The Best Scheduling App For Small Business: Top 10 Appointment Scheduling Software

Calendar scheduling is one of the best ways to ensure optimal utilization of your time and resources. However, businesses often struggle to manage their schedule, which generally requires back-and-forth coordination and never-ending follow-ups. Therefore, optimal resource utilization is essential, especially for small businesses operating on a limited budget.

Calendar scheduling software is handy here, allowing companies to manage their resources for the better. Though, there’s a variety of solutions in the market, making it difficult to choose the right one. This article will review the top 10 calendar scheduling solutions and explore their features and pricing plans.

Guide On Software For Scheduling Appointments

In this part of our article, we will discuss the most popular questions about appointment scheduling apps.

What Is An Appointment Scheduling App?

Scheduling software exists to help you manage your schedules and appointments effortlessly. Gone are the days when you had to answer numerous phone calls, send emails or log appointments, and reschedule requests by hand. Technology has made it possible for you to eliminate manual intervention from the process of scheduling your business appointments.

A good appointment-scheduling app comes with powerful automation features. It helps you track your calendar, manage all your appointments, and let your customers self-book meeting slots. The best appointment-scheduling apps also provide additional services. For example, they sync all your calendars (professional and personal) to prevent double bookings. They also send out reminders and smart alerts, minimizing no-shows.

What Makes Appointment Scheduling Software So Great?

There are many pros to using an appointment scheduling app.

Appointment Scheduling Software Saves Time And Money

Manually recording appointments, following up with clients, and rescheduling takes longer than you think. You might be doing either of the two:

  • You manage your scheduling system, spending too much of your valuable time on this administrative task
  • You hire someone else to do the job, spending money you can save easily.

A good appointment scheduling app removes the need for both. Let it work for you and save both your time and money.

Appointment Scheduling Software Automates The Process

Such software removes the need to keep calling clients or sending out emails. Modern scheduling apps are savvy and will do all that and more for you. Whether your customers want to book an appointment, cancel it, reschedule it, or want an appointment reminder, the app performs all the functions automatically.

Appointment Scheduling Software Offers Smart Scheduling

The best scheduling apps are intuitive. They come with the integrated feature of adding buffers between meetings automatically. They also track your various calendars and ensure no scheduling conflicts and double bookings. This contributes to streamlining customer experience and improving client satisfaction.

Appointment Scheduling Software Is Easy To Use

If you think these tools are difficult to use, you’re wrong! Scheduling apps are made with people’s needs in mind. You don’t have to be a computer nerd to understand the dashboard. The interface is neat and easy to use. Not just you but also your clients can book appointments easily.

Appointment Scheduling Software Is Easy To Scale

Most of the scheduling apps are scalable. As your business grows, you can quickly scale up the app by purchasing advanced plans. Switching between different software is unnecessary as your business needs change. One right scheduling app can be used for years.

How To Choose The Best Scheduling App?

A scheduling app has many features. With integrations, you can expand its functionality even further. However, countless integrations and advanced features might not be what you need. To find the best tool for yourself, begin by assessing your needs.

Some scheduling apps have advanced features like Salesforce, geared primarily toward sales teams. Some have functionalities for the recruitment process. However, if you do not need these features, don’t base your decisions on their availability.

Before you decide, make sure you know what you’re looking for. Next, try out a few options. Free trials and demos make exploring different software easy. Then compare the features and pricing plans before you shortlist a few tools. Evaluate them and then choose the tool you really need.

When To Use Appointment Scheduling Systems?

Whether you run a large enterprise or are a small business owner, you have scheduling needs. This is where a scheduling app can help you. It can successfully streamline your appointment processes, remove lags and errors from the system, and increase your profitability.

Such tools have wide-ranging features. At the same time, the customization options allow you to tailor the software to your unique needs, no matter what they are. Below are cases when scheduling systems are extremely helpful.

Events Scheduling

It is not easy to plan large events with many attendees. A good scheduling tool lets you send out invites, track or limit the number of attendees, and minimize no-shows by accepting payments.

You can also direct customers to a third-party app like Zoom for online conferences. This works great if you’re managing a remote team or have online video conferencing as a teacher or a personal trainer.

