You know how it goes: you send an email with three possible time slots, the other person responds with two different suggestions, and before you know it a week has passed and you still don’t have an appointment scheduled. That back-and-forth emailing costs a ridiculous amount of time. Calendly solves that by sharing your calendar and letting people choose a time that works for everyone.
Calendly: the company
Calendly was founded in 2013 by Tope Awotona, who was tired of constantly having to schedule appointments through endless email exchanges. He built a tool that works simply: you indicate when you’re available, send a link, and the other person chooses a time. Done.
Millions of people worldwide now use Calendly, from freelancers to large companies. The company is based in Atlanta and has completely focused on one thing: making appointment scheduling as easy as possible. No unnecessary features, just a tool that does what it’s supposed to do.
The tool integrates with all major calendars such as Google Calendar, Outlook and Office 365. You can also connect it to video tools like Zoom and Google Meet, so a meeting link is automatically created. Calendly has grown into one of the most widely used scheduling tools in the world.
Who is Calendly for?
Calendly is ideal for anyone who regularly schedules appointments with people outside their own company. Think of:
- Freelancers and consultants who schedule intake meetings or client meetings
- Recruiters who schedule job interviews with candidates
- Sales teams who give demos to potential customers
- Coaches and therapists who organize sessions with clients
- Teachers who want to offer office hours without hassle
Basically, Calendly is for anyone who doesn’t want to spend all day emailing about when someone has time. If you schedule more than a few appointments per week with external people, this tool really saves you hours per month.
The tool works less well if you mainly meet internally with colleagues. For that, you usually have enough with the standard scheduling features in Google Calendar or Outlook. Calendly is really made for external appointments where the other person doesn’t have access to your calendar.
What can Calendly do?
Calendly is packed with features that make scheduling appointments easier. These are the most important:
- Calendar integrations – Connect your Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365 or iCloud and Calendly automatically checks when you’re available. This way you prevent double bookings.
- Unlimited 1-on-1 appointments – Even in the free plan you can have unlimited appointments booked, you’re just limited to one appointment type (for example only 30-minute intake meetings).
- Automatic confirmation emails – As soon as someone books an appointment, you both automatically receive a confirmation with a calendar invitation. You don’t have to send anything manually anymore.
- Meeting Polls – Want to find a time with multiple people? You can create a poll where everyone indicates when they’re available, and you choose the time that works for most people.
- Video conferencing integrations – Calendly automatically creates a Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link and adds it to the appointment. Super convenient for online meetings.
- Website embed – You can place your Calendly booking page directly on your own website, so visitors can immediately make an appointment without going to another page.
- Buffers and breaks – Set up that you want at least 15 minutes break between appointments, or that people can’t book an appointment within 24 hours. This way you keep control over your calendar.
- Time zones – Working internationally? Calendly automatically detects the other person’s time zone and prevents confusion about when the meeting exactly is.
- Payments – In the paid plans you can connect Stripe or PayPal, so people pay directly when they book an appointment. Convenient for coaches or consultants who want to collect payment upfront.
- Workflows – Automatically send reminders, follow-up emails, or questionnaires after an appointment. This saves manual work again.
The interface is super easy. You create an event type (for example “Intake meeting 30 minutes”), indicate when you’re available, and share the link. That’s all there is to it. People who want to schedule an appointment immediately see which time slots are available and can claim one.
What does Calendly cost?
Calendly has a free plan and two paid options. Prices are per user per month.
Free plan
The free plan is quite usable, but limited. You can only connect one calendar and offer one type of appointment. There’s also Calendly branding on your booking page and you miss features like workflows and payments. For people who occasionally schedule an appointment this is fine, but as soon as you want to use it seriously for business you quickly run into limitations.
Standard plan
Costs € 10 per month with annual payment (or € 12 per month if you pay monthly). This allows you to create unlimited event types, connect up to 6 calendars, customize your branding, and set up automated workflows. You also get access to payment integrations. For most freelancers and small businesses, this is the best option.
Teams plan
Costs € 16 per month with annual payment (or € 20 monthly). This is especially interesting if you work with multiple people and want to create shared booking pages. You also get round-robin scheduling (appointments are automatically distributed among team members) and Salesforce integration. For larger teams or sales departments.
There is also an Enterprise plan for large organizations, but you need to contact them for a quote. All paid plans have a free trial period of 14 days, so you can first try out whether the upgrade is worth it.
Honestly, many people find the jump from free to € 10 per month quite large for what you get in return. Especially if you only use it for yourself. But if you schedule a lot of appointments, you can easily make back that € 10 in time savings.
What should you watch out for?
Calendly generally works well, but there are a few things users run into:
The free plan is really very limited. You can only offer one type of appointment, so if you want to offer both 30-minute intake calls and extended one-hour consultations, you already need to upgrade. You can also only connect one calendar, which is difficult if you use multiple calendars to prevent double bookings.
