June 25, 2024
Time management is unarguably the most important factor for the success of any business. As a business grows, the only way to align customer expectations with hefty calendars is to schedule your appointments well. Scheduling appointments with clients, managing client bookings, appointment cancellations, and alterations, Manually? NO CHANCE!
In the digital age, booking appointments manually is a big ‘NO’ in the business world. The efficient use of the appointment booking tools doesn't just make appointment management 10x simpler but also helps in business expansion, economizing time and money, strengthening the customer base, and generating more revenues.
To effectively harness the benefits of these tools, it's crucial to integrate robust time management strategies into your business operations. These strategies encompass not just scheduling and prioritization, but also the delegation of tasks and the efficient use of digital tools to streamline workflows. By adopting time management strategies, businesses can optimize their processes, reduce operational inefficiencies, and create more time for strategic initiatives. This leads to not only better client satisfaction but also a significant increase in overall productivity and profitability.
A Good appointment scheduling app is:
● Simple and flexible to us
● Syncs with the calendar
● Has multiple integrated payment options
● Provides personalised experience
Top 20 appointment scheduling software
Appointo is one of the most intelligent and comprehensive appointment scheduling applications used by fast-growing business units. It allows businesses of all sizes to integrate appointment booking with their website without a single line of code. Appointo supports all No-code platforms like WordPress, Webflow; You name it, Appointo Does it!
Features:
● Timely reminders and marketing alerts to avoid no-shows
● Custom booking rules; setting a max limit on events per day, duration, buffer time between events, etc.
● Schedule Group Appointments for webinars, workshops, etc.
● Bulk booking; Allows booking for multiple days at once.
● 2-way calendar integration
● Appoint allocation to team based on availability
● Automated Zoom Integration
● Multi-Language support
Acuity scheduling tops the list as it is said to have achieved a 96% rating for customer satisfaction. With a customised scheduling page, it allows your clients to view real-time availability and self-reserve an appointment. So, no more asking, what time works for you?!
Features:
● 7-day free trial,
● 24/7 assistance
● Capable of timezones adjustments, suitable for the user
● Merges with multiple payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe
● Effortlessly schedules business dealings in multiple locations simultaneously
● Generates SMS and email reminders to avoid no-shows
Acuity Scheduling is one of the most commonly used tools by single entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized business firms.
Doodle is one of the most popular online scheduling apps for android users that simplifies the whole idea of meetings. It allows you to skip the email guessing game and brings the right people together, at the right time, in two seamless steps.
Features:
● Schedule appointments over any calendar platform
● A single link in the booking page can schedule multiple meetings
● Streamline 1 to 1 meeting
● Finds the best time for meeting from the schedule
● The paid version removes ads during polling
● Assimilates information from the meeting attendees
● Can create deadlines for the polls
Doodle can also be integrated with other apps like Mailchimp, Trello or Slack through Zapier. For integrating with more advanced software, Doodle API is used.
YouCanBook.me is predominantly used by Freelancers and small business holders to eliminate the back and forth emails, to allow clients to directly pick the time of their convenience from the calendar and freeze it for themselves. It’s more popular because of its free features, the attribute of integrating with multiple calendars and the self-booking service.
Features:
● Automated reminders to avoid no-shows
● Manage team availability from multiple locations
● Automatically generate links for zoom/ GMeet meetings
● Automated integration with Zapier for bookings
● Customisable booking page
● The tool can book more than 1000 appointments per day
● Display real-time bookings on the business website or social media page.
Moreover, the charges of Youcanbook are exceptionally low. It starts as low as $10 per calendar/month and hence, happens to be everyone’s favourite.
EngageWare is an AI-enabled appointment scheduling platform that provides personalized attention to customer needs. The software schedules appointments automatically based on members’ inputs on availability, location, time, topic etc. It intelligently creates high-value customer engagement, thereby facilitating business growth.
Features:
● User-friendly omnichannel scheduling
● Efficient management of scheduled and walk-in appointments
● Reliable and resourceful dashboard
● Routes unique customer requests to the right team member for fulfilment
Engageware has no free version but extends a free trial and its subscription starts from $78 per year.
Calendly is the ideal option for scheduling meetings without the exchange of a zillion emails. It professionally and efficiently schedules appointments for one-to-one meetings, group, collective and round-robin meetings, thereby dumping all the in-between hassles.
