Calendly alternatives are not as good

Multiple Calendly alternatives have sprung up, so I investigated them before upgrading to a paid Calendly account.

My requirements were:

1. Ability to pre-fill a field. I have a one-hour event in Calendly, but it can be used for different purposes, like an exploratory call, or a free cloud review. So I have different links like calendly.com/kartickv/video-call?a1=Explo%20call. When someone clicks the link, it gets pre-filled:

   

   That way, I know what the call is about¹.

2. Google Analytics integration² to track which page in my site people are booking from, so that I can improve my site.

3. A gap between meetings so that I can get ready for the next one.

4. Works with my Microsoft 365 calendar and with Teams video calls³.

5. No ads. I offer a high-end consulting service, and ads don’t belong here.

6. Multiple event types, like a 1-hour and a 20-minute call.

Based on these requirements, I shortlisted a few alternatives, but they’re all bad:

Microsoft Bookings: no paid events, no Google Analytics integration, no pre-filling of fields.

Zcal: no paid events, no Google Analytics integration, unresponsive support.

Tidycal: no Teams integration.

Google Calendar’s appointment scheduling: Calendly-style appointment scheduling should be a feature of every calendar app. After all, it’s just a different view into a calendar, no different from daily, weekly, monthly or agenda views. In fact, I used to make my calendar public⁴ and ask people to choose an empty slot and create an event. I thought scheduling an event in a calendar is simple, but multiple people found it hard. I had to write a Google doc explaining how to use it, with screenshots, but I still received feedback that it’s hard. All this goes to show that Calendly is just a UX improvement over a calendar, and so it should be a feature, not a product. Google did it right by integrating into Google Calendar, unlike Microsoft, which created a separate Microsoft Bookings product. Unfortunately, since I use Microsoft 365, I can’t use Google Calendar.

1. I could alternatively create multiple calls in Calendly, but will lead to close to 10 Calendly event types. Since each has like 30 settings, that would be complex for me to manage. And intimidating for users to pick between 10 event types.

2. The booking site can alternatively track the Referer field but that amounts to a worse Google Analytics.

3. I can’t use Zoom since it’s limited to 40 minutes. I could use a Calendly alternative that doesn’t support Teams and separately pay for Zoom, but I might as well pay for Calendly.

4. Not the event details, only when I’m free and when I’m busy.