What Is Calendly and How to Save Time With That?

Intro to Calendly review

Scheduling meetings online using traditional methods like emailing is tough. You may think it is not, as it only takes a few emails, and while there is some truth to that, it’s not the whole picture. If you need to do that with many people, it gets tougher. Let me give you a short example.

Say that you have to schedule a meeting with seven people with different time zones and availability. You can either organize it. That is getting a piece of paper and writing 1 table for the busy days and 1 for the potential timeslots. Then send an email to every each of them with your findings to check if it works for them and wait for their reply. Most likely, after their reply, you will have to make some changes to the table and send new emails. If lucky enough, after some repetitions of this process, you will finally succeed.

So, it isn’t that simple after all. Thank God we live in the digital era and at our disposal are tools that make things much better. For this purpose, today we will talk about Calendly. We will explain how it works, mention some of its main characteristics, prices, and more.

What is the Calendly app? 

It is a meeting scheduling organization app that takes the burden out of your shoulders. So, you only have to type your preference, and the rest is over. Besides, you can use it to arrange the meeting with more than one member at once or use it for hosting webinars. One great aspect of it is its integrations. For example, for calendars, it supports Google Calendar, Outlook/Office 365, iCloud, etc.

Besides, it counts with apps for iOS and Android, as well as extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

Among the most popular integrations right now are Zoom, Salesforce, and MS Teams. But it has much more!. It got CRM and sales, video conference, marketing, ATS, payment processor, analytics, etc. Among the most attractive features are:

• Confirmation and reminders, daily limits, automatic time zone detection, customization that removes branding.
  
• Add buffers that intent to include the normal periods between and after meetings. Very important since many ignore them and cause costly delays.
  
• Calendly API. Automatic team members assignment, invitee member selection, entire company availability display, and more.

How does Calendly work? 

In short, the service serves as the mediator between you and your invitee. Think of it as a robot that knows you want to make a meeting between X-Y hours. Then, it is in charge of communicating that with your invitee alone and find an agreement on the time. At last, you only get to hear from it once everything is ready with the notification of the agreed time.

On the more technical side, we could say that it works by providing an accessible online platform, which maximizes agreement efficiency by considering set rules and preferences.

Whichever definition or analogy sounds best is up to you. Now we will explain how to use it in very simple terms.

How to use Calendly? 

You login into the app and associate it with other accounts if you wish. Then you select the date or dates with your time preferences. Following, you specify rules, like the duration of the meeting, and confirm selections.

Once set up, share the link with the person you would like to arrange the meeting with via email or any other way. He/she will see a simple and accessible page that shows the dates and timeslots available all in one place. Later, the person selects one according to their preferences, confirms it, and that’s it.

Once that happens, you will receive a notification by email and get it on your calendar (if integrated).

In the time previous to the meetings, you and your invitee will receive a reminder, so no need to worry about missing them.

Calendly Pricing - How much is Calendly?

There are three plans and a full 14-day trial available:

• Basic for free. One calendar connection, one event type, automated event notifications, personalized link. Integration for websites and Intercom, Zoom, MS teams, Gotomeeting, and several calendar providers.

• The premium for $10/mo. or $8/mo. (paid once a year). Two calendars connection per user, unlimited event types, removable branding. Besides, options for teams and group events, customizable email notifications, and reminders. Also, you can add a link on the confirmation page as an invitation to, for example, your company’s portal.

• Pro for $15 /mo. or $12/mo. (per year). Six calendars connection per user, SMS notification, workflows (higher automatization), invitee redirect. Besides, color customization on websites. Support for Zapier, Salesforce, Hub sport, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixel.

Special plans or prices exist for non-profit organizations after discussions.

Does Calendly have a free plan?

As mentioned before, it does. It counts with the basic plan that is free and plans to continue in that way in the future. As you saw, it comes with several limitations, including those not mentioned. For example, only standard email customer support.  But, for many, it is an attractive plan because it offers the essence of the service. Furthermore, the fact that it comes with unlimited events scheduling is surprising.  There is no reason for not using the free version.

What are Calendly alternatives

• TimeTap. Make an emphasis on the security aspect, counts with similar integration and features. Adds over 15 editable email templates, appointment waitlist, secure online client file storage. Besides, it adds customizable booking forms, personal staff booking pages, screening questions before appointments. Some of its renowned partners are Uber, IBM, and the US army. Large range of plans starting from $ 24.95/mo. Capterra rating of 4.7 stars with almost 900 reviews.
  
• Setmore. Puts integration to Teleport, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, and Square in the main front. You can add custom logos, counts with support for various users, even in the free version. Besides, its free version accepts payments via Square. Plans are starting from $12/mo. 
  
• Doodle. Featured in Forbes and Business Insider. Adds a first-come, first-served open block booking. Direct plugin for Slack (one of them is Doodle Bot). Limited calendar support (Google and Outlook calendar). It has custom logo addition and options for various users. Plans start from $6.95/mo but only accept payments once per year. Capterra rating of 4.1 stars with over 1000 reviews. 
  
• Timetrade. Started targeting financial services providers and expanded from there. Over 20 years of experience, has the highest number of appointments in the industry (+840M! and over 30k customers). Adds a waiting time feature and on-site queue management. Plus, an instant confirmation on your website. Additionally, its auto-assignment system can consider questions and answers before directing invitees. Plans start from $6.50, only paid once a year.
  

We’ve arrived at the end of the article, as always, we appreciate your time spent reading.

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