Calendly vs TidyCal: Comparing Online Calendar Scheduling Tools

The good news is that you no longer have to manage your time manually while trying to avoid scheduling conflicts and double bookings. Plenty of online calendar booking systems can do that for you.

But the not-so-good news?

With so many apps that promise to help you with time and appointment management, how can you be sure you’re choosing the right one for your business?

Take TidyCal and Calendly, for example. Both are online calendar scheduling tools — and yet, there are crucial differences between them.

This article will compare Calendly and TidyCal in terms of their standout features, available calendar integrations, pricing plans, and other important factors — with the ultimate goal of helping you choose the right appointment-scheduling software for your team.

What is Calendly?

Calendly was founded in 2013. Over the last 10+ years, it has become one of the leading online appointment-scheduling tools for appointment-based businesses.

The global appointment-scheduling software market is booming. In fact, as of 2022, it was valued at $395 million. What’s more, experts predict that it’ll likely continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6%, reaching $988 million by 2031.

‎That says a lot about Calendly as one of the key players in this industry.

This market’s growth can be attributed to several factors — most notably, the increasing demand for efficiency and the implementation of cloud-based solutions in business environments. The shift toward remote work has only accelerated these trends.

Another crucial factor is the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into appointment-scheduling software. AI-based tools for appointment management and scheduling — with Motion as a prime example — have taken center stage in recent years.

That said, there’s still a reason for Calendly’s popularity. It boasts a wide range of features for teams, such as round-robin events and routing forms. Plus, it provides access to advanced customization options and custom branding — something you don’t get with TidyCal.

Lastly, Calendly has a polished, user-friendly interface, making it easy to set up and navigate the appointment-booking process.

Calendly’s key features

Here’s an overview of some of Calendly’s key features and capabilities:

• Support for booking an unlimited number of meetings
• Unlimited event types with different durations, locations, and availability
• The option to connect up to six calendar apps per user
• Event type permissions that allow teammates to book meetings on others’ behalf
• Granular availability tools and scheduling rules, with pre-defined preferences and buffer times for breaks between meetings
• Booking links based on specific event types and rules
• Automated pre- and post-meeting emails for reminders and follow-ups
• The ability to pool team scheduling availability together to prevent scheduling conflicts
• Meeting polls, one-on-one events, and one-off meetings
• Access to contact profiles, with the option to view scheduling activity and share availability
• Routing forms for qualifying people using basic routing logic
• Analytics and insights based on previously scheduled meetings, including the most popular meeting days and types
• Automatic time zone detection for handling time zone differences
• The option to embed a booking page widget on your website
• Highly customizable booking pages, with the option to remove Calendly’s branding and add your company’s logo
• Additional admin and security features, including managing permissions, SAML single sign-on (SSO), and user provisioning via SCIM

It’s also worth adding that Calendly offers multiple customer support options and self-service resources, including access to the Help Center and Calendly Community, 24/7 email and live chat support, and phone support for Enterprise-level users.

What is TidyCal?

TidyCal, part of the AppSumo Originals range of products, is a relatively new tool. In fact, it was first released in 2021 as an alternative to Calendly that focuses specifically on individual users.

The idea behind TidyCal was to create a simpler and easier-to-use appointment-scheduling app with a clean, minimalistic interface and basic features for optimizing the scheduling process. This remains one of its biggest selling points.

In addition to its overall ease of use, TidyCal has another unique advantage: cost-effectiveness. Instead of a monthly subscription, it offers a Lifetime Deal that gives users lifetime access to all of its advanced features for a one-time payment.

There’s a potential downside to keep in mind, though. While some may recommend TidyCal for small business owners, this tool lacks advanced features for teams. That is to say, you’ll realistically get the most out of it if you’re a solopreneur — a one-person team.

Larger teams and enterprise-size businesses will likely need a more feature-rich platform. Calendly could be a good alternative, but there are many other more robust options out there — and Motion is one of them.

TidyCal’s key features

Here’s an overview of TidyCal’s main features and capabilities — some of them free and others available on the paid plan:

• The option to create an unlimited number of bookings per month
• Up to 10 calendar connections, with support for Google, Outlook, and Apple calendars
• The option to create and design your own booking page
• Custom availability settings and booking limits, with the option to define available times for meetings and set the maximum number of bookings on a daily, weekly, or monthly level
• Custom email reminders with customizable content that’s automatically sent to attendees
• The ability to automatically generate meeting links for Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom meetings
• The option to embed the booking page on any website
• Automatic translation of booking pages to more than 30 languages
• Date polls for choosing the most suitable appointment time
• Support for multiple booking types with different durations, buffer times, and offerings
• Paid one-on-one and group bookings supported by PayPal and Stripe integrations

As for customer support options, they’re limited compared to what you get with Calendly and Motion. However, all users — both free and paid — can still reach out to TidyCal’s customer support team via email, with the average response time being eight hours.

Calendly vs TidyCal: Integration with third-party tools

Calendly and TidyCal both support integrations with other apps and tools, including popular video conferencing and calendar platforms. This allows you to extend their existing range of features and streamline the scheduling process.

That said, if you compare the two, you’ll see that Calendly has a more comprehensive range of native integration options than TidyCal. In fact, it supports 130 other integrations with platforms like Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics. Plus, with PayPal, Stax, and Stripe integrations available, you can accept online payments through your booking page.

