Client: “Can you make it at 10am?”
Candidate: “No, I’m Sorry. How about noon?”
Client: “That doesn’t work for me. Let’s make it on Wednesday, 10am?”
Candidate: “Sorry, Wednesday won’t work for me.”
We all are quite familiar with this sequence due to the lack of an appointment scheduling system. If you run a business or going to start one, you know that it is tough to manage things without a proper appointment system. Luckily, we are living in an era of technology, where a business can get tons of excellent and easy-to-use appointment scheduling software programs on a reasonable budget.
There are plenty of reasons why a business should consider outsourcing their appointment scheduling to a software system. Besides utilizing valuable time for running a business and serving your customers, one can increase staff productivity and provide an even better client experience with effective appointment scheduling software. All these benefits of an appointment scheduling app are crucial for attracting and maintaining customers. So, here is the list of best appointment scheduling software that every business should keep up in their mind.
What Is The Purpose Of The Appointment Scheduling Tool?
In simple words, appointment scheduling tools are for simplifying everyone’s daily life routine. These tools provide an online portal where customers, prospects, and students can schedule meetings with the business owners and their staff. There are still some businesses that stick to old-fashioned paper schedule books, but these online scheduling systems can provide you with even better business transparency. Top appointment scheduling tools allow you to set and adjust your own parameters according to your staff and services. Moreover, with some advanced appointment scheduling software, you can even process client payments.
Who Should Use Appointment Scheduling Softwares?
Successful organizations of all sizes and shapes should adopt online scheduling systems and sales management tools. Small businesses and entrepreneurs use these scheduling systems to manage their meetings. At the same time, recruiters of a company can use them to set up and keep track of candidate interviews. Furthermore, the educational sector can use them to manage student conferences and online classes with just a few clicks.
Sales and marketing use them in the most effective ways and can never lose a hot lead. The account managers manage their customer check-ins with an easy-to-use online app, wherever they go and whenever they want.
What Appointment Scheduling App Features Should You Look For?
Each appointment scheduling system offers different functionalities. However, to find an ideal appointment scheduling system, you need to check for following features:
- Flexibility
- Customization
- Calendar Integration
- Business Tools Integration
Before adopting an appointment scheduling system, you can ask the following questions to find the most suitable solution:
- Does this system allow you to publish booking links on various platforms like websites and social media pages?
- Are customers able to schedule, reschedule and cancel their meetings without directly contacting the owner?
- Does this online appointment tool allow users to set calendar parameters like booking times, duration, service types, concerned staff members, black-out periods, and buffer zones?
- Does the program send automatic reminders and messages via text and emails?
- Are program’s pages customizable and offer an automated messaging system to match the business’ nature?
- How many calendar types are supported by the online appointment scheduling system?
While looking for the best appointment scheduling system, everyone has their merit criteria according to business requirements. Jumping to the actual topic, here are the ten best appointment scheduling software programs available for businesses.
1. Bookafy – Best For Calendar Synchronization Features
One of the main features that sets Bookafy apart from other online scheduling tools is its cooperating calendars with users. It offers a two-way calendar syncing that enables each party to see the other’s schedule.
Features of Bookafy
You will find almost every scheduling system has the same features as that of Bookafy. It allows users to set up one-to-one meetings, appoint multiple staff with one customer, corporate events, and one-off and recurring appointments. Furthermore, Bookafy integrates the following online calendar features:
- Outlook
- Exchange
- iCalendar
- Office 365
For every scheduled appointment, Bookafy will generate a unique link for Zoom Meeting or GoToMeeting conference. Whereas it has integrated payment platforms; Authorize.Net and Stripe to manage payments. APIs and webhooks allow you to integrate business style with the scheduling pages with the aid of APIs.
Customization Options
- The minimal amount of lead time for appointments
- Start date and start time for each meeting
- Limitations for users on how far they can schedule time with staff
- Time between appointments
Pricing Model
- Pro: $7/Month
- Pro: $7/Month
2. Calendly – Most Easy To Use Appointment System
It is known for being the most effortless online appointment scheduling system for businesses. A company simply needs to create their calendar riles and share that link to their scheduling page and customer to start setting up their appointment. Thus, saving a lot of a company’s valuable time, helping them open more available for their customers.
Features of Calendly
From individual professionals like recruiters, teachers, salespeople, account managers, and entrepreneurs, Calendly can manage appointment bookings very effectively. Besides being useful for individuals, Calendly’s use can be expanded to the entire team, department, and small firms. It is the best online appointment system for one-to-one meetings, identifying round-robin appointments or collective availability. Furthermore, Calendly integrates the following online calendars:
- Outlook
- Office 365
- iCalendar
Moreover, Calendly offers unmatched business flexibility up to 700 app integrations like Zaiper, GoToMeeting, and Salesforce.
