Short answer: for one host, Cal.com's free plan costs $0 with unlimited event types, while Calendly's free plan allows only one. For five hosts with their own booking links, TidyCal's Agency Lifetime plan is $79 once if its seat terms fit your team, and Setmore Pro is the lowest yearly bill at $300. Calendly Standard and SavvyCal Basic each come to $600 a year at their headline rates.
Eight scheduling tools priced for five hosts with their own booking links, with Calendly as the benchmark, checked on vendor pricing pages in October 2026.
Calendly's per-seat fee is small for one host and becomes a real line once a team of five joins. This guide prices the alternatives for one team: five hosts, each with a booking link of their own, billed yearly in US dollars. It sorts eight tools by what that team pays over a year, and it flags the limits that change the answer. Two free plans cover small teams: Setmore covers four users and Appointlet covers five members, with no charge on either.
Toolradar data: of the 105 meeting scheduling tools we track, 57% ship a free or freemium plan, and 45 (43%) are paid only. A free tier is normal in this category, so the real question is which limit you hit first: event types, users or calendars.
Methodology: every price is the vendor's own list price, read on its pricing page in October 2026 and linked under the table. Costs assume five hosts over 12 months. Where a vendor prints two prices, or none in US dollars, the guide says so rather than picking one. The order follows each tool's yearly cost for that team, and our editorial method is set out on how we rate. Cite this: Toolradar, "Cheaper Calendly Alternatives in 2026: Pricing Compared", October 2026.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
The lowest team figure here, if its one-time Agency plan covers every host you need.
Starting price
$79 once (Agency Lifetime)
4.1 (261 reviews)
Best for
Teams that want round-robin booking and can pay once, provided the seat terms fit.
The lowest yearly bill for five paid users, though its Pro price is printed at several figures.
Starting price
$5 /user/mo yearly; free for 4 users
4.6 (1,229 reviews)
Best for
Small teams that want unlimited users on one booking calendar, with deposits and reminders.
A calendar-based plan with unlimited appointment types, priced by calendar count rather than by seat.
Starting price
$27 /mo billed yearly; no free plan
4.7 (6,173 reviews)
Best for
Service businesses that take deposits and book clients, with one calendar per host.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TidyCal | $79 once (Agency Lifetime) | 4.1 261 reviews | Teams that want round-robin booking and can pay once, provided the seat terms fit. |
| Setmore | $5/user/mo yearly; free for 4 users | 4.6 1,229 reviews | Small teams that want unlimited users on one booking calendar, with deposits and reminders. |
| Acuity Scheduling | $27/mo billed yearly; no free plan | 4.7 6,173 reviews | Service businesses that take deposits and book clients, with one calendar per host. |
| Appointlet | Free for 5 members; $9 to $12/member/mo | 4.7 120 reviews | Very small teams that can live with one scheduling page and a monthly meeting cap. |
| Calendly | Free (1 event type), then per seat | 4.7 6,801 reviews | Solo hosts who need more than one event type, and teams that need HubSpot or Salesforce connections. |
| SavvyCal | Per user, Basic; no free plan | 4.8 36 reviews | Individuals and small teams that want a custom domain and removed branding on the top plan. |
| Cal.com | Free for 1 user; paid per user | 4.6 154 reviews | Solo hosts who want a free plan with no event-type cap, and teams that want to self-host. |
| Chili Piper | $1,250/mo for 15 seats; no free plan | 4.6 736 reviews | Revenue teams that route leads across many reps and have a budget to match. |
TidyCal
The lowest team figure here, if its one-time Agency plan covers every host you need.
- 3.3 on Trustpilot (181 reviews)
- 4.6 on Capterra (55 reviews)
- 4.7 on G2 (25 reviews)
- Starting price
- $79 once (Agency Lifetime)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.1 (261 reviews)
Best for: Teams that want round-robin booking and can pay once, provided the seat terms fit.
