedback from multiple people on the best available times for a group meeting. It also has a bookable calendar option for one-on-one appointment scheduling.
Doodle’s free plan allows you to easily include Zoom Meetings and Google Meet meeting links in appointment invites, but requires a paid plan for Microsoft Teams and Webex video conferencing. Doodle also requires you to upgrade to get rid of ads, send appointment reminders, customize your booking page, and add group scheduling.
Clockwise is a calendar management and appointment app that uses AI to help you arrange your schedule in a way that balances meeting time with focus time. All you have to do is connect your Microsoft or Google calendar, and Clockwise’s free version gives you unlimited scheduling links and bookings, integrations with Zoom Meetings and Google Meet, automatic meeting reminders, and custom branding on your booking page. It also highlights recommended times to meet based on your focus time and scheduling preferences. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid version for group scheduling links and round-robin scheduling links.
Like Clockwise, Motion is an AI-powered scheduling tool that takes your projects and tasks and builds a personalized schedule for you every day. You can sync your Google, Outlook, or Apple calendars, select your meeting preferences, and let Motion recommend preferred meeting times to your invitees. Motion also lets you create templates with set meeting lengths and custom schedules. Motion offers options for individual users and teams, which can be pricey compared to other options.
Setmore is scheduling software that gives you the ability to accept payments at the same time your customers book. This makes it a great option for industries where your customers are receiving a paid service during the appointment. Personal trainers, beauty and wellness providers, photographers, and other entrepreneurs can use Setmore as an all-in-one booking system to collect payment and manage appointments on the same platform. The free tier offers unlimited appointments, a custom booking page, a limited number of email reminders, and the ability to accept payment, while paid tiers for small teams to enterprise orgs provide more options for customization.
Cal.com is a simple scheduling software option that lets you connect multiple calendars, set your availability, and share your booking link so people can schedule appointments with you. It has a routing form feature for collecting information from invitees so you can route them to the right staff person or event. You can also automate processes around your event, like sending reminders to attendees or automatically notifying the host if the appointment is canceled. Like Setmore, Cal.com also allows you to collect payment when booking an appointment.
Zoho Bookings is an appointment scheduling app that is part of the Zoho suite of apps, which includes a CRM platform, email services, helpdesk software, and more. It allows you to book video meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoho Meeting, its own video conferencing platform. While this offers flexibility, you may want to stick with the video conferencing provider you use most. Zoho Bookings integrates with other Zoho apps you use, and supports a variety of integrations through Zapier. You can book one-on-one or group meetings in a variety of formats and collect payment before your appointment through the app.
Mixmax is a sales engagement platform with a built-in scheduling feature. Since it has features geared to help sales and revenue teams with the entire process, from prospecting and building pipeline to closing deals, Mixmax is ideal for many sales-focused teams, but may not be the right choice if you have broader business needs or want a scheduler for a variety of different types of meetings.
Morgen is a time management app that consolidates and syncs your calendars to help you manage your schedule better. Its auto-scheduling feature builds in time for commuting to a meeting or taking a quick breather between back-to-backs. You can also drag and drop tasks from your to-do list into your calendar to block time to get work done. Morgen’s scheduling capabilities on different free and paid tiers include open invites (flexible 1:1 invites that let the invitee choose a time based on your schedule), scheduling links (a direct link to schedule time with you), and booking pages.
Acuity Scheduling is an online scheduling assistant that is part of the Squarespace suite of products. It offers standard features like the ability to create branded booking pages and automated reminders, and integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and GoTo Meeting. You can also collect prepayments when booking — in full or deposits — and add an option to tip, too. With Acuity Scheduling, you can offer coupons and vouchers for discounts. These options make it great for certain industries and business types, but they may not be the right fit for other organizations.
As you can see, many of the scheduling apps above have similar standard features, either available for free or as part of a paid plan. Here are some popular features you may want to look for when choosing a scheduling tool:
When evaluating which scheduler app is right for you, you may want to consider factors like ease of use and how this new tool will fit into your existing workflow. Does it create a seamless experience, or will you need to toggle to a new app or open a new window to use it?
Another thing to consider is which features are most important to you. For instance, if you only use one meeting provider, such as Zoom Workplace, you may not need a tool that integrates with Google Meet or Teams. If you need to connect multiple calendars, on the other hand, look for a provider that allows you to do that.
Zoom Pro and Zoom Basic online customers, now’s your chance to check out Zoom Scheduler at no cost to you! Sign up for a free 14-day trial.*
Can't decide which scheduling app you want to use? Take a look at our head-to-head comparison of Zoom Scheduler and Calendly.
* Eligibility requirements for free trial: Online customers with accounts that have no active Scheduler plan and that have no previous purchase record of a Scheduler plan since February 2024 are able to receive the 14-day free trial. Healthcare, education, and government accounts are not eligible. Thirty-day free trial of Scheduler will auto-renew to a paid plan at the end of the free trial period.
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