Doodle and Calendly are two meeting scheduling tools widely used by freelancers, teams, and companies. If you need help figuring out which one to use, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ll discuss what you can expect from each app in terms of pricing and features. We will also talk about their differences, and offer a third and better alternative if none of them convince you, and that’s Cronos.
Doodle
Doodle is one of the most widely used scheduling tools for online meetings. Its strength lies in the simplicity of its platform, which makes it accessible to all users, including those who have never used such applications.
Initially, Doodle was focused on streamlining the scheduling of meetings between friends and small groups of people to make the organization of outings much more manageable. It was later when the app evolved to be used by companies as well.
Another interesting aspect of Doodle is that it has a function for users who are not registered with the tool, which allows them to get to know it a little better before signing up for its free plan and, later on, purchasing a paid subscription.
Features
To better understand why Doodle is so well known and useful to users, we will highlight three of its key features.
Easy to use
Preparing a mini-survey is a matter of minutes. Just choose a title, description, date and time options, and send the link to the attendees. They can vote for the options that suit them best, and you can see the results in real time.
100% cloud based, no installation required
You can send the invitation or proposal by Whatsapp, Facebook, email, or any other means you prefer. Attendees only have to click on the link and access the Doodle website, where they can view the survey and vote. There’s no need to register or download anything.
Integration with Google Calendar
Doodle can synchronize your availability with your Google calendar, so you don’t have to manually enter your appointments or events. This way, you can avoid conflicts or double bookings, and optimize your time.
Pricing
Doodle offers four subscriptions for all users. Except for the first one, which is completely free, the others can be purchased on a monthly or annual basis, which has a discount of up to 55%.
Free
It’s a plan dedicated to people who want to start planning their meetings easily and quickly. It’s completely free, and allows unlimited 1 to 1 meetings and automatic synchronization with Google calendar.
Although it’s a plan adjusted to the personal needs of each staff, freelancers who don’t need a very advanced app can also use it without any problem.
Pro
Doodle’s first paid plan is priced at $14.95 per user on a monthly billing basis ($179,4 annually), and $6.95 per month on an annual basis for a yearly amount of $83.4. Unlike the previous one, this subscription is tailored to the needs of professionals who require an automated solution.
Along with the features of the previous plan, this subscription offers new ones such as an ad-free platform, unlimited email invitations, integration with video calling services such as Webex and Microsoft Teams, and more.
Team
This third Doodle plan is a good fit for teams that require a streamlined system to increase productivity and collaboration. It’s priced at $19.95 for recurring monthly payments, and just $8.95 per month for a one-time annual payment ($107.4 per year). Among the new features of this subscription are:
- Administrator console
- User roles and permissions
- Reservation by proxy
- Collective event planning.
Enterprise
This is the tool’s most advanced plan, designed especially for companies and teams looking for a customized and sophisticated platform that gives them more control when scheduling meetings.
It doesn’t have a standard price, as each interested organization should contact Doodle’s sales team to establish an agreement tailored to their needs. This plan includes features such as:
- Priority support
- Onboarding and training
- Single sign-on
Calendly
Another software for scheduling appointments on the Internet is Calendly. It’s a service focused from the beginning on optimizing the scheduling of meetings in companies and work teams, as well as streamlining the process for freelancers as well.
Calendly is designed for professional use through features such as appointment scheduling, integrations with video call services, payment gateways and more, making the app a flexible and adaptable environment.
Features
As with other tools of its kind like Microsoft Bookings or YouCanBookMe, Calendly stands out for offering a number of interesting features that allow people and organizations to use it efficiently. Here are three of them.
Ease of use
Calendly has a simple and user-friendly interface that allows you to create and share events in just a few steps. You don’t need to register or download anything to use it. Just connect your calendar and choose your availability.
Customization
Calendly allows you to customize your events according to your needs and preferences. You can pick the duration, number of guests, interval between appointments, confirmation questions, reminders, and much more.
You can also create different types of events for different services or purposes.
Collaboration
Calendly allows you to work in teams with other people and coordinate your schedules. You can invite other users to your events, assign roles and permissions, view activity history, and create reports.
You can also integrate Calendly with other collaboration tools such as Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, and Mailchimp.