Internal Conferences

If you manage a team, an appointment scheduler is very handy. With it, you can easily assess your schedule and set recurring appointments to discuss project progress and performance. You can set up team conferences as well as one on one meetings. Do you have a team spread out over various locations? Don’t worry. The best scheduling apps can smartly recognize the time zone and help you set meetings per mutual convenience.

Recruitment

You can use the scheduling tool to manage your recruitment process. You can schedule interviews and meetings with potential new hires. You can set time effortlessly per the convenience of both the interviewer and the candidate. Scheduling systems also easily reschedule meetings, preventing wasted time.

Billing

Many scheduling systems come integrated with various third-party platforms, such as PayPal and Stripe. You can use them to fast-track your payment system. As your clients book meetings with you online, you can give them the convenient option of paying online.

How To Get The Most Out Of Appointment Scheduling Systems?

Here are some ways you can optimize your use of scheduling apps and get the most out of them.

Enable Online Payment

Make the payment process easier for your clients. As many scheduling tools provide payment processing features, your clients can pay as they book an appointment. You should use integrated payment processors to collect online payments and conduct secure transactions with your customers.

Use Smart Alerts And Reminders

Scheduling apps allow you to set text or email reminders. Make sure you enable this feature. You can also personalize the message to your customer to make them feel more valued.

Standardize Your Scheduling System

This is important for branding purposes. You can use specific templates for various types of appointments. Introduce uniformity into your scheduling system and have control over it.

Leverage The Power Of Analytics

This added capability of scheduling apps provides insights into your work's success. With analytics, you can find out how effective your processes are in terms of converting leads into potential customers. You can use this data to make better business decisions.

Automate Your Processes

The top reason for using a scheduling solution is to automate your manual processes to remove lags and errors. Ensure you use a tool's full capabilities and automate your scheduling system. Pick an app with a user-friendly UX, like in the case of Sprintful. It also should be cost-effective and per your needs. This is how you can get the best value for your money.

Now let`s start choosing the best appointment-scheduling app for you.

Sprintful

Sprintful is one the most easy-to-use, affordable, and feature-rich scheduling software for conducting meetings. It is considered the best appointment-scheduling software. Its user-friendly interface, variety of features, and inexpensive pricing plans are exactly what you should be looking for in the appointment scheduler.

Sprintful provides calendar synchronization, third-party integrations, team management tools, and an accessible booking page for your prospects to connect with you. It serves as your personal assistant by automating customized email notifications/SMS reminders for every event occurrence or modification in your calendar.

Sprintful offers as much to small business owners as it does to individuals. You can synchronize your team calendar to manage team assignments as per their availability and add/remove team members for prioritized booking with its round-robin algorithm support. Any team member can have their own booking page featuring their respective expertise.

Sprintful functions as your all-in-one support system with features like payment proceed facility, video conferencing, events, group session arrangement, and unparalleled appointment scheduling services.

Sprintful Details

Sprintful features:

  • Multiple calendar synchronization
  • Real-time availability and scheduling
  • Email/SMS notifications
  • One-on-one and group meetings
  • Customized CSS and branding
  • Personalized calendar themes
  • Third-party integrations
  • Video conferencing (200 participants)
  • Customizable booking form
  • Team booking
  • Off days and time blocking
  • Assessments and reports
  • Payment processing via Stripe

Sprintful integrations:

  • Google Calendar
  • Outlook Calendar
  • Google Meet
  • Zoom
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Custom Domain
  • Zapier

Sprintful is the best appointment-scheduling app.

Sprintful Pricing

Sprintful offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free 7-day trial
  • Basic plan - $9.0/month
  • Professional plan - $19/month
  • Business plan - $49.0/month
  • Enterprise plan (100+ users) - at request

Sprintful is a one-stop shop for your meeting scheduling. It eliminates the need for multiple software to meet different business needs. Sprintful is the best scheduling app for small business that you should try.


Calendly

Calendly is a scheduling software precious for those who want to automate their scheduling process. Marketing and sales teams conduct regular calls, meetings, and follow-ups. They can easily use Calendly to schedule meetings online. Clients can also book meetings through the self-booking feature.

Since Calendly has native integrations of mainstream calendars such as iCal, your schedule will be synced in real-time. This will help you avoid potential conflicts and double booking. Also, Calendly has automation features, so you no longer have to manually send emails, notifications, or reminders.

