Don’t you just dread the back-and-forth emails trying to find the right schedule?
Syncing up schedules can be tedious work. This is why you need a tool like Calendly.
Calendly may be one of the most popular scheduling software in the market right now but there are a lot of Calendly alternatives that you can use at a much cheaper price.
In this article, we have listed the top Calendly alternatives that you can get to help you save time and money. Get the best bang for your buck with our top 3 Calendly alternatives:
Doodle
First on the list is Doodle. Doodle is an excellent website for team-based businesses. It works by creating a poll so you can coordinate a group of people at a set time. Easily!
How Doodle Works
So as you schedule an event, you can select many dates and times when your appointment would occur. In other words, you give people options that work with your availability. Then they would choose which works with them. Once it’s finalized, you can then set a definite time and date for your meeting.
You don’t even have to worry about time zones. If you have teammates worldwide, it will automatically reflect on their time once you send your invitation.
Doodle Pros and Cons
Now the best thing about Doodle is it has a FREE VERSION. But, you may have to deal with their watermark and ads. But if you want to save time AND money, this is an excellent option for you.
We suppose you’re thrilled by now. So here are some more reasons why you would love Doodle.
Why you would love Doodle
- It integrates with email providers and communication apps like Slack, Zoom, and Zappier.
- It has a shareable link. People you invite don’t need to have a Doodle account to accept.
- It is secured against DDoS attacks through Cloudflare.
- You can connect it to the calendar you already have.
- Setting up a schedule is a no-brainer.
- It has a mobile app!
With all the pros, there is no denying that this tool is indeed terrific! But then reality hits. There must be some not-so-good things that you need to be aware of, right? After all, there is no perfect app.
Some annoying things about Doodle
- The free version is ad-heavy
- Expect to receive tons of emails that encourage an upgrade.
- Mobile functionality is not as smooth as the web app.
Well, seeing points, the good outweighs the bad.
Doodle Pricing Plans
If you love the free version and would like to use this tool in the long run, it’s time to go premium.
Doodle Premium has three plans billed annually: Pro, Team, and Enterprise. Both Pro and Team plans offer a 14-day free trial.
-
Pro
This is their most popular plan, and you can get it for only $6.95/ month. With this plan, you can enjoy an ad-free experience. You can also add your logo and branding and use your URL for your meetings. But this is only for one user. Meaning, only one person can create a poll or discussion.
-
Team
For $44.75/ month, you can already work with up to 5 users. Note that the price would increase with the number of users ($89.50 for ten users and $179.00 for 20 users).
-
Enterprise
This plan is fitting for larger organizations that need more customization, control, and support. You can log in with your company’s credentials and manage accounts centrally.
To top it all off, Doodle is ideal for businesses that require working with multiple people. It is not designed for one-on-one meetings.
Acuity Scheduling
If you find that your business would use one-on-one meetings often, then this is your best bet.
Squarespace owns Acuity Scheduling. It works more like an appointment management tool rather than just a scheduling app.
This app is targeted at service-based businesses or professionals who deal with clients.
How Acuity Scheduling Works
Acuity Scheduling is just at a whole new level and even offers more advanced functions than Calendly.
Scheduling
With Acuity, you can set your availability and have your clients self-book an appointment with you during your available hours. You can also select multiple appointment types, which is great if you offer more than just one service.
Payments
The payment system of Acuity works much like Calendly.
People can pay and have the information directly go to your invoicing system. Then it will create an invoice for them and add the payment. That means you can get people on your calendar and secure payments automatically.
This is how you leverage your business. This feature allows you to save time and money from all the admin tasks and focus more on improving the service you offer.
But here’s the catch…
Unlike Calendly, Acuity allows you to make complex payments. It’s made possible by integrating it into your Squarespace account.
What’s with complex payments? Game changer!
Complex payments enable them to pay per month, per year, per week, or every six months. So you can sell subscriptions and memberships!
This is what makes Acuity win the arena of scheduling.
Acuity Scheduling Pros and Cons
You might be pretty much convinced by now, but it doesn’t stop there. We’ve listed a few things why you would love Acuity.
