keeping up with multiple calendars without the scheduling mishaps is simple when you have the best free appointment scheduling app! As a busy professional, managing your time can seem like an impossible task. Between meeting with clients, vacations, doctor appointments, and family time, how do you keep on top of it all?
1. Calendly
With clear drop-down menus and easy-to-understand prompts, this straight-forward scheduling app is ideal for anyone working with clients or prospects of varying technical skill.
Need some time to research or prepare for your meetings? You can prevent invitees from booking appointments too close to your available times (i.e. they can’t schedule an appointment only 2 hours in advance).
BTW, the members of Team Mindful are big Calendly fans. A Calendly integration is in the works for our MVP for beta users.
Web-based? Yep
Mobile App? Not yet. (Hint, hint, Calendly team …)
2. Setmore
If you’re a small business owner in a service profession like consulting, massage therapy, or beauty services, Setmore makes it super-simple for clients to book appointments. You can share your availability and services available.
For certain people, an appointment just doesn’t feel real unless they receive a reminder. Setmore offers both email and SMS reminders. Clients can also schedule appointments using the iOS and Android apps. Want to make it even easier for your regular clients to book time? The contact information storage is a favorite feature among Setmore users.
Web-based? Yes
Mobile app? Yes
3. Doodle
This app is recommended for those who tend to schedule appointments involving several different people or groups. Every user’s schedule is displayed when an event is being planned, encouraging collaboration between groups.
Doodle is a classic for a reason. With new options to schedule multi-day events, the app has come a long way since the days where you could click only one box at a time.
Web-based? Yes
Mobile app? Yes
4. Appointy
If you teach classes, lead workshops, or offer rental services, Appointy’s business-minded interface will help your prospects enroll without a hitch.
The scheduling app, which you can use on your website as a WordPress plugin, also supports service appointments, events, recurring bookings, and group bookings. Great if you’re in the event planning industry.
Web-based? Yes
Mobile app? Yes
5. Visibook
Another superbly-designed scheduling app for personal care professionals, Visibook will show your clients the type of services available. They can also filter the calendar to only see specific providers’ availability.
Visibook is widely praised for its natural look and feel. The colorful design and drop-down menus lend to an intuitive experience on either mobile or desktop. You can also customize the look to reflect your business branding.
Web-based? Yep
Mobile App? Yep
6. Acuity Scheduling
Tons of online entrepreneurs, freelancers, and creative professionals live by this super-charged scheduling app. Not only does it allow clients to book time AND pay for your services, you can also offer packages and gift certificates and connect Acuity to your favorite CRM or list management software.
Something else we love about Acuity: the quirky personality of their copy. Working from home can be a lonely experience, and Acuity’s friendly, humorous “voice” is like having the office clown around to keep you company.
Web-based? Yep
Mobile App? Yep
7. Meet on Mindful.am
If you’re a former Sunrise Calendar user, chances are this was one of your favorite functions and one of the biggest reasons you’re still mourning the shutdown of the Sunrise app. Good news: we’ve resurrected Meet!
Our development team at Mindful.am just released our version of the awesome scheduling feature that allows you to book one-on-one meetups with anyone straight from your calendar. This is a quick, easy solution for scheduling anything from business meetings to date night.
All you have to do is:
• Click the “Meet” button on your calendar
• Select the meeting duration, location, and title of the proposed meeting
• Select which times you have available on your calendar
• Click the checkmark once you’re done and a link will be copied to your clipboard, ready to share with your meeting invitee.
• Your invitee will see the times you have available and can select when they’d like to meet. They can even see your availability in relationship to their own calendar.
Yet another way we plan on simplifying your life so you can focus and enjoy the present moment. Sign up for early access here.
7. IFTTT
IFTTT is one of the best productivity tools around. That’s because you can essentially automate everything from controlling your smart devices to scheduling social media posts to muting your phone at bedtime. For example, whenever you publish a blog post on WordPress IFTTT will automatically post it to Facebook.
There are a ton of date and time triggers that can make you productive. This includes reminding your team to submit expense reports at the end of the month through Slack, receive SMS and calendar reminders, and saying when you’re busy/available with blink (1). The possibilities are endless.
8. Acuity Scheduling
If you’re in the service industry then you definitely want to check out Acuity Scheduling. It allows clients to book appointments online so that you no longer have to deal with those back-and-forth communications. Acuity also lets clients reschedule events on their own and even pay for your services through PayPal, Square, and Stripe.
When an appointment is booked Acuity will automatically add the appointment to your Google, Outlook, iCloud or Office 365 calendar.
If you’re working solo, Acuity is free. Plans start at $15/month. Acuity is also part of our top calendar apps for business owners.
9. Setmore
Setmore is another tool that lets customers book an self-book appointments with you in real-time. Because Setmore integrates with WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Facebook there are a variety of ways for customers to book your services. Once an booked, you, your team, and the customers will receive SMS and email reminders to help lessen no-shows.
You can also use the Android or iOS app to create recurring events, book classes, and accept online payments. For larger businesses there’s even a live call answering service — but you’ll need the $89/month plan.
10. Sling
Finally, if you have team then you’ll want to use Sling. This app will schedule your team in a matter of minutes while also eliminating conflicts by receiving real-time updates on double-booking and time off request.
You can also use Sling track your team’s hours and export these timesheets for payroll. And, you can keep communicate more effectively with your team through group messages or creating a unique newsfeed for your team.
Sling is free if you’re just looking for a tool to schedule your team, for additional features you’ll have to select a paid plan which starts at $1.75 per user.
Conclusion
In today’s digital times, many people are looking for a convenient way to manage their personal schedules. A popular option, especially among people who work from home, is an online calendar planner. Perhaps you’re already a user of a particular service and want a review, or maybe you’re new to sticking with sticking with it and seeking advice. Either way, there are many worth-your-while options that your should consider as well as plenty of questions you should ask yourself before choosing the one best suited to your needs.