Calendly vs Microsoft Bookings

Calendly and Microsoft Bookings are both scheduling tools, but comparing them is a bit like comparing a friendly, well-trained labradoodle with an office printer that sometimes growls at you. Calendly, in the spirit of making life feel a little less like a bureaucratic nightmare, is designed to be so easy to use that even someone who barely understands how time works could probably manage to schedule an appointment. It comes with an almost suspicious level of flexibility, integrating with various platforms and offering customization options so vast, you’ll wonder if it’s somehow reading your thoughts.

Microsoft Bookings, by contrast, doesn’t so much aim to simplify your life as much as it aims to fit snugly into the gloriously convoluted, sprawling ecosystem that is Microsoft 365. It’s the sort of thing that might have grown up quietly in the shadow of Outlook, dreaming of the day when it, too, could play a role in your workday misery. Bookings excels at being exactly what you’d expect from Microsoft: functional, somewhat impersonal and perfectly happy to shuffle appointments, organize calendars and store client data in a way that ensures you’ll never quite escape from the office—even if you work from home.

If you’re already in deep with Microsoft 365, Bookings is your natural ally, quietly integrating with all your familiar tools. But if you're looking for something that feels a bit less like you're filing paperwork for an intergalactic bureaucracy, Calendly is there to make sure you can schedule a meeting without questioning the meaning of existence.

See also: Top 10 Online Appointment platforms