Meeting scheduling software: 3 types and 10 tools
Booking link, poll or built in? Choose the type of meeting scheduling software you need, then compare 10 tools by price and cost for 5 users.
Meeting scheduling software comes in 3 types. Use a booking link if other people book time with you. Use a poll if a group must agree on one time. Use what your calendar has if you book a few meetings.
Which type do you need?
| Need | Type | Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Clients book with you | Booking link | Calendly, Cal.com, zcal |
| Team shares meetings | Booking link | Calendly, Cal.com, Sprintful |
| Group picks a time | Poll | When2meet, Rallly, Doodle |
| A few Google meetings | Built in | Google Calendar |
| Microsoft 365 company | Built in | Microsoft Bookings |
| You sell appointments | Service | Acuity, Setmore |
10 tools by cost
| Tool | Type | 1 user | 5 users | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| When2meet | Poll | $0 | $0 | Yes |
| Acuity | Service | $192 | $324 | No |
| Rallly | Poll | $0 | $360 | Yes |
| Microsoft Bookings | Built in | $84 | $420 | No |
| zcal | Booking link | $0 | $420 | Yes |
| Sprintful | Booking link | $90 | $450 | No |
| Cal.com | Booking link | $0 | $720 | Yes |
| Calendly | Booking link | $0 | $960 | Yes |
| Google Calendar | Built in | $0 | Not listed | Yes |
| Doodle | Poll | $0 | Not listed | Yes |
Cost for a year, billed yearly, on the lowest plan that fits, with team scheduling for 5 users. Acuity's cost is for the account, up to 6 calendars.
Booking link tools
You share a link, and the other person picks a free time. Calendly team features start at $16 a user (Calendly pricing by team size). Cal.com and zcal have free plans with no event type limit. Sprintful puts your own domain and email address on every plan. See Calendly alternatives for teams and YouCanBookMe alternatives.
Poll tools
You offer times and a group votes. When2meet is free and needs no account, and Rallly has a free plan. Doodle also does booking pages. A poll does not replace a booking link, because each meeting takes a new poll.
Tools your calendar has
Does Google have a free scheduler? Yes. Appointment schedules in Google Calendar work with a personal account. Some features need a paid plan.
Does Microsoft 365 have a scheduling tool? Yes. Microsoft Bookings comes with Business Basic, Standard and Premium. It has no payments, and it picks a person at random when a booker selects "Anyone".
Service booking tools
If you sell appointments or classes, you need payments, intake forms and client records. Acuity charges for the account: the $27 plan stops at 6 calendars, its only round robin is "Any available", and it has no own domain (Calendly vs Acuity). Setmore is free for up to 4 users (pricing).
What to check first
- Calendars. Does it check all your calendars? Calendly Free checks 1.
- Team rules. Does the plan you can afford have round robin?
- Brand. Whose logo and domain does your client see?
- Reminders. How many texts are included? See our reminder templates.
What is the best free meeting scheduler?
For booking links, zcal and Cal.com have no event type limit for one person. For polls, When2meet is free with no account. For a small business, Setmore is free for up to 4 users.
Software for a small business
Count the people who take bookings. With 1 person for personal use, start free. For a team, small or large, Sprintful has round robin, collective meetings and team admin on every plan. Compare it with the other team tools.
Related posts
Team scheduling
Round robin vs collective meetings: how 5 scheduling tools set them up
Booking flow