Pricing Model:
- Basic Plan: Free for 1 Calendar/User
- Premium: $8 per user/month with up to 2 calendar/user
- Pro: $12 per user/month with up to 6 calendars/user
3. ScheduleOnce – Best Direct Appointment Scheduling With Prospects
Businesses that solely rely on a lead pool require a direct way to connect prospects. ScheduleOnce is the best appointment scheduling system in this aspect; it eliminates the wait time that customers have to bear after filling “contact us” forms. In this form, the prospect will choose an appointment time slot. The app will assign it to the appropriate contact and notify the host about its appointment.
Features of ScheduleOnce
It allows you to set individual, team, and whole department appointments schedule either independently or jointly with others. The clients or customers can book appointments based on a round-robin or priority-based distribution approach. The organization can also incorporate its rescheduling and cancellation policies accordingly. In addition, you can get ScheduleOnce integrated with the following calendars:
- Exchange
- Outlook
- iCalendar
- Office 365
Besides these, ScheduleOnce also provides seamless integration with the brand’s website, mobile apps, social media, and a variety of third-party business tools like:
- Video Conferencing: Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, and GoToMeeting
- CRM: Salesforce and Infusionsoft
- Some others: Zaiper, Gmail, and PayPal
Customization Options
- Company’s theme integration to scheduling pages and others
- Custom notifications and alerts
- Lead management and monitoring
Pricing Model
- Up to 3 users: $15/month
- 4 – 100 users: $10/month per user
- 101+ users: Custom discounts for large team plans
4. SimplyBook – Best Appointment Scheduling System For International Business
If you are working on offshore products, SimplyBook can be the best option to schedule appointments in nine languages. It offers flexibility in the following languages:
- English
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Russian
- Portuguese
- Simplified Chinese
- Traditional Chinese
- Korean
The simplest appointment booking interface displays all details about services, company profiles, and available time slots. So, clients can immediately come across what they’re exactly looking for, either to make an appointment, sign up for training, or avail of some membership.
Features of SimplyBook
Online appointment booking isn’t limited to your website; it lets your customers easily schedule appointments just through a link on Facebook or Instagram Page or your Google My Business Page. In addition to a convenient appointment system, customers can pay fees and purchase-related services or products all under one roof. As mentioned earlier, SimplyBook is the simplest online appointment booking system; thus, it integrates the following calendars:
- iCalendar
- Yahoo
- Outlook
SimplyBook also allows you to streamline various processes like:
- Gmail
- Slack
- Invoiceberry
- Zenkit
- Salesforce
- Mailchimp
- And other popular platforms
Customization Options
SimplyBook allows users to customize their site with an array of templates. So, one can find the best template and customize the following features with their brands:
- Custom specific auto messages, like alerts and book soon reminders
- Deposits for bookings to protect you from no-shows
- Custom client intake forms to be filled at the time of booking
- Vouchers and gifts cards
Pricing Model
- Free: Up to 50 bookings
- Basic: $9.90 per month for up to 100 bookings
- Standard: $29.90 per month for up to 500 bookings
- Premium: $59.90 per month for up to 2000 bookings
5. Appointlet: Best For Free Unlimited Bookings
Appointlet is another popular appointment booking app that allows you to manage bookings in various languages like English, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, and many others. The best thing about Appointlet that makes it the best online appointment booking system is that businesses can book an unlimited number of meetings with this software. Besides providing unlimited booking opportunities, it allows features that standard functions like gathering prospect information at the time of booking and processing payments.
Features of Appointlet:
The appointment booking method is extremely easy and simple to use; you can publish the scheduling page link in your website, emails, and other types of landing pages. So, when the customer schedule’s their appointment, the system automatically updates their calendar and yours too.
Appointlet is quite a user-friendly appointment scheduling system. It works on all types of devices and allows your clients to book appointments regardless of where they are. No matter which part of the world the client is seated in, they can schedule long-distance meetings and recognize slots in different time zones. However, Appointlet keeps things simple and easy; therefore, it only integrates the following calendars:
- Office 365
Moreover, Appointlet uses Zapier to ensure seamless connectivity of business with GoToMeeting and Mailchimp critical business tools.
Customization Options
Recreation is a part of work-life; keeping in mind this fact, Appointlet allows you to create short breaks and longer vacations on the appointment scheduling page to protect your required downtime.
- Best online appointment scheduling system for individual business brands
- Personalized Scheduling pages
- Tailored Availability shows: everyone at once and can select team members only.
- Customized email confirmations and reminders are automatically sent to clients.
Pricing Model
The basic free plan of Appointlet includes unlimited bookings, meeting types, and form fields. Whereas, to avail more features and customization options, you’ve to subscribe to the Premium version for $8 per month.
6. YouCanBook.Me – The Best Messaging Channel
For the business, who need to send a bundle of emails to clients and regular thank you emails after each meeting, YouCanBook.me can do this automatically. These emails include initial confirmations, rescheduling, cancellation, and other time-based reminders.
Features of YouCanBook.me
Connecting YouCanBook.me system with your brand page, you can share your available slots details on the systems that will be visible to clients. If you’ve different scheduling scenarios, then you’ve got the flexibility to create a scheduling page accordingly. YouCanBook.me integrates Google and Microsoft calendars and a number of other business functions through Zapier. Furthermore, it processes payments through Stripe and generates meeting links through Zoom conferencing.
