Free Appointment Scheduling Software

The best appointment scheduling software helps you automate mundane tasks. But which are the best?

Tracking scheduled appointments manually can be headache-inducing.

On the other hand, appointment scheduling software can cost a lot for a small business. And free software can be misleading or lack in functionality.

But it's not all bleak.

Many software companies offer scheduling features for free. So keep reading to see which free appointment scheduling software fits your needs. From the pros, cons, and possible costs, it's all on this list.

Square Appointments

For service industries such as consultants, spas, personal trainers, etc, this advanced plan helps you manage scheduling. Includes:

• Free booking site, or integrate with Instagram and Google
• Allows online appointment bookings 24/7
• Syncs with your own calendar
• Send automated reminders
• No-show protection by requiring pre-payment or cancellation fees

Free for individuals; Starts at $50/month for 2+ employees.

Click Here to Get Deal

What is the best free scheduling tool?

The best free scheduling tool should have easy-to-use features. It must be able to schedule appointments, integrate with calendars, and send automated reminders.

10to8: best for small businesses

10to8 offers all of their appointment scheduling features for free. For a small retail business, 10to8 is the perfect choice with its large library of integrations, multiple staff calendars, and online payments.

The only downside to 10to8's free version is no customization options.

If two users aren't enough for you, we've also featured Picktime, which allows for three users in their free plan.

Pros

• Syncs with all calendars
  
• Two-way chat feature
  
• Includes questionnaire and intake forms

Cons

• Free plan is limited to 10 appointments per month
  
• Customization only with paid plan

Features for Free Plan
With 10 free appointments and unlimited services, 10to8 also offers features like:

• Integrations: It integrates with calendars, payment processing, and video apps. Some of these include Google Calendar, iCal, Zoom, Outlook, PayPal, Stripe, Microsoft Teams, etc.

• SMS notifications: If you're prone to forgetfulness, 10to8 offers SMS notifications for your upcoming appointments.

• CRM and sales reports: You can also get insight into your small business by checking the CRM and sales reports.

  It also offers customizable calendars, a booking website, payment processing, and appointment management from an app.

Features for Paid Plan

• Pro: 40 appointments per month, take online payments, SMS included, custom branding, support included

• Premium: All Pro features, 100 appointments per month, HIPAA tools, manage teams across multiple time zones, voice reminders

• Enterprise: Fully customizable, phone support, HIPAA tools with BAA, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, WhatsApp reminders, salesforce integration

Pricing^[1]

• Starter: $0/month (1 user)
  
• Pro: $$7.20/month/user
  
• Premium: $19/month/user
  
• Enterprise: Custom quote

Square Appointments: best for self-employed persons

CREDIT: SQUARE

If you're absolutely done with unnecessary ads, you can enjoy Square Appointment's free version. You can reap their main features and unpaid benefits as a single-person business.

What sets Square apart is it comes with a free point-of-sale (POS) system. If that's something you've been needing, it might be worth looking into Square.

Pros

• POS system
  
• Unlimited free features
  
• Booking page integrations

Cons

• Free plan can be used only for a single location
  
• Google Calendar sync and No-show protection are only available for paid plans
  
• Paid plans are not cost-effective if you operate business with multiple locations
  
• No video appointment integration

Features for Free Plan
Square's scheduling app offers the majority of basic features you need for your business in the Free plan. Note that the free plan enables you to manage bookings and payments for only a single location. Its distinguishing features include:

• SMS notifications: Not many of the providers on this list offer SMS notifications. But Square offers them in their free plan.
  On this list, only 10to8 and Square have an SMS notifications feature.
  

• POS: This was already mentioned, but a POS can help you with management, payment processing, and keeping track of inventory.

• Customization: You can customize your booking page to your liking, without any Square branding. You get to decide how your customers see your pricing, services, and description.

• Integrations: Among Square's integrations are Wix, Quickbooks, and JotForm.

Features for Paid Plan
The features for the paid plan are all the same as above. The only difference is that you get more advanced features and you can manage bookings and payments for more than one location.

Pricing^[2]

• Free: $0/month for one location
  
• Plus: $29/month per location
  
• Premium: $69/month per location
  
• Custom Pricing: Quote-based pricing (for businesses that process over $250K per year in card sales)

Square Appointments

For service industries such as consultants, spas, personal trainers, etc, this advanced plan helps you manage scheduling. Includes:

• Free booking site, or integrate with Instagram and Google
• Allows online appointment bookings 24/7
• Syncs with your own calendar
• Send automated reminders
• No-show protection by requiring pre-payment or cancellation fees

Free for individuals; Starts at $50/month for 2+ employees.

