Appointment scheduling software provides tools for building calendars and service menus, booking appointments, managing customers, and running your daily operations.
The best options allow clients to view your business calendar, self-book, and pay for appointments online, and will also help you, the business owner, manage those appointments, send automatic reminders, and market your services—ideally with no monthly payments or other costs.
The best free appointment scheduling software for small businesses are:
- Square Appointments: Best overall
- Fresha: Best for beauty & wellness businesses
- Picktime: Best for multiple locations
- Appointlet: Best for video appointments and meetings
- Setmore: Best for sales teams
Best Free Appointment Scheduling Software Compared
Our Score (Out of 5) | Notification Types | Monthly Appointment Limits | Number of Free Users | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.36 | SMS and email | Unlimited | Unlimited |
 | 4.18 | SMS and email (must pay) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
 | 4.03 | Email (SMS with paid plans) | Unlimited appointments; 2 classes | 3 |
 | 3.68 | SMS and email | Unlimited appointments; small classes | 5 |
 | 3.23 | Email | 200 | 4 |
Why You Can Trust Fit Small Business
I’ve been writing about retail-focused software for over two years. I’ve researched, evaluated, and tested dozens of software systems for a variety of specialized purposes (inventory management, ecommerce, point-of-sale, etc.) and industries (retail, restaurant, services, etc).
For this guide to the best free appointment scheduling software, I assessed the pricing, strengths, and standout features for each of the systems I recommended. Whenever possible, I also tested the systems myself to get a feel for their ease of use and functionality.
Square Appointments: Best Overall
Pros
- Includes point-of-sale (POS) system, ecommerce platform, and payment processing
- No-show protection and automated SMS and email reminders
- Booking page integrations on website, Google, Facebook, and Instagram
Cons
- Free plan is for one location only
- No video appointment integration
- Only syncs with Google calendars; sync is only offered in paid plans
Overview
Who should use it:
Businesses wanting a strong set of back office features (integrations, customer database, automated appointment reminders, etc.) will appreciate that Square Appointments offers many of these for free.
Although the free subscription is only suitable for a single-location business, you’ll get unlimited logins and appointments. For its pricing, Square Appointments offers unparalleled functionality and value for money.
Our expert take:
Square Appointments lets you set up a webpage where clients can view your open time slots, book an appointment, and pay for their service. This webpage can even be linked to your social media accounts and integrated into your website. Every Square account also has a Square POS account, a website builder, and Square’s payment processing.
Square Appointments is our top pick due to its rich features, unlimited appointments and calendars, and easy-to-use interface. The program mainly lost points for its single location in the free plan, lack of video integrations, and limited calendar syncing options.
If you want to learn more about how you get your Square Appointments account up and running so that you can start taking clients, check out our guide to setting up Square Appointments.
- Free: $0
- Unlimited calendars
- Mobile app
- Text and email notifications
- Plus: $29 per month per location
- Multilocation and class booking
- Google Calendar sync
- Cancellation policy
- Premium: $69 per month per location
- Resource management
- Advanced staff management
- Cost tracking
- SMS appointment notifications: While every one of our providers offers some kind of appointment notifications, Square includes SMS in its free plan.
- Square Assistant: Square Appointments’ text services also utilize Square Assistant, an automated messaging tool enabling 24/7 replies concerning appointment confirmations, cancellations, or rescheduling. Square Assistant is available even in the free plan.
- Booking page customization: Square has great customization options for your online booking page and allows you to design a page without any Square branding. You can customize the description, duration, and pricing of your list of services and choose how they will display (as a menu or calendar, for example) on your booking site.
Fresha: Best for Beauty & Wellness Businesses
Pros
- Unlimited staff members and appointments
- Fresha Marketplace app for customers
- POS with payment processing and mobile hardware
Cons
- No video appointment integrations
- Online booking and payment processing only with paid plan
- You can only list your business on the Fresha app with a paid plan
Overview
Who should use it:
Fresha is a very popular and highly reviewed app in the beauty and wellness industries. The software has specific programs and tools that make it suitable for salons, gyms, personal trainers, and more.
Our expert take:
The free plan supports unlimited appointments, staff members, and locations. It also has unlimited email notifications and gives you a user dashboard and app where you can view and manage your appointments.
Overall, Fresha stood out from the competition in that, like Square, it includes a point-of-sale (POS) and payment processing in its free plans. It lost points, however, because some of the features offered by other free software, such as SMS reminders, class/group bookings, and online booking, are only accessible with the software’s paid plan.
Fresha’s pricing structure differs slightly from the rest. Unlike our other options that charge a flat monthly rate, Fresha offers a set of free, basic features and then charges per use of specific paid functions.
