7 Best Doodle Alternatives & Competitors

Doodle is a meeting scheduling solution for teams built to take the hassle out of managing appointments and client relationships.

But with limited options for visual customization, it may not be the best option if you book a lot of external meetings and want to have your own branding front and center.

Doodle also doesn’t have a mobile app, which can be inconvenient if you’re away from your desktop often.

If you want a scheduling tool without these downsides, you’ll need to look into Doodle alternatives.

We’ve extensively researched and tested dozens of appointment scheduling platforms using SMB Guide’s detailed evaluation criteria.

Here’s what we found.

1. Setmore

Best for: Setmore is best for small to medium-sized businesses that rely heavily on appointments for operations.

Pricing: Free – $12/user/mo

Setmore is a free appointment scheduling software. You can use it to manage bookings, services, and your staff.

It’s an app that’s suitable for businesses of all sizes who rely on appointments to run. 

You can direct clients to specific staff booking pages and even direct them on where to go after they schedule an appointment using the callback URL feature.

Features

• Callback URL feature
• Customizable SMS reminders
• Two-way calendar synchronization
• Remove Setmore branding on paid plans

Setmore Vs Doodle

Criteria	Setmore	Doodle
Best For	Small to medium-sized businesses	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Callback URL	Group polling
Pricing	Free – $12/user/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

Unlike Doodle, Setmore has mobile apps to make it easier to manage your schedule on the go.

However, where it really stands out against Doodle is its callback URL feature. After your customers book an appointment with you, they’ll be shown a hyperlink that’s set by you.

You could use this feature to send customers to your social media, website, or even prompt them to leave a review.

Sign-up to Setmore for free today!

Try Setmore for free

2. Square Appointments

Best for: Square Appointments is ideal for service-based businesses providers, such as salons, fitness studios, coaches, and consultants.

Pricing: Free – $69/mo

Square Appointments, part of Square’s POS offerings, is a flexible scheduling solution ideal for service-based businesses and consultants.

You can use it to accept payments ahead of time, reducing the number of no-shows that you don’t get compensated for.

With it, your clients will be able to book appointments with you through your website, Google Search and Maps, and Instagram.

Features

• Free marketplace app for marketing
• Cancelation and no-show policies
• POS, bookings, payments, and staff management
• Scalability as your business grows

Square Appointments Vs Doodle

Criteria	Square Appointments	Doodle
Best For	Service-based businesses and providers	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Assign single appointments to multiple services	Group polling
Pricing	Free – $69/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

Where Doodle is more focused on making collaboration amongst teams easier, Square Appointments is a better solution for service providers.

Unlike Doodle, you can use Square to charge for appointments and accept payments.

If you’re already using Square’s other products, it’s a no-brainer to use their appointment software as well.

Try Square Appointments for free today!

Try Square Appointments for free

3. Acuity Scheduling

Best for: Acuity Scheduling is best for service providers who need clients to book appointments in advance, including freelancers, consultants, and even medical professionals.

Pricing: $20/mo – $61/mo

Acuity Scheduling is an online software that can help you automate client scheduling, charge for appointments, and invoice and process payments.

On its highest tier, Powerhouse, the service is also compliant with HIPAA guidelines, making it ideal for medical professionals.

Acuity Scheduling was acquired by Squarespace in 2019 and now offers a seamless integration experience with Squarespace websites.

Features

• Client self-scheduling
• Payment processor integrations
• Client management database
• HIPAA compliance

Acuity Scheduling Vs Doodle

Criteria	Acuity Scheduling	Doodle
Best For	Freelancers, consultants, and medical professionals	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	HIPAA compliance	Group polling
Pricing	$20/mo – $61/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

If you have a website hosted on Squarespace, Acuity Scheduling will likely be easier to integrate into your workflow than Doodle.

It also offers invoicing and payment processing capabilities – services that Doodle doesn’t have.

Besides that, it’s HIPAA compliant depending on the plan you choose, so it’s the better option for medical professionals who want a web-based scheduling tool.

Start free trial of Acuity Scheduling today!

Try Acuity Scheduling for free

4. Calendly

Best for: Calendly is ideal for anyone looking for a tool to make scheduling meetings and reducing no-shows a breeze.

Pricing: Free – $20/mo (per seat)

Calendly is one of the most well-known scheduling tools out there. Its clean and intuitive UI makes it a breeze to use for just about any use case.

