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Description: Flexible scheduling software designed to help you grow — because booking time should never get in the way of success. |
Description: Square Appointments is an all-in-one solution for booking and scheduling appointments, sending reminders, and accepting payments. |
Description: Zoho Bookings is an appointment scheduling software that empowers any business to effortlessly schedule meetings with clients. |
Flexible scheduling software designed to help you grow — because booking time should never get in the way of success.
Square Appointments is an all-in-one solution for booking and scheduling appointments, sending reminders, and accepting payments.
Zoho Bookings is an appointment scheduling software that empowers any business to effortlessly schedule meetings with clients.
Google Calendar is a popular time management and calendar software. Even if you haven’t tried it out yourself, chances are pretty good that you already know what it is.
What you might not know is that it comes equipped with an appointment scheduling feature. However, this functionality is limited to Google users and lacks advanced features.
So, if you’re looking for a scheduling tool that comes with a robust feature set, you’ll likely need to look into alternatives.
We’ve extensively researched and tested dozens of appointment scheduling platforms using SMB Guide’s detailed evaluation criteria so you don’t have to.
Here are some of the best Google Calendar alternatives, their pros and cons, and what makes them stand out.
1. Acuity Scheduling
Best for: Acuity Scheduling is best for business owners that need clients to book services in advance, such as freelancers, consultants, and even medical professionals.
Pricing: $20/mo – $61/mo
7-day free trial
Seamless booking experience
Powerful integrations
Squarespace website integration
No phone support
Non-intuitive UI with loading issues
Acuity Scheduling is an online scheduling solution that automates your client scheduling, allows you to charge for appointments, and even invoice and process client payments.
Since the company was acquired by Squarespace in 2019, they also offer a Squarespace website integration.
Features
- Client self-scheduling
- Payment processor integrations
- Client management database
- HIPAA compliance
Acuity Scheduling Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | Acuity Scheduling | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Freelancers and consultants | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Advanced reporting | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | $20/mo – $61/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
Acuity Scheduling, acquired by Squarespace in 2019, is an ideal scheduling solution for Squarespace users due to its built-in website integration.
Besides that, its HIPAA compliance is what really gives it a leg up against Google Calendar. Depending on the subscription tier you choose, Acuity Scheduling meets HIPAA compliance standards, making it safe for medical professionals to use.
Start free trial of Acuity Scheduling today!
Try Acuity Scheduling for free2. Square Appointments
Best for: Square Appointments is ideal for service-based businesses and entrepreneurs, including salons, fitness studios, consultants, and coaches.
Pricing: Free – $69/mo
Free for individuals
All-in-one point of sale
Lots of integrations
Flexible cancellation policy
Limited customization options
Calendar sync only on paid plans
Square Appointments is a flexible scheduling solution that’s part of the Square POS offerings. It allows your clients to book appointments with you through your website, Google Search, Google Maps, and Instagram.
It’s an ideal solution for service providers who want to reduce no-shows and need an easy way to accept payments.
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 Google Calendar
Criteria | Square Appointments | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Service-based businesses | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Assign single appointments to multiple services | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | Free – $69/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
Where Google Calendar is simply a calendar app, Square Appointments is part of a wider ecosystem of products ideal for service-based businesses. For example, Square offers a POS solution, payment processing, and even staff management features.
If you’re already a Square user or are looking into their products, it makes sense to use Square Appointments.
Get started with Square Appointments
Try Square Appointments for free3. Zoho Bookings
Best for: Zoho Bookings is best for startups, freelancers, and solopreneurs who already use other Zoho products.
Pricing: Free – $12/user/mo
Free forever plan
30+ integrations
Two-way calendar sync
Mobile apps
Slightly tricky interface
Difficult managing multiple bookings
Zoho Bookings is a scheduling software that’s part of the larger Zoho product suite. Its user interface is built to customize itself to your specific industry.
For service-based small businesses, it’s an excellent way to allow your customers to self-schedule as well as pay for appointments ahead of time.
Features
- Customizable confirmation and cancelation emails
- Custom fields
- Embeddable website widget
- Customer reports
Zoho Bookings Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | Zoho Bookings | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Startups, freelancers, and solopreneurs | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Resource booking for rooms and equipment | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | Free – $12/user/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
Google Calendar is better suited to online business owners, while Zoho Bookings can work for online or in-person service providers.
Their resource booking feature allows you to reserve specific rooms or equipment needed for an appointment, preventing avoidable mix-ups if you work in a small space or have company equipment that’s shared amongst your team.
Sign-up for free to Zoho Bookings
Try Zoho Bookings for free4. Microsoft Bookings
Best for: Microsoft Bookings is ideal for small and enterprise businesses.