Features:
● Automated pre-meeting reminder notifications
● Automated post-meeting thank you notes
● Simple, few steps appointment scheduling
● Integrates with Outlook, Office 365 and Google Calendar
● Reliable and informative metrics and reports
● Set up team pages to organise and manage team events
10to8 is beyond an appointment scheduling tool. Apart from scheduling appointments in ways that bring down your no-show rates and raise your productivity, it is also a powerful marketing tool. With over 100,000 businesses trusting 10to8 in making them entirely virtual, it has to be considered as one of the most viable options to adopt and invest in for appointment scheduling and more.
Features:
● 24*7 Appointment Scheduling over multiple channels
● Email and Sms reminders
● 1500+ app integrations
● Compatible with Android and iPhone web app
● Scheduling through social media platforms
● End-to-end calendar-synced
Its features facilitate unhindered communication between you and your clients, credits to its rota management process that effectively prevents schedule conflicts and always ensures member availability.
Rated 9.2/10 by Blueprint, SetMore does everything from appointment scheduling to secured payment processing and it does it all so proficiently. With SetMore you can focus on delivering better services and creating more memorable customer experiences while the rest is taken care of. Their seamless automation does all the leg work for you, so you have your business running like clockwork.
Features:
● Automation of personal and group meetings
● Promotional perks: Website plugin, Display of customer testimonials, etc.
● Social media integration,
● Access to QR codes
● Automated booking confirmations, email and text reminders
● Calendar access anytime, anywhere; on android and iOS apps
● 24*7 support from Setmore
Wix Bookings facilitates customers in booking appointments seamlessly from the website. It allows you to create your website from 500+ template designs and also lets you streamline your business schedule with its all-in-one booking platform.
Features:
● Online booking and payment for the appointment
● Virtual sessions with clients over Zoom
● Calendar syncing as per clients and staff availability
● Actionable Analytical reports
● Use the Wix app from any device
● SMS and email reminders and confirmations
● Custom booking forms; waitlist option and more.
Whether it's a clinical appointment, educational courses, workshops, salon bookings, or anything under the sun, Wix Bookings have your back.
It is one of the most comprehensive, extensively instrumental tools for converting your inbound leads into clients. With its exciting chatbot, live chat, simplified form submission and quick scheduling features, Schedule Once helps you to capture, qualify and engage with inbound leads in minutes.
Features:
● Multiple Meeting Scenarios; Quick Call(15min), Intro session(30min), Detailed Discussion (60mins)
● Workload management with Daily, weekly meeting limits, automated buffer time reservation, etc.
● Escalate clients to the right team member for maximum efficiency
● A plethora of third-party integrations for payments, video conferencing, CRM, calendars, workload and chromium extensions
● Facilitates Innovative branding and customisation
Apt for international businesses, SimplyBook.me enables appointment scheduling in 9 different languages to facilitate global presence. Its dynamic and robust booking management solution offers over 60 different features for all sizes of businesses and industry types.
Features:
● Online booking 24*7
● Tailored reminders to avoid a no-show
● Sync online booking schedule with personal calendar
● Integrate with google business to reserve google services
● Facilitate Facebook and Instagram bookings
● Creates waitlist in situations of overbooking
● Customised intake form for compilation of client information
● POS system authorises printed invoices and receives onsite cash and credit card payments.
MindBody is one of the pioneering business management software specially designed for beauty and wellness businesses. It lists your business and allows people to find and book appointments with you. Also, be it gym membership, beauty appointments, workout classes or other wellness services, MindBody’s cool toolset for marketing can smoothly accelerate your business growth.
Features:
● Round the clock appointment booking
● Automated booking notifications and reminders
● Reliable activity dashboard
● Calendar sync and management
● Client portal and database management
● API sync with multiple third-party applications
Owned by MindBody, Booker is centred around the management of spa and salon businesses. It's a trusted platform that takes care of your bookings, payments, appointment management and marketing, so you can focus on your customers. It is relatively expensive software, more suitable for medium to large businesses.
Features:
● Book appointments round the clock over
● Book through social media and mobiles & Tablets
● Integration of booking pages to an existing website
● Calendar Sync and management
● Automated reminders to minimise no-shows
● Allows multiple mediums for payments
● Attracts new prospects on partner sites
● BI dashboard provides actionable insights
Bookafy specialises in two-way calendar syncing and performs its appointment scheduling in 30 different languages. It is used by 180 countries and is trusted by over 25000+ businesses all over the world for appointment scheduling and management.