- Pro: The Agency Lifetime plan is a one-time payment and includes round-robin and collective meetings.
- Pro: Pro is $99 a year billed yearly, with a custom domain, no platform fee and unlimited texts in the US and Canada.
- Pro: The Free plan covers one calendar at $0, enough for a solo host to test the booking flow.
- Con: TidyCal does not say how many hosts the Agency plan includes, so confirm the seat count first.
- Con: TidyCal shows $240 beside the Agency price without explaining the difference.
This pricing is incredibly generous.
- Starting price
- $5/user/mo yearly; free for 4 users
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (1,229 reviews)
Best for: Small teams that want unlimited users on one booking calendar, with deposits and reminders.
- Pro: The Free plan covers up to four users with a booking calendar at $0.
- Pro: Pro is $5 per user a month on annual billing, the lowest per-user yearly rate on this list.
- Pro: Pro adds SMS reminders, deposits and two-way calendar sync.
- Con: Pro is printed at $5, $12 and $125 per user a month in different places, so confirm the figure at checkout.
- Con: The Free plan sends email reminders only and takes no deposits.
Setmore Free is $0 for up to 4 users.
Watch out
Pro is per staff calendar, even if that person has no login (Setmore pricing FAQ: each staff calendar is a user).
Acuity Scheduling
A calendar-based plan with unlimited appointment types, priced by calendar count rather than by seat.
- Starting price
- $27/mo billed yearly; no free plan
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (6,173 reviews)
Best for: Service businesses that take deposits and book clients, with one calendar per host.
- Pro: Standard covers up to six calendars at $27 a month billed yearly, or $34 billed monthly.
- Pro: Standard adds text reminders, a waitlist, memberships and packages on top of the base booking tools.
- Pro: Every plan includes unlimited appointment types and a mobile app.
- Con: There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial that needs no card.
- Con: Acuity publishes no staff or user limit, so the calendar count is the only capacity measure.
Acuity's pricing is fair, offering a good range of features across its tiers.
Appointlet
A free plan that seats five members, capped at one scheduling page and 25 meetings a month.
- Starting price
- Free for 5 members; $9 to $12/member/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.7 (120 reviews)
Best for: Very small teams that can live with one scheduling page and a monthly meeting cap.
- Pro: The Free plan seats up to five members at $0 and stays usable indefinitely.
- Pro: Premium includes automated reminders and starts with a 14-day trial before any charge.
- Pro: Enterprise is quoted on request, so larger teams get a custom price.
- Con: The Free plan allows one scheduling page for the whole account and 25 meetings a month.
- Con: Premium prints two per-member prices side by side without labeling which one is the annual rate.
The Free plan offers substantial value for small teams with limited meeting needs.
Watch out
Payment processing fees for Stripe/PayPal not included
- Starting price
- Free (1 event type), then per seat
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.7 (6,801 reviews)
Best for: Solo hosts who need more than one event type, and teams that need HubSpot or Salesforce connections.
- Pro: Standard gives unlimited event types, six calendars and automations on a per-seat plan.
- Pro: Teams adds round robin, lead routing and Salesforce meeting sync at $16 a seat.
- Pro: The free plan covers one-on-one scheduling with one connected calendar at $0.
- Con: Five hosts on Standard come to $600 a year at the headline rate, and no yearly total is printed.
- Con: Standard has no round robin, so routing a meeting across hosts requires the Teams plan.
Calendly is the scheduling standard but the free plan is crippled to one event type.
Watch out
Routing forms (directing invitees to the right person) require Teams plan at $16/seat/mo
- Starting price
- Per user, Basic; no free plan
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.8 (36 reviews)
Best for: Individuals and small teams that want a custom domain and removed branding on the top plan.
- Pro: Basic and Premium both allow unlimited calendars and scheduling links.
- Pro: Premium at $17 a user a month adds a custom domain and removes SavvyCal branding.
- Pro: Both plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Con: There is no free plan, only a free trial to test the product first.
