If you’re looking for the best Calendly alternatives then it’s likely that you need a tool more powerful than this free online appointment and scheduling software.
While there are hundreds of options to choose from, this article is composed to help project managers and working professionals by providing them a valuable insight into some of the best Calendly alternatives available.
Let’s get started and learn what Calendly is, what it offers, and its drawbacks that make users switch to another tool.
What is Calendly?
Calendly is a simple online appointment scheduling software that enables you to avoid the hassle of back-and-forth emails.
Calendly simplifies the complex scheduling process by only offering times that sync with your availability across all your calendars. The tool caters to freelancers, institutions, organizations, and businesses of all sizes across various industries.
Calendly: pros, cons & pricing
Pros of Calendly
- Great integration
- Mobile usability
- Automatic time zone adjustments
- SMS notifications
- On-demand scheduling
Cons of Calendly
- The basic plan lacks important features
- Expensive per-user fee
- No desktop software
- Lack of dashboard customization options
- Poor mobile app
- Average customer support
Pricing: The most popular Pro plan is priced at $12/month/user.
7 best Calendly alternatives for 2024
The market is flooded with highly functional Calendly alternatives that offer more features at competitive pricing. We have conducted extensive research and compiled a list of powerful tools that you can easily replace with Calendly.
Let’s explore these tools.
1. ProofHub
ProofHub is an all-in-one project management and team collaboration tool that empowers project managers and project teams to have greater control over their projects.
Featuring among the best Calendly alternatives, ProofHub offers a range of powerful features, including a Project Scheduling Calendar, in a single place, eliminating the need to use multiple apps for time management, task management, file management, chat, etc.
ProofHub brings all team members on a common platform to coordinate tasks, lead discussions, and stay updated on all project-related activities with a Bird’s eye view.
Unlike Calendly, ProofHub is a comprehensive app like Calendly that enables project managers to manage straightforward and complex projects efficiently. Since every team member can track their work progress, ProofHub improves job accountability and ensures everyone sticks to their deadlines.
An intuitive interface, fixed pricing plans, a minimal learning curve, and a robust list of features under one roof make ProofHub a must-have in every project team’s arsenal.
Salient features of ProofHub
- Project Scheduling Calendar
ProofHub’s Scheduling Calendar helps project managers and team members organize and schedule events, tasks, and milestones in one place. Automatic reminders ensure you don’t forget your crucial work and see all calendar data across all projects in one place.
You can add recurring events and tasks without having to add them manually. You can select your calendar view from day, week, two weeks, or even a month and schedule work suitably.
- Online Proofing
ProofHub is a strong Calendly alternative because it offers much more than what you get from Calendly. ProofHub’s online proofing tool allows users to collaborate on files and documents, and review, and proof them using annotation tools right where they are.
Add clear, actionable feedback for specific regions, and mark suggestions or input as resolved once the changes are made.
You approve all files with a single click of the button. Online proofing is highly popular among graphic designers, web designers, and video creators who otherwise had to spend a lot of time on old-fashioned pen and paper and email-based proofing procedures.
- Task Management
ProofHub is labeled as “all-in-one” software because it offers a list of advanced features in a centralized location. Task Management software in ProofHub is a useful addition for project managers and team members who sometimes lose track of what work they are supposed to do and when. Using this feature, project managers can easily create, assign, and monitor projects and tasks from a centralized location.
Not only this, you can also set time estimates, and due dates, attach files, and add comments in one place. Add custom labels to differentiate, prioritize, and organize tasks. Time tracking allows you to record time spent on tasks and save it in timesheets.
- Timesheets
Many users who are looking for Calendly alternatives prefer to use a tool that offers them additional features other than online scheduling. ProofHub’s time management software empowers professionals to bring all their time data at one central place. You can add timesheets to record time data, and use them for payroll, client billing, estimation, tracking, and even time management at the workplace.
Set time estimates for tasks and know which tasks are taking longer than usual to be completed. A Bird’s eye view enables users to see all-time data of people across all projects, billable or non-billable, project progress, and status without needing to jump through projects.
- File Management
Managing bundles of important files and documents is not easy. Paper docs and files take extra space, are prone to damage, and consume extra time when you have to search for required information, reports, or data.
ProofHub’s File Management software eliminates the need to use paper files by allowing users to upload, store, and organize all their digital files in one central place that they can access from any device connected to the internet. You can store multiple versions of the same file, access version history, compare with the older versions available, and restore if needed.
Kanban Boards in ProofHub allow project teams to move tasks through multiple stages as well as get notified for the same. This visual view of workflows makes it easy for project managers to check the status of the tasks assigned and who is working on them. Project teams can customize workflows as per their requirements by adding more sections than default settings.
- Custom Fields
Every project is unique, which necessitates the need for a dedicated space to add information that is unique to your workflow or project. The default fields in various project management tools might not always be adequate. So, ProofHub’s custom fields are important to suit the specific needs of your projects and teams. You can add the following fields:
- Text
- Text area
- Dropdown
- Tags
- Numbers
- Percentage
- Currency
- Date
- Table View
Seeing different tasks assigned to you in a listicle can confuse you; you have no idea about their type, det dates, priority, deadlines, etc. Table view in ProofHub filters all your tasks so you can plan and organize projects in a way that’s best suitable for your team. Assign tasks, filter and view data based on priority, and keep essential details front and center.
- Group Chat
Project teams end up spending valuable time and energy on scheduling and participating in video conference and audio conference calls. While such team meetings and discussions are important, frequent meetings can cut down on your team’s productivity.
ProofHub’s Group Chat tool enables project managers and team members to have quick conversations by quickly sending/receiving direct messages. Users can also add emojis, attach files, ask questions, and receive answers instantly while working.
- Stickies & Bookmarks
Use Stickies in ProofHub to quickly jot down and organize your key information, like new ideas, reference links, and minutes of meetings, and use them anytime you want to. With Bookmarks, users can access frequently used stuff faster, like projects, task lists, discussions, file folders, notes, and timesheets.
2. Chili Piper
Chili Piper is an advanced scheduling tool like Calendly that is designed for B2B revenue team meetings. This powerful scheduling software system works well not only for B2B, sales, and customer support teams but also for any individual and teams that need to schedule meetings online.
The reason why Chili Piper is considered a better Calendly alternative is that while the latter works well for individuals and freelancers, Chili Piper’s features are more suitable for teams that need high functionality.
Main features include
- Web Form Conversion
- In-App Conversion
- Marketing Campaigns
- Process Automation
- Individual Scheduling
- SDR to AE Handoff
- In-person Events
Pros
- Easy-to-use Google Chrome extension
- Reduces back-and-forth communication
- Salesforce integration
- Includes round-robin meeting distribution
- Automated email reminders
- Robust reporting feature
Cons
- Lack of payment processing options
- Complex features can be overwhelming for new users
- The app can be slow at times
- Limited to scheduling only
- Expensive pricing for teams with a limited budget
Pricing
The paid plan starts from $30/user/month.
3. Sidekick.Ai
You can consider Sidekick.Ai as your smart scheduling assistant. This powerful Calendly alternative and feature-rich scheduling platform offers various ways for users to schedule meetings, like Forward to Schedule, Link Sharing, and Sidekick scheduling.
Sidekick.Ai is also the first scheduling software that uses machine learning to process language for scheduling meetings. You never have to go through time-consuming tasks, like checking the calendar, picking a date and time, and sending it with a confirmation.
Sidekick.Ai automatically emails your prospect with a list of your available times.
Main features include
- Automated Scheduling
- Appointment Scheduling
- Group Scheduling
- Calendar Management
- Meeting Room Booking
- Online Scheduling
- Payment Processing
- Multi-location Scheduling
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Excellent customer support
- Book group meetings instantly
- Easy to navigate Integrations & Automation
- Sends out meeting invites to everyone
- Sends reminders before meeting
Cons
- Needs more integrations
- Missing a few features
- One-dimensional scheduling software
Pricing
The Paid plan starts from $10 per month.
4. HubSpot Meetings
HubSpot Meetings is another one of the best alternatives to Calendly that is popular among small and medium businesses as a reliable and efficient scheduling software.
The scheduling software makes it easy for potential customers and actual customers to schedule meetings with your team, which saves hours spent on tedious, unnecessary emailing.
Prospects can schedule group meetings or round-robin meetings, and they’ll be added to your HubSpot contacts database. You can also integrate your scheduling software with your landing pages to your website so that visitors can effortlessly get access to your team.
