At a glance
Quick comparison
| Tool | Replaces Calendly? | AI's actual role | Free plan | Cheapest with AI | Main gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calendly (keep)Meeting scheduling at scale, Salesforce/Marketo users | You are here | Callie + Notetaker are paid add-ons | — | Standard $10/seat/mo (annual) | Free tier: 1 event type, 1 calendar |
| MotionPeople who want AI to run their whole workday, not just booking | Partially replaces | AI-native | No | $19/seat/mo (Pro AI, monthly billing) — no free plan, trial only | No free plan at all |
| Reclaim.aiDefending focus time against meeting sprawl | Partially replaces | AI-native | Yes | Free — Lite includes 5 AI agents (1 scheduling link, 1-week window) | External booking pages, payment collection and routing are thinner than Calendly's ecosystem |
| Cal.comUnlimited event types for $0, self-hosters, API-first teams | Replaces it within scopeScope: Scheduling infrastructure: event types, booking pages, round-robin, workflows and routing forms | AI added on | Yes | AI (Cal.ai) is a separate product; core scheduling is free — Teams $12/user/mo annual | License homework required: AGPLv3 heritage with a commercial-license track, and the community self-host edition (Cal.diy) moved to closed-source development in v6.4 |
| Acuity SchedulingService businesses taking payments (salons, consultants, clinics) | Replaces it within scopeScope: Service-business appointment booking: payments, intake forms, memberships and staff calendars | AI added on | No | $49/mo flat (Premium, annual billing) for the AI booking assistant — AI only on Premium | Not a general meeting-scheduling platform — built for paid appointments |
Cost to run your team
What each option costs per month
Listed annual-billing prices from each vendor's pricing page, multiplied out for your team size. Flat workspace plans stay flat until their seat cap; per-seat plans grow with every user.
Calendlytoday
Standard · $10/seat
$50/moAI is a paid add-onReclaim.ai
Starter · $10/seat
$50/moAI includedCal.com
Teams · $12/seat
$60/moAI sold separatelyAcuity Scheduling
Standard · flat $27
$27/moAI on top tier only
Annual-billing prices shown as a monthly figure; month-to-month plans cost more. Taxes, add-ons beyond those named, usage overages and promotions are excluded. Not plotted: Motion — Only monthly-billing prices are published; the annual price is not shown.
Switch
The candidates, honestly
Motion
AI toolAI-native
- Best for
- People who want AI to run their whole workday, not just booking
- Pricing
- Pro AI $19/seat/mo, Business AI $29/seat/mo (monthly-billing prices; annual billing saves 33%, exact annual prices not shown); AI credits 7,500 / 15,000 per seat per month
- Free tier
- None (free trial only)
- What the AI actually does
- Native: AI calendar, task planning, projects, docs and an AI assistant — scheduling is one feature inside an AI work manager
Main gaps
- No free plan at all
- No Calendly import path — event types and availability are rebuilt manually
- Payment-collecting booking pages are not its focus (capability unverified)
Unverified — flagged
- Exact annual-billing prices
- Payment collection for bookings
Migration path & what you lose
No importer. Practical route: connect both tools to the same Google/Outlook calendar so booked events flow through, then recreate event types by hand.
- Automations and shared links do not carry over
1 official source · evidence: public-info-reviewed
- source — Pro AI $19/seat/mo and Business AI $29/seat/mo shown; 'Pay annually (Save 33%)' toggle with no separate annual prices; no free plan, trial only (checked 2026-10-02)
Reclaim.ai
AI toolAI-native
- Best for
- Defending focus time against meeting sprawl
- Pricing
- Lite free; Starter $10/seat/mo (annual, $12 monthly); Business $15/$18 (up to 100 seats); Enterprise $22 (annual only). Official switching discount: 20% for 6 months when moving from Calendly, Clockwise or Motion
- Free tier
- Lite: free forever, 5 AI agents, 1 user team, 1-week scheduling range, 1 calendar sync, 1 scheduling link
- What the AI actually does
- Native adaptive scheduling: focus time, habits, buffer time, smart meetings and meeting-quality agents on every plan including free
Main gaps
- External booking pages, payment collection and routing are thinner than Calendly's ecosystem
- Free tier's single link and 1-week window limit real use
Migration path & what you lose
No automated import found; scheduling links are recreated manually and shared URLs updated. Teams of 10+ get vendor-assisted migration plus the switching discount.
- Existing booking links change
2 official sources · evidence: public-info-reviewed
- source — Lite free (5 AI agents, 1 link, 1-week range); Starter $10/$12; Business $15/$18; Enterprise $22 annual-only; all plans include smart scheduling features (checked 2026-10-02)
- source — Official page: 20% discount for 6 months when switching from Clockwise, Motion or Calendly; migration assistance for teams of 10+ (checked 2026-10-02)
Cal.com
AI toolAI added onAGPLv3 license
Replacement scope: Scheduling infrastructure: event types, booking pages, round-robin, workflows and routing forms
- Best for
- Unlimited event types for $0, self-hosters, API-first teams
- Pricing
- Free (1 user, unlimited event types and calendars, 1-click Calendly import); Teams $12/user/mo (annual); Organizations $28; Enterprise custom — annual-billing prices shown
- Free tier
- Free forever: 1 user, unlimited event types and calendars
- What the AI actually does
- Core scheduling is not AI; Cal.ai (AI phone agent) is priced separately and was not verified here
Main gaps
- License homework required: AGPLv3 heritage with a commercial-license track, and the community self-host edition (Cal.diy) moved to closed-source development in v6.4
- Monthly-billing prices not shown on the pricing page
- You run your own instance if self-hosting
Unverified — flagged
- Monthly-billing prices
- Cal.ai capabilities and pricing
Migration path & what you lose
Official 1-click Calendly events import, included on the free plan.
