Efficient scheduling is no longer a luxury for businesses—it's a necessity. And having been in the field for some time, I've decided to write this review about Calendly, one of the market's most popular options. If you're considering using this tool for your business or personal needs, you'll want to understand both its strengths and limitations before making a decision.
This comprehensive review dives deep into Calendly's features, pricing plans, and real user experiences to give you a complete picture of what you can expect. I'll also explore how it stacks up against alternatives like Zeeg, which has been gaining traction, especially for users concerned with privacy and GDPR compliance.
Introduction to Calendly
Calendly has established itself as a leading scheduling automation platform used by everyone from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Originally designed as a simple time-saving scheduling link, it has evolved into a comprehensive solution for teams that handle meetings with external parties at scale.
The core concept is simple yet powerful: eliminate the back-and-forth emails typically required to schedule meetings. Instead of proposing multiple times and dates, you share your Calendly link, which displays your availability, and recipients can select a time that works for them. The appointment is automatically added to both parties' calendars, and everyone receives confirmation notifications.
But Calendly goes beyond basic scheduling, offering features for team coordination, integrations with various business tools, and automated workflows. Let's explore whether these capabilities justify its popularity and price point.
Calendly pros and cons at a glance
Let's dig deeper into the advantages and disadvantages of Calendly to help you determine if this scheduling tool is right for your needs.
Pro 1: Eliminates scheduling back-and-forth
Perhaps the most significant benefit of Calendly is how it streamlines the appointment booking process. Traditional scheduling often involves multiple emails to find a mutually convenient time, which can be frustrating and time-consuming.
With Calendly, this process is simplified to a single action. You share your unique booking link, and recipients can see your real-time availability and select a time slot that works for them. The meeting is automatically added to both calendars, and confirmation emails are sent—all without any additional input from you.
This streamlined approach saves countless hours, especially for professionals who schedule multiple meetings each week. Sales teams, consultants, and customer service representatives particularly benefit from this efficiency.
As one user puts it:
"I love how easy it is for me to be able to send a link to clients for them to schedule an appointment to speak with me. It's very customizable, and connects seamlessly with Google calendar."¹
Tip: To maximize this benefit, add your Calendly link to your email signature for easy access. You can also create dedicated links for different meeting types to further streamline the process.
Pro 2: Seamless calendar integration
Calendly's ability to sync with popular calendar applications is another significant advantage. It connects with Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and Office 365, ensuring that your availability is always up-to-date.
When someone books a meeting through Calendly, it automatically checks your connected calendars for conflicts. This prevents double-booking and ensures that you're only offering times when you're genuinely available.
One reviewer noted:
"Calendly's integration with my Google Calendar is flawless. It syncs my availability across all my devices and has never failed to register a meeting."²
The calendar integration extends beyond just checking availability. When a meeting is scheduled, it's automatically added to your calendar with all relevant details, including participant information, meeting topics, and even conference links for virtual meetings.
Tip: While Calendly works with multiple calendars, be aware that their iCloud Calendar integration is no longer available. If you're primarily an Apple user, this could be a limitation worth considering, and alternatives like Zeeg offer better Apple Calendar support.
Pro 3: Time zone intelligence
For professionals working with global clients or distributed teams, Calendly's time zone detection feature is invaluable. The platform automatically detects each user's time zone and displays available times accordingly, eliminating confusion and missed meetings due to time zone miscalculations. As someone posted:
"As someone who works with clients across three continents, Calendly's time zone handling has been a lifesaver. I don't have to worry about converting times or confusion—everything is displayed in the recipient's local time"³
This feature is particularly useful for:
- International businesses
- Remote teams spanning multiple regions
- Freelancers with a global client base
- Companies with offices in different time zones
Tip: When setting up your Calendly account, verify that your default time zone is correctly configured. You can also customize your availability for specific time zones if you prefer to meet with international clients during your regular working hours.
Pro 4: Customizable availability and buffer times
Calendly gives you precise control over your schedule with customizable availability settings. You can define your working hours, block off specific days or times, and set minimum scheduling notices to prevent last-minute bookings.
One particularly useful feature is the ability to add buffer times before and after meetings. This prevents back-to-back scheduling and gives you breathing room between appointments for preparation, follow-up, or simply a short break.
