Calendly

What is Calendly?

Calendly is a scheduling automation platform that eliminates the back-and-forth emails traditionally required to find meeting times. Founded in 2013 by Tope Awotona, Calendly allows users to share their availability through personalized scheduling links, enabling others to book time slots that work for everyone. The platform has grown from a simple scheduling tool to a comprehensive meeting lifecycle platform serving millions of users worldwide.

What distinguishes Calendly is its elegant simplicity combined with powerful automation. Rather than exchanging multiple emails to coordinate schedules, users share a Calendly link. Invitees see available times based on the host’s real calendar availability and book slots directly. The meeting appears on both calendars with video conferencing links automatically added. This streamlined process saves hours of scheduling coordination weekly for busy professionals.

Calendly has become standard infrastructure for sales teams, recruiters, consultants, educators, and anyone who books meetings frequently. The platform’s adoption accelerated as remote work increased meeting scheduling needs. Today, Calendly serves over 10 million users including companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises, demonstrating that scheduling—previously an afterthought—can be transformed into a strategic advantage.

Key Features

• Scheduling Links: Shareable links showing your availability, allowing invitees to book times without email coordination.
• Calendar Integration: Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, and iCloud to reflect real-time availability.
• Event Types: Create different meeting types with varying durations, questions, and booking rules.
• Team Scheduling: Round-robin assignment, collective scheduling, and team pages for organizational booking.
• Workflows: Automated emails, reminders, and follow-ups before and after meetings.
• Routing: Direct invitees to appropriate team members based on form answers and routing rules.
• Integrations: Connect with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, HubSpot, and hundreds of other tools.
• Embedding: Embed scheduling widgets on websites for seamless booking experiences.
• Buffer Times: Automatic gaps between meetings preventing back-to-back scheduling exhaustion.
• Analytics: Track meeting metrics including booking rates, popular times, and conversion data.

Recent Updates and Improvements

Calendly continues evolving with features addressing enterprise needs and enhanced automation capabilities.

• Routing Forms: Sophisticated routing directing invitees to appropriate team members or event types based on responses.
• Calendly for Teams: Enhanced team features including shared event types, managed events, and admin controls.
• Meeting Polls: Group scheduling allowing multiple participants to vote on preferred times.
• Analytics Dashboard: Improved reporting on scheduling metrics and team performance.
• Mobile Improvements: Enhanced iOS and Android apps with better scheduling management on the go.
• CRM Integration: Deeper Salesforce and HubSpot integration with automatic activity logging.
• Enterprise Features: SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, and enhanced security controls.
• AI Assistance: Smart suggestions for meeting times and automated scheduling optimization.

System Requirements

Web Application

• Modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
• JavaScript enabled
• Stable internet connection
• Calendly account

Mobile App (iOS)

• iOS 14.0 or later
• iPhone or iPad
• Connected calendar for availability sync

Mobile App (Android)

• Android 8.0 or later
• Google Play Services
• Connected calendar for availability sync

Browser Extensions

• Chrome, Firefox, or Edge
• Extension for inserting scheduling links

How to Get Started with Calendly

Account Setup

1. Visit calendly.com and sign up free
2. Connect your calendar (Google, Outlook, etc.)
3. Set your available hours
4. Create your first event type
5. Share your scheduling link

# Calendly is web-based - no installation required
# Access at calendly.com

# Your scheduling link format
https://calendly.com/your-username

# Event type link format
https://calendly.com/your-username/30min

# Embed on website (inline)



# Embed as popup button


Schedule time

API Integration

# Get user information
curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.calendly.com/users/me \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

# List scheduled events
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.calendly.com/scheduled_events?user=USER_URI' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN'

# Get event type details
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.calendly.com/event_types/EVENT_TYPE_UUID' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN'

# Create webhook subscription
curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.calendly.com/webhook_subscriptions \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "url": "https://your-webhook-endpoint.com/calendly",
    "events": ["invitee.created", "invitee.canceled"],
    "organization": "ORGANIZATION_URI",
    "scope": "organization"
  }'

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Time Savings: Eliminates scheduling email chains, saving significant time for meeting-heavy roles.
• Professional Experience: Clean, branded booking pages make professional impression on invitees.
• Automation: Automatic reminders, confirmations, and follow-ups reduce no-shows and manual work.
• Integration Depth: Connects with major calendars, video conferencing, CRMs, and productivity tools.
• Team Features: Round-robin, collective scheduling, and routing handle complex organizational needs.
• Free Tier: Generous free plan suitable for individuals with basic scheduling needs.
• Easy Setup: Quick onboarding gets users scheduling within minutes.