- Con: Basic's billing toggle is not labeled, so the yearly total is unconfirmed.
SavvyCal's pricing is fair, offering robust features for power users.
- Starting price
- Free for 1 user; paid per user
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (154 reviews)
Best for: Solo hosts who want a free plan with no event-type cap, and teams that want to self-host.
- Pro: The Free plan covers one user with unlimited event types and calendars at $0.
- Pro: Teams, billed yearly, adds round robin, managed events and branding removal.
- Pro: A self-hosted open-source option is listed alongside the paid plans.
- Con: Five hosts need Teams, so the free plan covers only one of them.
- Con: Larger companies need the Organizations plan at $28 a user a month, which adds SAML SSO and SCIM.
Cal.com's pricing is quite generous, especially with its robust Free tier offering unlimited bookings and integrations.
Chili Piper
A sales routing platform priced far above the rest, with a 15-seat minimum.
- 4.6 on G2 (736 reviews)
- Starting price
- $1,250/mo for 15 seats; no free plan
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.6 (736 reviews)
Best for: Revenue teams that route leads across many reps and have a budget to match.
- Pro: Routing and Scheduling includes 15 seats for $1,250 a month, the plan built for team routing.
- Pro: Multi-year terms cut the price: 15% off for two years, 25% for three and 40% for four, as printed.
- Pro: The Experiences plan adds 30 seats from $3,500 a month for larger sales organizations.
- Con: Dollar prices are printed without a currency name, so treat the figures as indicative until a quote arrives.
- Con: Seats beyond 15 cost $45 each a month, so a team of five still pays for 15.
Chili Piper's pricing is on the higher side compared to basic scheduling tools, with all tiers priced per user per month.
Other Meeting Scheduling tools worth considering
More published tools from our Meeting Scheduling category, ordered by our category ranking. They are not part of the editorial picks above.
What a Calendly alternative replaces
A scheduling tool turns your availability into a link. A guest picks a time, the event lands in your calendar, and the tool sends reminders and, on some plans, collects a deposit. Calendly is the name most buyers search first, and its free plan covers that loop for one person: one event type and one connected calendar.
Most alternatives sell the same loop with different limits. Three things change the bill more than the headline rate. The first is what the price counts: a seat, a user, a calendar, a member, or a one-time payment. The second is what the free tier allows. The third is whether routing a meeting across several hosts is included, because a cheap plan without routing does not serve a team that needs it.
Why the per-seat math decides it
For one host, the gap between a free plan and a paid one is small. For five hosts it becomes a real line. Five Calendly Standard seats at $10 come to $600 a year at the headline rate, and the same five on Calendly Teams at $16 come to $960. Cal.com Teams sits in between at $720 a year. The gap grows with every host you add.
Lifetime pricing changes the arithmetic again. TidyCal's Agency plan is a one-time payment, against $495 a year for five Pro accounts. That is the cheapest line in this guide, with one open condition: TidyCal does not say how many hosts the Agency plan covers. Before a team pays once, it should confirm the seat terms in writing.
Key Features to Look For
Who the price counts (Essential)
Calendly and SavvyCal charge per seat, Cal.com Teams per user, Acuity per calendar, Appointlet per member, and TidyCal's Agency plan once. Count the people who will hold a booking link before comparing any headline price.
Free plans and their limits (Essential)
Cal.com's free plan covers one user with unlimited event types. Setmore's covers up to four users with email reminders only. Appointlet's covers five members with one scheduling page and 25 meetings a month. Calendly's allows one event type.
Round-robin routing (Essential)
Calendly Teams, Cal.com Teams and TidyCal's Agency plan list round-robin or collective meetings on their pricing pages. Routing decides which host gets a meeting, so a team that needs it should price only the plans that include it.
Reminders and text messages (Important)
Acuity adds text reminders from its Standard plan at $27 a month billed yearly. Setmore's free plan sends email only, and its Pro plan adds SMS. TidyCal's Pro plan includes unlimited texts in the US and Canada, against 10 a month on Agency.
