Calendly vs Setmore

Calendly is the best-known meeting scheduling tool, founded in 2013 by Tope Awotona and based in Atlanta. You share a booking link or embed it on a website, invitees pick a time based on your real availability across connected Google, Outlook or iCloud calendars, and Calendly adds a video conferencing link, sends confirmations and reminders, and can follow up after the meeting.

Event types define duration, buffers, minimum notice, intake questions and payment collection through Stripe or PayPal. Team features include round-robin distribution, collective events that need several hosts, managed event templates and routing forms that qualify leads and send them to the right person, including routing based on Salesforce or HubSpot data. Workflows automate emails and text messages around meetings, and analytics show booking trends. Pricing is per seat: the free plan includes one event type and one calendar connection, Standard unlocks unlimited event types and integrations, Teams adds round robin, Salesforce and routing, and Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and advanced security.

Calendly fits sales, recruiting and customer success teams that need reliable scheduling and CRM sync, and its familiarity among external invitees is a real advantage. Individuals can find better value elsewhere: Cal.com is open source with a generous free plan, SavvyCal lets invitees overlay their own calendar, and zcal is free for individuals. Chili Piper competes on inbound lead routing for larger sales teams, and Microsoft Bookings is included in many Microsoft 365 plans.

Setmore is an online appointment scheduling app launched in 2011 and run by AnywhereWorks, a US software company based in Portland, Oregon. It is aimed at service businesses (salons, spas, clinics, tutors, trades and consultants) that need customers to book specific services with specific staff members, then show up on time.

Each business gets a booking page with services, staff, prices and availability, plus booking buttons for its website, Facebook and Instagram and a QR code. Payments and deposits run through Stripe, Square or PayPal, including Tap to Pay on mobile. The free plan covers up to four users with unlimited appointments and email reminders. Pro adds SMS reminders (500 credits per user each month), deposits, recurring appointments, video meetings via Zoom or Google Meet, two-way calendar sync, branding removal and API access.

Setmore suits small teams that want staff-based booking at a very low price; the annual Pro rate of $5 per user is among the cheapest in the category. Acuity Scheduling offers deeper intake forms and packages, Calendly is better for B2B meeting scheduling, and Zoho Bookings fits companies already on Zoho.

A practical tip: the monthly Pro price ($12) is more than double the annual rate, so pay yearly once you are sure. The optional Live Receptionist add-on ($99/month, US only) staffs your phone line with real people.