As a calendar scheduling infrastructure product, Cal.com is focused on helping people do one essential thing: find the perfect time to meet. Every aspect of our product is designed with our customers in mind. We're constantly reevaluating the scheduling landscape so that we can ensure that our product stays both innovative and competitive.
We want people who use our product to recommend it to their friends because of the way it made a meaningful difference in workflow and saved time. "Why should I use Cal.com instead of Calendly?" is often one of the first things a coworker or acquaintance might ask when introduced to our product. Since we know firsthand that it can be hard to distill all your thoughts when put on the spot (especially when they're about calendar scheduling infrastructure), we've put together a nice little cheat sheet that does this for you.
With this in mind, here are five reasons to use Cal.com instead of Calendly.
1. Cal.com is open source
One of the best things about Cal.com is its open-source nature. Being open source means that anyone can collaborate with the product and be inspired by a wide range of diverse and dynamic independent developers. Our GitHub has over 20K stars, and our hustling and bustling Discord server has over a thousand members.
All of these community-based resources help ensure that Cal.com and our passionate employees always have their hand on the pulse of calendar scheduling evolution. We're not just watching the sector from the sidelines but rapidly prototyping, developing, and shipping products from the trenches.
Cal.com, unlike Calendly, offers all users access to unlimited calendar scheduling. This means users are not limited to a single calendar connection solely because they've subscribed to our basic free plan. In addition, every user can have as many active event types as they like, and each can have its own availability schedule.
Cal.com has made the choice not to arbitrarily throttle our users' calendar connections, active event types, or bookings. We've structured our business to support this because excellent calendar scheduling infrastructure is an essential resource that no one should be without.
3. With Cal.com, you can have your own virtual scheduling assistant
Cal.com has recently launched Cal.ai, a virtual scheduling assistant powered by artificial intelligence. All Cal.com users can access Cal.ai by installing the app, which can be found in the automation section of the Cal.com app store.
Cal.ai helps to reduce the stress around scheduling by providing you with a digital companion who you can text and email to get updates regarding your schedule as well as cancel and book appointments. Honestly, it's a huge time saver.
4. Automated workflows and routing forms for everyone with Cal.com
Everyone needs a reminder now and then. Luckily, Cal.com offers all of our users access to automated workflows. These workflows can be used to send everything from quick reminders before a meeting starts to follow-up emails once a meeting's over.
In addition, all Cal.com users have access to our customizable routing forms. This is a resource that helps to simplify the booking process by letting you set up a series of questions that prospective meeting attendees answer to identify which booking is best suited to their needs.
5. Cal.com helps you monetize your meetings and easily access analytics
Money isn't everything, but it is essential. That's why Cal.com is committed to ensuring all our users can access monetization options. By visiting the Cal.com app store, account holders can install payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe. Anyone who chooses to use Stripe will also have the benefit of being able to access our held payments feature, which helps protect your time and reduce unexpected no-shows. Additionally, all Cal.com users can use our app store to gain useful data-based insights by using products like Google Analytics and Plausible.
Cal.com is more than a free Calendly alternative; we're a people-first calendar scheduling product. We trust that our users know what they need, and we provide them with access to a product and platform they can customize to reflect those needs. Click the link below to start your journey with Cal.com.