Click Here to Get Deal

Calendly: best for larger meetings

Calendly sits on the more easy-to-use, beginner-friendly side of appointment scheduling software.

Using Calendly, you can send a link through email to let others pick the best time for meetings. It's very helpful in setting up larger meetings with more people.

Pros

• Video integrations
  
• Syncs with multiple calendar programs
  
• Easy-to-use appointment management

Cons

• Free plan is limited to one user
  
• Phone support is only available for enterprise clients

Features for Free Plan
The free plan only includes meeting events. And it is only free for one user. You can schedule a meeting, add a description, and send an automated notification. But that's about it.

Features for Paid Plan

• Essentials: You get to book unlimited event types and two calendars per user. You can also create group events, send email reminders, update cancellation policy and add links to your confirmation pages, and access live chat support.

• Professional: You'll have all features of Essentials, and also 6 calendars per person, SMS notifications, and online payments. You also get pooled availability, over 700 integrations, and more customizations.

• Teams: Teams offers everything Professional does, with extra admin permission, salesforce integration, and round-robin events.

• Enterprise: Designed for larger teams with 30+ members. With the Enterprise plan, you get everything in Teams plus advanced security and control, 24/7 expedited Email support, and phone support.

Pricing^[3]

• Basic: Free
  
• Essentials: $8/user/month (billed annually)
  
• Professionals: $12/user/month (billed annually)
  
• Teams: $16/user/month (billed annually)
  
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Doodle: best for polling feature

With Doodle, you get a voting poll where everyone can decide which time works best for them. And with a paid plan, you can enjoy a time limit feature.

Doodle gets a spot on this list due to its ability to integrate with your existing calendars and user-friendliness. All with the free version. But ads do decrease its rating.

Pros

• Easy to use
  
• Connects with your existing calendar
  
• Mobile app available

Cons

• Ads on free version
  
• Unreliable time zone support

Features for Free Plan
Although Doodle's free version does come with some limitations, including no custom branding, it does offer unlimited group polls. If you work in a large team where you need to coordinate meetings between staff members, it's a great choice.

• Unlimited Group Polls: A simple version of the group poll, with yes or no options, is available with the free version.

• One booking page: You can get one booking page with Doodle branding as well.

Features for Paid Plan

• Professional: No ads, unlimited group polls, unlimited booking pages, unlimited 1:1s, custom branding, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Zoom web conferencing

• Team: All Pro features, Admin Console, roles and permissions, book on behalf, activity reports

• Enterprise: All Team features, priority support, single sign-on, onboarding and training, 99.5% availability SLA

Pricing^[4]

• Free: $0/month (1 user)
  
• Professional: $6.95/user/month paid annually (1 user)
  
• Team: $8.95/user/month paid annually (5-20 users)
  
• Enterprise: Custom pricing (Larger teams)

Appointy: best for service booking

Appointy is a great tool if you're looking for automation and employee management. It comes with a number of features that are free to use.

However, Appointy doesn't support multiple members and only offers a limited appointment number within its free plan. For an unlimited number of bookings, you can check out Appointlet below.

But if you are looking for an app with an easy-to-use interface, check out Appointy.

Pros

• Lots of integrations through Zapier
  
• Five free service bookings
  
• Easy to use
  
• Automatic reminders

Cons

• Only 100 free appointments
  
• No customization options
  
• No staff login

Features for Free Plan
Appointy's free plan comes with 100 appointments and one free calendar. For an unlimited number of appointments, you'll have to pay a premium plan.

For free, it also offers these free features:

• Integrations: The free version offers integrations with Zapier and Square Payments, as well as Google Calendar.

• Service booking: You can choose up to five services for people to book with a free Appointy version.

• Automatic reminders: The free version also comes with automatic reminders for both you and your customers.

• CRM Report: Appointy offers a simple CRM report with its free version. You can see your client's booking, rescheduling, and cancelation rates.

Features for Paid Plan

• Growth: All free features, Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize. Net integrations, compulsory prepayment, group appointments, customization, unlimited services

• Professional: All Growth features, gift certificates, 5 staff logins, resource scheduling, dedicated relationship manager

• Enterprise: All Professional features, customizable SMS notifications, customizable branding, 2 locations

Pricing^[5]

• Free: $0/month
  
• Growth: $19.99 per user/month billed annually
  
• Professional: $49.99 per user/month billed annually
  
• Enterprise: $79.99 per user/month billed annually

Appointlet: best for managing sales teams

When it comes to monthly bookings, Appointlet will have your back with an unlimited free package. It integrates your schedule seamlessly, so your team and clients can view your availability throughout the sales journey.