It also comes equipped with more than 100 connections with third-party applications – so there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be able to integrate it into your existing workflows.

Features

• Four different meeting types
• Customizable booking and event pages
• Automated text and email reminders
• User-friendly interface

Calendly Vs Doodle

Criteria	Calendly	Doodle
Best For	Businesses of all sizes	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Intuitive interface and easy to build workflows	Group polling
Pricing	Free – $20/mo (per seat)	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

Calendly is a more well-known scheduling solution than Doodle, and it also comes with a wider feature set.

The biggest difference to note is that Calendly is better for people who need to schedule a mix of lots of 1-on-1 and group meetings, while Doodle is designed with group meetings as the primary use case.

5. Google Calendar

Best for: Google Calendar is ideal for individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized teams.

Pricing: Free – $18/mo

Google Calendar is a popular digital calendar service that’s integrated within the ecosystem of other Google products.

It allows users to schedule and organize events and tasks – and also includes an automated scheduling function.

Features

• Color-coded calendar and events
• Event invitations and RSVPs
• Customizable calendar views and sharing
• Search functionality

Google Calendar Vs Doodle

Criteria	Google Calendar	Doodle
Best For	Businesses of all sizes and types	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Time allocation insights and analytics	Group polling
Pricing	Free – $18/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

While the automated scheduling features within Google Calendar are pretty limited, it still makes sense to use if you want something integrated within the Google product ecosystem.

If you’re an individual or manage a team that’s already paying for a Google Workspace subscription, you can use their automated scheduling at no extra cost.

6. Microsoft Bookings

Best for: Microsoft Bookings is best for businesses from small to enterprise.

Pricing: $6/mo – $22/user/mo

Microsoft Bookings is a web-based appointment scheduling solution that’s included as part of the Microsoft 365 product suite.

It’s an entirely web-based app, so it’s best to use if you’re frequently at your desktop. While there used to be iOS and Android apps available, those are unfortunately no longer supported.

Features

• Web-based booking calendar
• Email and SMS text reminders
• Insights into customer booking history
• Contact database

Microsoft Bookings Vs Doodle

Criteria	Microsoft Bookings	Doodle
Best For	Small to enterprise businesses	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Access to entire Microsoft product suite	Group polling
Pricing	$6/mo – $22/user/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

While Microsoft Bookings may not be as feature rich as Doodle, it still makes sense to consider if you’re already paying for a Microsoft 365 subscription.

And if you can deal with not having a mobile app, it comes with some other nice features – including a contact database and insights into your clients’ booking history.

Get started with Microsoft Bookings today!

Buy now with Microsoft 365

7. Zoho Bookings

Best for: Zoho Bookings is a good choice for startups, freelancers, and solopreneurs who are already using other Zoho products.

Pricing: Free – $12/user/mo

Zoho Bookings is another scheduling tool that’s part of a larger product suite – Zoho. 

What’s unique about it is that its user interface is built to be customized to your specific industry. One big perk is that you can use it to reserve physical resources if you work in an office.

Features

• Customizable confirmation/cancelation emails
• Custom fields
• Embeddable website widget
• Customer reports

Zoho Bookings Vs Doodle

Criteria	Zoho Bookings	Doodle
Best For	Anyone already using other Zoho products	Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams
Standout Feature	Resource booking for rooms and equipment	Group polling
Pricing	Free – $12/user/mo	Free – $19.95/user/mo

Conclusion

Zoho Bookings is a great product for small businesses who want client self-scheduling, client reports, and other automated scheduling functions.

Its biggest draw over Doodle is that it comes with a resource booking feature. This feature allows you to reserve rooms and other equipment when scheduling a meeting.

Because of this, it’s an ideal solution for teams who work in a physical office space.

Try Zoho bookings for free

Try Zoho Bookings for free

Which Doodle alternative should I use?

Doodle’s group polling feature makes it a great choice if you need to schedule lots of team meetings.

But it’s probably not going to work if you want lots of visual customization or want access to your scheduler via mobile app on the go.

If that’s the case for you, one of these Doodle alternatives will likely be better suited to your needs.

Here’s a quick recap of Doodle alternatives:

1. Setmore
2. Square Appointments
3. Acuity Scheduling
4. Calendly
5. Google Calendar
6. Microsoft Bookings
7. Zoho Bookings