‎Most calendar booking tools, including Motion, can be connected with Zoom, allowing you to automatically generate and share meeting links and join virtual meetings directly from your calendar. However, it’s worth adding that Calendly’s integration with Zoom — one of the most popular platforms for video conferencing — is available on the free plan, which isn’t the case with TidyCal.

Calendly’s paid plans also include integration with Zapier, with even more customization and advanced automation possibilities.

TidyCal’s free version supports basic integrations with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Office 365. Its paid version allows you to connect it with popular video conferencing platforms, including Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Additionally, TidyCal boasts PayPal and Stripe integrations for paid bookings — and, just like Motion and Calendly, it integrates with Zapper.

Calendly vs TidyCal: Free version and pricing plans

Calendly has a relatively generous free plan that’s suitable for individuals. It includes unlimited bookings, integration with a wide range of video conferencing platforms, automated event notifications, and access to the mobile app and browser extension.

However, you’re limited to only one active event type and one calendar connection, and you don't have access to automatic meeting reminders or advanced customization options. That means you’ll likely have to switch to one of the following subscription plans:

• The Standard plan, which starts at $10 per user per month
• The Teams plan, which starts at $16 per user per month
• The Enterprise plan, which starts at $15k per year and includes advanced security features and admin controls

‎Plus, when you first sign up, Calendly gives you a 14-day free trial of the Teams plan.

Motion has a free trial, too — something you won’t get with TidyCal.

Speaking of TidyCal, there is a free version available that supports creating your own booking page, custom availability, basic integrations, and unlimited bookings. Overall, though, it has relatively limited features.

When it comes to the paid version, TidyCal chooses a slightly different pricing structure — a one-time payment option.

‎You’re likely aware that the subscription model is one of the leading forms of app monetization. In fact, 30% of apps in the mobile gaming category have adopted the subscription model — and the same can be said for just over 13% of utility and productivity apps.

‎That’s to show how unique TidyCal’s pricing model is in a market that relies heavily on paid subscriptions as a primary monetization model.

TidyCal’s paid version, the Lifetime Plan, requires a one-time payment of $29 and covers all of TidyCal’s features, including unlimited event types, paid-for meetings, and reduced TidyCal branding on your booking page.

TidyCal vs. Calendly — which app should you choose?

Now that you’ve gone through this comprehensive TidyCal vs Calendly comparison, it’s easy to see that these online appointment-scheduling tools have a similar range of features and capabilities.

For starters, both apps integrate with popular calendar platforms, allow you to create custom booking pages, and send custom reminders via email, with support for unlimited bookings per month. Plus, they both feature an intuitive interface for booking appointments.

That said, there are quite a few differences between TidyCal and Calendly, too.

TidyCal is a solid, affordable option with essential features for scheduling meetings. It’s not designed to support an entire team, and you shouldn’t expect many bells and whistles, either — but it can still meet your basic scheduling needs.

In that sense, TidyCal can be enough for one-person teams on a tight budget.

Calendly has more advanced features for teams with multiple members, including custom booking pages with the option to add your branding, a wider range of integration options, and custom event types. And while it can’t compete with Motion’s AI capabilities, in a TidyCal vs Calendly comparison, the latter stands out as a better choice for businesses.

That said, the costs can add up fast with Calendly — especially for larger teams.

Ultimately, your choice between TidyCal and Calendly comes down to your specific needs and preferences. That said, your options aren’t limited to just TidyCal or Calendly — not when an AI-powered productivity app like Motion is available.

Motion — the best alternative to Calendly and TidyCal

Calendly and TidyCal are both efficient scheduling tools that can help you manage your appointment bookings and avoid schedule clashes. But if you want more than just an online calendar booking system, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

That brings us to Motion, a next-generation platform that combines project management, task prioritization, daily planning, and meeting scheduling in one place.

Here’s what your team gets with Motion’s AI-driven productivity solution:

• An AI Task Management app with one-click task input, recurring daily and weekly tasks, and detailed notes that automatically plans your tasks based on priority, deadlines, and available time slots
• An AI Project Management app with templates, comments, and board, list, and calendar views that automates 90% of project planning and builds custom schedules for each member of your team with dedicated time blocks for tasks
• An Intelligent Calendar that automatically plans your day and allows the syncing of multiple personal and work calendars, including Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, and Apple Calendar
• An AI Meeting Assistant that automatically schedules your meetings by determining the most optimal meeting times based on your preferences and daily meeting limit and creating shareable custom booking pages and links

Motion also features native integrations with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook 365, Gmail, and iCloud Calendar.

But the list doesn’t end there. Motion also supports advanced automation and integration with thousands of other apps through Zapier, a popular no-code automation tool. Plus, you get the option to build custom integrations with Motion’s API.

Give your productivity a boost with Motion

There’s no denying that TidyCal and Calendly are two solid online calendar scheduling tools. The former gives you lifetime access for a one-time fee — something you rarely see these days — while the latter boasts advanced customization options and additional integrations.

That said, there are other options worth exploring.

Motion’s AI-driven productivity platform builds your schedule and prioritizes your tasks automatically, bringing your time management to a whole new level.

Start your free 7-day trial and see for yourself why Motion is the ultimate calendar scheduling app.