With a ton of integrations, easy-to-use dashboard, and management features, Appointlet makes a great choice for managing sales teams.

Pros

• Unlimited appointments
  
• CRM reports
  
• Seamless integration
  
• Payment opportunity on website

Cons

• Limited users
  
• No Zapier integration
  
• No automated booking reminders

Features for Free Plan
Appointlet's free plan provides all these essential features:

• Integrations: Appointlet lets you integrate your schedule anywhere on your website. This allows you to make bookings with clients, whatever funnel they may be on. You can embed your booking page anywhere.

• Payments: With Appointlet's onsite integration, you can collect payments from your users anywhere they book.

• Unlimited appointments: With Appointlet, you get an unlimited amount of appointments for free. This makes it a great choice for a high volume appointment small business.

Features for Paid Plan

• Premium: All Free features, manually approve meetings, customizable branding, automated meeting reminders, Zapier integrations, private meeting types, and pooled availability for teams.

• Enterprise: All Premium features, priority customer support, quarterly account reviews, and advanced security measures.

Pricing^[6]

• Free: $0/month
  
• Premium: $8/month/member (billed annually)
  
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Picktime: best for multiple locations

Although relatively new, with newly added paid plans, Picktime has a great overall offer. With a few of its features behind a paywall, Picktime offers most of its features free to three users.

Out of all software on this list, Picktime has the most robust features for the free version. What you'll be missing with the free plan are some more advanced integrations, as well as some booking options.

Pros

• Unlimited appointments
  
• 3 users
  
• 2 locations
  
• Good selection of integrations

Cons

• Limited integrations
  
• Limited class bookings

Features for Free Plan
Picktime's free plan comes with unlimited appointments, as well as three free users. Its class bookings are, however, limited to two.

• Multiple locations: Unlike most software on this list, Picktime supports multiple locations in its free plan. It allows up to two locations.

• CRM: Not only can you get reports on your clients, but your clients can also keep track of their bookings by creating a Picktime account. This allows for a deeper look into your client relationships.

• Integrations: Picktime offers a handful of free integrations, including here, Jitsi, iCloud, Google, PayPal, Microsoft 365, etc.

Features for Paid Plan

• Starter: All free features, 5 class bookings, email and SMS reminders, Stripe, Zoho, Google Meets, and more integrations. Automatic time zone conversion, attendance, two-way sync with integrations

• Pro: All Starter features, 20 team members, unlimited class booking and locations, customizable emails, 20+ languages, Zapier integration, waitlists

Pricing^[7]

• Free: $0/month
  
• Starter: $9.99/month
  
• Pro: $19.99/month

Setmore: best for team management

Setmore's outstanding feature is that its free plan allows for up to four employees. If you're looking for great team management, then this is the software for you.

Pros

• Unlimited class bookings
  
• 4 free users
  
• Social media integrations
  
• No-show deposit protection

Cons

• No SMS notifications
  
• Limited payment options
  
• Limited video integrations

Features for Free Plan
Setmore's list of free features is crowned by unlimited class bookings and up to four users. They also offer a no-show deposit protection. Other than that, they also offer:

• Reminders: With a free version, your clients or employees get an email reminder as well as an automated email confirmation.

• Integrations: Setmore's free plan allows you to integrate with Square, Instagram, Facebook, and Teleport, among others.

• CRM: While Setmore doesn't offer reports, they do offer a hefty list of CRM integrations.

Features for Paid Plan

• Premium: All free features, one to two users, recurring appointments, SMS notifications, customizable notifications, Zoom, Stripe, Square, Calendar integrations

• Pro: All premium features, 3+ users

Pricing^[8]

• Free: $0/month
  
• Premium: $12 per user/month
  
• Pro: $9 per user/month

SimplyBook: best for app feature

With SimplyBook's free version, you get a good amount of essential features and one custom option. It has a great interface and they even have an app.

If you only need one specific integration that none of the software on this list offers, SimplyBook might just be the thing for you.

Pros

• 1 user only for Free plan
  
• Custom feature
  
• Integrates with Zapier

Cons

• Custom features aren't free
  
• Only 50 bookings

Features for Free Plan
SimplyBook allows for 50 monthly bookings in its free plan and up to 1 user only. Here are some other features that are offered for free.

• Email and browser notifications: The free plan comes with automatic confirmation, cancellation, and reminder notifications. They are also fully customizable.

• Integrations: SimplyBook allows for an integration with Zapier and also one custom feature, which can be an integration. You can also integrate your website using iframe.

• Booking website: You'll have access to a booking website, and your clients will too.