Features:
● Unique meeting link generated for each appointment booked
● Bookings for one-on-one meetings, group meetings, recurring meetings and more
● Accept and manage payments at booking
● Set meeting buffer time and Lead time before an appointment
● Automated reminders and customised email notifications
● Available as a WordPress plugin
● Allows integration with any website.
Vcita is primarily a self-service appointment scheduling platform. However, over time it has also evolved as a powerful platform for client engagement and real-time business management. Through its portal, users can easily schedule, reschedule, pay or cancel their appointments as per their needs.
Features:
● List services and book appointments round the clock from the Vcita landing page
● Zoom integration
● Leads attracting widgets
● Automated Email & SMS reminders and confirmations
● Synced calendars to allow allocation of appointments to staff
● Actionable analytics
It is a cloud-based appointment scheduling platform, skillfully designed to retain customer relationships and assist small to medium-sized businesses in online appointment scheduling. Visibook’s online scheduling engine enables 2-way calendar integration to ensure that the meeting is scheduled only as per customer convenience and staff availability.
Features:
● Round the clock bookings
● Automated text and email reminders
● Accept payments and deposits at booking
● Google Calendar Sync
● Customer database management
● Stay connected to clients through Live chat
Appointy claims to be the easiest way to automate online appointment scheduling and release hours of Admin effort. It facilitates business growth for a wide range of business segments by reducing no-shows, optimising payment methods, managing staff timings and drawing in more clients.
Features:
● Online scheduling through Facebook, Website or Appointy supported booking page.
● Flexible time slot interval bookings
● Pre-define working hours
● Facilitates package service booking
● Allows recurring service booking
● Set restrictions on members allowed in a single slot.
Zenoti is a cloud-based software for online appointment scheduling serving ambitious and vibrant brands in the wellness and beauty industry. This software is used by more than 12000 businesses in over 50 countries around the world. Zenoti can manage the other aspects of your business, so you can calmly get back to what counts the most, delivering a blissful experience to your customers.
Features:
● Booking appointments from app and website
● Facilitates seamless group bookings and payments
● Centralised CRM and Cloud Infrastructure allows you to run a call centre
● Automated texts and emails for confirmations and reminders
Salonist is the no.1 cloud-based appointment management software for salons and Spas. It provides a seamless way of managing appointments and a lot more. Its toolset helps in managing billing, payrolling, client engagement and marketing. It takes care of everything while you focus on your customers only.
Features:
● Schedule, reschedule or cancel appointments anytime, anywhere
● Available on website and app
● Integrated with Facebook and Instagram
● Shows only available slots to avoid double bookings
● Fix working hours to avoid off-hour bookings
● Facilitates package booking
● Allows multiple forms of payment with integrated POS.
Appointment Reminder is a simple, reliable and customisable appointment scheduling app, most suitable for small businesses, especially health clinics. With easy scheduling and SMS reminders for all your physical and virtual meetings, it claims to reduce the risk of no-shows by 90%.
Features:
● Automated appointment reminders
● Sync calendar with booking schedule
● Customisable booking form templates
● Customisable appointment types; as per duration, service type,etc.
● Sync staff members bookings and calendars together
● Email, SMS and voice alerts
Ovatu manager is one of the most intelligent and comprehensive appointment scheduling softwares used by fast growing business units. Over 7 million people, right from education to fitness professionals have their appointments scheduled through Ovatu manager and witness growth with its bulletproof toolkit.
Features:
● Customer login to schedule, reschedule, cancel bookings, pay invoices, etc.
● Mini website with personal branding
● Booking bot to facilitate seamless bookings
● Embed booking widget to your website
● Timely reminders and marketing alerts to avoid no-shows
● Multiple compatible online payment merchants
● Reporting of accurate and actionable data
● With 60 days free trial
Shifting into online appointment scheduling platforms can become a turn-around phase for any kind of business enterprise. A thorough research is very crucial to determine the right kind of online scheduling software required for your kind of business. Although the features of the softwares might sound the same, every scheduling tool possesses some unique functionalities and all the factors should be taken into account. Ease of use, however, should be given a little extra weightage.
