What is an appointment scheduling app? Know everything about the online booking system
An appointment scheduling app is a software application that allows users to schedule and manage appointments and bookings online. The app typically provides a calendar view of available appointments, allowing users to choose a time and date that suits them. The app may also allow users to add additional information about their appointments, such as the reason for the visit or the name of the person they will be meeting with.
Appointment scheduling software allows clients to view a calendar of your business’s available meeting times and book their own appointment. Additionally, it allows business owners to manage appointments, send automatic reminders, and accept deposits online. Most free appointment scheduling programs are simply limited versions of larger, paid services. There are, however, seven free programs that provide comprehensive features.
Here are some of the best free appointment scheduling software:
- Picktime: The best software for scheduling appointments of any kind
- Square Appointments: Ideal for solo providers who need unlimited appointments, scheduling, payments, and SMS reminders
- 10to8: Lots of integrations and robust features
- Appointlet: Ideal for sales teams that need to manage clients and convert leads
- Fresha: POS and inventory software for beauty and wellness businesses
- Setmore: Ideal for gyms and businesses with multiple staff members or classes to the schedule
- Calendly: For scheduling meetings with colleagues or clients
Manually appointment booking software is time-consuming. Choosing those who set appointment reminders and have easy booking
In addition to preparing your agenda for a free online booking system or any other management software, you need to evaluate the booking features and whether it provides automatic booking or not. Make sure scheduling software helps in:
- Ensure availability by coordinating
- Time zone management
- Avoid no-shows by sending reminders and follow-ups
The tedious process results in many back-and-forth emails, tedious administrative tasks, and, frankly, wasted time.
The right appointment scheduling tool streamlines your business’s scheduling process.
In what way? Free scheduling software allows you to create self-schedule and pay for appointments that you can share with others. Your meeting participants can then choose their preferred time slot from your available slots without coordinating extensively.
Make a booking page and use its shareable link to invite people to book a time. In addition to embedding your appointment calendar on your business website, you can also share it on social media.
Top-5 best free appointment scheduling software
There are many great free appointment scheduling software options available. Here are our top 5 picks:
1. Schedulat
It is a free scheduling tool that every business owner will love to have! For bookings and scheduling for any services, it is considered to be the best app and one of the scheduling software on our list. The software helps business owners manage online appointments, meetings, orders, and finances. In just a few clicks, it helps you organize your business. It is a booking app that is applicable for every service type in the market. If your business is looking to book online, Schedulat is the simplified scheduling software.
The one in the free plan is available free for one user. Along with various free options, there are many features in its free plan like choosing services, customers, and email capacity to customers.
2. Appointlet
This software is great for small businesses and offers a wide range of features including online booking, automatic reminders, and more. If you are looking for free scheduling app that passes on every booking information after you have booked then Appointy is one of the best options is available with the free version. It has various booking options that are available for you to choose from according to the services that are available on the online scheduling software.
Appointlet offers a great free plan that includes all their “essential” features. Unlimited appointments are allowed, but only one staff member can be accommodated. Additionally, Appointlet offers a paid plan with more advanced customization options and team management features. Appointlet’s price increases based on the number of users, just like Square Appointments.
- A single user can use Appointlet’s “essential” features for free
- Premium ($10 per month, per member): Custom branding, automated booking reminders, pooled availability for teams, private meeting types, Zapier integration
The has some best features available as a free plan that this software offers:
- Two-way sync is available with Appointlet’s Google Calendar scheduling tool. Using Appointlet, you can modify your Google Calendar or add appointments through Appointlet.
- You can book unlimited appointments and unlimited Google meet types with Appointment entirely free. In addition, it gives you a free personalized link that is easy to type and remember for your clients.
Free appointment scheduler provides and fulfils various scheduling needs in its basic free plan but it is important to able to use the app in the right ways to embrace the best appointment scheduling platform.
3. Calendly
This appointment software is perfect for busy professionals who need to book an appointment with clients or customers. It offers a simple and easy-to-use interface, as well as features like automated email reminders. Manage all the customer’s appointments online. You can also embed Calendly in your website so customers to easily find book appointments.
- Calendly’s appointment scheduling system works well for managing both in-office meetings and scheduling client appointments. It is easy to schedule group meetings with Calendly since you can send emails with your booking link or embed. A Calendly app can be used to send notifications and video conferencing software can be integrated.
- With Calendly, you can assign team members round-robin based on various rules or when all team members are available at the same time. Calendly’s free version does not offer any of these features. Square Appointments offers a single-person free plan with all the features you need.
- User reviews rated Calendly highly, and our expert review gave it 3.13 stars because so many features require a paid plan. Calendly, however, may be a good option if you are looking for a free program that can scale.
4. ScheduleOnce
This software is ideal for businesses that need to schedule appointments with multiple people or teams. It offers features like calendar sync, group scheduling, and more.
Using Schedule Once, you can schedule unlimited meetings and events for free.
You can also integrate it with G Suite, Office 365, Exchange, Outlook, and iCloud. The platform lets you create automatic and secure links to video conference rooms for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Google Meet.
Schedule Once adjusts according to the user’s time zone, accommodates multiple languages, and sets automatic reminders.
Add directly from google to your website and social media channels. Mobile, tablet and mobile devices work well with it. There is also a Google Chrome extension available for free.
Its booking page is easy to use, but it can be difficult to set up. Its user interface is relatively complex and requires a time investment. Other options may be more suitable if you prefer straightforward apps that can be set up in minutes.
A Schedule Once subscription gives you access to more integrations with the scheduling tool, such as payments online, CRM, and others. Team functionalities are also available here. Your team’s availability can be pooled, the meeting will be automatically assigned to the right person, and the work will be distributed equally.
If your hair or nail salon offers a variety of services, this feature will be helpful. You can use Schedule Once’s knowledge base if you are a free user in case of issues. Email and live chat support are available with a paid subscription.
5. Setmore
This software is perfect for businesses of all sizes. It offers online booking, automatic reminders, an intuitive interface, and more.
Setmore offers a free plan with many management features. A few key features, however, are reserved for its paid plan, including SMS notifications and message customizations.
- Bookings for classes
- Reminders via email
- Integration of Facebook and Instagram
- Integrations with CRM
- Email confirmations are sent automatically
- Deposit protection for no-shows
Conclusion:
Choose a free appointment scheduling app for unlimited appointments
When it comes to choosing a free appointment scheduling app, there are many options available. However, not all of them offer unlimited appointments. To make sure you can schedule as many appointments as you need, choose an app that offers this feature. This way, you’ll never have to worry about running out of appointments or having to pay for more.
You and your clients or colleagues can manage your schedules and book appointments and meetings without the hassle of back and forth. Several excellent free appointment scheduling apps are available, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
In terms of features, ease of use, and customer reviews, Picktime is our top recommendation for free appointment scheduling apps.