Pricing
Calendly has a pricing scheme similar to Doodle, offering four subscriptions where the first one is completely free and the other three accept monthly and annual payment modalities.
Let’s take a look at the features of each plan.
Free
Calendly’s first plan is completely free, and offers some interesting features for people who want to start optimizing the scheduling of appointments in their business or project.
With this plan, users will be able to make unlimited meetings for one type of event, sync meetings to Google Calendar, customize the link and booking page, integrate Calendly with other platforms and more.
Standard
It’s Calendly’s first paid subscription. To use it, each user must pay $10 per month, or the equivalent of $8 per month in a single annual fee ($96). This plan offers more advanced features than the previous one and adapts to more complex work dynamics. Among its new features are:
- Unlimited private events
- Connection with several calendars per user
- Direct chat support
- Group events
- Metrics tracking
Teams
The tool’s third subscription is priced at $16 per user for annual billing ($192 annually) and $20 for recurring monthly payments. It’s a plan prepared for medium to large work teams that need a more advanced service.
With this plan, people will be able to use SalesForce to transfer data to the CRM, do rotating events, direct prospects to HubSpot, Marketo or Pardeto forms, offer single sign-on, and more.
Enterprise
It’s Calendly’s most advanced plan, and is dedicated to organizations that require a service dedicated to their needs and processes in various locations around the world. The new features of this plan are:
- Assignment path by SalesForce
- Domain control
- Legal and security reviews
- Integration and implementation
- Telephone support
Each interested organization should contact Calendly directly to negotiate a customized price and service.
Doodle Vs Calendly: the main differences
Now that we know the features and pricing systems of Calendly and Doodle, it’s time to compare specific aspects of both tools to see which one might be better. This way, you can evaluate them for a possible purchase.
Interface
The main feature of Doodle is the simplicity of its interface, as the tool was originally intended for casual use by people who were not used to professional environments.
Calendly, on the other hand, presents a more complex design with the different functions included in the software. Although people can master it over time, its learning curve is greater than that of Doodle.
Pricing
Both apps have a pricing scheme of 4 subscriptions, where the first one is completely free, and the last plan is customized and adjusted to the needs of the organizations.
As for Doodle, people start to have access to the paid functions from $6.95 onwards. Calendly users, on the other hand, will be able to use these features starting at $8.00.
Functions
Doodle’s functions are more limited than Calendly’s as the tool doesn’t take into account various marketing functions such as customer routing and information gathering, focusing mostly on facilitating the process of scheduling appointments.
Calendly, on the other hand, is a more complete platform for high-level work processes, as it includes several functions in areas such as roles and permissions, prospect routing, business support, and more.
Which one is better?
People who want a more casual and simple service will get it with Doodle, which is designed to solve basic and intermediate meeting scheduling needs among groups of friends, work teams and small organizations.
On the other hand, work teams and organizations looking for a professional experience and needing a complete space for their daily activities will find in Calendly an option that is better suited to their needs and that is capable of exceeding them completely.
A better alternative for scheduling meetings: meet Cronos
Doodle and Calendly are two good applications for scheduling online meetings, but if you want something different without sacrificing quality, Cronos will be a better option for you. Get to know this tool now.
Features
With this tool, you can create events according to your needs and schedule availability. Each event can be shared with a customized link on social networks, websites, email, messaging applications, and other media.
Each person with the link can schedule an appointment with you according to the availability you have defined. Each new appointment will automatically sync to your Google Calendar account, from where you can add other details and add a Google Meet video call.
The Cronos interface is minimalist and simple. The application is made so that everyone can use it without problems and know what to do at any time and place.
Pricing
Unlike other tools of its kind, Cronos is completely free. All its functions will be available from the start for everyone as soon as they register.
Conclusion
If you want a casual and simple experience when scheduling meetings, Doodle is the best option for you. On the other hand, if you want something more professional and optimized, choose Calendly. Either way, depending on what you want, both applications will be useful.
A third alternative between Doodle and Calendly is Cronos, as it brings together the best of both worlds. A simple and user-friendly interface with a simple and effective meeting scheduling process supported by synchronization with Google Calendar.