A business coach shared:
"The buffer time feature has transformed my workday. I used to end up with back-to-back calls that left me exhausted. Now, I automatically get 15 minutes between meetings to gather my thoughts and prepare for the next client."⁴
You can also set daily meeting limits to prevent your calendar from becoming overcrowded, helping maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Tip: Create different availability schedules for different types of meetings. For example, you might want to limit intensive client consultations to mornings when you're most focused, while keeping afternoons open for internal team check-ins.
Pro 5: Team scheduling capabilities
For businesses with multiple team members, Calendly offers valuable group scheduling features. These include:
- Round robin scheduling: Automatically distributes meetings among team members based on availability, workload, or other criteria
- Collective scheduling: Finds times when multiple team members are available for group meetings
- Team pages: Creates a centralized booking page where clients can choose which team member they want to meet with
"The round robin feature has completely transformed our sales process," reports a sales manager. "Leads are distributed evenly among our reps, and response times have decreased dramatically. Our conversion rates have improved by 30% since implementing this feature."⁵
These capabilities are particularly beneficial for teams in sales, customer support, recruitment, and consulting, where efficient meeting distribution can significantly impact business outcomes.
Tip: For the best results with team scheduling, ensure all team members keep their connected calendars updated and use consistent availability settings. This prevents scheduling conflicts and ensures fair distribution of meetings.
Pro 6: Automated workflows and reminders
Calendly's automation capabilities extend beyond basic scheduling. The platform offers workflow automation that can handle pre-meeting and post-meeting communication, significantly reducing administrative overhead.
Key automation features include:
- Automated email reminders to reduce no-shows
- Follow-up emails after meetings
- SMS notifications (on higher-tier plans)
- Custom confirmation pages
- Redirect URLs after booking
"Calendly's automated reminder system has cut our no-show rate by half," states a medical office administrator. "Patients receive reminders 24 hours before their appointment, which has dramatically improved our schedule adherence."⁶
These automations help maintain consistent communication with clients and prospects while freeing up your time for more valuable tasks.
Tip: Customize your reminder schedules based on the meeting type. For example, you might send multiple reminders for high-value sales calls, but a single notification for routine internal meetings.
Pro 7: Integration with business tools
Calendly integrates with over 80 popular business applications, creating a cohesive ecosystem that enhances productivity. Some notable integrations include:
- Video conferencing: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- CRM systems: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive
- Payment processing: Stripe, PayPal
- Marketing tools: Mailchimp, Constant Contact
- Automation platforms: Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate
As one IT manager notes:
"The integration with our CRM system has been fantastic. When a prospect books a demo through Calendly, their information is automatically added to our Salesforce instance, complete with activity history. It's eliminated hours of manual data entry."⁷
These integrations allow Calendly to become a central hub in your workflow, connecting various business systems and ensuring information flows smoothly between them.
Tip: Before committing to a paid Calendly plan, verify that it integrates with the specific tools your business relies on. Some integrations are only available on higher-tier plans, which could affect your decision.
Con 1: Limited free plan functionality
While Calendly does offer a free plan, its limitations can be frustrating for users with more than basic scheduling needs. The free plan restricts users to:
- Only one event type (compared to unlimited on paid plans)
- One connected calendar
- Basic email confirmations without reminders
- No customization options for booking pages
- Calendly branding on all materials
"I initially tried Calendly's free version but quickly hit limitations," explains a freelance consultant. "With just one event type, I couldn't differentiate between my 30-minute consultations and 60-minute strategy sessions, which forced me to upgrade sooner than I'd planned."⁸
This restricted functionality essentially positions the free plan as a trial version rather than a viable long-term solution for most business users.
Solution: If you're looking for more flexibility in a free scheduling tool, consider alternatives like Zeeg, which offers two scheduling pages on their free plan. You might also evaluate whether consolidating your meeting types could allow you to work within Calendly's free plan limitations.
Con 2: No Apple Calendar/iCloud integration for new users
In August 2024, Calendly discontinued iCloud Calendar integration for new users. While existing users with connected iCloud calendars can continue using this feature, it's no longer available for new sign-ups.
This creates a significant limitation for Apple ecosystem users who rely on iCloud for calendar management. Without this integration, Apple users must either switch to Google or Microsoft calendars or risk scheduling conflicts between their primary calendar and Calendly appointments.
"As someone deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, losing iCloud calendar support was a dealbreaker," shares a creative professional. "I had to find an alternative that would work with my existing workflow rather than forcing me to change how I manage my time."⁹
Solution: If Apple Calendar integration is critical for your workflow, Zeeg offers full native integration with iCloud calendars. Alternatively, you could consider using Google Calendar as an intermediary, syncing it with both your Apple Calendar and Calendly.