Apple Calendar and iCloud synchronization doesn’t always work as smoothly in the cheaper plans. Many people report that they actually need the more expensive plan for this, while Google Calendar and Outlook work fine in all plans. If you’re an Apple user, that’s something to keep in mind.
Spam bookings can be a problem if your link is shared publicly. Some users get fake appointments or spam in their calendar because anyone with the link can make an appointment. You can partially solve this by adding a confirmation question or requiring people to fill out a form first, but it’s not completely foolproof.
Prices have increased in recent years and features that used to be in cheaper plans have sometimes moved to more expensive plans. Existing users don’t like that, of course. There are also additional costs for certain integrations or add-ons, which can make it more expensive than you initially thought.
Customer service responds slowly according to some users, especially if you have the free or cheap plan. When you have problems, you can’t always get help quickly, which is annoying if you need to schedule an important appointment.
Finally: the tool works best for standard appointments. If you have very specific scheduling needs (for example, availability that varies per day, or complex rules for who can book when), then you sometimes run into limitations.
What do others think?
Most people are positive about Calendly. The biggest advantage that keeps coming back: huge time savings. People who used to spend hours per week scheduling appointments are now done in a few clicks. That alone makes it worthwhile for many users.
The user-friendliness is also often praised. Both the person using the tool and the person booking an appointment find it pleasant to work with. The interface is clear and you immediately understand how it works. No complicated manuals needed.
The synchronization with Google Calendar and Outlook works reliably according to most users. Double bookings almost never occur, as long as you have properly connected your calendars. The automatic meeting links for Zoom or Google Meet are also experienced as very convenient.
The criticism focuses mainly on the free plan. Many people try Calendly for free, notice it works well, but then run into the limitations. One event type is simply too little for most business users. It feels a bit like an overly limited trial version instead of a full-fledged free plan.
There are many tutorials available on YouTube. Channels like Simpletivity and No Code MBA have created extensive videos about how to use Calendly optimally, including tips for payments and website integration. Those are useful when you’re just getting started.
In general: if you want to use the tool seriously for business, you really need to get the paid plan. But when you do, most users are satisfied with what they get in return.
Calendly alternatives
Calendly doesn’t quite fit what you’re looking for? These are the best alternatives:
- Acuity Scheduling – Offers more advanced features such as extensive intake forms, package sales, and more control over the booking process. Choose this if you have complex service delivery where you need a lot of information from clients upfront, or if you want to sell multiple sessions at once.
- Microsoft Bookings – Included standard in Microsoft 365 and therefore costs nothing extra if you already have that. The functionality is somewhat more limited than Calendly, but for basic appointment scheduling it’s fine. Choose this if your organization works entirely in the Microsoft ecosystem and you don’t want to pay for extra tools.
- Cal.com – An open-source alternative that you can host yourself or use through their platform. Much more flexible and you have full control over your data. Choose this if you’re tech-savvy, privacy is important, or you want to make specific customizations that other tools don’t allow.
There are also tools like Doodle (especially for group appointments), YouCanBookMe (similar to Calendly but slightly cheaper) and SimplyBook.me (more focused on service providers like hairdressers and therapists). Which one fits best depends on your specific situation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Calendly really free?
Yes, there is a free plan that remains free forever. You can have unlimited appointments booked and connect one calendar. But you’re limited to one appointment type and you miss features like workflows and payments. For serious business use, the free plan is usually too limited.
Can I receive payments through Calendly?
Yes, but only in the paid plans starting from Standard. You can then connect Stripe or PayPal so people pay directly when they book an appointment. Useful if you sell consultations or coaching sessions and want to collect payment upfront.
How many calendars can I connect?
In the free plan you can only connect one calendar. In the Standard and Teams plan you can connect up to six calendars per user. That’s useful if you have multiple calendars (for example work and personal) and want to prevent double bookings.
Conclusion
Calendly does exactly what it promises: it makes scheduling appointments a lot easier. If you regularly schedule meetings with people outside your organization, it really saves you hours per month of back-and-forth emailing.
The free plan is useful to test whether the tool fits you, but for business use you quickly need the paid plan. For € 10 per month you get all the essential features you need. That’s not cheap, but when you consider how much time it saves you, it pays for itself quickly.
The tool works best if you schedule relatively standard appointments: intake meetings, sales calls, coaching sessions, that kind of work. Do you have very specific scheduling needs or do you mainly work internally with colleagues? Then there might be better alternatives.
All in all, Calendly is a solid choice for anyone who wants to schedule appointments professionally without hassle. The tool is reliable, user-friendly and integrates well with the tools you probably already use. Try the free plan and upgrade when you notice you’re running into the limitations.
