TL;DR: Cal.com fits people who want a free cloud link or a self-hosted scheduler. Microsoft Bookings fits companies that already pay for a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan and want bookings inside Outlook. Calendly fits sales and success teams that will pay for routing after they outgrow Free. SavvyCal fits hosts who want the guest to pick across overlayed calendars and will pay for that UX β there is no lasting $0 row like Cal.com.
An appointment scheduler is the public link that offers times and writes the calendar. It is not employee shift software. Kurums already compares workforce scheduling separately.
Every entry uses the same fields: published pricing, calendar model, routing, free/trial posture and the main limitation. The order below is not a quality ranking. Published $0 or bundled-with-suite first (Cal.com, then Bookings). Calendly follows because Free exists but team routing is paid. SavvyCal is last because production use is paid.
Appointment scheduling software compared at a glance
| Provider | Published pricing | Calendar model | Best for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal.com | Free plan plus paid tiers on cal.com/pricing. Self-host is a separate engineering path | Connect Google, Outlook and others; open-source roots | A free or self-hosted booking link | Visit β |
| Microsoft Bookings | Included with qualifying Microsoft 365 plans β no standalone Bookings list price | Outlook / Teams | Companies already on Microsoft 365 | Visit β |
| Calendly | Free plus Standard and Teams on calendly.com/pricing | Google, Outlook and others | Sales teams standardising on one link | Visit β |
| SavvyCal | Paid plans on savvycal.com/pricing | Overlay calendars; conferencing links | Hosts who want guests to see stacked availability | Visit β |
Checked 14 September 2026. Seat prices move with annual toggles. Confirm the live page before you issue a PO.
Two options can be $0 incremental cost. Team routing is where Calendly and Cal.com start to look alike on price.
Personal link vs team routing
A founder link and a round-robin inbound calendar are different SKUs. Free plans cover the first. Paid plans cover the second. Buying Calendly Teams because someone liked the brand β while Bookings already sits in M365 β is how duplicate tools appear.
The four providers in detail
1. Cal.com
FREE CLOUD OR SELF-HOST
Best for: a public booking link at $0, or an engineering team that wants to self-host the scheduler.
| Published pricing | Free plus paid on cal.com/pricing |
| Calendar model | Bring your own Google/Outlook calendar. Self-host removes the cloud invoice and adds ops |
| Routing | Round-robin and team features sit on paid rows β read the live matrix |
| Free plan / trial | Permanent free cloud plan for a personal link |
| Main limitation | Self-host is not βfree.β It is engineering time. Paid cloud is what most SMBs should compare to Calendly |
- Use Free for one person and one event type.
- Price paid Cal.com against Calendly Teams on routing, not on ideology.
- Self-host only if you already run similar services.
2. Microsoft Bookings
BUNDLED WITH QUALIFYING M365
Best for: internal and customer appointments when Outlook is already the calendar of record.
| Published pricing | No separate Bookings SKU. Included with qualifying Microsoft 365 plans |
| Calendar model | Outlook and Teams. Staff mailboxes are the inventory of slots |
| Routing | Staff and service calendars inside Bookings, not Calendlyβs productised round-robin brand |
| Free plan / trial | Incremental cost is $0 if the tenant already pays a qualifying plan |
| Main limitation | Not a reason to buy Microsoft 365 if a booking link is the only need |
- Turn Bookings on before you buy Calendly seats for the same people.
- Customer-facing pages look like Microsoft, not like a boutique scheduler.
- If sales refuses Outlook, Bookings will lose the political fight regardless of price.
3. Calendly
THE DEFAULT SALES LINK
Best for: sales and success orgs that want a well-known booking URL and will pay when they need routing and admin.
| Published pricing | Free plus Standard and Teams on calendly.com/pricing |
| Calendar model | Google, Outlook and others. One link per user on Free |
| Routing | Team routing, round-robin and admin live on paid seats |
| Free plan / trial | Free covers a personal event type. It is not a sales pod workspace |
| Main limitation | Useful team features are the paid product. Count booking users, not employees |
- Bill the people who own a link, not the whole company.
- Compare Teams to paid Cal.com on the routing line you actually use.
- Do not stack Calendly and Bookings for the same staff calendars.
4. SavvyCal
OVERLAY SCHEDULING
Best for: hosts who want the guest to see stacked availability across calendars and will pay for that interaction.
| Published pricing | Paid plans on savvycal.com/pricing. No lasting public $0 production plan like Cal.com or Calendly Free |
| Calendar model | Overlay. The guest chooses among real windows rather than a single locked grid |
| Routing | Read the live plan matrix for team features |
| Free plan / trial | Trial may exist; production is paid |
| Main limitation | You are buying UX, not the cheapest scheduler. Do not shortlist it to win a price bake-off against Cal.com Free |
- Use SavvyCal when overlay is the requirement from sales leadership.
- If the brief is βany link that works,β Cal.com Free or Calendly Free is enough.
- Confirm conferencing-link behaviour on the plan you will buy.
Kurums Match: which one fits your situation
We already pay Microsoft 365
Turn on Bookings first. Buy Calendly only if sales rejects the Outlook workflow.
I need a free public link today
Cal.com Free or Calendly Free.
Inbound leads must round-robin across SDRs
Calendly Teams or paid Cal.com. Compare the routing line, not the homepage.
Guests should pick across several calendars
SavvyCal.
We need shift rosters for hourly staff
Wrong article. Use employee scheduling.
Buying tip: count people who own a booking page. That is the seat number. Do not multiply by headcount.
How this comparison was put together
Vendor pricing pages, 14 September 2026. Not workforce-management software. No paid placement. Kurums did not measure show-up rates.
Order is $0 incremental cost first. No badge reflects a commercial relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Is Calendly Free enough?
For one person and a simple event type, often yes. Routing and team analytics are paid.
Is this the same as employee scheduling?
No. Shifts and rosters are a different comparison.
Can I self-host Calendly?
No. Self-host is a Cal.com path.
Does Bookings work without Teams?
It is built around Microsoft 365 calendars. You need a qualifying plan, not necessarily every Teams feature.
Did we test timezone handling?
No. Book one real meeting across two zones before you roll out.
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