Read more: Can't connect Calendly to Apple Calendar?
Con 3: Limited customization options
Calendly provides basic customization for booking pages, but many users find these options restrictive compared to other platforms. Limitations include:
- Minimal branding options (logo and color scheme only)
- No custom fields on lower-tier plans
- Limited ability to modify email templates
- No option to add videos or custom widgets to booking pages
- Rigid layout structure
A marketing consultant explains:
"The inability to truly customize my booking page to match my brand experience was disappointing. I wanted to create a seamless journey for clients, but the limitations meant my Calendly page felt disconnected from the rest of my digital presence."¹⁰
This lack of flexibility can be particularly problematic for businesses with strong brand identities or those looking to create a cohesive customer experience across all touchpoints.
Solution: If extensive customization is important, you'll need at least Calendly's Professional plan, which offers more branding options. For ultimate flexibility, consider alternatives that provide more comprehensive customization features or use embedding options to integrate Calendly into a custom-designed webpage.
Con 4: Can become expensive for teams
While Calendly's pricing appears reasonable at first glance ($10/user/month for Standard, $16/user/month for Teams), the costs can escalate quickly for growing organizations. Additionally, many essential features are only available on higher-tier plans:
- Removing Calendly branding requires at least the Standard plan
- Team management features require the Teams plan ($16/user/month)
- Advanced routing and Salesforce integration require Enterprise pricing
- Single Sign-On (SSO) is an additional cost even on the Teams plan
"As our team grew from 5 to 25 people, our Calendly costs increased significantly," notes an operations manager. "When we added the necessary add-ons for our workflow, we were paying nearly $500 monthly for what initially seemed like a $10/user tool."¹¹
These costs can be particularly burdensome for small businesses and startups with limited budgets.
Solution: Carefully evaluate which features are truly necessary for your team and consider whether a mix of free and paid accounts could meet your needs. You might also explore volume discounts for larger teams or alternative platforms with more inclusive pricing structures.
Con 5: Scheduling issues and occasional bugs
While Calendly generally provides a reliable service, users occasionally report technical issues that can disrupt the scheduling process. Common complaints include:
- Calendar synchronization delays or failures
- Scheduling conflicts despite availability settings
- Mobile app crashes or performance issues
- Browser extension reliability problems
- Email notification delivery issues
One frustrated user shared:
"Disappointed with this and strongly recommend against going down this road. The Outlook integration is broken, the patch does not work."¹²
Another noted:
"The only thing that comes to mind is that sometimes the app that is supposed to sync my outlook calendar with my Calendly will crash for no reason."¹³
While these issues don't affect all users, they can create significant problems when they occur, potentially leading to missed appointments or double bookings.
Solution: To minimize technical issues, regularly check your calendar connections and keep the Calendly app and browser extensions updated. Consider setting up test bookings periodically to verify everything is working correctly. If problems persist, Calendly's support team can help troubleshoot specific issues.
Con 6: GDPR compliance concerns
For businesses operating in Europe or handling European customers' data, Calendly's approach to GDPR compliance may raise concerns. As a US-based company, Calendly processes data on American servers, which can create complications under current EU data protection regulations.
While Calendly has implemented measures to address GDPR requirements, including:
- Updated terms of use and privacy policies
- A data processing addendum
- Special handling of EU citizen data
Some European businesses may still have reservations about where their scheduling data is stored and processed.
"Data protection is non-negotiable for our European clients," explains a privacy consultant. "While Calendly has made efforts toward compliance, the fact that data crosses the Atlantic creates unnecessary complexity and potential risk that many EU businesses prefer to avoid."¹⁴
Solution: If GDPR compliance is a priority, consider European-based alternatives like Zeeg, which offers full GDPR compliance with European data hosting. Alternatively, review Calendly's Data Processing Addendum carefully and consult with your legal team to ensure it meets your specific requirements.
Calendly pricing analysis
We have a specific piece covering Calendly pricing in more detail, in case you're interested to learn more. However, I still thought it would be interesting to go through the main offers that Calendly has on each tier. Let's then see Calendly's four distinct pricing tiers and analyze them:
Free Plan
Price: $0 (always free)
Key Features:
- One event type
- One connected calendar
- Unlimited one-on-one meetings
- Basic email notifications
- Website embedding
- Mobile app access
Best For: Individuals with simple scheduling needs who only need to offer one type of meeting (like a standard 30-minute consultation).
