15 Best Appointment Scheduling Software to Simplify Your Booking Process

Whether you're a solopreneur, a small business owner, or a large enterprise, the success of your business hinges on managing appointments with your clients efficiently. 

But it just doesn't come easy. To confirm one appointment, you’re juggling multiple calendars, rescheduling, and wasting precious time on phone calls and emails. 

In this melee of managing appointments, you’re losing valuable time that could be used to grow your business and generate revenue.  

The stress of managing appointments, double bookings, and the constant back-and-forth with potential customers is enough to drive anyone up the wall. 

So, what's the way to manage appointments without breaking a sweat? Enter: Appointment scheduling software.

An appointment scheduling software streamlines the entire booking process, ensuring your calendar stays organized, and appointments are never missed. 

In this blog, we discuss what appointment scheduling software is, why you should use it, and list the 15 best tools that will help you effortlessly manage your appointments.

What Is Appointment Scheduling Software?

Appointment scheduling software is a tool that automates the process of booking appointments and managing schedules. It's designed to simplify and streamline the booking process, making it easier for businesses and customers to set up meetings or services.

Why Use Appointment Scheduling Software?

94% of customers are more likely to choose a new business if it has its own booking website, a study reveals. This is why many businesses and professionals are turning to appointment scheduling software.

This tool offers many benefits that can streamline your daily operations, save you time, and improve customer satisfaction. Let's explore the reasons why you should consider using appointment scheduling software:

Instant Booking

Professionals spend nearly 5 hours a week scheduling meetings, according to HubSpot. Yes, that’s the time spent just booking meetings, not attending them.  

This is where appointment scheduling software comes to the rescue. It allows instant booking by providing a quick and hassle-free way for customers to secure appointments. This eliminates the need for phone calls or email exchanges, making the process efficient.

When customers visit your business's website or booking page, they can see the available time slots and choose the one that works for them. That’s it. The appointment is confirmed.

Streamlined Follow-ups

Appointment scheduling software streamlines follow-ups for you by automating and organizing the process.

It can send personalized automated reminders and follow-up emails to clients, ensuring they don't forget about scheduled appointments. This consistent outreach keeps your potential customers engaged and reduces the chances of a no-show. 

Further, studies reveal that using automated rebooking reminders will increase the chances of rebooking by 30%. With a system for appointment scheduling in place, you'll never miss an opportunity to get the meeting booked. 

Reduced Errors

When you don’t have a booking system, you tend to make errors like entering wrong customer details, double-booking, forgetting to follow up, etc. 

Appointment scheduling software reduces errors by:

• Displaying the available time slots to prevent double-booking or any scheduling conflicts.
• Updating the calendar instantly with accurate information (names, dates, and times) to avoid outdated or conflicting information.
• Adjusting for different time zones automatically to prevent confusion regarding the meeting time when booking with clients in different locations.

Efficient Data Management

Appointment scheduling software helps in data management by centralizing and organizing all appointment-related information.

It stores details like appointment times, customer names, contact information, and appointment history in one place. This simplifies access to crucial data and ensures quick retrieval of the required information.

The software also integrates with tools like CRM, email, and calendars to link appointment data with customer profiles, providing a comprehensive view of each customer's interaction history. 

This helps managers identify appointment patterns, popular services, employee schedules, and customer preferences to personalize services and build better customer relationships.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Without appointment software, customers often have limited flexibility and uncertain wait times. When they need to reschedule or change their appointments, they waste time calling the local branch or call center or sometimes just don't show up for the appointment.

This poor experience can result in customers giving up their memberships and booking fewer appointments, resulting in more missed opportunities to increase revenue and grow the business. 

However, appointment systems can address all these concerns for customers and members by making things more efficient, providing more flexibility, and enhancing customer experience and long-term value.

15 Best Appointment Scheduling Software for 2024

We have compiled the list of 15 best appointment scheduling software available that suit the needs of sales professionals, customer support teams, small business owners, service providers, educators, or individuals simply looking to streamline their appointment booking process:

1. Schedule IQ

Schedule IQ by Klenty is a scheduling automation platform tailor-made to help sales teams, customer success teams, and businesses schedule meetings more efficiently. It helps you manage and distribute inbound and outbound leads effortlessly, making sure you don't miss any opportunities to boost revenue.

