Last Updated on January 20, 2023 by Alex Birkett
One of the biggest challenges facing small business owners is keeping their schedules organized.
With more meetings, seminars, client calls, and events, it becomes more difficult to manage time.
Appointment scheduling software automates calendar management and helps small businesses manage time more efficiently.
Businesses can easily connect with customers at times that are convenient for them.
Business owners can also use these tools to gather deeper customer insight and provide exceptional customer experiences.
The challenge, however, is finding the right software for your needs. In this article, we review the best appointment scheduling software.
Editor’s note: I’m going to use some affiliate links when possible to try to earn some revenue from my content. These don’t change the opinions espoused in the content nor the style in which they are written. If I think a product sucks, I’m not going to say otherwise. This is just a bonus and a way to fund the whole operation. Anyway, enjoy the article!
The 16 Best Appointment Scheduling Software
- Calendly
- Hubspot Meetings
- Bookafy
- Square Appointments
- Setmore
- Appointlet
- Appointy
- 10to8
- SimplyBook
- Doodle
- Chili Piper
- Meetfox
- Acuity
- YouCanBook.Me
- Honeybook
- Calendar
1. Calendly – Best appointment scheduling app for SAAS Businesses and sales teams
Calendly is one of the most popular scheduling apps.
It allows users to customize calendars based on the preferences they set up. The software includes time zone detection, which can help prevent errors or missed meetings if attendees live in different time zones.
It offers simplicity and an intuitive user interface. Calendly also has iOS and Android apps for on-the-go scheduling. Calendly’s free plan is only available for one user and only includes calendar integrations, event notifications, event scheduling with custom links, and a few integrations.
Paid plans offer more available features and integrations with a price range from $8 to $12 per user every month
G2 Rating: 4.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.7/5.0
2. HubSpot Meetings – Best for Sales teams, Consultants and Realtors
HubSpot Meetings is one of the most popular components of the HubSpot sales platform.
It provides users with different tools to support their inbound marketing efforts and a CRM to help serve customers better. It enables users to schedule meetings with just a couple of clicks and also allows them to send automated emails – both reminders and follow-ups. Also, you can embed your calendar on your website.
In this way, you can generate more leads from your landing pages.
HubSpot Meetings provides a free plan for users to start with. But to get more advanced features to help automate and scale your sales operations, HubSpot offers premium features with Starter, Professional, and Enterprise editions of Sales Hub with prices ranging from $35 to $3200 every month.
G2 Rating: 4.3 / 5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.5/5.0
3. Bookafy – Best for consultants and event planners
Bookafy gives business owners a unique feature that lets them assign meeting requests to the most appropriate team member.
This streamlined method ensures that anyone who schedules a meeting gets face time with the appropriate department. For example, a customer needing IT help versus a lead looking for a marketing demonstration.
Bookafy also allows automated review requests and also integrates with web applications ranging from Google Calendar to WordPress.
Appointments can be managed from anywhere through the android and iOS apps. It also integrates with Stripe and Authorize.net for managing payments. Bookafy offers a free version with limited features and a free trial. However, the Pro plan costs $7.00 per user, per month, and the Pro + plan costs $11 per user per month.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.7/5.0
4. Square Appointments – Best for service businesses, freelancers and solopreneurs
Square Appointments is an excellent appointment scheduling software that’s best suited for solopreneurs.
It offers single user access to all of Square’s business management software, which includes invoicing, CRM, and payment processing, free of charge. It also offers extra features like automated text and email reminders which are especially helpful for users with the busiest calendar.
The service lets you accept payments at the time of booking, along with other features, and charge absent fees for cancellations. Square appointment’s Android and iOS apps have some of the best reviews of all other appointment booking providers.
The service is simple and easy to set up. It’s free to use for one user. Paid plans start at $50 per month for two to five users. Six to ten users cost $90 per month.
G2 Rating: 4.3/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.4/5.0
5. Setmore – Best for service businesses, realtors and educators
Setmore uses a central booking calendar system.
This means that a user has a single source of information for all meetings and it allows access to it from any device. Setmore helps users connect with their customers more effectively and not waste time on administrative tasks or unnecessary emails.
Many small businesses use it, including spas, barbershops, beauty salons, restaurants, and more. It also offers secure online payments and can be used to automate customer review requests. With its appointment booking and agent management tools, Setmore competes with real estate showing apps like ShowingTime.
Up to four users can take advantage of the software for free, making it an affordable option for small teams. However, if you have more than four users on your team, you can choose a tiered plan. Pro accounts cost $9 per user per month, while Premium accounts cost $12 per user per month.
