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Calendly is a widely recognized scheduling platform built around scheduling automation, customizable availability, meeting routing, event types, reminders and follow-ups, meeting polls, and integrations across the Google ecosystem, Microsoft ecosystem, video conferencing tools, payment processors, sales and CRM tools, and recruiting and ATS platforms. Its positioning covers individuals, small businesses, and large companies. Paid plans run at $10/month (Standard) and $16/month (Teams), both billed annually, with a free tier available.
Some users do report friction around price and value — which makes it a natural moment to ask: is there a better fit for your specific situation? Below, we cover six alternatives with transparent pricing comparisons and honest guidance on when each one earns a serious look.
The Alternatives at a Glance
Setmore
Setmore is built around a custom online Booking Page, automated reminders, and online payments, with categories covering an all-in-one calendar, website plugin, Facebook and Instagram integration, QR codes, virtual meetings, class booking, and recurring appointments. It names specific industries in its feature set — barber shops, hair salons, nail salons, personal training, massage therapy, real estate, financial services, tattoo studios, pet services, tour booking, home repair, interview scheduling, and others — suggesting it’s aimed at service businesses of various sizes.
Pricing: Setmore has a genuinely free tier at $0/month, billed monthly (up to 4 users). The Pro plan runs $5/user/month, billed annually. That’s a notably low entry point for a team-capable tool.
No recurring complaint patterns stood out in the reviews we scanned for Setmore.
SimplyBook.me
SimplyBook.me positions itself as a flexible scheduling platform for service businesses, with a broad feature set that includes AI voice booking, intake forms, multiple locations, service providers, Reserve with Google, Facebook and Instagram bookings, design customization, custom domain name, coupons and gift cards, POS-style payment handling (cash, card, gift cards), memberships, a client-facing mobile app, Mailchimp integration, Slack integration, Google Sheets integration, and a promotion system for low-time offers. It also covers medical and health-adjacent use cases, including custom booking fields like consent checkboxes and QR codes for covid testing/vaccinations.
Pricing: SimplyBook.me publishes its plans on its pricing page; we weren’t able to capture the current figures this round, so check there directly.
Some users report friction with scheduling and dispatch.
Book Like A Boss
Book Like A Boss combines a landing page builder with scheduling, positioning itself explicitly as an all-in-one platform for “taking bookings and selling services.” Its feature set covers unlimited booking pages, fully customized branding, payment collection, automated reminders and follow-ups, display of videos/photos/FAQs, testimonials, live events, memberships and subscriptions, digital and physical products, offline payments, donations, and tips. Team-level features include round-robin scheduling, custom permissions per booking page, and management of all pages in one place.
Pricing: Book Like A Boss is priced at $8.50/month, billed annually (shown as the calculator default view).
Some users report friction with scheduling and dispatch.
Appointlet
Appointlet focuses on meeting scheduling without the back-and-forth, offering unlimited meetings, Google and Outlook calendar sync, web conference room creation, and website booking embeds. It names use cases across retail services, health and wellness, legal and financial, recruiting and HR, property management, sales and marketing, and customer success.
Pricing: The Premium plan runs $12/member/month, billed monthly, or $9/member/month, billed annually. A free starting option is also mentioned on the site.
We don’t have third-party review data for Appointlet — too few sampled reviews to surface a meaningful signal, so we’d suggest exploring it hands-on with a free trial.
Appointy
Appointy presents itself as scheduling software suited to a range of appointment types — appointments and resources, classes/workshops/events, and tours/rides/activities. Its feature set includes website integration, Square Payments and Point of Sale, Zapier (for connecting with over 1,000 apps), automatic reminders, a mobile app, Google Calendar sync and iCal feed, Stripe/PayPal/Authorize.NET payments, advanced booking features, staff login, gift certificates, resource scheduling, and SMS text customization. Industries named include health and wellness, education, medicine, fitness and recreation, salon and beauty, professional services, government, and others.