Key features: 

• Seamless scheduling. You can connect your calendar to Schedule IQ for seamless scheduling. This will help you quickly share your calendar link with potential contacts and set up meeting details.
• Customize availability. Users can define their availability by setting working hours, specifying the days and times they are open for meetings, and blocking off unavailable times. You can effortlessly reschedule or cancel meetings without any manual work.
• Create a customized booking page. Schedule IQ offers customization options, allowing you to brand your booking webpage and form fields with your logo, colors, and messaging.
• Web embedding. With schedule IQ, you can embed the booking link directly into your website, allowing prospects to schedule meetings with you effortlessly. 
• Routing techniques. The tool can evenly distribute leads and opportunities among a team of sales representatives, using a round-robin assignment system to ensure fair distribution of workload.
• Rule-based routing. Users can set up rules and criteria to automatically qualify and route leads based on factors such as lead source, lead score, and more, ensuring that the most appropriate team members handle each lead.
• Integrations. Integrates with your CRM system to keep your customer data updated and maintain a seamless flow of information.

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Meeting Booker: $12/seat/month (billed annually) and $15/seat/month (billed monthly)
• Lead Router: $20/seat/month (billed annually) and $25/seat/month (billed monthly)

2. Calendly

Calendly is a popular online appointment scheduling app that simplifies the process of setting up and managing meetings, appointments, and events. Professionals, businesses, and organizations commonly use it to streamline their scheduling processes.

Key features:

• Calendly offers features for team scheduling, enabling multiple team members to share availability and schedule appointments collectively.
• You can set your availability and define your work hours, making it easy for others to book appointments during times that work for you.
• It sends automated email notifications to participants to remind them of upcoming appointments, reducing the likelihood of no-shows.
• Calendly also offers payment integration, allowing users to charge for their time or services during booking, making it useful for consultants, coaches, and other professionals.

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Standard: $10 per user/month
• Teams: $16 per user/month
• Enterprise: Custom 

3. Chili Piper 

Chili Piper is a platform that offers a suite of tools and features designed to streamline and enhance various aspects of sales and marketing operations. It is primarily used to optimize scheduling, lead distribution, and customer engagement for businesses.

Key features

• Prospects or customers can book meetings instantly through web forms, email, or other channels without needing back-and-forth communication.
• Users can define their own workflows and rules for meeting scheduling, ensuring that meetings are scheduled according to their specific business needs.
• Users can create personalized booking links that allow leads and prospects to schedule meetings with specific sales reps.
• Chili Piper seamlessly integrates with popular CRM, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and others, to sync data and streamline the sales process.

Pricing:

• Instant Booker: $15 per user/month billed annually or $22.5 per user/month billed monthly
• Handoff: $25 per user/month billed annually or $37.5 per user/month billed monthly
• Form Concierge: $30 per user/month billed annually or $45 per user/month billed monthly
• Distro: $30 per user/month billed annually or $45 per user/month billed monthly 

4. Acuity Scheduling 

Acuity Scheduling is an online appointment scheduling and booking software that allows individuals and businesses to manage and automate their appointment booking process. It is particularly popular among service-based professionals, such as therapists, consultants, coaches, and small businesses that rely on scheduling appointments with prospects or customers.

Key features:

• Users can customize their scheduling preferences based on their availability by setting specific working hours and blocking out time for breaks.
• Users can create different types of appointments or services, such as one-on-one sessions, group classes, or workshops, each with different durations, scheduling rules, and pricing. 
• Acuity Scheduling integrates with popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. This helps you to collect payments or deposits at the time of booking.

Pricing:

• Emerging: $16 per user/month billed annually or $20 per user/month billed monthly 
• Growing: $27 per user/month billed annually or $34 per user/month billed monthly 
• Powerhouse: $49 per user/month billed annually or $61 per user/month billed monthly 

5. RevenueHero 

RevenueHero is a tool that makes it easier for businesses to handle appointments and meetings. It assists sales teams in organizing their schedules, automating follow-ups, and connecting with customers faster.

Key features:

• RevenueHero allows users to set up meetings and appointments with prospects and customers. It offers the ability to schedule meetings based on availability, time zones, and customizable meeting types.
• Users can generate personalized booking links that can be shared with prospects and customers, making it easy for them to schedule meetings at a time that suits them.
• The platform can send automatic reminders via email to customers and sales representatives to reduce no-shows and increase the efficiency of scheduled meetings.

