Best picks · US edition
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There's no single best scheduling tool: a salon, a therapy practice and a sales team need different things. This shortlist covers the tools most small businesses should look at first, with the prices each vendor publishes.
Prices as ofUSD as published
Best overall for client appointments
Acuity Scheduling
Intake forms, packages, memberships, gift cards and payments, priced by calendars rather than seats, with a HIPAA BAA on Premium.
- Free plan
- No (7-day free trial)
- Entry price
- From $16 per month (annual billing)
Best for booking meetings
Calendly
The widest integration list, routing for teams and polished meeting links.
- Free plan
- Yes: 1 event type, 1 calendar
- Entry price
- From $10 per seat/month (annual billing)
Most flexible all-rounder
SimplyBook.me
A free plan (50 bookings a month), SMS and WhatsApp reminders, POS and a HIPAA option on Standard and above.
- Free plan
- Yes: 50 bookings a month, 1 provider
- Entry price
- From $11.90 per month (annual billing)
Best free plan for small teams
Setmore
Free for up to four users, with a low per-user Pro plan on annual billing and 24/7 human support.
- Free plan
- Yes: up to 4 users
- Entry price
- From $5 per user/month (annual billing)
Best for businesses taking card payments
Square Appointments
Bookings, card payments, POS and no-show fees in one place. We haven't captured US prices yet.
- Free plan
- Yes: 1 location, unlimited staff (UK)
- Entry price
- US prices for Square Appointments weren't captured in this research pass. Check squareup.com before you choose.
Best open-source option
Cal.com
Unlimited event types free for one user, APIs and self-hosting.
- Free plan
- Yes: 1 user, unlimited event types
- Entry price
- From $12 per user/month (annual billing)
Best budget option for Zoho users
Zoho Bookings
Low per-staff pricing and a free plan for one person.
- Free plan
- Yes: 1 staff member, 1 event type
- Entry price
- From $6 per staff/month (annual billing)
Best experience for the person booking
SavvyCal
Calendar overlay and ranked availability; no free plan.
- Free plan
- No (free trial)
- Entry price
- From $10 per user/month (annual billing)
How we chose
We compared every tool we track against these criteria, using each vendor's published prices and features as of November 2, 2026. We haven't run hands-on tests of every tool for this edition; see the methodology.
- Fit for small service businesses taking client appointments
- Published prices and a usable free plan or trial
- Payments, reminders and the features most businesses ask for
- Third-party review volume on Capterra or G2 (as a signal, not a score)
Side by side
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Entry price | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service businesses: coaches, therapists, salons and studios | No (7-day free trial) | From $16 per month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Tech-savvy teams, developers and anyone who wants open source or self-hosting | Yes: 1 user, unlimited event types | From $12 per user/month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Solo professionals, sales and recruiting teams booking meetings | Yes: 1 event type, 1 calendar | From $10 per seat/month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Founders, consultants and B2B teams who care about the booker's experience | No (free trial) | From $10 per user/month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Budget-conscious small businesses and small teams | Yes: up to 4 users | From $5 per user/month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Service businesses such as salons, clinics, tutors and fitness; EU-friendly | Yes: 50 bookings a month, 1 provider | From $11.90 per month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site | |
| Salons, barbers, spas and any business taking card payments | Yes: 1 location, unlimited staff (UK) | US prices for Square Appointments weren't captured in this research pass. Check squareup.com before you choose. | Review · Visit site | |
| Budget small businesses and existing Zoho users | Yes: 1 staff member, 1 event type | From $6 per staff/month (annual billing) | Review · Visit site |
Features at a glance
| Tool | Free plan | Payments | SMS reminders | HIPAA option | Teams | AI features | Marketplace | Video calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acuity Scheduling | No (7-day free trial) | Stripe, Square, PayPal | From Standard | BAA on Premium | Calendars by plan (1, 6, 36) | AI Booking Assistant (Premium) | No | Zoom |
| Calendly | Yes: 1 event type, 1 calendar | Stripe, PayPal | Not checked | Not checked | Teams plan; routing | Notetaker and Callie AI (Plus plans) | No | Zoom, Teams, Meet |
| SimplyBook.me | Yes: 50 bookings a month, 1 provider | Stripe, PayPal; POS | SMS and WhatsApp | Standard and above | Providers by plan | Not checked | No | Zoom |
| Setmore | Yes: up to 4 users | Square, Stripe, PayPal | Pro only | Not checked | Free for up to 4 users | Not checked | No | Zoom |
| Square Appointments | Yes: 1 location, unlimited staff (UK) | Square payments (built in) | Not checked | Not checked | Unlimited staff on Free (1 location) | Not checked | Reserve with Google | Not checked |
| Cal.com | Yes: 1 user, unlimited event types | Stripe | Not checked | Not checked | Teams plan | Cal.ai phone agent | No | Zoom |
| Zoho Bookings | Yes: 1 staff member, 1 event type | Stripe, PayPal | Not checked | Not checked | Priced per staff member | Not checked | No | Zoom |
| SavvyCal | No (free trial) | Stripe (Premium) | Not checked | Not checked | Per user | Not checked | No | Zoom |
'Not checked' means our research didn't confirm the feature either way; it doesn't mean the tool lacks it. Features are from vendor pricing pages and documentation as recorded on November 2, 2026.
Questions people ask
Which scheduling tools have a free plan?
Setmore (up to four users), SimplyBook.me (50 bookings a month), Zoho Bookings (one staff member), Calendly (one event type), Cal.com (one user) and YouCanBookMe (one calendar) all have free plans, and Square offers a free tier. Which suits you depends on which limit you'd hit first.
Are these rankings paid for?
No. Rankings are never paid for. We may earn a commission from some links, and vendors can buy a labelled Verified or Featured listing, but neither changes the order on this page. Calendly, which has no affiliate program, is ranked on the same criteria as everyone else.
Related
Sources
Prices and features as recorded on November 2, 2026 from these pages (research pass 26 October to 2 November 2026). Prices change: check the vendor's page before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
- Acuity Scheduling: https://acuityscheduling.com/pricing
- Calendly: https://calendly.com/pricing
- Calendly: https://calendly.com/help/choose-the-right-calendly-plan-for-your-team
- SimplyBook.me: https://simplybook.me/en/pricing
- Setmore: https://www.setmore.com/pricing
- Setmore: https://www.setmore.com/llms.txt
- Square Appointments: https://squareup.com/gb/en/appointments/pricing
- Cal.com: https://cal.com/pricing
- Zoho Bookings: https://www.zoho.com/bookings/pricing.html
- SavvyCal: https://savvycal.com/pricing/