Calendly Details

The main features of Calendly:

  • Calendar management
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Availability management
  • Meeting management
  • Event scheduling
  • Activity tracking
  • Real-time calendar sync
  • Access permissions
  • Alerts and reminder system
  • Booking confirmations and reminders
  • Custom branding
  • Multi-account login
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Mobile access
  • Web forms
  • Third-party integrations

Calendly integrations:

  • Google Calendar
  • Outlook Desktop
  • iCloud
  • Zoom
  • Slack
  • Salesforce
  • Hubspot
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Custom Domain
  • Zapier

Calendly is excellent for managing appointments.

Calendly Pricing

Calendly offers the following pricing plans:

  • Basic - always free
  • Essentials - $8/month
  • Professional - $12/month
  • Teams - $16/month
  • Enterprise - at request

You can use Calendly to automate your booking process. This appointment-scheduling app is convenient and has rich functionalities suitable for small and large businesses. Furthermore, it can be used on several platforms, so it is highly convenient if you want to work on the go or remotely.

Calaendly is among the best scheduling apps that must be in the arsenal of your small business.


SimplyBook.Me

SimplyBook.me offers small businesses a wide range of features, allowing them to manage their calendar and schedule appointments for multiple locations simultaneously. With SimplyBook.me, you can create your custom booking site and manage your schedule seamlessly online.

The tool has a self-scheduling feature, enabling users to cancel, reschedule, or rebook online appointments. The schedule statuses are updated in real-time, ensuring maximum efficiency and resource capacity utilization at an optimal level.

SimplyBook.me Details

SimplyBook.me features:

  • Online scheduling
  • Calendar management
  • Alerts and notifications
  • Access permissions
  • Activity dashboard
  • Customizable reports
  • Directory listing
  • Mobile access
  • Admin and client app
  • Reporting and analytics
  • API integrations
  • Custom branding
  • Search filter

SimplyBook.me has the following useful integrations:

  • Google Maps
  • Remo
  • WordPress
  • Zoom
  • Instagram
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Google Analytics
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Zapier

It is one of the best appointment-scheduling apps for small businesses.

SimplyBook.me Pricing

SimplyBook.me offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free Trial
  • Free - $0.0 per month - 5 users
  • Basic plan - $9.99 per month - 15 user
  • Standard plan - $29.99 per month - 25 user
  • Premium plan - $50.00 per month - 50 user

Your clients can book meetings with you no matter what time of the day. This would not be possible with a manual system where the availability of personnel would be necessary to schedule an appointment.

SimplyBookMe has many helpful features for businesses of all types, but it especially caters to the needs of service-oriented businesses. This scheduling app can give your clients a modern and fast scheduling experience.

10to8

10to8 is a feature-rich appointment scheduling app with a 2-way chat feature to facilitate collaboration, automated reminders, and a notification system to reduce no-shows. With 10to8, you can schedule reservations manually or set the process on autopilot, enabling clients self-schedule.

10to8 has a primary reporting feature and over 1500 Zapier integrations. It sends customers automated reminders via email, SMS, or push notifications to reduce no-shows and cancellations.

10to8 also provides businesses with detailed analytics and reports on appointment scheduling, booking patterns, and customer engagement.

10to8 Details

10to8 features:

  • Calendar management
  • Booking management
  • Contact management
  • Automated scheduling
  • Self-scheduling
  • No-show tracking
  • Search capabilities
  • Activity Tracking
  • Real-time alerts and booking reminder
  • Audit trail
  • Access permissions
  • Web forms
  • Custom branding
  • Mobile app
  • Reporting and analytics

10to8 has the following useful integrations:

  • Google Drive
  • Mailchimp
  • Gmail
  • Slack
  • Pipedrive
  • Instagram
  • Zendesk
  • Weebly
  • Xero
  • LinkedIn for Business
  • Twitter
  • Zapier

10to8 is a handy tool for scheduling meetings.

10to8 Pricing

10to8 offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free - $0.0 per month
  • Pro - $7.2 per month
  • Grow - $19 per month
  • Bespoke - at request

10to8 offers handy features, even in its forever-free plan! You can use it easily and upgrade your plan as your requirements change.

Acuity Scheduling

Take control of your time and calendar with automated appointment scheduling, real-time calendar sync, and availability check. Acuity Scheduling is an easy-to-use calendar scheduling software for small to medium-sized businesses, startups, freelancers, solopreneurs, and consultants.