Features for Paid Plan

• Basic: All free features, 100 bookings, 3 custom features, 5 users, client app, POS system, coupons and gift cards

• Standard: All Basic features, 500 bookings, 8 custom features, 15 users, HIPAA compliant

• Premium: All Standard features, 2000 bookings, unlimited custom features, branded client app, 30 users

• Premium plus: All Premium features, 50000 bookings, 60 users

Pricing^[9]

• Free: $0/month
  
• Basic: $9.90/month
  
• Standard: $29.90/month
  
• Premium: $59.90/month
  
• Premium plus: $99.90/month

HubSpot: best for unlimited appointments

HubSpot's Free Meeting Scheduler only offers a free version. It is quite simple and easy to use, but it is quite limited in functionality.

It doesn't have a load of features, but because it is easy and practical to use with unlimited appointments, it gets a place on the list. You do get the option for group meetings as well and a few more benefits, which you'll see below.

Pros

• Easy to use
  
• Only free option
  
• Unlimited appointments

Cons

• Lack of variety
  
• Lack of integrations
  
• No customization options

Features for Free Plan
HubSpot only offers a free plan. Some of its main features include:

• Integrations: HubSpot syncs up with your Google Calendar and Microsoft 365, so you can set your availability. It also integrates with CRM software.

• Simple booking: You can send automated emails to schedule appointments or embed the booking link on your website.

Pricing^[10]

• Free: $0/month

How to Choose Best Free Appointment Scheduling Software

Most appointment scheduling software companies will offer a free plan. But it's not always worth it. With so many options in the market, you can find the one that best fits your needs with a little help.

The best scheduling software is more than just an app to make appointments. And it should offer more than just showing free time slots to your clients.

Although we recommend taking into consideration your business' needs first, here are a few general things to look for:

Features
The features depend on your business. But, generally speaking, you will want the following on your free scheduling app — especially if you're using it for clients too, not only employees.

Automated messaging: Automated reminders are a great way to combat forgetfulness. If you can't get a plan with SMS notifications, the email ones will do too.

Integrations: Ideally, you want an app that integrates with all the software you use. But, it's good to at least have it sync with your calendars. That way, you won't have to enter the information manually.

CRM: Client data can help you better organize your business. So having a light CRM built-in would be ideal. But many apps will offer integrations with CRM tools, and that's a good deal too.

Number of appointments: Depending on your business size and needs, you will want to decide on how many appointments a month you realistically need, and if you're willing to sacrifice a feature for an unlimited number of them. But it's important for software to at least offer 50+ appointments.

Bonus points for payment system: Immediate payment brings a sense of comfort for both you and your customers. If your customers can pay while booking, that's a great advantage.

Ease of Use
Lastly, an app can have all the features you need. But, with a complicated setup, neither you nor the client will be able to fully utilize them. And you don't want to spend a considerable amount of time training your employees on how to use it.

Always look for software that offers a clean user interface, where you immediately know what to do. It shouldn't take you more than ten seconds to find something.

How We Came Up With the List (Methodology)

To come up with this list, we used the criteria mentioned above to filter out the free appointment scheduling software. We went through the most popular software to see which ones perform best.

One of the main criteria was for the software to include essential features in its free plan. We also looked at how flexible the scheduling was, the number of appointments per month, the number of users, and how they could help businesses.

You'll notice some of the apps have fewer appointments, but more users. Some are easy to use but offer few features. This is because not everyone's needs are the same. And each business can find its fit.

FAQs

What is scheduling software?
Scheduling software allows you to book appointments and meetings through a third-party provider. But that's not all. Some will let you process payments through them, integrate your calendar, and many more features. It's practically an app that automates your scheduling.

What is the best free scheduling software?
The best scheduling software depends on your needs. But, for this list, based on our criteria, 10to8 takes the cake. It offers SMS and email confirmations, multiple integrations, online payments, and a lot more. Its downside is that you can't customize it.

Why is scheduling software important?
Creating an easy way for clients and employees to book appointments or meetings can save you a lot of emails or chat communication. It also automates the process and you don't need to manually keep track of everything.

How to do scheduling software effectively?
To do scheduling software effectively, you only need to identify all program perks. That way you can utilize all its functions. Also, you will need to pick one that best fits YOUR needs.

Bottom Line

Appointment scheduling programs should simplify the process of making an appointment for both you and the clients. There is a ton of scheduling software offering a free plan, but the ones featured on this list are the top-rated ones.

These programs save you hours of manual work if you pick the right one. The best appointment scheduling software for small businesses covers most of your needs. So, make sure to choose the best one for you, and you'll be set.

References