G2 Rating: 4.5/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.6/5.0
6. Appointlet – Best for sales and customer service teams
Appointlet is a cloud-based software that lets customers book appointments through a business’ website, email, or landing page.
Businesses can customize their booking pages and emails with Appointlet. It integrates easily with websites, calendars, and email newsletter lists. It’s ideal for sales because it allows a user to spend more time on sales and less time scheduling meetings and appointments.
Appointlet offers a free basic plan and a premium plan for $8 per user per month. You can also try it for free for 15 days without a credit card.
G2 Rating: 4.3/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.8/5.0
7. Appointy – Best for service businesses
Appointy is a simple and functional appointment scheduling software that offers a lot of useful features for users, such as Zapier support for third-party application integration.
It allows booking directly from Google Calendar, automatic reminders, and it accepts secure payments through Square. Appointy allows users to manage appointments, send automated email/SMS reminders, accept bookings from social media, schedule resources & employees – all from one easy and functional interface.
Appointy offers a 14-day free trial without any required credit card and also has a free version for 1 user with 5 services. It has a Pro plan that costs $19.99 per month for 1 user with unlimited features. It also has a Business plan that costs $49.99 per month for up to 5 users, and an Enterprise plan for businesses with multiple locations
G2 Rating: 4.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.7/5.0
8. 10to8 – Best for consultants, service businesses and educators
10to8 is an online appointment scheduling program with a robust and easy-to-use platform.
This program can be used by anyone without training and can be accessed from any device at any time. According to the 10to8 website, 42,625 small businesses currently use the app, which promises to reduce miscommunications and no-shows by up to 90%. It offers instant chat, automated SMS and email follow ups.
It also integrates with more than 500 popular apps and programs, including Microsoft Office, Google Calendar, Zoom, WordPress, Insightly, and more. Not all of these integrations are available with the 10to8 free plan though.
10to8 accepts secure online payments with Paypal and Stripe. 10to8 offers a free forever plan for small business owners with limited features. It also offers a Basic plan at $9.6 per month, a Grow plan at $20 per month, and a more extensive Business Plan at $40 per month.
G2 Rating: 4.6/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.6/5.0
9. SimplyBook – Best for Service businesses
SimplyBook is an online appointment booking program for all-service providing industries with customers around the world.
It allows clients to book their meetings in 32 different languages, it also integrates over 20 different payment platforms. This means that users can get paid on time and from almost anywhere in the world.
SimplyBook provides users with a unique “Custom Features” option that allows them to access advanced features ranging from class and group bookings to software integration, and more.
They offer a free plan for 1 user with limited features. They also offer a Basic plan at $9.90 per month, a Standard plan at $29.90 per month, and a Premium plan at $59.90 per month.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.59/5.0
10. Doodle – Best for educators, freelancers and consultants
Doodle is an online appointment booking system that’s best suited for businesses with multiple groups, team members.
It makes it easy for a group of three or more people to schedule a meeting regardless of location and time zone. All team members need to do is pick out a day and time slot suitable for all of them. Due to the large amounts of sensitive information that move through large teams, Doodle is hosted on Amazon Web Service and uses Cloudflare to protect data integrity.
Doodle offers its users a free trial for all its plans. The Pro plan costs $6 per month for 5 users and the Team plan costs $30 per month for 5 users.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.6/5.0
11. Chili Piper – Best for SAAS businesses
Chili is one of the most advanced scheduling software for Business 2 Business (B2B) teams.
It improves interoffice scheduling by providing a universal calendar, and it provides seamless integration of the most popular apps like Google calendar, Salesforce, Gmail, and more. It also helps customers schedule demonstrations with the sales team. Chili Piper is very easy to set up, with plenty of support and documentation.
Chili Piper offers a free trial to new users, and a subscription based plan of $15 per month per user.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.4/5.0
12. Meetfox – Best for consultants
Meetfox is one of the best free online booking software for consultants.
It simplifies the process of managing meetings and appointments. It enables users to customize their booking options, receive payments and integrates with the apps you’re already using such as Gmail, WordPress, and your calendars.
This will help streamline your available times. It has an intuitive, easy to use interface. Meetfox offers a free trial to new users and a basic version with limited features and functionalities.
Their paid plan starts at $10 per user, per month.
G2 Rating: 3.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.6/5.0
13. Acuity Scheduling – Best for service businesses and consultants
Acuity is one of the most popular appointment scheduling apps for health professionals.
Visitors can book appointments on the website and users can manage them on the back end through a simple and easy interface. There are several useful features, such as custom intake questionnaires that can be used by medical professionals and other businesses seeking detailed information from clients.
Users can also manage payments online from Stripe, Paypal, and Square.
It is HIPAA and BAA compliant.