Cons

• Pricing: Team and advanced features require paid plans that add up with multiple users.
• One-Way Focus: Primarily designed for others booking your time, less useful for booking others’ time.
• Feature Creep: Growing feature set may overwhelm users wanting simple scheduling.
• Branding Limits: Full white-labeling requires enterprise plans.
• Calendar Required: Requires connected calendar, challenging for users without digital calendars.

Calendly vs Alternatives

Who Should Use Calendly?

Calendly is ideal for:

• Sales Teams: Representatives booking demos and calls benefit from streamlined scheduling with CRM integration.
• Recruiters: HR professionals scheduling interviews across multiple candidates and interviewers.
• Consultants: Independent professionals offering client booking for consultations and sessions.
• Customer Success: Teams scheduling onboarding calls, check-ins, and support meetings.
• Educators: Teachers and tutors offering office hours and student appointments.
• Healthcare: Providers scheduling patient appointments with appropriate workflows.

Calendly may not be ideal for:

• Budget-Sensitive: Organizations with many users may find per-user pricing expensive.
• Internal Meetings: Teams primarily scheduling among themselves may prefer integrated calendar solutions.
• Open Source Preference: Organizations requiring open source should evaluate Cal.com.
• Complex Requirements: Highly customized scheduling workflows may need specialized solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Calendly free?

Calendly offers a free Basic plan including one event type, unlimited bookings on that event type, and core integrations. This suits individuals with simple scheduling needs. Paid plans (Essentials $10/month, Professional $15/month, Teams $20/user/month) unlock multiple event types, workflows, integrations, and team features. Enterprise pricing requires consultation.

How does Calendly prevent double-booking?

Calendly syncs with your connected calendars in real-time, showing invitees only times when you’re actually available. When someone books, Calendly immediately blocks that time across all connected calendars and its own system. Buffer times add gaps between meetings. The platform handles timezone conversion automatically, preventing confusion that causes conflicts.

Can Calendly handle team scheduling?

Yes, Teams plans include features for organizational scheduling: round-robin distributes bookings among team members, collective scheduling finds times when multiple team members are available, routing forms direct invitees to appropriate people, and team pages present unified booking experiences. Admin controls manage team settings and view analytics.

Does Calendly integrate with Zoom/Google Meet/Teams?

Yes, Calendly integrates with major video conferencing platforms. Connect your account, and Calendly automatically generates unique meeting links for each booking, adding them to calendar invites. Integrations include Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and GoToMeeting. Invitees don’t need accounts; they receive links to join.

Can I embed Calendly on my website?

Yes, Calendly provides multiple embedding options: inline widgets showing your availability directly on a page, popup widgets triggered by buttons, and text links. Embed code is available in your Calendly dashboard. The embedded scheduler inherits some customization and can be styled to match your website. Booking confirmations still come from Calendly.

Final Verdict

Calendly has earned its position as the leading scheduling automation platform by solving a universal problem with elegant simplicity. The back-and-forth of finding meeting times wastes hours weekly for knowledge workers; Calendly eliminates this friction entirely. For professionals who book external meetings regularly, Calendly’s productivity gains often justify the investment within days.

The platform’s evolution from simple scheduling links to comprehensive meeting lifecycle management reflects understanding of how scheduling connects to broader business workflows. Integration with CRMs, video conferencing, and automation tools creates seamless experiences from first contact through meeting completion. Team features address organizational complexity without sacrificing ease of use.

For individuals and teams whose work involves booking meetings with external parties, Calendly represents essential infrastructure. The free tier enables evaluation, while paid plans unlock capabilities that scale with organizational needs. While alternatives exist, Calendly’s combination of user experience, integration breadth, and market leadership make it the default choice for scheduling automation.