Best Scheduling Apps for Small Business

• Fabricate builds a booking app around your services, staff and hours, where clients book without an account; calendar sync and reminder texts are not built in. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.
• Calendly's free plan has one event type; Standard is $12 per seat a month billed monthly.
• Cal.com is free for one person with unlimited event types and calendars.
• Acuity Scheduling is priced by calendar, from $20 a month for 1 calendar.
• Google Calendar appointment schedules put a booking page on your own calendar.

• FabricateWe make this

  Built around

  Your services, staff and hours

  Free plan

  Build and preview

  Calendar sync

  Not built in

  Paid plans from

  $25 a month

• CalendlyScheduling links

  Built around

  One person's calendar

  Free plan

  One event type

  Calendar sync

  Calendar connections

  Paid plans from

  $12 per seat a month

• Cal.comScheduling links

  Built around

  One person's calendar

  Free plan

  Unlimited event types, one person

  Calendar sync

  Calendar connections

  Paid plans from

  $12 per user a month, billed yearly

• Acuity SchedulingAppointments

  Built around

  Appointments by calendar

  Free plan

  None; a 7-day trial

  Calendar sync

  Not part of what we read

  Paid plans from

  $20 a month

• Google CalendarCalendar

  Built around

  Your Google Calendar

  Free plan

  With a Google Account; some features paid

  Calendar sync

  It is the calendar

  Paid plans from

  A Google Workspace or Google One plan

Tool	Built around	Free plan	Calendar sync	Paid plans from
FabricateWe make this	Your services, staff and hours	Build and preview	Not built in	$25 a month
CalendlyScheduling links	One person's calendar	One event type	Calendar connections	$12 per seat a month
Cal.comScheduling links	One person's calendar	Unlimited event types, one person	Calendar connections	$12 per user a month, billed yearly
Acuity SchedulingAppointments	Appointments by calendar	None; a 7-day trial	Not part of what we read	$20 a month
Google CalendarCalendar	Your Google Calendar	With a Google Account; some features paid	It is the calendar	A Google Workspace or Google One plan

Each tool's cheapest paid plan as its own pricing or help page showed it on October 26, 2026: billed monthly where the page offers it, otherwise as the page bills it. Fabricate's figures come from our live plans.

What we looked for

• Services, staff and hours

  Can clients pick a service, a person and a free time, within your opening hours?

• Clients book without an account

  Can anyone book from a link, without signing up first?

• Reminders and calendars

  Does it remind clients, and does it sync with the calendars you use?

• A free start

  Is there a free plan, and what does it cover?

• Price

  What does the cheapest paid plan cost, and is it per seat?

What is the best scheduling app for a small business?

It depends on what people book. For a booking app with your services, staff and opening hours, Fabricate, which we make. For meetings booked into your own calendar, Calendly. For a free plan for one person, Cal.com. For a few staff calendars, Acuity Scheduling. For a booking page on Google Calendar, its appointment schedules.

Is there a free scheduling app for a small business?

Yes. Cal.com is free for one person with unlimited event types, and Calendly's free plan has one event type and one calendar connection. On Free, Fabricate builds a booking app you can try in the preview. Going live needs Pro.

Can I build my own booking app?

Yes. Describe your services, how long each one takes, who does them and when you are open, and Fabricate builds the booking app and shows it working in a preview. Before you share the link, make a few test bookings, including two for the same time, to check that a slot cannot be booked twice.

Does a booking app built with Fabricate send reminders?

On Pro and Max, yes, by email: once the app is published, you can turn on a confirmation email to the client who booked and a reminder email 24 hours before their booking, up to a daily limit. It does not send text messages.

Does it sync with Google Calendar?

No. There is no built-in calendar sync. The booking app keeps its own calendar of bookings in its own database.

Can clients pay a deposit when they book?

On Pro and Max, the app can take card payments through Stripe Checkout, paid into your own Stripe account, which you connect under More > Payments. Ask for a deposit or the full price when a client books. Fabricate takes no share of what you are paid; Stripe charges its own card fees.