The Ultimate Guide to the Best Appointment Scheduling Software of 2023 (Where does Calendly rank?)
Choosing the right appointment scheduling software is like finding the perfect pair of shoes - it needs to fit your business just right. Whether you're a solopreneur, a small business, or a large corporation, a robust appointment scheduling system can do wonders for your efficiency and client satisfaction. With a myriad of options available, it can be challenging to choose the right one. But fear not, we've done the legwork and here's the rundown of the best appointment scheduling software of 2023.
As for what makes a great appointment or booking app, here are a few key features to consider:
- Flexibility: The best appointment scheduling apps allow you to customize how your bookings work based on the unique needs of your organization. For example, a small gym offering one-on-one training sessions should have a different booking experience than a community workshop that rents gardening equipment.
- Calendar Syncing: Nearly all appointment scheduling apps let you sync with a calendar. This allows you to see your business's scheduled appointments alongside other important information, such as when you'll be closed for holidays or renovations. It also helps the app cross-reference your availability with the events on your primary calendar.
- Payment Processing
Acuity Scheduling: Best for Ease of Use
Acuity Scheduling is a powerful yet intuitive scheduling tool that takes the stress out of managing appointments. This software shines in its simplicity and user-friendly design, automating complex processes such as scheduling, payments, and reminders, making it straightforward for both businesses and their clients. With Acuity Scheduling, you can set up a personalized scheduling page, where clients can view your real-time availability and book their appointments at their convenience. This eliminates the back-and-forth communication often associated with scheduling, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. Furthermore, Acuity Scheduling seamlessly integrates with other digital tools, making it a versatile addition to your business toolkit. If you're a business owner who values simplicity and efficiency, Acuity Scheduling could quickly become an indispensable part of your operations.
Picktime: Best Free Booking Software
Picktime challenges the notion that quality comes at a price. This online appointment scheduling software offers a comprehensive suite of features entirely for free, making it an ideal choice for budget-conscious businesses. With Picktime, you can manage appointments, process payments, generate invoices, and track sales and performance metrics. Furthermore, it includes team management capabilities, allowing you to manage staff schedules and allocate resources effectively. Despite its extensive features, Picktime maintains a user-friendly interface that simplifies the scheduling process for you and your clients. This powerful yet affordable software is a testament to the fact that cost-effective solutions do not have to compromise on quality or functionality. If you're on a tight budget but still want a full-featured scheduling solution, Picktime should definitely be on your radar.
Square Appointments: Best Mobile Booking App with built-in POS
Square Appointments takes the convenience of mobile booking to new heights with its integrated point-of-sale system. This all-in-one solution combines appointment scheduling, payment processing, and client management, creating a streamlined platform that caters to the needs of dynamic, on-the-go businesses. With Square Appointments, you can book clients, process payments, track inventory, and generate sales reports, all from your mobile device. Its intuitive design and robust features make it a powerful tool for businesses that require flexibility and mobility. Whether you're a personal trainer who travels to clients, a salon owner managing multiple locations, or a consultant who meets with clients virtually, Square Appointments is designed to adapt to your unique business needs.
SimplyBook.me: Best for International Businesses
For businesses that operate across different countries and time zones, SimplyBook.me offers a powerful scheduling solution. It provides a comprehensive online booking system that allows you to clearly define your services and service providers, display their real-time availability, and enable clients to make appointments at any time, from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, SimplyBook.me supports multiple languages and currencies, making it easy for international clients to navigate the booking process. This software also integrates with various online platforms, allowing you to reach your clients wherever they are. If you're running a global operation and need a scheduling tool that can keep up, SimplyBook.me is designed with the needs of international businesses in mind.
Zoho Bookings: Best for Managing Your Entire Business
Zoho Bookings is more than just a scheduling tool—it's a comprehensive business management solution. This software goes beyond booking appointments, offering capabilities that streamline various aspects of your business. Zoho Bookings synchronizes with your calendars, allows clients to self-schedule and pay for appointments online, and automatically customizes settings based on your industry. With its robust features, Zoho Bookings enables you to manage client relationships, track performance metrics, and even process payments, all from one platform. This comprehensive approach makes it an excellent choice for businesses looking for a holistic solution
Book Like A Boss: Best for Booking and Website Building
Want to book like a boss? Then look no further. Book Like A Boss is an easy, more powerful way to get booked. It automates your scheduling and lets you sell your services with customizable, branded booking pages. It's the perfect tool for businesses that want to integrate booking and website building.
