Most scheduling tools advertise a free plan, but they differ wildly on the features that matter for a real business: taking payments, round-robin distribution and calendar sync. This maps what 14 free plans truly include.
If you book paid appointments, the only question that matters about a "free" scheduler is whether the free plan lets you charge clients. Several do; the category leader doesn't. This page compares the free tiers on payments, round-robin, calendar limits — and flags the open-source and lifetime-deal escape hatches.
| Tool | Payments on Free? | Free-plan limit | Round-robin | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal.com | Yes (Stripe) | 1 user, unlimited event types | Yes (weighted, by availability) | Open-source, self-hostable free |
| TidyCal | Yes (Stripe/PayPal) | Unlimited bookings, 1 calendar | — | ~$29 one-time lifetime deal option |
| Setmore | Yes | 4 users, 200 appts/mo | — | SMS reminders + video not on Free |
| Square Appointments | Yes (Square) | 1 user/location | — | 2.5–2.6% + fixed processing fees; no-show protection needs Card on File |
| SimplyBook.me | From Basic (POS/deposits) | 50 bookings/mo, 1 provider | — | 70+ modular add-on features |
| Zoho Bookings | — | 1 staff, 1 calendar | Yes (4 algorithms) | Native Zoho CRM/Meeting/Invoice |
| Calendly | No (Free) | 1 event type, 1 calendar | Teams plan only | Category leader; payments need paid tier |
| YouCanBookMe | — | 1 calendar, 1 page (branding) | Teams only | Heavy booking-page customization |
| Appointlet | — | 5 members, 25 meetings/mo, 1 page | — | Zoom/Teams/Meet on Free (not paywalled) |
| SavvyCal | — | Polls/overlay only (can't create own links) | — | Charges per link, not per user |
| Doodle | — | Polls (10-slot cap), ads | — | Calendar sync is paid-only |
| Microsoft Bookings | — | Bundled with M365 (no standalone) | — | SMS needs Teams Premium; NA/UK only |
| OnceHub | — | 1 user, 1 booking link | Routing-focused | Rebranded from ScheduleOnce (2022) |
| Acuity Scheduling | No free plan (7-day trial) | — | — | Now Squarespace Scheduling |
14 scheduling/booking tools compared on their free plan's support for payments, round-robin distribution, calendar connections and core limits, plus notable facts (open-source, lifetime deals, rebrands). Figures are as published in a sourced 2026 dataset. This is a free-tier capability map, not a UX ranking. Processing fees (e.g. Square's ~2.5–2.6%) apply on top of any plan where noted.