This scheduling app provides various solutions to schedule appointments, meetings, events, work shifts, and more.

Acuity Scheduling Details

Acuity Scheduling features:

  • Calendar scheduling
  • Calendar management
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Event scheduling and management
  • Capacity management
  • Real-time alerts and notifications
  • Availability management
  • Branch optimization
  • Calendar sync
  • Custom branding
  • Email invitations and reminders
  • Multi-location
  • Multi-user access
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Third-party integrations
  • Mobile app

Acuity Scheduling has the following useful integrations:

  • Google Workspace
  • WordPress
  • Zoom Meetings
  • Google Forms
  • Google Meeting
  • GoToMeeting
  • Shopify
  • Microsoft 365
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Zapier

This tool is a great option for scheduling appointments.

Acuity Scheduling Pricing

Acuity Scheduling offers the following pricing plans:

  • Emerging - $16 per month - 1 user
  • Growing - $27 per month - 6 user
  • Powerhouse - $49 per month - 36 users

Acuity Scheduling works like a personal assistant. It streamlines your booking process, improves customer experience, and boosts profitability.


Appointy

Appointy is one of the renowned online solutions for appointment scheduling. The tool provides various features and customization options that vary within chosen pricing plans.

As a result, it’s a feasible solution for small businesses and growing teams. Appointy offers online scheduling, calendar management, multi-login, and multi-location capabilities.

Appointy Details

Appointy features:

  • Calendar scheduling
  • Website integration
  • External integrations
  • Automatic reminders
  • Mobile app
  • Live chat and email customer support
  • Customization
  • Google Calendar & iCal sync
  • Multi-login
  • Multi-location
  • Resource scheduling
  • White labeling

Appointy has the following useful integrations:

  • Instagram
  • Zoom
  • iCal
  • Outlook
  • Zapier
  • Google Analytics

With Appointy, task management becomes easier.

Appointy Pricing

Appointy offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free - $0 per month
  • Growth - $19.99 per month
  • Professional - $49.99 per month
  • Enterprise - $79.99 per month

Appointy is a simple but highly functional scheduling app. Use it to streamline and upgrade your scheduling system and save both time and money.


Picktime

With Picktime, you can create a personalized booking page showing your availability, and clients can choose the most convenient time. This scheduling app also allows you to send automated reminders to you and your clients before the appointment to reduce the likelihood of no-shows or double bookings.

Picktime can be particularly useful for businesses and individuals who frequently schedule appointments or meetings, such as doctors, dentists, therapists, personal trainers, tutors, and freelancers. It can help save time and reduce administrative work associated with appointment scheduling while providing clients a more convenient and hassle-free booking experience.

Picktime Details

Picktime features:

  • Appointment scheduling
  • 24X7 online booking
  • Take payments
  • Invoice generation
  • Overview
  • Recurring bookings
  • Booking widget
  • Reminders
  • Reports
  • Booking form
  • Vouchers & discount
  • Reviews

Picktime has the following useful integrations:

  • Outlook Calendar
  • Gmail
  • Jitsi Meet
  • Squarespace
  • Drupal
  • Joomla
  • Mailchimp
  • Pipedrive
  • Salesforce
  • Hubspot

No wonder Picktime is among the best scheduling apps.

Picktime Pricing

Picktime offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free - $0 per month
  • Starter - $9.99 per month
  • Pro - $19.99 per month

Picktime simplifies online scheduling.


Appointedd

Appointedd is another appointment scheduling solution worth consideration by small businesses and teams. Appointedd is more than a mainstream scheduling solution; it has email marketing, SMS outreach, automated notifications, and powerful reporting capabilities. In addition, this scheduling app provides you with multi-time zone and multi-language scheduling followed by two-way calendar sync.

Appointedd Details

Appointedd features:

  • Online scheduling
  • Calendar management
  • API integrations
  • Alerts and notifications
  • Access permissions
  • Custom branding
  • Email marketing
  • Mobile access
  • Search filter
  • Third-party integrations

Appointedd has the following useful integrations:

  • Google Calendar
  • Google Meet
  • iCloud
  • Microsoft 365
  • Outlook
  • Weebly
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Square Payments
  • Salesforce Sales Cloud
  • WordPress

Appointedd Pricing

Appointedd offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free trial
  • Monthly plan - $20.0 per month

Appointedd is a scalable scheduling app with rich features available at an affordable price. It is excellent for companies looking to expand and grow in the future.