- Free: Unlimited appointments, employees, inventory, email notifications, and locations, POS system, appointment/calendar management tools, inventory management, reporting tools
- Paid Features:
- Payment processing: 2.19% + 20 cents
- Fresha Marketplace app new client fee: 20% one-time commission (Minimum fee of $6 per client)
- Blast marketing: 6 cents per text; 2 cents per email
- SMS notifications: 50 free monthly texts; 1 cent per extra text
- Reporting capabilities: Fresha makes it easy to manage your salon or other beauty and wellness business with unlimited free reporting.
- Unlimited locations and users: Use one account to manage multiple locations. Additionally, Fresha supports your entire team with unlimited users and in-person appointment bookings.
- POS: Fresha allows you to set up payment types during checkout. The platform can add tips on checkout and set payment and discount types, staff commission rates, and voucher duration.
Picktime: Best for Multiple Locations
Pros
- Email notifications in free plan
- Class/group booking options
- Intake forms and questionnaires included
Cons
- Need paid plans for SMS reminders
- Limited class bookings with free plan
- Cannot take attendance with free plan
Overview
Who should use it:
Picktime is suitable for salon or spa businesses with more than one location or that offer group classes. Even the free subscription includes tools to support multiple locations and classes. As your business grows (along with its customer base), you can upgrade to paid plans to match increasing demand.
Our expert take:
Picktime offers a robust bank of free features, including a customer booking page, resource management, unlimited appointments, group bookings, and the ability to add booking forms, take deposits, generate invoices, accept payments online, and send automated email reminders.
The app mainly lost points for locking key features like SMS notifications, recurring bookings, and unlimited class bookings behind a paywall. You’ll also need to upgrade to the highest plan to get access for any more than three users.
- Free: $0
- 3 resources
- 2 locations
- 2 classes
- Starter: $4 per user, per month
- 3 resources
- 2 locations
- 5 classes
- Pro: $3 per user, per month
- 10 resources
- Unlimited locations
- Unlimited classes
- Multi-location access: Picktime supports multiple locations, with the free plan allowing you to manage appointments for two branches from the same dashboard. It can also detect your client’s location to find the nearest branch.
- Customer management: Quickly access your customer data for marketing promotions and discounts, leave customer notes for your staff, and import/export customer data from anywhere. Additionally, your customers can keep track of their upcoming appointments by creating their own Picktime account.
- Video, calendar, and payment processing integrations: Picktime has tons of integrations—some free and some only in a paid plan. Its free integrations include PayPal, Jitsi, Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, iCloud Calendar, and Exchange. However, If you are a paid subscriber, you can also integrate with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, and GoToMeeting.
Appointlet: Best for Video Appointments & Meetings
Pros
- Video integrations available in free plan
- Lots of integrations for payment collection, reminders, CRM, marketing, and more
- Google and Office 365 calendar sync
Cons
- Lacks no-show protection
- Must pay for appointment reminders
- Limited users in free plan
Overview
Who should use it:
Service businesses that rely on video chat for bookings, client interaction, or services will appreciate Appointlet’s video integration tools. If you like having lots of integration options for various business tools, Appointlet has you covered.
Our expert take:
While Appointlet locks a few of its features behind paid plans, it still contains several useful tools in the free subscription. You’ll get unlimited appointments, video meeting integrations, scheduling links, and double-booking protection. If you upgrade to paid plans, you’ll gain access to larger groups and classes, greater intake form customization, automated meeting reminders, and more.
- Free: $0
- Groups of up to 5 attendees
- Integrations for video chat and sales tools
- Unlimited appointments
- Premium: $10 per member, per month
- Approve or decline specific participants
- Automated meeting reminders
- Unlimited class size
- Enterprise: Custom quote
- Priority customer support
- Advanced security measures
- Robust meeting and scheduling tools: Appointlet’s meeting and scheduling tools are nuanced and feature-rich. You can share meetings via a single link, cancel and reschedule (and have your attendees notified via email), add a scheduling page to your website, and prevent last-minute bookings.
- Integrations: Appointlet includes integrations for CRM such as Salesforce and Hubspot; project management tools like Monday and Airtable; and payment collection like Stripe and Paypal.
Setmore: Best for Sales Teams
Pros
- Custom booking page
- Analytics and CRM integrations
- Facebook and Instagram booking page integration
Cons
- Must pay for SMS notifications
- No intake form capabilities
- Only 100 reminders per month in free plan
Overview
Who should use it:
Setmore supports up to four free users and is loaded with features that make it great for businesses that need strong tools for managing sales teams.
Our expert take:
With Setmore, clients can book online and see which employees are available at a particular time. Or, you can add appointments manually from the dashboard and reschedule or reassign appointments with just a few clicks. It also lets you accept payments and maintain a customer database. Additionally, Setmore integrates with mailing, sales, and CRM programs, plus a multitude of other business apps. The software is also set up to handle internal meetings among staff members.
Setmore mainly lost points because it charges for many features that other scheduling software options offer for free, like SMS reminders, calendar customization, and calendar syncing. However, its paid plans are reasonably priced, especially if you have three or more employees.