Pricing: 

• Inbound Essential: $25 per user/month billed annually or $35 per user/month billed monthly
• Outbound Essential: $20 per user/month billed annually or $25 per user/month billed monthly

6. Cirrus Insights

Cirrus Insight is a tool designed to integrate with email and calendar systems, primarily Salesforce and Gmail. The tool offers various features, including appointment booking capabilities, that help users manage their interactions and appointments with customers.

Key features:

• Cirrus Insight can track and log appointments in your CRM system, making it easy to maintain a record of customer interactions. 
• Users can set their availability preferences, including working hours and the days when they're available for appointments.
• Users can create various types of meetings, specify when you're available, handle multiple business hours, and make calendar cards in Cirrus Insight Sidebar.

Pricing:

• Salesforce Sync: $10 per user/month billed annually
• Pro: $21 per user/month billed annually
• Expert: $29 per user/month billed annually

7. YouCanBookMe 

YouCanBookMe is a widely used tool for people and businesses who want to organize their schedules and let others set up appointments with them. It allows you to make a unique booking page with your own style where customers can easily view when you're available and set up appointments.

Key features:

• The platform offers options to customize your booking page that can be embedded on the website or shared as a standalone page, making it easy for clients or contacts to book appointments.
• It can send automated appointment reminders to you and your clients to reduce the likelihood of no-shows or scheduling conflicts.
• Users can create and send custom intake forms or questionnaires to clients to collect necessary information before appointments.

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Paid Plan: $10.80 per user/month billed annually or $12 per user/month billed monthly

8. Doodle

Doodle is an online appointment scheduling tool that helps people plan and organize their schedules and meetings. It allows users to collaborate in setting up appointments and can be used on computers and mobile devices.

Key features:

• Doodle allows you to customize the booking page on your website for a better booking experience.
• You can add the meeting link to your email signature so people can schedule meetings right from their email.
• It allows you to define meeting types, such as demo calls or technical consultation calls. This helps avoid confusion when you have different teams in your organization. 

Pricing:

• Free
• Pro: $6.95 per user per month paid annually or $14.95 per user/month billed monthly
• Team: $8.95 per user per month paid annually or $14.95 per user/month billed monthly
• Enterprise: Contact the sales team for pricing.

9. CalendarHero

CalendarHero is an appointment scheduling software that lets you book, organize, and keep track of meetings. Its features include calendar syncing, automated reminders, personalized booking links, and more. 

Key features:

• CalendarHero allows you to make and reuse templates for different types of meetings, with personalized options for video, time, availability, and more.
• Users can create and customize workflows to automate various sales and customer engagement processes, including follow-up emails, lead nurturing, and more.
• It helps you connect your Google, Outlook, Office 365, Exchange, and iCloud calendars to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Professional: $8 per month 
• Team: $12 per user per month

10. Savvycal

SavvyCal is an online scheduling and appointment booking tool that helps individuals and businesses streamline the process of scheduling meetings and appointments. It integrates with popular calendar apps like Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, allowing users to sync their existing schedules seamlessly.

Key features:

• SavvyCal enables users to define different types of meetings (e.g., consultation, interview, demo) with specific settings and durations.
• Users can set their availability preferences, making it easy for others to book appointments during open time slots.
• The platform offers customization options, allowing you to design your booking page with your logo, colors, and messaging.

Pricing:

• Free plan: $0
• Basic plan: $12 per user per month
• Premium plan: $20 per user per month

11. Thryv

Thryv is a small business management software platform designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) manage various aspects of their operations. It offers a variety of features like contact management, text (SMS) and email marketing, online listings and reputation management, online appointment booking, social media scheduling, payment processing, and more.

Key features:

• Users can maintain a centralized calendar that displays all their appointments, meetings, and events. This helps businesses avoid double bookings and ensures that staff can stay organized.
• It lets you view your personal and business calendars with 2-way calender sync. 
• You can sync multiple staff accounts, share calendars, and book appointments to align your team.

Pricing:

• Basic: free
• Plus: $20 per user per month
• Professional: $30 per user per month

12. BookIt

BookIt, by LeanData, is a sales scheduling tool that helps companies improve the process of managing appointments and distributing leads to the right sales rep, ultimately enhancing the experience of booking a meeting.