Main features include
- Native integration with HubSpot CRM
- Direct integration with Outlook 365 and Google Calendar
- Page design and Easy link functionality
- Create round-robin or group links
- Calendar embedding
- Appointment scheduler to automate sales processes
Pros
- Fully built-in CRM
- In-depth design functionality
- Connects with apps your team already uses
- Salesforce integration
- Customizable reports and Dashboards
Cons
- Expensive
- Contracts aren’t flexible
- Limited reporting
Pricing
Free plans are available. Paid plans start from $45/month.
5. Doodle
Doodle is a cloud-based appointment scheduling tools like Calendly that is designed for both small and large companies. The platform enables users to schedule and customize meeting requests.
Doodle eliminates long email threads and schedule juggling, which helps you be more productive. Its simplicity and utility make it easy to use even for rookies who are not tech-savvy.
The privacy and security of Doodle is a notch above many other online scheduling software. The app is free to download, and there’s no charge to use the service. To use advanced features, you must upgrade to a Private or Business account.
Main features include
- Booking Page
- Schedule time with anyone, on any calendar platform
- Clear visual snapshot
- Easy-to-follow interface
- Seamless setup
- Top-rated for enterprise scheduling
Pros
- Effortless way to choose a time to meet for everyone
- Confirmation and reminder functionality
- No account is required for one-off scheduling needs The free account offers all the features to schedule a meet
- Automatic time zone adjustments
- Limit the number of events in a single day
Cons
- Advanced features are available only with top-tier plans
- Limited integrations
- Simplistic feature set
- Not many people use it
- Doodle page can be overwhelming with ad
Pricing
The Paid plan starts from $6.95/user/month.
6. SimplyBook.me
SimplyBook.me is a booking and scheduling software that helps project managers manage their projects more efficiently and effectively. This alternative of Calendly allows project managers to schedule meetings, consultations, demos, and other appointments with their clients, team members, and stakeholders easily and conveniently.
They can also sync their calendars with Google, Outlook, or iCal to avoid double bookings and conflicts
It provides a variety of custom features that can enhance their project management capabilities. It also offers features such as payment processing, notifications, custom features, and integrations with other systems.
Main features include
- Ability to send reminders
- Choose from over 60 custom features
- Offer your personalized client app to book your services
- Accept bookings directly via Facebook, Instagram, Google, or your own branded client app
Pros
- Reminder functionality on appointments whenever they are booked, canceled, or rescheduledAccept online payments through various payment solutions, such as Stripe, PayPal, Square, and more.Automatic time zone adjustments offer a wide range of custom features
Cons
- Can be a little difficult to use at first, especially for beginners
- Limits the number of bookings
- Treats the custom features as add-ons that consume your feature slots on each plan
Pricing
The Paid plan starts from $8.25/month billed annually.
7. YouCanBookMe
YouCanBookMe is another great alternative to Calendly. It is an online booking system that allows you to manage your appointments, payments, marketing, and more.
It integrates seamlessly with Google and iCloud Calendar and offers a personalized scheduling page for your customers. You can customize your booking page, accept online payments, sync your calendars, use various custom features and integrations, and access reports and analytics.
Main features include
- Complete control over your booking page style
- Manage the availability of your entire team
- Brand and customize confirmation emails. Reduce no-shows with email and SMS reminders
- Easy-to-follow interface
- Seamless setup
- Optimize your bookers’ experience by matching your booking page with your brand
Pros
- Friction-free scheduling that saves you time
- Automated follow-up emails
- View and export bookings
- Works across all devices
- Time zones automatically detected
Cons
- The initial configuration is very confusing
- Limited integrations
- Simplistic feature set
- Slow customer support
Pricing
The Paid plan starts from $12 per calendar/month.
The final word
Even though many Calendly alternatives claim to be the best, it’s more about your team’s requirements.
Are you just looking for online scheduling software, or are you looking for a comprehensive tool for project management and team collaboration?
If your team and organization are looking for an affordable solution that offers much more than just online scheduling, ProofHub is ideal. With a wide range of features in a centralized location, ease of usage, fixed pricing, and minimal learning curve, ProofHub can help you and your team simplify complex project management and streamline workflow.
The choice is yours. Do you want to continue to use one-dimensional scheduling software or move on to a more prominent tool with more capabilities? Hoping you will make a well-informed decision.
