8 Best Scheduling Tools for Meeting Booking in 2026
We tested 15+ scheduling tools to find the best for eliminating meeting coordination friction. These tools let others book time on your calendar without the back-and-forth emails.
Calendly is the industry standard for scheduling. Everyone recognizes the booking experience. Workflows automate before and after meeting. Team scheduling distributes meetings with round-robin and collective options.
Starting priceFree/$10/mo
Strengths
Industry standard
Workflows
Team scheduling
Integrations
Reliable
Limitations
Per-seat pricing
Can be expensive
Some features paywalled
Limited customization
Who it's for: Best for professionals and teams needing reliable scheduling.
Cal.com is open source scheduling that rivals Calendly. Self-host for complete data control. Developer-friendly with API access. Growing feature set and integrations.
Starting priceFree/$12/mo
Strengths
Open source
Self-host option
Free tier
Developer friendly
Privacy
Limitations
Less polished
Fewer integrations
Smaller ecosystem
Self-host complexity
Who it's for: Best for developers and privacy-conscious users.
SavvyCal rethinks scheduling with calendar overlay. Recipients see their own calendar next to your availability. Ranked slots show preferred times. More personal than anonymous time grid.
Starting price$12/mo
Strengths
Calendar overlay
Ranked availability
Personal feel
Beautiful design
Thoughtful UX
Limitations
Smaller platform
Fewer integrations
Less known
Premium only
Who it's for: Best for those wanting a more personal scheduling experience.
Acuity is built for service businesses. Take payments and deposits at booking. Classes and group appointments. Squarespace integration for websites. Intake forms collect information upfront.
Strengths
Service business
Payments
Classes
Intake forms
Squarespace
Limitations
Older interface
Less modern
Feature complexity
Per-calendar pricing
Who it's for: Best for service businesses taking appointments.
Doodle finds times that work for groups. Create a poll with options and share. Participants vote on availability. Best for occasional group scheduling rather than ongoing booking.
Starting priceFree/$6.95/mo
Strengths
Group polls
Simple
Free tier
No account needed
Quick
Limitations
Poll-based only
Less professional
Ads on free
Limited features
Who it's for: Best for occasional group scheduling.
Tidycal offers lifetime access for a one-time payment. Simple, clean scheduling without subscription fatigue. Popular on AppSumo. Covers core scheduling needs well.
Starting price$29 lifetime
Strengths
Lifetime deal
Simple
No subscription
Affordable
Core features
Limitations
Basic features
Less development
Fewer integrations
Simple team features
Who it's for: Best for individuals wanting affordable one-time payment.
YouCanBookMe offers deep customization for booking pages. White-label for agencies. Custom fields and conditional logic. Team booking with distribution options.
Starting priceFree/$10.80/mo
Strengths
Customization
White-label
Custom fields
Team features
Flexible
Limitations
Dated interface
Complex setup
Learning curve
Less modern
Who it's for: Best for those needing highly customized booking pages.
Chili Piper is built for sales teams. Instant booking on forms routes leads to reps. Handoff passes meetings between team members. Deep Salesforce integration for enterprise.
Starting price$15/mo
Strengths
Sales focused
Inbound routing
Handoff
Salesforce
Enterprise
Limitations
Sales-only use case
Expensive
Complex setup
Overkill for simple needs
Who it's for: Best for sales teams with inbound lead flow.
We tested each scheduling tool with real booking scenarios.
Booking Experience (30%) — How easy for invitees to book time.
Features (25%) — Event types, availability rules, and customization.
Integrations (20%) — Calendar, video, CRM, and payment connections.
Team Features (15%) — Round-robin, collective, and routing options.
Value (10%) — Features relative to pricing.
How to Choose
Choose Calendly if you need industry standard.
Choose Cal.com if you need open source/privacy.
Choose Acuity if you need service business.
Choose Doodle if you need group scheduling.
Choose Chili Piper if you need sales inbound.
Common Questions
Google Calendar has basic appointment scheduling built-in. Use dedicated tools if you need team distribution, workflows, payments, or professional booking pages with your branding.
All tools sync with your calendar in real-time. Add buffers between meetings. Set working hours and block personal time. Most tools check for conflicts before showing availability.
Calendly, Cal.com, Acuity, and others integrate with Stripe. Require payment or deposits at booking time. Useful for consultants, coaches, and service businesses.
Round-robin distributes meetings across team members. Collective scheduling finds times all attendees are free. Team pages let bookers choose who to meet with.