Pricing: $6/mo – $22/user/mo
Easy to use
iOS & Android apps
Customer-facing booking page
Notifications and reminders
No free version
Lack of group scheduling features
Microsoft Bookings is a web-based appointment scheduling and management app. Microsoft’s booking calendar is included as part of the Microsoft 365 product suite.
While there were previously iOS and Android apps for Microsoft Bookings, those apps are unfortunately no longer supported as of July 2023.
Features
- Web-based booking calendar
- Email and SMS text reminders
- Insights into customer booking history
- Contact database
Microsoft Bookings Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | Microsoft Bookings | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Small and enterprise businesses | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Access to entire Microsoft product suite | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | $6/mo – $22/user/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
If you already use Microsoft’s Outlook calendar, it makes little sense to also sign up with Google Calendar for their appointment scheduling feature.
If you’re already a Microsoft customer, and can deal with not having a mobile app, Microsoft Bookings is definitely an appointment scheduling software you should consider.
Get started with Microsoft Bookings today!
Get started with Microsoft Bookings5. Calendly
Best for: Calendly is for everyone from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies looking for a tool to make scheduling and remembering meetings easier.
Pricing: Free – $20/mo (per seat)
Free forever plan
iOS & Android apps
100+ integrations
Easy to build workflows
Too many features
Expensive for larger teams
Calendly is a popular scheduling tool that’s meant to make “finding time” a breeze. It’s extremely easy to use and has been proven to reduce meeting no-shows.
And with more than 100 third-party integrations, it’s an app that will be able to connect seamlessly to your existing workflows.
Features
- One-on-one, group, collective, and round robin meeting types
- Customizable booking and event pages
- Automated text and email reminders
- User-friendly interface
Calendly Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | Calendly | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Everyone from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Intuitive interface and easy-to-build workflows | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | Free – $20/mo (per seat) | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
Calendly is a better appointment scheduler than Google Calendar all around. It has tons of features, whereas Google Calendar is more of a no-frills kind of solution..
If you want a dedicated scheduling tool, Calendly is the better choice, hands down. However, there’s also something to be said about using these two services in tandem.
6. Doodle
Best for: Doodle is best for entrepreneurs, leaders, and teams of all sizes who need better collaboration.
Pricing: Free – $19.95/user/mo
Free forever plan
Integrations via Zapier
Easy to use interface
Built for teams
No mobile app
Limited visual customization
Doodle is a scheduling solution that places special emphasis on group meetings. This software aims to support and improve collaboration in organizations.
Its most popular feature is its group polling — which allows you to poll your team to find out the best time for everyone to meet, saving you valuable time on endless back-and-forth.
Doodle Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | Doodle | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Entrepreneurs, leaders, and small to large teams | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Group polling | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | Free – $19.95/user/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
The biggest difference between Google Calendar and Doodle is that Doodle was built specifically with teams in mind.
Its group polling feature is invaluable if you have a large team and need an easy way to see when everyone is available. Google Calendar doesn’t offer any kind of feature comparable to this.
7. SimplyBook.me
Best for: SimplyBook.me is a good choice for service-based businesses of all sizes.
Pricing: Free – $99.9/mo
Free forever plan
Accept payments
50+ integrations
User-friendly interface
Limited bookings
Poor API support
SimplyBook.me is an appointment scheduling software that, as the name suggests, is built to simplify the booking process.
It’s not just a basic scheduling tool, though. Depending on your plan, you’ll have the option to add on a number of custom features, including HIPAA compliance, custom domain names, loyalty systems, and more.
Features
- Custom packages depending on your organization’s needs
- Membership custom feature
- Intake forms
- 60+ customizable features
SimplyBook Vs Google Calendar
Criteria | SimplyBook.me | Google Calendar |
---|---|---|
Best For | Service-based businesses of all sizes | Professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams |
Standout Feature | Customizable packages with 60+ available features | Time allocation insights and analytics |
Pricing | Free – $99.9/mo | Free – $18/mo |
Conclusion
If you’re managing a large team, SimplyBook.me is probably a better choice than Google Calendar.
This is partly because their packages are so scalable, but also because you’ll have the option to add-on more than 60 custom features depending on your company’s exact needs.
Sign-up to SimplyBook.me for free
Try SimplyBook.me for freeWhich Google Calendar alternative should I use?
While Google Calendar does have an appointment scheduling tool, it’s more so just a standard calendar app.
While it may be a good option to consider if you’re already paying for a Google Workspace subscription, keep in mind that it doesn’t come equipped with many features.
If you want a wider feature set, one of these Google Calendar alternatives will likely be better suited for you.
Here’s a quick recap of Google Calendar alternatives:
- Acuity Scheduling
- Square Appointments
- Zoho Bookings
- Microsoft Bookings
- Calendly
- Doodle
- SimplyBook.me
Flexible scheduling software designed to help you grow — because booking time should never get in the way of success.