Users can choose from a free version with very limited features for one user, an Emerging plan for $14 per month for one user with more features, a Growing plan for $23 per month for up to six users, and a Powerhouse plan for $45 per month for up to 36 users.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
GetApp Rating: 4.8/5
14. YouCanBook.me – Best for educators
YouCanBook is one of the best appointment scheduling apps for people that offer educational services.
It provides a streamlined calendar that allows students/parents to schedule appointments or interviews with tutors. It also provides a personalized booking page for each teacher and student advisor with a unique custom link. You can also send data and track students’ progress. Its automated email and SMS reminder helps students remember their appointment.
YouCanBook grants users a free trial for one month, then a subscription-based plan of $10 per calendar per month.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.6/5.0
15. HoneyBook Calendar – Best for service businesses, solopreneurs and event planners
Priced at $39 per month, Honeybook offers a simple way for businesses to manage appointments, projects and payments. For freelancers and solopreneurs who need an easy project management tool, honeybook’s calendar comes handy.
In the HoneyBook calendar dashboard, you can view booked meetings, tentative projects, scheduled meetings, team projects and upcoming payments at a glance.
G2 Rating: 4.5/5
GetApp Rating: 4.9/5
16. Calendar – Best for SAAS businesses and freelancers
Calendar syncs all your calendars and helps you determine how much free time you have available and also provides access to your calendar from any device. The basic version of Calendar remains free while upgrades to Premium are $8 per user per month or Pro for $12 per user per month. These upgrades expand the level of functionality.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5.0
GetApp Rating: 4.7/5.0
What is the best-paid appointment scheduling software?
Calendly is the best paid appointment scheduling software. It provides a wide range of services that appeal to a wide range of industries automating every aspect of scheduling. Calendly has a simplistic, minimalistic, and easy-to-use interface. They have the widest range of app integrations and meeting types among meeting schedulers.
- Calendly has integrations with Google, Office 365, iCloud, MS Exchange, Outlook desktop calendars.
- Calendly offers maximum flexibility in setting up availability compared to other appointment schedulers. It allows users to define their working hours, time limits, break times, and more.
- Calendly offers multiple meeting types like one-on-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one.
- Calendly allows users to share their availability to customers in many different ways either through emails, website pop-ups, social media, and more. It also offers workflow management.
What is the best free appointment scheduling app?
Square Appointments.
Square Appointments is the best free scheduling app for small business owners and solopreneurs.
It offers all the main features of appointment scheduling apps without any annoying ads. Most appointment schedulers have a free version but these versions provide limited features.
Square appointments allow users to set up a webpage where customers can view your open time slots and book an appointment. It also sends automatic email confirmations and SMS reminders when the appointment is drawing closer.
It integrates and syncs your appointments with Google Calendar, so any conflicts you have with your scheduled appointments are automatically removed from your booking page. Square also offers point-of-sale (POS) functionality with inventory that works with Square Appointments.
Wrap Up on Best Scheduling Apps
The next step is picking the right appointment scheduling software for your business. There are hundreds of online scheduling apps available for small businesses each with varied features and functionalities. When assessing scheduling apps, there are three key things you need to consider:
1. Budget
Most appointment scheduling software offer paid versions of their services with varying plans, features, and functionalities. The size of your workforce, customers, and business is a key factor in determining which online scheduling software is best suited for you and your business.
2. Features and Functionalities
Appointment schedulers offer different features and functionalities to their users. Some appointment scheduling software offer features that are more relevant to service industries like spas, restaurants, salons, and more. Others offer features more relevant to software as a service businesses.
3. Ease of Use
If you’re going to use a tool daily, it should be easy to operate. Therefore, the software should not be complicated. Otherwise, you will spend valuable time trying to understand how to use it rather than actually using it. If you’re picking an appointment scheduler, choose one that’s easy to work with and has a straightforward, responsive user interface.
4. Customizability
We have identified some of the best appointment scheduling apps for specific industries and business sizes, however the best software for you will be the one that perfectly suits your needs. Besides being easy to use on desktop and on the mobile app, it should also be customizable and versatile. The top scheduling software features enterprise plans that allow you to customize and add in premium features based on your business needs.
As a small business owner, the right scheduling tool is the one that meets your unique needs. Before you choose an appointment scheduling software, take a look at the list of tools we just discussed. Choose one that will meet the needs of your business and give you a good return on your investment.
AUTHOR BIO
Agnes A Gaddis is a specialist writer for real estate SAAS companies. She is a contributing writer for CXL, Getresponse and Inman news. She’s a big fan of caramel coffee and mystery novels. Get in touch with her on Twitter @Alanagaddis or visit her blog.