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Scheduling

Scheduling and booking software comes in two main kinds. Appointment scheduling tools let clients, prospects or patients book time with you on a booking page. Employee scheduling tools let managers build shift schedules, share them with staff and track hours. Start by asking who does the booking: your customers, or your managers.

On vendor pages checked October 28, 2026, Calendly, Zoho Bookings, Setmore and Square Appointments all offer a free plan for client bookings, and Acuity Scheduling starts at $16 per month billed annually. For shift work, Homebase has a free plan for one location with up to 10 employees, When I Work starts at $2.50 per user per month, and Deputy lists its Lite plan at $5 per user per month.

This hub explains each software type, what it costs on paper and which tools fit by business size. It is a research draft built from vendor pages, not a lab report.

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What This Category Covers

"Scheduling software" covers several jobs that rarely live in one product:

  • Appointment scheduling: booking pages, calendar sync, reminders and routing for calls and client sessions.
  • Service booking with payments: deposits, no-show fees and point of sale for salons, studios and clinics.
  • Employee scheduling: shifts, swaps, time clocks and timesheets for hourly teams.

The table lists the eight products this hub draws on.

Product Main use Free plan Paid plans from Free trial
Calendly Meeting scheduling Yes, one event type $10/seat/mo annual, $12 monthly 14 days
Acuity Scheduling Client appointments No $16/mo annual, $20 monthly 7 days, no card
Zoho Bookings Client appointments Yes, one user $6/user/mo annual, $8 monthly Offered; length not stated
Square Appointments Service bookings with POS Yes, Square Free $49/location/mo (Plus) Offered; length not verified
Setmore Client appointments Yes, up to 4 users $5/user/mo, annual pricing Not listed
When I Work Shift scheduling No $2.50/user/mo 14 days, no card
Homebase Shift scheduling Yes, 1 location, up to 10 employees $24/location/mo annual, $30 monthly 14 days of All-in-One, no card
Deputy Shift scheduling No $5/user/mo Offered; length not stated

Pricing checked October 28, 2026. Prices are in USD, before taxes and payment processing fees.

How We Test

This draft relies on vendor pricing pages, plan tables and FAQs. The final version will run two fixed scenarios: a client booking (create a service, book as a client, take a deposit, send a reminder, reschedule) and a shift week (schedule eight staff across two locations, publish to mobile, swap a shift, clock in, export timesheets). Every product will be scored on the same scorecard, with weights published beside the results. Our full method is on the how we test page.

The Software Types

Appointment Scheduling Software

Appointment tools publish your availability, check your connected calendars for conflicts and let people pick a slot. Paid tiers usually add reminders, intake forms, payments and team routing. Our full guide to appointment scheduling software compares more options.

Calendly lists four tiers. Free covers one event type, one calendar connection and one-on-one scheduling. Standard costs $10 per seat per month billed yearly ($12 monthly) and adds unlimited event types, up to six connected calendars, automated reminders and Stripe or PayPal payments. Teams costs $16 per seat billed yearly ($20 monthly) and adds round-robin scheduling, lead routing and Salesforce sync. Enterprise starts at $15,000 per year and 50 seats. Best fit: sales, recruiting and client-facing teams booking meetings. Limitations: seats are required for anyone hosting meetings, and the free plan is limited to one event type. Calendly pricing

Acuity Scheduling is aimed at service businesses. Starter costs $16 per month billed annually ($20 monthly) with one calendar; Standard costs $27 ($34) with up to six calendars; Premium costs $55 ($69) with up to 36 calendars. All plans include Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo payments, email reminders and custom intake forms. Standard adds text reminders, a waitlist, packages, memberships and gift certificates. Premium adds an AI booking assistant, a signed BAA for HIPAA compliance, multiple staff time zones and custom API and CSS. Best fit: coaches, consultants, wellness and fitness businesses that take payments at booking. Limitations: there is no free plan, and pricing is by calendar rather than unlimited staff. Acuity Scheduling pricing

Zoho Bookings has a Forever Free plan for one user with online meetings, email notifications and two-way sync with Zoho, Google and Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com calendars. Basic costs $6 per user per month billed yearly ($8 monthly), and Premium costs $9 ($12), which Zoho positions for multiple locations or departments that need online payments and integrations. Basic includes one workspace; Premium includes three, with more as add-ons. Best fit: teams already using Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps. Limitations: bookable resources such as rooms and equipment are paid add-ons, and the trial length is not stated. Zoho Bookings pricing

Employee Scheduling Software

Shift tools replace spreadsheets and group texts. Managers build a schedule from templates, staff see it on their phones, and swaps, time-off requests and clock-ins flow back into timesheets. See our full guide to employee scheduling software for a deeper comparison.

When I Work lists Essentials at $2.50, Pro at $5 and Premium at $8 per user per month. Essentials includes unlimited users, auto scheduling, multi-location scheduling, schedule templates, team messaging, open shifts, shift swapping and payroll and POS integrations. Pro adds scheduling rules, role permissions, labor sharing and custom reporting. Premium adds API keys, webhooks and SAML/SSO. Best fit: hourly teams in retail, restaurants, healthcare and call centers. Limitations: Time Tracking and Attendance is a separate add-on, and its price was not shown in the page text. The trial is 14 days with no credit card. When I Work pricing

Homebase prices per location, not per user. Basic is free for one location with up to 10 employees. Essentials costs $24 per location per month billed annually ($30 monthly) with unlimited employees and adds advanced scheduling, time tracking and team messaging. Plus costs $56 annually ($70 monthly) and adds an AI scheduling assistant, PTO controls and departments. All-in-One costs $96 annually ($120 monthly) and adds onboarding, labor cost management and HR and compliance tools. Best fit: single-location restaurants and shops with many hourly staff. Limitations: Basic keeps timesheets for up to 90 days, and payroll costs $49 per month plus $6 per employee paid after a six-month promotional period. Homebase pricing

