Calendly alternatives for small businesses and trades, limits included.

Three things send people looking. The first is the bill. On 30 September 2026, Calendly listed Standard at $10 a seat a month, billed monthly, so four people who each take bookings cost $40 a month. (Calendly pricing)

The second is the free tier: one event type and one calendar connection, which fits a single kind of call. On Capterra, where Calendly rated 4.7 out of 5 across 4,162 reviews on 30 September 2026, several reviewers named that limit. Reviews show a complaint exists, not how common it is. (Capterra: Calendly reviews)

The third is harder to see: a slot that looks open when it isn't. A March 2024 reply on Calendly's forum said the app shows the first 10 sub-calendars and checks up to 4 you pick for conflicts; the user who raised it then asked how to cancel and get a refund. A January 2026 reply on another thread said the final conflict check works but “the initial availability shown on the page can be wrong” on some round-robin pages. Two threads show it can happen, not how often. (Calendly community: conflict checks; Calendly community: round-robin availability)

Every price below was read from the vendor's own page on 30 September 2026, promotional rates excluded. Not established means this page could not confirm it there that day.

Read the billing term before comparing two numbers. Setmore Pro was $12 a user a month billed monthly or $5 billed annually. Square's page did not display its Plus or Premium prices and Microsoft's price page would not load, so those cells say Not established rather than a guess. (Setmore pricing; Square Appointments pricing)

If all you need is a link that fills one person's calendar, start with a free tier. Six of these had one on 30 September 2026: Cal.com and Zoho Bookings for one user, Setmore for up to four users, YouCanBookMe for one booking page, SimplyBook.me for 50 bookings a month and Square Appointments for solo use.

Read the cap first. Cal.com's free tier leaves out round robin, routing forms and branding removal. Setmore Free has no texts, deposits or video appointments, and Square Free has no cancellation policy or no-show fees. YouCanBookMe Free puts its own branding on your page.

Bizzy Bookings has no free tier. BizzyBot's trial lasts one hour and needs no card, and in it Bookings is a preview rather than a live link.

Bizzy Bookings takes no payments and no deposits. Eight of the other nine tools in the table take payments on some plan, so if a card at booking keeps your no-shows down, that alone may settle the choice.

Deposits and no-show fees narrow the list. Square keeps its no-show fees for Plus, and SimplyBook.me lists deposits from Basic, $13.90 a month on 30 September 2026. Acuity puts packages and gift certificates on Standard, $34 a month or $27 billed annually, and its texts start there too. (Square Appointments pricing; SimplyBook.me pricing; Acuity Scheduling pricing)

On 30 September 2026, Acuity rated 4.8 out of 5 across about 5,700 Capterra reviews, and reviews from 2026 kept naming texts held back for higher tiers. A high rating shows most reviewers are content, not which tier your week needs. (Capterra: Acuity Scheduling reviews)

Bizzy Bookings is the booking link inside BizzyBot, included with the work-management workspace: $12 a month for the owner, $6 for each teammate who edits and $0 for light users. There is no separate Bookings price and no feature tier. An owner with two editing teammates pays $24 a month before tax, and a second or third meeting type adds nothing.

Before offering a time, Bizzy Bookings checks one merged view of busy time: your BizzyBot calendar, imported Google Calendar events and bookings already taken. Customers see times in their own time zone and can reschedule or cancel from the Manage link until your cutoff, two hours before by default. Reminders go by e-mail, one day and one hour before by default. It sends no texts and takes no payments.

A service visit books an arrival window of 30 minutes to 4 hours at the customer's address. It doesn't check a service area, so you decide how far is too far. Google Meet is the only video link it creates, besides a meeting link you paste in; it does not create Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Webex links. The guest page footer always names BizzyBot.

Not every business needs an alternative to Calendly, so keep it if it already does the job. Its Teams plan, $16 a seat a month billed monthly on 30 September 2026, adds lead routing for a sales team that sends each caller to the right person. Every Calendly plan, Free included, adds Zoom and Microsoft Teams links to meetings, and from Standard it takes Stripe or PayPal payments; Bizzy Bookings does neither. (Calendly pricing)

If one event type covers your whole week, Calendly Free costs nothing to keep. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, check Microsoft Bookings first: it comes inside plans such as Business Basic and Business Standard. (Microsoft Learn: Bookings overview)

Don't switch off the Calendly link on day one. Customers who booked through it hold its confirmations, so keep it live until the last of those dates has passed.

As the old saying goes, measure twice, cut once. Book a time on your new Bizzy Bookings link yourself before a customer sees it, then cancel it from the Manage link in the confirmation e-mail.

Then tell your regulars once, with the new link. Switch on “Add the guest to Contacts and the booking to my calendar,” and each new booking arrives as a customer record and a calendar entry, ready for the job that follows.