Pricing: Three tiers, all billed annually:
– GROWTH: $19.99/month
– PROFESSIONAL: $49.99/month
– ENTERPRISE: $79.99/month
We don’t have usable third-party review data for Appointy, so a hands-on trial is the most reliable way to evaluate it.
Acuity Scheduling
Acuity Scheduling is an appointment booking and scheduling automation platform with full customization, covering client experience, payments and invoicing, and business management. Its feature categories include online booking, client management, class scheduling, invoicing, point of sale, calendar management, availability controls, a website builder, a mobile app, and staff management. It names industries including beauty, business services, wellness, fitness, visual and performing arts, and education.
Pricing: Acuity lists a “starting at $16/month” figure in its page metadata, but named plan tiers require contacting their sales team for per-plan pricing — so budget accordingly and ask for a full breakdown before committing.
Some users report friction with scheduling and dispatch, the mobile app, customer support, price and value, and features and functionality.
Square Appointments
Square Appointments positions itself as a booking and payments tool that keeps everything synced in real time, with categories covering appointment management, online and in-person payments, automated reminders, client attraction, and business management tools. It’s notably tied into the Square ecosystem — the feature items reference point of sale, hardware (card readers), inventory, team scheduling and pay, cash flow management, and reporting. Industries named include beauty salon, nail salon, hair salon, day spa, tattoo and piercing, med spa, home and commercial services, automotive, contractors, professional services, pet services, cleaning, and landscaping.
Pricing: Three tiers, billed monthly per location:
– Free: $0/month
– Plus: $49/month
– Premium: $149/month
We weren’t able to capture usable third-party review data for Square Appointments this round.
Pricing Comparison Table
| Tool | Plan(s) | Price | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendly | Standard / Teams | $10 / $16 per seat | Billed annually |
| Setmore | Free | $0 per user | Billed monthly |
| Setmore | Pro | $5 per user | Billed annually |
| SimplyBook.me | Multiple plans | Check pricing page | Not captured this round |
| Book Like A Boss | Book Like A Boss | $8.50 | Billed annually |
| Appointlet | Premium | $12 per member | Billed monthly |
| Appointlet | Premium | $9 per member | Billed annually |
| Appointy | Growth | $19.99 | Billed annually |
| Appointy | Professional | $49.99 | Billed annually |
| Appointy | Enterprise | $79.99 | Billed annually |
| Acuity Scheduling | Various | Starting at $16/month (per-plan pricing requires sales contact) | Not fully captured |
| Square Appointments | Free | $0 per location | Billed monthly |
| Square Appointments | Plus | $49 per location | Billed monthly |
| Square Appointments | Premium | $149 per location | Billed monthly |
Consider Each Alternative If…
Consider Setmore if you want a genuinely free multi-user plan with service-business features like class booking, virtual meetings, and social media booking pages — and you’d like an upgrade path that stays well under Calendly’s price point.
Consider SimplyBook.me if your service business needs a broad operational feature set — multiple locations, AI voice booking, POS-style payments, coupons, memberships, and deep booking-page customization — and you’re willing to check their live pricing page directly to compare tiers.
Consider Book Like A Boss if you want scheduling bundled with a full sales-oriented landing page — testimonials, videos, live events, memberships, digital products, and tips — and you’re looking for a single platform to both market and book your services.
Consider Appointlet if your primary pain point is meeting scheduling across teams, you need Google/Outlook sync and web conference room creation, and you want a straightforward per-member paid tier or a free starting option to test it first.
Consider Appointy if your work spans multiple appointment types (individual bookings, classes, or tours/activities) and you want a tiered plan structure that lets you grow from basic scheduling into staff management, resource scheduling, and gift certificates — all within a fixed annual price.
Consider Acuity Scheduling if you run a service business that needs class scheduling, invoicing, a website builder, and staff management under one roof, and you’re comfortable having a sales conversation to nail down exact per-plan costs before signing up.
Consider Square Appointments if you already operate in — or want to grow into — the Square ecosystem for payments, hardware, and POS, and you want scheduling that sits natively alongside those tools with a $0/month entry point for a single location.