Branding and custom domains (Nice to have)
Cal.com removes its branding on Teams. SavvyCal's Premium plan at $17 a user adds a custom domain and removes its branding. TidyCal's Pro plan adds a custom domain. Acuity's Premium plan hides its logo.
What to check before you pay
-
Count the hosts first. Calendly, SavvyCal and Cal.com bill per person, Acuity bills per calendar, and Chili Piper starts at a 15-seat minimum.
-
Check whether routing is in the plan you priced. Calendly Standard has no round robin, so a team that needs routing starts on the Teams plan.
-
Read the terms on any lifetime plan. The seat cap on TidyCal's Agency plan is not listed, so ask before you pay once.
-
Confirm the billing basis. Calendly and SavvyCal print one price without naming the billing toggle, and Appointlet prints two.
-
Price the reminders you need. Text messages sit on paid plans at Acuity, Setmore Pro and TidyCal's Pro and Agency plans.
Evaluation Checklist
Count the hosts who need their own booking link, and whether any meeting needs routing.
Confirm the seat terms of any lifetime plan in writing before you pay once.
Check which billing toggle each price uses, and the yearly total at checkout.
List the reminders you need, and whether text messages are on the plan you priced.
Check the branding and custom domain on the plan, since both sit on higher tiers.
Test the booking flow on a free plan for one calendar before you pay.
Pricing Overview
Free for one host
$0
Lowest yearly bill for a small team
Setmore Pro, with unlimited users, SMS reminders, deposits and two-way calendar sync. Pro is printed at more than one price, so confirm before budgeting.
$5/user/mo, billed yearly
Per-seat booking links
Calendly Standard, SavvyCal Basic and Premium, and Cal.com Teams for teams that want one booking link per person, with branding removed on the higher plan.
$10 to $17/user/mo
Calendar-based plans
Acuity Scheduling Standard for up to six calendars and Premium for up to 36, with text reminders, payments and unlimited appointment types.
$27 to $49/mo, billed yearly
Routing for sales teams
Chili Piper Routing and Scheduling for revenue teams that route leads across many reps. Prices are printed without naming a currency.
$1,250/mo, 15-seat minimum
Pricing Comparison
| Tool and plan | Entry price | Cost for five hosts, 12 months | Free plan or trial | Billing basis | Limits and hidden costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TidyCal Agency Lifetime | $79 once | One payment | Free plan with 1 calendar | One payment, lifetime | Round robin and collective meetings; no host cap published |
Setmore Pro | $5/user/mo | $300 | Free plan up to 4 users | Annual per footnote; a higher Pro price is also printed | Email and SMS reminders, deposits, two-way calendar sync |
Acuity Standard | $27/mo billed yearly | $324 | None; 7-day trial | Annual; $34 billed monthly | Priced per calendar, up to 6; no staff limit stated |
TidyCal Pro | $8.25/mo billed yearly | $495 for five accounts | Free plan, 1 calendar | Yearly at $99; monthly billing costs more | No platform fee; unlimited texts in the US and Canada |
Appointlet Premium | $9 per member/mo | $540 at $9; $720 at $12 | Free: up to 5 members, 1 page, 25 meetings | Toggle between two per-member prices | Free plan allows one scheduling page |
Calendly Standard | $10/seat/mo | $600 | Free plan, 1 event type | Headline rate; yearly saving up to 20%, no total | No round robin; Teams needed for routing |
SavvyCal Basic | $10/user/mo | $600 | None; free trial | Billing toggle not labeled | Premium at $17 adds a custom domain |
Cal.com Teams | $12/user/mo | $720 | 14-day trial; Free plan is one user | Billed yearly, 25% saving printed | Round robin; branding removable |
Calendly Teams | $16/seat/mo | $960 | Free plan, 1 event type | Headline rate; yearly saving up to 20%, no total | Round robin, lead routing, Salesforce meeting sync |
Chili Piper Routing and Scheduling | $1,250/mo, 15 seats | $15,000 a year | No free plan | Prints $ without a currency; annual billing per FAQ | Seats past 15 cost $45 each a month |
Verified 10 October 2026 on the vendor pricing pages: Calendly pricing, Cal.com pricing, SavvyCal pricing, Acuity Scheduling pricing, TidyCal pricing, Setmore pricing, Appointlet pricing and Chili Piper pricing. Costs assume five hosts, each with a booking link, over 12 months, at the list price shown on each page.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Comparing headline per-seat rates without counting every host. The seat price times the team size, times twelve, gives the yearly bill at the headline rate.