- Embedded Calendly links still need manual replacement
3 official sources · evidence: public-info-reviewed
- source — Free plan: 1 user, unlimited event types & calendars, 1-click import Calendly events; Teams $12/user/mo yearly; Organizations $28 yearly (checked 2026-10-02)
- source — License moved from MIT to AGPLv3 with a separate Enterprise/commercial edition (checked 2026-10-02)
- source — Cal.diy, the self-hostable community edition, moved from open source to closed-source development (checked 2026-10-02)
Acuity Scheduling
AI toolAI added on
Replacement scope: Service-business appointment booking: payments, intake forms, memberships and staff calendars
- Best for
- Service businesses taking payments (salons, consultants, clinics)
- Pricing
- Per account, not per seat: Starter $16/mo (annual; $20 monthly, 1 calendar); Standard $27/$34 (6 calendars); Premium $49/$61 (36 calendars, AI, HIPAA BAA); 7-day trial
- Free tier
- None (7-day free trial)
- What the AI actually does
- AI Booking Assistant chatbot for clients, Premium plan only; everything below Premium is a traditional booking system
Main gaps
- Not a general meeting-scheduling platform — built for paid appointments
- No Calendly import documented on the pricing page
- AI sits behind the top tier
Unverified — flagged
- Official Calendly import path
Migration path & what you lose
No documented Calendly import; appointments and intake forms are recreated manually (migration path unverified).
- Booking history does not transfer automatically
1 official source · evidence: public-info-reviewed
- source — Starter $20/mo monthly ($16 annual); Standard $34/$27; Premium $61/$49 with AI Booking Assistant and HIPAA BAA; unlimited services and appointments on all plans; payments via Stripe/Square/PayPal/Venmo (checked 2026-10-02)
Keep
When you should keep paying for Calendly
- Your booking links are embedded in email signatures, websites and wikis — every one needs updating after a switch, and that is the real switching cost.
- Teams and above carry the deepest Salesforce/Marketo automation in this comparison.
- Calendly's brand recognition means clients recognize and trust the booking page.
Before you switch
Switching boundaries
- No candidate imports Calendly event types automatically except Cal.com (1-click import on its free plan); Reclaim, Motion and Acuity require manual recreation.
- All embedded and shared Calendly URLs must be replaced after switching.
- Reclaim rebuilds scheduling links manually; teams of 10+ get migration assistance from the vendor.
- Motion has no import path — shared Google/Outlook calendars sync indirectly and event types are recreated by hand.
Rebuild
Rebuild it yourself instead?
A personal booking page that reads one calendar and emails confirmations is a weekend project. Calendly earns its fee on the unglamorous edges: OAuth tokens for Google and Outlook that never silently expire, timezone math, round-robin routing, and reminders that actually send.
Evidence
Evidence & method
Every candidate fact on this page is checked against the linked official pricing or help page (checked 2026-10-02). Evidence level is public-info-reviewed: we read official pages, we did not run hands-on tests, and vendor marketing claims are labeled as such. Unknowns are written as unknowns.
Fact checked against an official pageOpen question, flagged on the page
- Motion1 · 2?
- Reclaim.ai2 · 0?
- Cal.com3 · 2?
- Acuity Scheduling1 · 1?
FAQ
Questions people ask before switching
What is the best free Calendly alternative?
For pure scheduling capacity, Cal.com's free plan (1 user, unlimited event types and calendars, 1-click Calendly import) beats Calendly Free's single event type. For AI, Reclaim's free plan includes 5 AI agents, 1 scheduling link and a 1-week scheduling window.
Is there an open-source Calendly?
Cal.com is self-hostable with an AGPLv3 heritage license — but note its community self-host edition (Cal.diy) moved to closed-source development in v6.4, and commercial licensing is separate. Read the license terms before self-hosting for a business.
What are Calendly alternatives without AI?
Cal.com's core scheduling is not AI-dependent, and Acuity Starter/Standard have no AI (the booking chatbot is Premium-only). Not every switch needs an AI angle.
Is anything cheaper than Calendly?
For teams, yes by structure: Acuity charges per account ($27/mo Standard, 6 calendars) while Calendly Teams charges $16/seat/month — a 5-person team pays $80/month on Calendly. Reclaim undercuts per seat at $15 (Business, annual).
Can I import from Calendly?
Cal.com offers a 1-click Calendly events import on its free plan. Reclaim, Motion and Acuity have no automated import — expect manual link and event-type recreation. Reclaim offers a 20% switching discount for 6 months to Calendly users.
Does Calendly have AI?
Yes, but as a paid add-on: Callie (email scheduling assistant, beta) and Notetaker ride on 'Standard Plus'/'Teams Plus' tiers, English-only. Base Standard does not include them. Checked on Calendly's official pricing page, Oct 2, 2026.
What does 'AI scheduling' actually mean here?
Two different things, often conflated: AI-assisted booking (chatbots, email assistants that book meetings) and calendar-defense AI (Reclaim/Motion rearranging your time blocks around meetings and tasks). Calendly is mostly neither — it is a booking page; its AI add-on nudges toward the first kind.