How we score

Fairness rules

1. Rubric fixed before scoring. Weights are the same for every tool. A change to the rubric re-scores every tool at once and is logged on the changelog.
2. Affiliate links never affect scores, order or "best for" picks. Default order is score, then name.
3. Same link treatment. Every tool gets one equally prominent link to its website. Where we have an affiliate link, that link is the affiliate one. Affiliate links are labelled and marked rel="sponsored".
4. Affiliate programmes declared. Every affiliate programme we belong to is listed on the disclosure page.
5. Evidence for every claim. Each price or limit links to the vendor page it came from, with the date checked and an archived copy where one exists. Every problem found in a functional check has evidence too.
6. Public corrections. Anyone can submit a correction. Every submission and its outcome is logged publicly. Scores change only on evidence.
7. Stale data is flagged. Any price or functional check not verified in the last 6 months shows "needs re-check".

The rubric

The score is the points a tool earns divided by the points available, shown out of 100, minus any penalties. A category is left out only when the vendor doesn't document what it measures (for example, what happens at the plan limit). A "Pending tasks to resolve" badge means we still have open questions about that tool's data to settle with the vendor.

You can check every score yourself. The scoring code is this rubric and its formulas, compiled to JavaScript from the files that build the site, and the raw data holds every plan, limit and feature we score. This example script runs one on the other and compares the result with every published score.

Do the weights decide the ranking?

Any choice of weights is a judgement, so we re-ran every score with each category counted double, and again with each category left out (14 other weightings). Cal.com ranks first under every weighting tested: the published one, each category counted double, and each category left out. Calendly, OnceHub, Koalendar, TidyCal, YouCanBookMe, Zoho Bookings, Zcal, HubSpot Meetings, Chili Piper, Doodle, Acuity Scheduling, SavvyCal, Setmore, Google Calendar appointment schedules and Microsoft Bookings move between 2nd and 16th place depending on the weights.

Try your own weights

Change how much each category counts. The ranking below is recalculated with the same formula as the published scores, and the page address updates so you can share the result.

Without JavaScript: for scripts and AI assistants

The same calculation runs at https://calendarbookinglab.com/api/weights. Give a multiplier from 0 (leave the category out) to 10 for any category, using the keys below. Categories you don't name stay at 1. It returns the new ranking as a Markdown table, or JSON with &format=json. For example, https://calendarbookinglab.com/api/weights?price=2&freePlan=0 counts price double and leaves the free plan out.

Or work it out from the points below. Multiply each category's points and its maximum by the weight you want, add them up, divide points by maximum, multiply by 100, round, and subtract the penalty. A dash means the category isn't scored for that tool and is left out of both sums.

Scroll sideways to see every category.

How sure we are of each feature

Every feature on a review carries one of three labels, so you can tell what we have seen for ourselves from what a vendor says. The labels don't change scores: the rubric measures whether a feature is available, and we don't pay for every plan to test it. If a check shows an advertised feature doesn't exist, that is a penalty (see below).

• Verified: We checked this ourselves in our own account. (0 of 448 feature claims across the ranked tools.)
• Vendor docs: Stated on the vendor's own pricing page, docs or help center. We haven't tested it ourselves. (300 of 448 feature claims across the ranked tools.)
• Unclear: Advertised but not documented, or the vendor's pages disagree. See the note. (148 of 448 feature claims across the ranked tools.)

Functional checks and penalties

We don't score tools on our own impressions. Instead, every ranked tool gets the same short check, and a pass changes nothing:

• Sign up on the free plan, or start a trial where there is no free plan, and connect a Google and an Outlook calendar.
• Create a 30-minute event type with the host in New York time and a video link, and put a busy event in the Outlook calendar.
• Book it from a browser set to London time in a week when US and UK clocks change on different dates, then check the time in both calendars and in the confirmation email, and that the busy slot couldn't be booked.
• Reschedule and then cancel as the invitee, and check that both calendars follow.

All 0 ranked tools checked so far put the test event in every calendar with the right time, blocked the busy slot and passed on the reschedule and cancellation. That is the expected result for mature tools, so when several of them pass we report that rather than invent a difference between them. A pass shows the basics work. It doesn't show long-term uptime, behaviour under load, or every calendar app and edge case.

Each problem found takes points off the final score, up to 20 points in total. Problems are listed on the tool's page with the date and evidence, and the penalty is removed once a re-check shows it fixed. If sign-up or login doesn't work at all, the tool is not ranked until it does.

Readers and vendors can report a problem through the corrections form. We confirm it ourselves before applying a penalty.

Team cost setups

Most scheduling tools charge per user, so pricing is compared like for like for three fixed team setups. For each, we take the cheapest plan that covers it and multiply the per-user price by the number of users (at least the plan's minimum), billed monthly, or the yearly price ÷ 12 when no monthly price is published. A plan sold only for a one-time payment (a lifetime deal) counts as that payment spread over 36 months, a three-year horizon; whether a lifetime deal stays available, and what it leaves out, is stated on the tool's page.

• Solo: 1 user, 3 event types, 2 calendars, 40 bookings/month, video link
• Small team: 5 users, 5 event types, 2 calendars each, 200 bookings/month, video link, round robin
• Sales team: 20 users, 10 event types, 2 calendars each, 1,000 bookings/month, video link, round robin, routing forms, CRM sync

A need such as "a video link" is met when the plan includes any of the integrations that provide it (Zoom, Google Meet or Teams; HubSpot or Salesforce for CRM sync). Where a vendor doesn't publish an event-type, calendar or booking limit, we assume no cap and say so next to the result. A flat-priced plan only counts for a team when the vendor states how many users it allows. Suites (scheduling that comes with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or a CRM) are priced at the cheapest plan of the suite that includes the needed features; what else that plan includes is stated on each tool page.

"Best for" picks

• Best free scheduling tool: Has a $0 plan. Ranked by our Free plan score (event types, connected calendars and bookings at $0). Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best scheduling tool for freelancers: Cheapest plan that covers 1 user with 3 event types and 2 connected calendars, 40 bookings a month and a video link. Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best scheduling tool for small teams: Cheapest plan that covers 5 users with 5 event types and 2 connected calendars each, 200 bookings a month, a video link and round robin. Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best scheduling tool for sales teams: Cheapest plan that covers 20 users with 10 event types and 2 connected calendars each, 1,000 bookings a month, a video link, round robin, routing forms and CRM sync (HubSpot or Salesforce). Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best scheduling tool for taking payments: Can take payment at booking. Ranked by the monthly price for one user of the cheapest plan that includes payments. Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best HIPAA-ready scheduling tool: Offers a HIPAA option with a business associate agreement. Ranked by our Reliability & privacy score. Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Best scheduling tool for developers: Has a documented API. Ranked by our Developer & openness score (API, webhooks, embedding, open source, self-hosting). Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.
• Most established scheduling vendor: Has an independent security audit of the vendor (SOC 2 or ISO 27001) first, then the most years in operation, counting earlier names. Tools level on this measure are shown as joint picks.

Update schedule

• Weekly: an automated job reads every pricing page and flags any change. A person confirms each change before it goes live, and it's logged on the changelog.
• Every 6 months: the functional check is repeated for every tool, or sooner when a vendor ships a major change or someone reports a problem.