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 wastes an ridiculous amount of time. Calendly solves this 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 slot. Done.
Millions of people worldwide now use Calendly, from freelancers to large companies. The company is based in Atlanta and has focused entirely 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 like 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 to become 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 en consultants die intakegesprekken of klantmeetings plannen
- Recruiters die sollicitatiegesprekken inplannen met kandidaten
- Sales teams die demo’s geven aan potentiële klanten
- Coaches en therapeuten die sessies met cliënten organiseren
- Docenten die spreekuren willen aanbieden zonder gedoe
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 will really save 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 functions 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 ones:
- Kalenderintegraties – Koppel je Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365 of iCloud en Calendly checkt automatisch wanneer je vrij bent. Zo voorkom je dubbele boekingen.
- Onbeperkte 1-op-1 afspraken – Zelfs in het gratis plan kun je onbeperkt afspraken laten boeken, alleen ben je beperkt tot één type afspraak (bijvoorbeeld alleen intakegesprekken van 30 minuten).
- Automatische bevestigingsmails – Zodra iemand een afspraak boekt, krijgen jullie allebei automatisch een bevestiging met agenda-uitnodiging. Je hoeft niks meer handmatig te versturen.
- Meeting Polls – Wil je met meerdere mensen een moment prikken? Dan kun je een poll maken waar iedereen aangeeft wanneer ze kunnen, en kies jij het moment dat voor de meesten werkt.
- Video conferencing integraties – Calendly maakt automatisch een Zoom, Google Meet of Microsoft Teams link aan en voegt die toe aan de afspraak. Super handig voor online meetings.
- Website embed – Je kunt je Calendly boekingspagina direct op je eigen website zetten, zodat bezoekers meteen een afspraak kunnen maken zonder naar een andere pagina te gaan.
- Buffers en pauzes – Stel in dat je tussen afspraken minimaal 15 minuten pauze wilt, of dat mensen niet binnen 24 uur een afspraak kunnen boeken. Zo houd je controle over je agenda.
- Tijdzones – Werk je internationaal? Calendly detecteert automatisch de tijdzone van de ander en voorkomt verwarring over wanneer de meeting precies is.
- Betalingen – In de betaalde plannen kun je Stripe of PayPal koppelen, zodat mensen direct betalen wanneer ze een afspraak boeken. Handig voor coaches of consultants die vooraf willen incasseren.
- Workflows – Stuur automatisch herinneringen, follow-up mails of vragenlijsten na een afspraak. Dit scheelt weer handmatig werk.
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 make an appointment immediately see which time slots are free and can claim one.
What does Calendly cost?
Calendly has a free plan and two paid options. The 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 useful 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’s also an Enterprise plan for large organizations, but you need to contact them for a quote. All paid plans have a 14-day free trial, so you can first try it out to see if it’s worth the upgrade.
Honestly, many people find the jump from free to €10 per month quite steep for what you get in return. Especially if you’re only using it for yourself. But if you schedule a lot of appointments, you’ll easily earn 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 extensive one-hour consultations, you already need to upgrade. You can also only connect one calendar, which is problematic if you use multiple calendars to prevent double bookings.
Apple Calendar and iCloud synchronization doesn’t always work 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 when your link is shared publicly. Some users receive 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 over the years and features that were previously in cheaper plans have sometimes moved to more expensive plans. Existing users naturally don’t like that. 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 when 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 by 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 up: enormous 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 hardly ever occur, as long as you have properly linked your calendars. The automatic meeting links for Zoom or Google Meet are also experienced as very convenient.
The criticism mainly focuses on the free plan. Many people try Calendly for free, notice that 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 a too limited trial version rather than a full-fledged free plan.
On YouTube, there are many tutorials to be found. Channels like Simpletivity and No Code MBA have created extensive videos on how to use Calendly optimally, including tips for payments and website integration. Those are helpful if you’re just getting started.
In general, the rule is: if you want to use the tool seriously for business, you really need to get the paid plan. But if you do that, most users are satisfied with what they get in return.
Calendly alternatives
Doesn’t Calendly quite fit what you’re looking for? These are the best alternatives:
- Acuity Scheduling – Biedt meer geavanceerde functies zoals uitgebreide intakeformulieren, pakketverkoop en meer controle over het boekingsproces. Kies dit als je complexe dienstverlening hebt waarbij je veel informatie vooraf nodig hebt van klanten, of als je meerdere sessies tegelijk wilt verkopen.
- Microsoft Bookings – Zit standaard in Microsoft 365 en kost dus niks extra als je dat al hebt. De functionaliteit is wat beperkter dan Calendly, maar voor basis afspraken planning is het prima. Kies dit als je organisatie volledig in het Microsoft ecosysteem werkt en je geen extra tools wilt betalen.
- Cal.com – Een open-source alternatief dat je zelf kunt hosten of via hun platform kunt gebruiken. Veel flexibeler en je hebt volledige controle over je data. Kies dit als je een tech-savvy bent, privacy belangrijk vindt, of specifieke aanpassingen wilt maken die andere tools niet toestaan.
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 are limited to one type of appointment 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 that people pay directly when they book an appointment. Handy 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. This is 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 much 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 for testing whether the tool fits your needs, but for business use you’ll quickly need the paid plan. For €10 per month you do get all the essential features you need. That’s not cheap, but when you consider how much time it saves you, it quickly pays for itself.
The tool works best if you schedule relatively standard appointments: intake conversations, 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 find yourself hitting the limitations.