Deputy lists Lite at $5, Core at $6.50 and Pro at $9 per user per month, "billed upfront or in monthly installments," with a toggle that says annual billing saves 10%. Lite covers basic scheduling, timesheets, time clocking, labor law compliance tools and shift swaps. Core adds auto-scheduling, demand forecasting, wage and labor budgets and biometric clocking. Pro adds custom access levels, location hierarchies, SSO and 24/7 live chat. Best fit: multi-site businesses that forecast labor against demand. Limitations: Deputy Payroll costs $8 per user per month plus a $49 monthly base fee and needs an annual Core or Pro plan in the U.S. Deputy pricing

Free Scheduling Software

Several vendors offer a real free plan rather than a trial, but each one caps something: users, event types, locations or features. Our guide to free scheduling software goes deeper.

Free plan Limit Included Left out
Calendly Free One event type, one calendar Booking page, browser extension Reminders, payments, team scheduling
Zoho Bookings Forever Free One user Online meetings, email reminders, two-way calendar sync Team features of paid plans
Setmore Free Up to 4 users Unlimited appointments, payments, email reminders Two-way sync, recurring and video appointments, deposits
Square Free Per location Unlimited staff calendars, booking site, reminders Waitlist, no-show fees, multi-staff booking
Homebase Basic 1 location, 10 employees Basic scheduling and time tracking Advanced scheduling, timesheets kept past 90 days

Pricing checked October 28, 2026.

Setmore deserves a note because its free plan covers up to four users. Its Pro plan costs $5 per user per month on annual pricing and adds two-way calendar sync, SMS reminders, recurring and video appointments, deposits and removal of Setmore branding. Limitations: the monthly-billing price for Pro was not clearly stated on the page. Setmore pricing

Booking Software by Industry

Salons, clinics, studios and restaurants need different things from a booking tool: deposits, rooms or chairs, class booking or tip handling. Our guide to booking software by industry sorts options by sector.

Square Appointments sits inside Square's point-of-sale system. Square Free costs $0 per location, Plus $49 and Premium $149 per location per month. All tiers include unlimited staff calendars, an online booking site and reminders. Plus adds cancellation policies with no-show fees, multi-staff appointments and a waitlist. Premium adds resource management, a future bookings report and service cost tracking. In-person card fees fall from 2.6% + 15¢ on Free to 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium. Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on the paid plans. Best fit: salons and other service businesses that also sell products at a counter. Square Appointments pricing

Acuity's Premium plan offers a signed BAA for businesses that handle health information; confirm your own HIPAA obligations with a qualified adviser. For restaurants, Homebase sells a Tip Manager add-on at $25 per month per location that pulls tips from your POS.

Which Tools You Need by Business Size

Solo Professionals

Most solos need one booking page, calendar sync and reminders. Zoho Bookings Forever Free and Calendly Free cover basic booking at no cost. If you charge at booking, compare Calendly Standard ($10 per seat billed yearly) with Acuity Starter ($16 per month billed annually). Acuity's entry plan includes payment integrations and intake forms; text reminders start at Standard.

Small Teams (2–10 People)

Client-facing teams should look at shared booking pages and round-robin routing. Calendly Teams costs $16 per seat billed yearly, so five hosts pay $80 per month, by arithmetic from the published price. Setmore's free plan covers up to four users. For hourly staff at one location, Homebase Basic is free for up to 10 employees, and Essentials is $24 per location per month billed annually with unlimited employees.

Multi-Location Businesses

Once you run several sites, per-location and per-user pricing diverge quickly. Homebase and Square charge per location, while When I Work and Deputy charge per user. As arithmetic, 30 staff on When I Work Essentials cost $75 per month and on Deputy Lite $150, while two locations on Homebase Essentials cost $48 per month billed annually. Check which plan adds location features before comparing totals.

Larger Organizations

Larger teams usually need SSO and admin controls. Calendly Enterprise starts at $15,000 per year for 50 seats and adds SSO, SAML and audit logs. When I Work Premium and Deputy Pro both add SSO. Square offers custom pricing for businesses processing more than $250,000 per year.

FAQ

What is the best scheduling software for a small business?

It depends on who books. For client appointments, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Zoho Bookings and Setmore cover most small businesses, and all but Acuity have a free plan. For hourly staff, Homebase is free for one location with up to 10 employees, while When I Work and Deputy charge per user. Service businesses that take card payments at a counter can look at Square Appointments.

Is there free scheduling software?

Yes. Calendly Free allows one event type, Zoho Bookings Forever Free covers one user, Setmore Free covers up to four users and Square Free costs $0 per location before processing fees. For shift work, Homebase Basic is free for one location and up to 10 employees. Each free plan leaves out features such as reminders, two-way sync or team tools.

What is the difference between appointment and employee scheduling software?

Appointment scheduling software lets people outside your business book time with you through a booking page, often with payments and reminders. Employee scheduling software helps managers assign shifts to staff, handle swaps and time off, and track hours for payroll. Some service businesses need both, for example a salon that books clients and schedules stylists.

Can scheduling software take payments at booking?

Many tools can. Acuity Scheduling includes Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo payments on every plan. Calendly adds Stripe and PayPal from its Standard plan. Square Appointments takes payments through Square, with deposits and no-show fees on Plus and above. Setmore accepts payments on its free plan, but deposits require Pro. Processor fees apply in every case.

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