10to8: Best for Robust Features and Integration Options
10to8 offers a comprehensive appointment scheduling solution with robust features and integration options. It is accessible by all and offers appointment scheduling across any channel — online and over the phone. Plus, it sends automated reminders that reduce no-shows by up to 90%. As an AI-powered platform, it gives your customers the ability to make appointments on their terms.
Fresha: Best for Beauty and Wellness Businesses
For beauty and wellness businesses, Fresha is a gem. It's an appointment booking software that focuses on local beauty and wellness services. It's free to use and allows clients to book, change, and cancel appointments anytime, anywhere. With its easy-to-use interface, businesses can manage appointments, payments, and customer interactions in one place.
Cogsworth: Best for Automation and Customization6
Cogsworth stands out with its robust automation features, which reduce the manual work involved in managing appointments. Once a booking is made, the software automatically sends out confirmation emails and reminders, reducing the risk of no-shows. It also allows for automated follow-ups, ensuring that your clients stay engaged even after their appointment.
What sets Cogsworth apart is its customization capabilities. Businesses can fully personalize their booking forms, adding or removing fields as needed to gather essential information from their clients during the booking process. The booking page itself can also be tailored to match your business's branding, providing a consistent and professional look across all client touchpoints.
Cogsworth also takes into consideration different time zones, making it an ideal solution for businesses with international clients or teams spread across different locations. It automatically adjusts appointment times based on the client's time zone, removing any confusion and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
With its strong focus on automation and customization, Cogsworth is perfect for businesses that value efficiency and brand consistency. Whether you are a consultancy firm wanting to provide a seamless booking experience for your clients or a yoga studio looking to effortlessly manage class schedules, Cogsworth provides the flexibility and automation to make managing appointments a breeze.
Calendly: Best for People-Facing Professionals
Calendly is a leading scheduling software designed to streamline the process of booking appointments and meetings. It enables business owners to send clients a link to their Calendly page, where clients can choose a convenient meeting time and receive all necessary confirmations and reminders automatically. The software offers an intuitive user experience and provides meeting analytics and insights at higher tiers. The software comes with several plans, from a free version to an enterprise version, each with different features and capabilities.
The free version allows for the creation of one event type, such as a 15-minute meeting. However, for multiple event types, a paid plan is necessary. The Essentials plan allows for two calendar connections per month and the ability to send email reminders and follow-ups. The Professional plan, the most popular, offers text notifications, over 700 app integrations, and automatic workflows for reminders and follow-ups. The Teams plan is suitable for businesses planning to use Calendly for group meetings or events, while the Enterprise plan is designed for large companies needing advanced features such as technological flexibility, security and legal reviews, and an activity log.
While Calendly is a powerful tool, some users have reported limited customer support as a drawback, especially in terms of response times.
YouCanBook.me: Flexible, Scalable, and User-Friendly Booking Software
YouCanBook.me is a flexible and scalable booking software that streamlines the appointment scheduling process. It's known for its user-friendly interface and robust features, including customizable booking forms, automated scheduling, and a personalized scheduling link. It offers integration with Google and Outlook calendars and allows clients to schedule appointments based on your real-time availability. With YouCanBook.me, you can manage multiple calendars and staff members, and offer varying appointment types and durations.
The platform also provides a wide range of customization options, allowing you to tailor the appearance of your booking page, booking confirmations, and reminders to align with your branding. Additionally, the software includes automated reminders and follow-ups via email and SMS, which can be customized based on your needs.
YouCanBook.me offers a free plan, but for access to premium features like removing YouCanBook.me branding, priority customer support, and SMS notifications, a paid plan is available at $10 per calendar, per month. It also includes Zapier integration, enabling it to connect with over a thousand other apps and services.
One limitation noted by some users is that YouCanBook.me does not offer native payment processing, requiring a third-party integration for this feature.