Key features:

• BookIt allows users to set their availability preferences, such as defining specific hours and days when they are open for appointments.
• It allows you to set up rules and criteria for routing leads to the most suitable team member. It can consider factors like geography, product knowledge, communication skills, etc.
• It integrates with popular tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, Google Analytics, and others.

Pricing:

• Standard: $39 USD per user license/month
• Advanced: $49 USD per user license/month
• Premium: $59 USD per user license/month

13. Setmore 

Setmore is an online appointment booking software designed to help businesses and professionals manage their appointments and customer interactions. It offers a range of features and tools to streamline the scheduling process and improve overall business efficiency.

Key features:

• Setmore allows customers to book appointments online through a customizable booking page, which can be embedded on a website or shared via a unique link. This enables clients to schedule appointments at their convenience.
• Users can view and manage their appointments and availability through an intuitive calendar interface. Multiple team members or resources can be added to the calendar for easy scheduling.
• Businesses can set their own booking rules, such as lead times, cancellation policies, and buffer times, to tailor the scheduling process to their needs.

Pricing: 

• Free
• Pro: $5 per user/month billed annually or $12 per user/month billed monthly
• Team: $5 per user/month billed annually or $9 per user/month billed monthly

14. Sign In Scheduling 

Sign In Scheduling (formerly 10to8) is an appointment scheduling and online booking software designed to help businesses and professionals manage their appointments, bookings, and scheduling processes efficiently. It offers a range of features to streamline appointment management and improve customer engagement.

Key features:

• The platform sends automated email and SMS reminders to clients before their scheduled appointments, reducing no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
• It can sync with popular calendar applications, such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCal, to avoid double-booking and keep your schedule up-to-date.
• You can define your working hours, breaks, and availability based on your business's unique schedule and preferences. 

Pricing: 

• Pro: $7.20 per user/month billed annually 
• Premium: $19 per user/month billed annually
• Enterprise: Custom plan

15. SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is an online appointment scheduling and booking software designed to help businesses manage their appointments, bookings, and reservations. It can be integrated with popular third-party apps and services, such as Google Calendar, Zoom, and various marketing tools.

Key features:

• You can list and offer various services or appointment types, each with its own scheduling rules, duration, and pricing.
• You can embed booking widgets on your website or social media pages to facilitate appointment scheduling directly from those platforms.
• The platform can send automated confirmation emails and SMS notifications to clients to confirm, remind, or reschedule appointments. It also sends notifications to your staff to keep them informed.

Pricing:

• Free
• Basic: $8.25 per user/month billed annually or $9.9 per user/month billed monthly
• Standard: $24.9 per user/month billed annually or $29.9 per user/month billed monthly
• Premium: $49.9 per user/month billed annually or $59.9 per user/month billed monthly
• Premium Plus: $82.5 per user/month billed annually or $99.9 per user/month billed monthly

How to Choose the Best Appointment Scheduling Software?

Now that you’ve got a hang of what appointment scheduling software is and how it helps you streamline your appointment booking process, here are 5 factors you need to consider to choose the right tool that suits your unique business needs: 

Scheduling Flexibility

Look for software that allows you to set different types of appointments, like one-on-one meetings, group sessions, or recurring bookings, and set specific rules for booking by establishing parameters like appointment length and buffer times. 

This flexibility ensures it can adapt to your specific scheduling needs, whether you offer services, classes, or events.

Customization

Find a tool that lets you customize your booking page and forms. This way, you can add your logo, brand colors, and questions to collect the information you require from clients.

Intuitive UI/UX

Choose software with an easy-to-use interface that's simple for you and your clients to navigate. This helps prevent confusion and frustration during the booking process.

Time Zone Support

If you deal with clients or colleagues across different time zones, the software should handle time zone conversions automatically. This ensures that appointments are booked at the right times for everyone, preventing scheduling conflicts and confusion.

Calendar Syncing

Your tool should sync with your personal or work calendar, such as Google Calendar or Outlook. This helps you stay organized, keep track of your schedule, and prevent double bookings.

Integrations

Make sure the scheduling software integrates with other tools you use, like email, CRM systems, or payment processors. These integrations can enhance workflow and simplify tasks like tracking client information and accepting payments.

Website Embed

Look for software that offers a website embed option. This feature allows you to seamlessly add a booking widget to your website, making it easy for your website’s visitors to book appointments directly from your site.

FAQs: