Appointment scheduling software compared

The right appointment scheduling software for a small team depends on three things: how many kinds of meeting you offer, whether several people share one page, and where your calendar and video calls already live. Calendly is the best known, Cal.com is the open source option, and some work tools, nerix among them, now include booking pages. This guide compares what each costs and where each is limited, with prices read on each vendor's page on 1 November 2026.

Check the official pages before you buy, since plans change: Calendly and Cal.com.

What a booking page should do

Before comparing names, list what you actually need. A good scheduling tool:

• shows only times you are really free, taken from your calendar, and never shows what is in it;
• shows times in the guest's own time zone;
• lets you set minimum notice, how far ahead people can book and a limit per day;
• adds buffer time before and after meetings, so back to back calls do not happen;
• asks the questions you need answered before the call;
• sends a confirmation and reminders, with a link to cancel or change;
• creates the video link for you.

Teams add two more: taking turns between members (round robin), and requiring several people to be free at once.

The options at a glance

Calendly

Good at: being familiar. Guests know the interface, and it connects to many calendars and apps. The page lists Free at 0 dollars with 1 event type and 1 calendar connection, Standard at 10 dollars per seat a month on yearly billing with unlimited event types and 6 calendar connections, and Teams at 16 dollars per seat on yearly billing with round robin and team scheduling.

Falls short: the free plan is narrow, and team features need the higher plan. Enterprise starts at 15 thousand dollars a year with at least 50 seats.

Cal.com

Good at: flexibility and openness. The Free plan is listed as free forever for one user, with unlimited event types, calendars, email and SMS notifications, and Stripe and PayPal payments. Teams is 12 dollars per user a month on yearly billing with shared availability, round robin and recurring events, and Organizations is 28 dollars per user a month and adds SAML single sign-on and SCIM. The page links a self-hosted option and a GitHub repository.

Falls short: more options mean more to set up. The page does not describe self-hosting terms, so read the licence on GitHub if you plan to run it yourself.

Booking pages in nerix

Good at: meetings that should land in the same place as everything else. A booking page has a link, a name, a colour, one to four meeting lengths and a place: a video room, a phone call, in person at an address, or a link. Free times come from your working hours minus whatever is in your calendar, and people only see open times. Guests pick a time in their own time zone and answer your questions. Name and email are always asked, and you can approve each booking yourself.

After booking, the guest gets a confirmation and can add it to their calendar. Reminders go a day and an hour before, and the email has a link to cancel or choose another time. The booking is a normal meeting in your calendar with its own video link, so Meetings features such as notes work on it. Team pages take turns between free members or need everyone free. Guests need no account.

Falls short: booking pages are for business workspaces, so they are not a standalone scheduler for people who do not use nerix. It has fewer outside integrations than Calendly. Plans and credits are on the pricing page.

Questions to ask before you choose

1. How many meeting types do you offer? A free plan with one event type suits a consultant with one call type. A team with intro calls, demos and support calls needs more.
2. Do several people share a page? If yes, check that team scheduling is in the plan you can afford, not only in the enterprise tier.
3. Which calendar do you use? Confirm two way sync. Double bookings usually come from calendars that are not connected.
4. Do you collect payment at booking? Some tools support it, some do not, and the free plan may leave it out.
5. Where are the notes and follow ups? A booking is the start of a meeting. If the tool ends at the confirmation email, you will need another tool for the rest.
6. Where is the data held? If your clients are in the EU, read the provider's data location and privacy pages.

Common mistakes

Offering too many times. A page with every half hour open invites fragmented days. Use working hours, daily limits and buffers.

No minimum notice. Without it someone books a call for fifteen minutes from now.

Forgetting the time zone. Guests should see their own zone and be able to change it.

Skipping reminders. A reminder a day and an hour before cuts no shows. Check that your tool sends them.

The short version

For one person with one kind of call, a free plan from Calendly or Cal.com is enough. For a team, compare the plan that includes round robin: 16 dollars per seat at Calendly or 12 dollars per user at Cal.com on yearly billing when we checked. If your team already works in nerix, booking pages keep the booking, the meeting and the notes together. Whatever you pick, test with a colleague in another time zone before you share the link.