- Free: $0
- Includes basic features for up to four employees
- Up to 200 appointments
- Custom booking page
- Pro: $12 per user, per month
- Supports 1 – 2 users; unlimited appointments
- SMS reminders, custom notifications, recurring appointments
- Zoom and calendar sync
- Team: $9 per user, per month
- Unlimited users
- Social media integration: You can add your Setmore booking page directly to both your Instagram and Facebook pages so customers can book directly from wherever they find you.
- Video meetings: Offer one-on-one virtual appointments or small group sessions via Teleport video calls.
- Staff scheduling tools: Staff members logged into Setmore have access to individual calendars and links to a booking page (shareable on websites, social media, and email). This allows your employees to set their own scheduling and availability for customers, paving the way to greater autonomy and project ownership.
- Sales and CRM integrations: Setmore integrates with popular tools for improving sales and customer relationship management for your business. Integrations include Salesforce (for optimizing onboarding campaigns), Hubspot (for building campaign lists), and Zoho CRM (for updating and syncing customer details).
What to Look for in Free Scheduling Software
As you are examining the options, here are a few of the key features you should consider when looking for the best free appointment scheduling software.
- Customer booking options: Look for solutions that let customers book in person and through your website. Another thing you can look for is whether the solution has a corresponding marketplace app where customers can discover and book as well.
- No-show protection: You should look for tools to protect your time, including the ability to take deposits and administer no-show fees or penalties.
- Booking, calendar, and location limits: An ideal solution will include unlimited bookings, calendars, and locations. If you can’t find a free solution that offers that, be sure to choose one that can support you now and then scale as you grow.
- Payment processing: Be sure customers can pay for their appointments online when they book and in person so they can choose based on their preferences.
- Calendar management options: The best free scheduling software will include an app and an online portal where you can manage your calendar, view events, and make changes.
- Integrations: Many service industries need specific tools that are only available via third-party integrations, so you want to choose a solution that is compatible with third-party solutions either via an API or an app integration.
- Calendar syncing: Be sure that appointments made through your booking page or in-store sync with your personal calendar, whether that be Google, Outlook, iCloud, etc.
- Appointment notifications: The best solutions will send you and your customers automatic appointment reminders via text and email.
- Resource management: If you have rooms or supplies that need to be booked out with your appointments, be sure to use a solution that includes resource management.
- POS and ecommerce capabilities: If you want to sell any products, be sure that you find a solution with a POS system or an ecommerce store.
How We Evaluated Free Scheduling Software
To evaluate free appointment scheduling software, we looked carefully at all of these features. Noting which are available for free versus which require a premium upgrade. The last thing you want is to get all set up and then find out you need to pay a monthly fee to access one essential feature. We also evaluated each software’s quality, ease of use, and customer support.
Square Appointments was our top scorer with a 4.36 out of 5 as its final score. It offers nearly every feature we looked for and works for unlimited users—all for free.
Click through the tabs below for our detailed evaluation criteria.
30% of Overall Score
A free plan means nothing if you can’t use it. We favored plans that don’t make you pay for their most useful features. We also considered whether they limited the number of users or appointments you can book.
30% of Overall Score
Tools evaluated include a page where customers could make their own appointments and fill out intake forms or questionnaires, options for classes, selecting specific groups of employees, and syncing with calendars. We also considered video chat integration for virtual meetings.
20% of Overall Score
Can you take payments through the software itself? Does it integrate with other software? Are there appointment reminders or a customer database for marketing? We considered all of these capabilities.
20% of Overall Score
In addition to our own evaluation of the features and value, we looked at reviews from actual users posted on trusted review sites for software. Every calendar software we considered had excellent reviews—4 out of 5 stars and higher—on Capterra and/or G2.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click through the questions below to get answers to some of your most frequently asked appointment scheduling software questions.
Appointment scheduling software provides a platform where businesses can manage their appointments and clients to make new appointments. Many appointment scheduling software will also process payments so that customers can pay when they book.
Appointment scheduling software work by providing an online booking page where customers can view your business’s schedule and book appointments based on your availability. Then, your schedule updates as new appointments are made and customers receive notifications to remind them of their appointments as the time approaches. Good appointment scheduling software will also include payment processing so that you can collect payments.
Appointment scheduling software allow you to stay on top of your schedule, give customers an easy way to make appointments, streamline your operations, and automate your appointment notifications.
Appointment scheduling software is used by all types of businesses that rely on appointments. That means anything from a salon to a therapist, to a gym, to a spa. There are countless applications.
Bottom Line
Appointment scheduling programs make it easy for you and your clients or coworkers to manage your schedules and book appointments and meetings without the hassle of the back and forth. There are a ton of great free options available for appointment scheduling apps, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Our top pick for free appointment scheduling apps is Square Appointments for its range of features, ease of use, and free offerings.