Online businesses and all businesses in general have become more and more aware of the importance of having good software to provide flawless services for their customers. One of the more important services that a business can offer to clients online is an Online Appointment Scheduling System. These allow customers to make appointments and bookings on the go, whether it be through mobile or desktop, or on another device.
Of all the software that provides such services, Calendly and Doodle take the two top spots. In this article created by our team at Amelia, will take a look at the overall capabilities of Calendly and Doodle and figure out which one is better for everyday use and better for online businesses.Keep reading for our in-depth comparison.
About Calendly and Doodle
Calendly is a very simple and intuitive system that allows you to schedule meetings and book appointments on the go. Say goodbye to making appointments over the phone; let Calendly do it for you. Simply tell Calendly your appointment preferences and when you are available, and within a minute, you will have your appointment ready. What is more, if you are a business owner, Calendly is perfect for allowing your customers to make a schedule or appointments themselves anywhere and anytime, very quickly.
Doodle is another popular appointment scheduling software.Doodle is used by 20 million people every month to create appointments and set up meetings with their colleagues all over the world. With Doodle, you can set up business meetings, or simply arrange a meeting date with your friends or colleagues. The intuitive interface allows everyone to coordinate very easily, making finding the right date and time incredibly easy.Planning meetings and appointments has never been easier than it is with Doodle.
Both of these tools work in a similar way, although there are some differences between the two. They are both regarded as Meeting Scheduling tools, but they each have their own pros and cons.
What are the Features of the Two?
Doodle’s best features include:
- Allowing for groups to get together more easily, as you are able to see who is missing and who is appointed
- Making it easy to avoid conflicting bookings, as the system automatically makes sure you don’t double-book
- Allowing for easy sync with your personal calendar, as you can incorporate the appointments from Doodle to your calendar
Calendly, on the other hand, is more business-orientated, but it has some very useful features, such as:
- Saving you plenty of time, as Calendly makes bookings in a matter of minutes
- Allowing for more client interactions, which results in higher profits
- Making you more easily reachable for your clients, which allows for better relationships
Who are They Made For?
Calendly is for people who like to dive deep into the latest technology and want to incorporate it into their businesses. The best way to use Calendly is to simply share your Calendly schedule with your clients.Then, your clients can see what times you are available and when they can meet you. That is the very reason why Calendly is perfect for people who have tight and busy schedules, and for people who don’t have much time to book their meetings, as it can save plenty of time.
It is also perfect if you are meeting a lot of clients on a regular basis, as you can easily control your schedule with Calendly, and see when you have appointments. It allows for better control over your own schedule and the schedules of your clients, while also saving you time and the effort of remembering all your appointments.
Doodle can also help with business meetings, but it is a bit more casual and orientated towards people who are looking to schedule group meetings and to make work schedules. Doodle conducts polls which allow everyone in the group to say what times they are free. If you have ever tried to plan a get-together with a large group of people, then you understand how helpful Doodle’s polls can be.
Doodle is also very useful for scheduling staff meetings and things like that. It has some very good capabilities, but it doesn’t have much purpose if you and your colleagues already have a shared calendar, as Doodle is technically a shared calendar software.
Of course, Doodle is not only for group meetings. If you have some individual clients, Doodle can help you set up meetings with them very easily. So, you can see that Doodle is bifunctional.
How do They Work?
Let’s compare Calendly vs Doodle in terms of the flow of appointments.
With Calendly, making appointments is quite easy. You click on the appointment link,then select the type of appointment you want to make, select the date, then enter your contact information. Lastly, the system will notify your client or appointee using an e-mail.
Doodle works similarly, but there are some specifics that we should get into.With Doodle, you can send invites to meetings by proposing the date and time of the meeting, as well as giving other meeting details such as duration, location, etc.If you don‘t have a specific date chosen yet, you can select multiple dates and let the client pick the date that best works for them out of the ones you chose. You can easily create group meetings as well as individual appointments with Doodle.
What About the Prices?
Now, we will compare Calendly vs Doodle in terms of pricing.
Calendly
Calendly is free for individual users to access its basic version. If you are a business or even a corporation, then Calendly offers you options in terms of pricing as well, which opens the door for more helpful features. There are three versions: Basic, Premium, and Pro.
Basic – Free
Key Features of the basic version:
- Integrations into your calendar with Google Calendar, Office 365, Outlook, and iCloud
- Unlimited event schedules
- 1 event type
- Personalized Calendly link
- Event notifications that are automated
- E-mail support
- Knowledgebase access
Premium – $10/user per month ($8 per user per month if you choose annual billing)
- Everything that the Basic version has
- Unlimited event types
- Removable Calendly branding
- Pooled availability options
- Group events
- Customizable email notifications
- Metrics and reporting
- You can add links to event confirmation pages
- Email support
Pro – $15/user per month ($12 per user per month if you choose annual billing)
- All features from the Premium version
- Integrations with Salesforce, Stripe, and PayPal
Doodle
Doodle is free as a basic version for individual usage, but it also has private and business versions.
Free version – one user
- Easy scheduling
- Connection with your calendar
Private version – €29 ($32.15)/year (one basic and one premium user)
- Easy scheduling
- Connection with your calendar
- Automatic reminders
- See who is missing
- Additional information request
- SSL encryption
- Free of ads
Business version – €49 ($54.31)/year
- All private features
- Custom design
- Custom subdomain
- User management
What are the Benefits of Both?
Let’s compare the benefits of Calendly vs Doodle.
The best benefit of Calendly is that it offers great integration options, good usability, mobile support, and more. When it comes to integrations, Calendly is great as it allows for integrations with Office 365, Google, and Outlook. It automatically adds new events to your calendar, and it prevents events from overlapping or doubling.
It is also simple to use, and offers a smooth experience with its modern interface. Calendly offers different versions, so there is something for everyone, based on your needs. Also, Calendly works great on all devices. You can use it anywhere and anytime.
Doodle, on the other hand, has some very good benefits as well. It allows for easy use, and it can save you a lot of time. You can customize the design of the polls and gather information from all your clients or group members super easily. You can completely brand your design, and create a custom subdomain. It is very secure, as it integrates SSL encryption. It is also very versatile, as it can be used for both private and business affairs.
Drawbacks of Both
Calendly vs Doodle in terms of drawbacks.
Calendly:
- It’s not available on Android or IOS, which limits its usability
- Doesn’t store customer history
- No analytics included
- The free version offers only one calendar connection
Doodle:
- If there are many details to keep track of, it can be hard to manage
- You can’t store frequently-used emails
- Basic user interface
- No customer records are kept
Ending thoughts on Calendly vs Doodle
So what is the final verdict in the comparison between Calendly vs Doodle? We can all agree that having a good scheduling platform is essential for saving time with appointments and making the most out of them.
It is no doubt that both Calendly and Doodle can do the job more than adequately. However, if you are looking for an alternative for them, a better option that offers better appointment scheduling and more useful options is Amelia. It is an appointment scheduling plugin for WordPress that does a better job both than Calendly or Doodle.
Amelia is a highly-functional plugin that is perfect for enterprises and chains. It is very simple to use, and it offers mobile integration, allowing use on the go. What is more, it offers custom booking forms, and a responsive calendar with filters (day, months, year, and view filters). Also, it offers a shortcode to embed the plugin much easier to your site.
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