- ×
- ×
Treating a lifetime price as a team price. TidyCal's Agency plan needs its seat terms checked before a team relies on it.
- ×
Assuming every paid plan includes routing. Calendly Standard has no round robin, so routing starts on Teams.
- ×
Ignoring the billing toggle. Calendly and SavvyCal print one price without naming the billing basis, so budget at the headline and confirm the yearly total at checkout.
Expert Tips
- →
Start from the number of hosts, then the features. A five-host team and a solo consultant need different plans, even on the same tool.
- →
Use a free plan to test the booking flow before paying. The core booking loop is free on Cal.com, TidyCal, Setmore and Appointlet within their limits.
- →
Ask for the seat count in writing on any lifetime plan, and keep the answer with the receipt.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A lifetime price with no seat count on the pricing page.
-
Two different prices for the same plan with no billing basis named.
-
Routing that appears only in a sales-led plan with no list price.
-
A free plan limited to one user for a team that needs more than one.
The Bottom Line
For five hosts billed yearly, Setmore Pro is the lowest recurring bill at $300 a year, though Pro is printed at more than one price. If the TidyCal Agency seat terms fit, a one-time payment beats every yearly plan here. Calendly Standard and SavvyCal Basic cost the same at their headline rates, and Calendly Teams is the costliest per-seat option with routing at $960. Solo hosts should start on Cal.com's free plan, which allows unlimited event types for one user at $0. For the full set of Calendly alternatives in the directory, see Calendly alternatives. For the fit-based view across free plans, see the free meeting scheduling tools guide and the meeting scheduling category.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest Calendly alternative?
For one host, Cal.com's free plan is $0 with unlimited event types and calendars. For five hosts with their own booking links, the lowest recurring bill is Setmore Pro at $5 a user a month on annual billing, or $300 a year. TidyCal's Agency Lifetime plan costs $79 once, if its seat terms cover your team.
How much does Calendly cost?
Calendly's free plan costs nothing and allows one event type and one connected calendar. Standard is $10 a seat a month, Teams is $16 a seat a month with round robin, and Enterprise starts at $15,000 a year with a 50-seat minimum. Calendly prints no yearly total for Standard or Teams.
Is there a free Calendly alternative for a team?
Setmore's free plan covers up to four users with a booking calendar and email reminders at $0. Appointlet's free plan covers up to five members, with one scheduling page and 25 meetings a month. Cal.com's free plan covers one user only.
Is Cal.com free?
Cal.com's free plan is free for one user, with unlimited event types and calendars. Its Teams plan costs $12 a user a month billed yearly, which puts five users at $720 a year. A self-hosted open-source option is also listed on the pricing page.
Which Calendly alternatives include round-robin routing?
Calendly Teams, Cal.com Teams and TidyCal's Agency Lifetime plan all list round-robin meetings. Calendly Standard, SavvyCal and Acuity's pricing pages do not list routing on their plans.
Is Chili Piper a cheaper Calendly?
No. Chili Piper's Routing and Scheduling plan starts at $1,250 a month with 15 seats, which comes to $15,000 a year. It suits sales teams that route leads across many reps, not small teams trying to cut a Calendly bill.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Cheaper Calendly Alternatives in 2026", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/cheaper-calendly-alternatives
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