Meeting scheduling is now a breeze, thanks to the several scheduling apps out there. Still, two software are at the top of the scheduling ladder—Calendly vs Doodle.
While they have similar features, they perform these functions differently. So, you might be at a crossroads on which tool is better.
To make things easier for you, I tried both scheduling tools and put together a detailed breakdown of Calendly vs. Doodle. This includes their best features, pricing plans, target audience, and pros and cons.
At the end of the article, you should know enough to make an informed decision.
Overview
Before we proceed, here’s a brief overview of Calendly and Doodle.
Calendly
Calendly is a platform that automates and simplifies the meeting scheduling process. To get started, you need to inform Calendly about your availability and appointment preferences. The software will use this information to create a customized personal calendar within minutes.
Afterward, you can send the calendar link to whoever you’re meeting with to let them choose their preferred time.
Calendly also allows invitees to schedule a meeting based on their time zone, so you can schedule meetings with people worldwide.
Doodle
Doodle was more or less a polling tool that has grown into a powerful software for scheduling meetings. The app lets you create an availability calendar that lets people know when you’re free. Then, they can set up a meeting time with you via a customized link.
This scheduling software lets you set up both business meetings and simple meetings with colleagues or friends.
Key Features
Here are some key features of Calendly and Doodle.
Calendly
Calendly has the following features:
- Allows for both one-on-one, collective, round-robin, and group meetings
- Automatically detects time zones and adjusts accordingly
- Automatic reminders and meeting confirmation
- Integrated scheduling and preferred time polling for group meetings
- Reporting features to gain more insight into your meeting and the attendees
- Its API allows for custom integrations
Doodle
Here are some of Doodle’s full functionalities:
- Calendar sync with iCal, Microsoft 365, and Google Calendar
- Supports collaborative scheduling
- It can also detect time zones and adjust accordingly
- Features multiple calendars which can be adjusted based on business needs
- Automatic reminders and the Doodle dashboard allows you to update guests
Pricing
This is how Calendly and Doodle are different in terms of pricing.
Calendly
Calendly has five pricing plans: Basic, Essentials, Professional, Teams, and Essential. Here’s a breakdown of each pricing plan.
Basic
The Basic plan is free and comes with the following features:
- Integrations with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Intercom, and GoToMeeting
- Personalized Calendly link
- Calendar connection and integrations with Google Calendar, Office 365, iCalendar, etc
- Meeting polls to determine group availability
- Automatic notifications
- One active event type for several one-on-one meetings
Essentials
The Essentials plan costs $8 per month and comes with the following:
- Group event scheduling
- Reporting and metrics
- Two calendar connections
- Personalized meeting reminder mails
- Unlimited event types
Professional
The Professional plan costs $12 per month with the following additional features:
- Six calendar connections
- Integrations with PayPal, Stripe, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Hubspot, etc
- Customized confirmation page
- Personalized reminder and notification Workflows
- Collective event scheduling
Teams
The Teams subscription is $16 per month, and you get the following:
- Integration with Salesforce
- Round-robin event scheduling
- Allows you to be an admin for event types
Enterprise
The Enterprise plan has custom pricing and is suitable for larger businesses that require advanced support, control, and security. In addition to the features on Teams, here are other things you can find in this plan:
- Adoption and outcome guidance
- SCIM and SAML (SSO) provisioning
- Calendly account partner
- Onboarding and implementation support
Doodle
Doodle has four pricing plans: Free, Pro, Team, and Enterprise. However, you should note that Doodle features monthly rates with annual billing. Here’s a breakdown of the different subscription plans.
Free
The Free plan is ideal for individuals who want simple scheduling features. The plan has one booking page and unlimited group polls.
Pro
The Pro plan is $6.95 per month, and here’s what you get:
- One user
- Calendar syncing and integrations
- No ads
- One-on-one meeting scheduling
- Customized scheduling URLs
Team
The Team plan is an upgrade of the Pro plan, featuring tools to handle multiple user accounts, including permissions and access.
Enterprise
As expected, the Enterprise plan is custom pricing and is suitable for businesses with over 20 users. Plus, you can find the following on this plan:
- Onboarding and user training
- Custom billing and terms
- Guaranteed response times
- A custom success manager
Target Audience
Another way to measure Calendly vs. Doodle is to check out their target audience and who’ll benefit the most from each scheduling app.
Calendly
The best part about Calendly is that you can do so much with just its free plan, and unless you need additional integrations and features, you don’t need to upgrade. Doodle, on the other, doesn’t feature as many functionalities on its free plan.
Also, if you’re hosting large webinars, then Calendly should be your go-to software. For one, it allows you to receive payments via invitations. The reporting feature also helps to track metrics and gain better insights that you can use to plan your next event.
Calendly is also great for people with tight schedules or limited time to book meetings. You only need to indicate your available meeting time and let the app do the rest. On top of that, this scheduling software is ideal if you’ll be meeting several clients regularly, as you can set many appointments in a day.
Plus, while Calendly isn’t as old as Doodle, it has surpassed the latter regarding additional features. The former has more integrations and options than Doodle, and its API lets you create custom integrations.
Doodle
While Calendly allows you to set up meetings with individual clients, Doodle is more tilted toward larger gatherings. You need a Pro account to access the software’s one-on-one meeting functionality.
This app encourages group meetings, allowing team members to pick a preferred time slot through a poll. Essentially, Doodle is a shared calendar software, so it might not be helpful if you already have a shared calendar with your team.
Furthermore, bigger organizations might want to jump on Doodle’s Enterprise subscription plan to enjoy its onboarding and training sessions. And while the software is a global product, it might appeal more to European businesses because its headquarters is in Swiss.
Finally, if you’re an Outlook user, Doodle will help you schedule meetings directly from your inbox. Then, you can also take advantage of the Doodle bot on Slack for better communication with your staff or team.
Advantages
Let’s also compare the advantages of Calendly vs. Doodle.
Calendly
At the top of Calendly’s benefits are its superb integration options with other tools like Google, Outlook, and Office 365. It also includes new events and client meetings in your calendar and prevents double booking or overlapping meetings.
Moreover, Calendly has a modern interface and is easy to use. The software is also compatible with iOs and Android, and it’s available in different versions, so you’ll always find one that suits your needs.
Doodle
Like Calendly, Doodle has an easy interface and decent integrations, and it helps you save time. In addition to that, you can customize your polls and collect information from all your clients or team members easily.
You can also create a custom subdomain as well as a brand design with Doodle. Plus, it uses SSL encryption for increased security.
Disadvantages
Calendly and Doodle have their drawbacks, some of which are outlined below.
Calendly
Here are some disadvantages of Calendly:
- Its free version only allows one calendar connection
- It doesn’t store customer history
- It doesn’t feature analytics
Doodle
Doodle has the following drawbacks:
- No one-on-one meeting on its free version
- Basic user interface
- It can’t track too many details at the same time
- It doesn’t keep customer records
Conclusion
So, which is better: Calendly or Doodle? It all depends on your scheduling needs and how each software meets them. It’d be great to check out each app’s best features, native integrations, pricing plans, and pros and cons.
Backed with this information, you can choose your preferred scheduling tool.