Analysis: While Calendly free plan is generous in allowing unlimited meetings, the restriction to just one event type is its biggest limitation. This means you can't differentiate between different meeting lengths or purposes without upgrading. However, for solo professionals just starting out or those with very consistent meeting types, it could be sufficient.
Standard Plan
Price: $10/user/month (billed annually) or $12/user/month (billed monthly)
Key Features:
- Unlimited event types
- Connect up to 6 calendars
- Customizable email notifications and reminders
- Remove Calendly branding
- Group events
- Metrics and reporting
Best For: Individual professionals who need multiple event types and more customization options.
Analysis: The Standard plan represents the best value for most individual users. The ability to create multiple event types allows you to offer different meeting durations and purposes, making this plan much more flexible than the free version. The addition of automated reminders is also valuable for reducing no-shows.
Teams Plan
Price: $16/user/month (billed annually) or $20/user/month (billed monthly)
Key Features:
- All Standard features
- Team scheduling pages
- Round-robin event types
- Admin controls
- Advanced integrations (including Salesforce)
- Routing forms
Best For: Small to medium-sized teams that need coordination and shared scheduling management.
Analysis: Calendly for Teams is essential for when you need to coordinate scheduling across multiple team members. The round-robin feature alone can justify the price increase for sales teams by ensuring fair distribution of leads. The added administrative controls and advanced integrations make this plan suitable for growing businesses with more complex scheduling needs.
Enterprise Plan
Price: Starts at $15,000/year (custom pricing)
Key Features:
- All Teams features
- SAML-based single sign-on
- Advanced security features
- Dedicated account support
- Custom branding
- Data deletion API
Best For: Large organizations with stringent security requirements and complex implementation needs.
Analysis: Calendly's Enterprise plan is aimed at larger corporations with specific security, compliance, and support requirements. The significant price jump from the Teams plan means this is only worthwhile for organizations that truly need enterprise-grade features like SSO, advanced security controls, and dedicated support channels.
Best Value Assessment
For most users, the Standard plan offers the best balance of features and affordability. It removes the most significant limitations of the free plan while keeping costs reasonable. The Teams plan becomes necessary once you need coordination across multiple team members, but the Enterprise plan's value proposition is limited to organizations with specific compliance or security requirements.
Calendly reviews and ratings
Calendly maintains strong ratings across major review platforms, reflecting its position as a leading scheduling solution. Here's how users rate the platform:
These consistently high ratings reflect Calendly's overall effectiveness and user satisfaction. However, diving deeper into the reviews reveals some nuances worth considering.
What users love
The most frequently praised aspects of Calendly include:
- Ease of use: "Calendly is definitely on the most popular booking and calendar apps for meetings. They have a free plan that you can use without paying for the software. It is simple to use and you only need to send a link to someone to book a time with you."¹⁶
- Time savings: "This has taken scheduling to a new level! Not only is it simplifying the process but adding a level of professionalism to it which is rare. Usually you have to sacrifice one for the other. And let's not forgot the ability to integrate with all the major communication/calendar software!"¹⁷
- Integration capabilities: "I love how it connects to Google calendar seamlessly. I've used both the free plan and the paid plan. The paid plan allows you to customize your calendar more and gives you more options to set reminders across multiple applications."¹⁸
- Professional appearance: "It's very customizable, and connects seamlessly with Google calendar. It gives my business a more professional appearance and saves so much time going back and forth trying to schedule appointments."¹⁹
Common criticisms
Despite the overall positive reviews, several recurring complaints appear:
- Technical issues: "Their tool and support are totally unreliable. We've been using it for years, but now a lot of clients are reporting that they cannot book a meeting through calendly link. Their support is totally unresponsive, they are not giving any reasonable timeline for fixing this and we're simply loosing money because Calendly is not doing what it was supposed to do."²⁰
- Limited customization: "The unpaid version is severely limited which makes it hard to maximise the tool to full potential."²¹
- Customer support concerns: "The following is what I sent to them when they asked for feedback: If the chatbot was the only thing maybe I could have stayed. The follow up on the chatbot did not improve. Horrific experience. Absolutely horrific experience. No longer interested in paying for the lack of service anymore."²²
- Pricing structure: "The pricing should be lower to encourage companies to keep it for longer than they need it for."²³
These mixed reviews suggest that while Calendly excels at its core functionality, some users encounter issues with technical reliability, customer support, and value for money—particularly as team sizes grow.