Setmore

Setmore is an affordable appointment scheduling solution for small businesses. This appointment scheduling software allows you to manage your calendar and book appointments via a simple user interface. You can easily manage your availability online and enable your clients to self-schedule appointments.

Setmore notifies your clients in real-time via automated booking reminders to ensure their availability. You can also share appointment status updates via your desktop or mobile device, as Setmore is compatible with all leading devices and operating systems.

Setmore Details

Setmore features:

  • Access permissions
  • Alerts and notifications
  • Calendar management
  • Real-time calendar sync
  • Calendar scheduling
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Automated scheduling
  • Confirmations and reminders
  • Custom branding
  • SMS and email alerts

Setmore has the following useful integrations:

  • Slack
  • WordPress
  • Mailchimp
  • Wix
  • Google Analytics
  • Stripe
  • Instagram
  • Zapier

Setmore can be used with the help of different mobile devices.

Setmore Pricing

Setmore offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free - $0 per month
  • Pro - $5 per month
  • Team- $5 per month

Setmore is an appointment scheduling app providing a modern solution to your and your team’s needs. Its features are especially useful if you’re looking to offer independent booking options to several team members under one single platform.

Bookafy

Bookafy is the least option in our list of small business scheduling apps. The tool lets you book appointments, schedule events, organize meetings, and more. With Bookafy, you can empower your clients to make reservations with a self-scheduling feature and sync booking information automatically in your calendar.

Bookafy Details

Bookafy features:

  • Access permissions
  • Automated alert system
  • Calendar scheduling
  • Calendar management
  • Automated scheduling
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Real-time calendar sync
  • Custom branding
  • Appointment reminders
  • Mobile access
  • Multi-location

Bookafy has the following useful integrations:

  • Google Calendar
  • Google Meet
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Weebly
  • WordPress
  • Mailchimp
  • Zoom Meetings
  • GoToMeeting
  • Wix
  • Stripe
  • Zapier

Bookafy easily deals with scheduling conflicts.

Bookafy Pricing

Bookafy offers the following pricing plans:

  • Free - $0 per month
  • Pro - $7.0 per month
  • Pro+ - $11.0 per month

Bookafy is oriented to provide your customers with the best experience.

FAQ When Choosing The Best Scheduling App For Small Business

Are you wondering if you really need a scheduling tool? Well, the short answer is yes. The appointment scheduler with advanced scheduling features can simplify your business processes at an affordable rate, so why not try it out?

Are Scheduling Apps Affordable?

Generally, scheduling tools are quite affordable. Some of them offer free basic plans. The premium or advanced plans have a monthly fee depending on the number of users. Also, you will get some discounts if you choose the annual billing. The pricing plans start from as low as $8 a month with enough features to cater to your business.

Do Scheduling Systems Work For Large Companies?

If you’re a large organization, you can get customized pricing plans.  Scheduling tools are scalable, meaning you can always upgrade to advanced plans if willing to pay more. This eliminates the need to switch from app to app as your business grows and your needs change. You can upgrade to a different pricing plan and get your hands on more features. No added time investment is required to re-learn the tool, which is an undeniable benefit.

Are Scheduling Tools Really Effective?

Yes, they are! You only have to read reviews from various businesses to know how much scheduling tools have affected their successes. The demand is high, which is why you have so many options to choose from in the market.

With the scheduling app, you can automate your work process, cut down on costs, and save time. The software offers enough benefits to make it a sound long-term investment.

Will I Need A Mobile App Version?

Mobile app counterparts of scheduling systems have proven to be really convenient. You only need access to your phone and a good internet connection, and your entire schedule is available for viewing and editing, no matter where you are. Plus, the mobile apps are available at no added cost. They only offer benefits and no drawbacks.

Conclusion

Appointment scheduling enables you to utilize your resource capacity at an optimal level. This article reviewed and listed the top 10 best scheduling apps for small businesses. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, and choosing the one that best fits your business needs and budget is important.

Note that scheduling systems in our article are not listed in a specific ranking or a particular order.