Customization Options
- Allow clients to select from a list of appointment types
- Customize pages with your brand logo and theme
- Brand all customer communications
- Utilize the system to promote new events, updates, etc.
Pricing Model
It offers a standard pricing structure of $10 per calendar per month.
7. Square Appointments – Best For Square Payment Users
If your business uses Square to process payments from your customers, then you must look at Square Appointments. It also features all standard easy to set up and other customization options.
Features of Square Appointments
Square Appointments allows your customers to schedule, reschedule or cancel appointments at any time of the day. If you’ve your staff members located in different parts of the world, you can manage them all one place at a time. This online appointment scheduling system integrates social platforms, Instagram and Facebook, allowing clients to reserve appointments from your brand’s social media pages. You can automate the whole process as well as carry booking manually whenever you want.
Customization Options
- Customizing pages with your logo
- Add a scheduling custom button on your website to send traffic from the website to scheduling pages.
- Use automated messages and email reminders
- Display your available services
- Offer electronic gifts cards, vouchers, and coupons
- Process partial and complete prepayment
- Charge additional charges from customers like cancellation fee
Pricing Model
- Single User: Free online scheduling page, 2.6% and 10 cents per tap, dip, or swipe.
- 2-5 employees: $50/ month, 2.5% and 10 cents per tap, dip, or swipe
- 6-10 employees: $90/ month, 2.5% and 10 cents per tap, dip, or swipe
- 10+ employees: Custom pricing
8. HubSpot Meeting – Best For Users Of HubSpot’s CRM Software
We all know that HubSpot is a product suite that offers meeting scheduling tools with its marketing, sales, and CRM software. It is famous for its most useful feature of automatically creating customer records when a new contact books a meeting appointment. Resultantly, in this way, you can eliminate duplicate appointments and irrelevant prospects.
Features of HubSpot Meeting
You can send a group meeting link to the client if they want to have a meeting with more than one person in your organization. For instance, if the clients want to book a session with a non-designated person of the company, you can generate a round-robin meeting link that allows them to schedule a meeting accordingly. HubSpot Meetings has Google and Office 365 calendars integrated. Moreover, it is seamlessly integrated with all business tools like Gmail, G Suite, Outlook, Windows Office 365, etc.
Customization Options
Like all other online appointment scheduling tools, HubSpot Meetings allows you to embed your scheduling link on your business website. However, you can avail of other customization options only if you use them with other HubSpot software. For instance, HubSpot’s all-in-one sales software allows you to create customized email templates to manage your workload.
Pricing Model
Being a part of HubSpot CRM Software, HubSpot Meetings are completely free.
9. Fresha – Best Appointment Scheduling Software For Beauty Centers
Fresha is mainly developed by targeting hair salons, spas, and individual beauty stylists. It is primarily for the community of beauty professionals who offer their members a subscription-free platform to book their appointments.
Features of Fresha
Fresha offers unlimited calendar bookings for an unlimited number of business team members and locations. This online appointment booking tool works on both mobile and desktop devices. Moreover, features like built-in marketing promotion, inventory control, and reporting tools greatly benefit business growth and management.
However, Fresha does not integrate with any third-party online calendar tools. Yet, it features the functionality of processing payments and a POS system to scan products barcodes and customer hardcopy receipts.
Customization Options
Fresha lets you customize your automatic reminders and reminders. Plus, the user can enjoy the following customization options:
- Personalized Profiles
- Appointment Confirmation Cards
- Remote processing of no-show penalty fees
Pricing Model
You can use Fresha for free in exchange for listing on the beauty marketplace.
10. Vagaro – Best For Beauty, Wellness, And Fitness
Just like salons, wellness instructors and fitness studios also require an online appointment booking system to make bookings. Vagaro provides around-the-clock online booking along with multiple business functions. These benefits include POS platforms, marketing tools, inventory management, payment processing, and team member payroll. There is also a live streaming option that gives yogis and personal trainers the ability to deliver remote classes.
Features of Vagaro
Vagaro offers more than a single way to share your booking page with customers. You can display your scheduling link on your website, social media pages, and even on Yelp for more exposure to your business. Likewise to Fresha, Vagaro also does not integrate any third-party calendars. However, it provides users with all primary business functions required for beauty, wellness and fitness businesses.
Customization Options
- Send messages to targeted users through an automated push notifications system
- Create your own beauty and wellness brand mobile app as well as website.
- Offer an auto-pay membership plan.
Pricing Model
For a single employee, the Vagaro subscription package costs $25 per month. At the same time, there is another plan for 7 or more employees at $60 per month. You can also avail additional services like check-in apps, branded apps, and shopping carts incur by paying additional charges on top of standard charges.
It’s time to build your own appointment booking system.
Being a business owner, you should acknowledge that there is nothing to lose and a lot to gain. All you have to do is incorporate the best 24/7 online booking system with your business. So, get in touch with the best appointment scheduling software development company and enjoy an ultimate increase in your business values.