Is Calendly worth it?
After reviewing Calendly's features, pricing, and user experiences, is it worth investing in this scheduling platform? The answer, as with most tools, depends on your specific needs and circumstances.
Calendly is worth it if:
- You schedule frequent meetings with external parties: The time savings from eliminating scheduling back-and-forth can be substantial for consultants, sales professionals, and anyone who regularly books appointments.
- You need team scheduling coordination: Features like round-robin and collective scheduling make Calendly particularly valuable for teams that need to coordinate availability.
- You work across multiple time zones: The automatic time zone detection can prevent scheduling confusion for globally distributed teams.
- You integrate with common business tools: If you use platforms like Zoom, Google Calendar, or Salesforce, Calendly's integration capabilities can streamline your workflow.
Calendly might not be worth it if:
- You're on a tight budget: The free plan's limitations mean most users need to upgrade to paid tiers, which can become expensive for teams.
- You use Apple/iCloud Calendar: With iCloud Calendar integration being discontinued for new users, Apple-centric users may face integration challenges.
- You need extensive customization: If you want your scheduling experience to fully match your brand identity, Calendly's customization limitations may be frustrating.
- You want full GDPR compliance: Global businesses with businesses in Europe, or simply European businesses, should definitely prefer alternatives with EU-based data processing that doesn't require set ups.
Zeeg: A GDPR-compliant cost-effective alternative
For those concerned about Calendly's limitations—particularly regarding Apple Calendar integration, customization options, or GDPR compliance—Zeeg offers a compelling alternative.
Zeeg is a German-developed scheduling tool that prioritizes data privacy while offering competitive features. Key advantages include:
- European data protection: All data is stored exclusively on European servers with full GDPR compliance.
- Complete Apple Calendar integration: Unlike Calendly, Zeeg maintains full support for iCloud Calendar.
- Competitive pricing: Starting at just $10/£10 per user per month, Zeeg offers advanced scheduling capabilities
- More generous free plan: Zeeg offers two scheduling pages in its free plan (versus Calendly's one), giving users more flexibility without requiring an upgrade.
- Advanced customization: More extensive branding and personalization options, even at lower pricing tiers.
Zeeg is a great scheduling solution, as it also gives you robust workflow automation, allowing users to create custom triggers for seamless communication—from automated email sequences to SMS reminders—all at more accessible prices than Calendly.
As a European solution, Zeeg prioritizes data protection with end-to-end encryption and full GDPR compliance rather than afterthought adaptations common with US-based alternatives.
Its team features include round-robin scheduling, collective appointments, and detailed analytics that benefit sales and support teams coordinating across multiple members.
Unlike Calendly, Zeeg offers extensive customization even at lower tiers, with branded booking pages, personalized communications, and flexible layouts creating a cohesive customer experience.
With pricing starting at just $10/user/month (or £10) and a more generous free plan, Zeeg provides great scheduling while making migration straightforward with tools to import settings and maintain workflow continuity—making it ideal for businesses seeking better value without sacrificing functionality.
Conclusion: Is Calendly worth it?
Now that you’ve read this review of Calendly, it's clear that this popular scheduling tool offers great benefits for many users, particularly in streamlining the appointment booking process and eliminating scheduling back-and-forth. It has an intuitive interface, strong integration ecosystem, and team scheduling capabilities make it a solid choice for businesses looking to improve their scheduling efficiency.
However, Calendly is not without its drawbacks. The limited free plan, lack of Apple Calendar integration for new users, GDPR compliance concerns, and potentially high costs for teams are important factors to consider before committing to this platform.
Your ideal scheduling solution will ultimately depend on what you want. Here's a few scenarios:
- If you're an individual or small team primarily focused on eliminating email ping-pong and aren't concerned about advanced customization or GDPR compliance, Calendly's Standard plan likely offers everything you need.
- If you're a growing team that needs to coordinate scheduling across multiple members, the Calendly Teams plan provides valuable features like round-robin distribution and administrative controls, though costs will increase as your team expands.
- If you're primarily an Apple user, work with European clients, or require more customization at a lower price point, alternatives like Zeeg may better suit your needs.
Regardless of which solution you choose, implementing an automated scheduling system can significantly improve your productivity and professionalism. The time saved from eliminating manual scheduling often justifies the investment, allowing you to focus on what matters most: the actual meetings and relationships with your clients and team members.
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