Cal.com free tier handles most needs. Calendly ($10/mo) wins for professional appearance and integrations. Motion ($19/mo) only makes sense if you have 20+ meetings weekly AND struggle with time blocking. Most people overpay for scheduling features they don't use.
Scheduling tools all do the same basic thing: let people book time with you. Yet prices range from free to $19/month. Here's when upgrading actually makes sense—and when you're paying for features you'll never use.
The Time Cost of Manual Scheduling
First, let's establish what scheduling tools actually save:
- 3-5 emails back and forth
- Calendar checking
- Timezone conversion
- Confirmation and reminder sending
A scheduling link cuts this to under 1 minute. That's 7 minutes saved per meeting.
Cal.com: The Free Option
Cal.com's free tier is genuinely good. You get unlimited event types, calendar integrations, and a professional booking page. The open-source nature means you can even self-host.
What You Give Up
- Cal.com branding on booking page
- Limited integrations (no Zapier on free)
- Basic analytics only
- No team features
For solo users booking 5-10 meetings per week, Cal.com free handles everything.
Calendly: The Professional Standard
Calendly is the name-brand option. The Standard plan adds Zapier integration, Stripe payments, and removes Calendly branding.
ROI Calculation
- Cost: $10/month
- At $50/hour, $10 = 12 minutes of time value
- At 7 minutes saved per meeting: 2 meetings/month breaks even
- If you book 8+ meetings monthly, Calendly pays for itself
The real value of Calendly Standard is payment integration. If you charge for calls (consulting, coaching), automated payments often make Calendly worth it alone.
Motion: The AI Calendar Manager
Motion is different—it's not just scheduling, it's AI calendar management. It automatically blocks focus time, reschedules tasks when meetings change, and protects your calendar from meeting overload.
When Motion Makes Sense
- You have 20+ meetings weekly
- You struggle to protect focus time
- Meeting overload is a real problem
- You'd pay for a human assistant to manage your calendar
Motion's AI task scheduling is the differentiator. If you just need meeting booking, Motion is overkill.
Motion has a steep learning curve (1-2 weeks to set up properly). Factor this in before switching from a simpler tool.
The Decision Framework
- Under 10 meetings/month: Cal.com Free
- 10-30 meetings/month: Calendly Standard ($10)
- Need payment collection: Calendly Standard ($10)
- 30+ meetings AND calendar chaos: Motion ($19)
- Teams: Calendly Teams ($16/user) or Cal.com Team
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest mistake: buying Motion for basic scheduling. Motion's value is AI calendar management, not the booking link. If you just want people to book meetings, Cal.com or Calendly do that at a fraction of the cost.
Second mistake: paying for Calendly Pro ($16/month) when Standard ($10/month) covers everything most people need. The Pro features (routing, round-robin) are for teams.
Our Recommendation
Start with Cal.com Free. Upgrade to Calendly Standard when you need payment integration or white-labeling. Only consider Motion if meeting overload is actively damaging your productivity.
Most knowledge workers are fine with a free scheduling tool forever.
The TaskROI team researches AI productivity tools and helps businesses calculate real ROI before purchasing. Our data comes from industry studies by McKinsey, Harvard Business Review, and the Federal Reserve.