Why you would love Acuity Scheduling
- Three ways to view your schedule: By Day, Week or month
- You can offer classes and group events
- You can see your client list, and you can import/ export contacts
- Integrated with other calendars such as Outlook, iCal, and Gmail
- You can embed the calendar to your website and social media to promote it
- You can offer coupons and gift certificates
- Automatic time zone conversion for your clients around the world
- Allow clients to reschedule and cancel appointments
- Great for healthcare teams because its HIPAA compliant
- Allows multiple users
- Customizable appearance design
- Shareable link available
Some annoying things about Acuity Scheduling
Acuity Scheduling already sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? To balance things out, you might want to consider the following cons.
- No free plan
- Might need a bit more time to learn
- Auto text reminders are only available for mid to top tier plans
- HIPAA compliance only available for top tier plan
- The cheapest plan has Acuity Scheduler’s branding
Acuity Scheduling Pricing Plans
Acuity Scheduling has three plans: Emerging, Growing, and Powerhouse. They scratched off their Free Plan already, but the good thing is that they have a 7-day free trial. ALL PLANS. So you have a generous amount of time to see which plan would work best for you. Here is the price list:
-
Emerging
$15 per month (monthly billing)
$14 per month (annual billing)
-
Growing
$23 per month (monthly billing)
$25 per month (annual billing)
-
Powerhouse
$50 per month (monthly billing)
$45 per month (annual billing)
If you want to know more of Acuity Scheduling Pricing Plans, click here.
Acuity Scheduling is an all-around appointment tool. Setting automatic schedules, payments, and reminder emails to your clients have never been easier. This tool is best for coaches, mentors, financial advisors, employers, marketers, and the like.
X.AI
This might be the weirdest one, so brace yourself.
X.AI is an online appointment tool with a bit of spice— AI. You get more of an assistant than just a tool.
This AI assistant helps you schedule your meetings and is unbelievably easy to use.
How X.AI Works
The scheduling system is like Calendly. You set your available time and date, then guests can book with you based on your schedule.
Amy, Andrew, and Scheduler (your assistants) are activated when you use your email to set schedules. First, you give x.ai access to your phone number, calendar, Skype, and other information it asks you to give.
Then, when you schedule a meeting by mail, input your recipients and CC x.ai’s address. Your instructions would be on the email body and make sure you put your assistant’s name.
For example, “Scheduler, please schedule 2 hours meeting with Frank at my office on May 14th. Call it a Training Session and make June optional”. Your bot would then verify the details with you and send the invitation to your guests.
X.AI Pros and Cons
Let’s dive into the interesting stuff about this tool.
Why you would love X.AI
What we’ve listed below are only a few of the good things that X.AI could offer. You can check out the full details of their features on their site.
- Ridiculously inexpensive
- Unlimited custom URLs
- Schedules large group meetings
- Integrations with Slack, Google Chrome, Zapier, and more
- Has Chrome Extension
- Schedule unlimited appointment types
- Shareable link
- Calendar pages can be embedded
- Accepts Payments
- Automated reminders and follow-ups
- Allows your guests to ask you a question when they book with you
- AI speaks in a natural language
Some annoying things about X.AI
As good as this tool can get, sometimes, it can be a pain. That’s because this software is still developing, and it has areas that it lacks. So expect some bugs and a bit of inconvenience.
- People find it hard to identify that Amy and Andrew are AI’s.
- Zoom integration and payment is not available on the Free Plan
- Could sometimes go off the rail with misinterpreted sentences.
- Takes time to get used to.
X.AI Pricing Plans
This is the area that X.AI shines the most. It’s not cheap, only inexpensive. Their pricing starts at — guess what? $0!
-
Free
The Free Plan doesn’t feel like it’s free at all! It’s packed with unlimited meetings and pages. You also get to remove X.AI’s branding and replace it with your own logo!
-
Individual
Their paid plan starts at $10 per month and $8 per month for yearly billing. You get to connect your multiple calendars to determine which schedule you could fit your meetings on. You also get to accept payments from your guests just like Calendly. And to make it more personalized for your guests, you can schedule a custom email to be sent to them after each of your meetings!
-
Team
If your business is team-based, then this plan is for you. At $15 per month ($12 per month annual payment), you can work productively with your team. It features conference room booking and allows your guests to schedule a meeting with any available member of your team.
X.AI is best for busy people who want everything done fast. It works well with small to mid businesses who work with teams.
Time to Set!
When it comes to automatic scheduling tools, the options are infinite. But you can now decide what Calendly alternatives we’ve listed above, is the best tool for you.