BookingMachine vs Calendly
Calendly is built for scheduling meetings: share a link, the other person picks a time, it lands in both calendars. It does that very well, and its free plan is enough for one type of meeting.
BookingMachine is built for selling a service. The customer sees a price for their job, books a slot and pays a deposit, and afterwards receives an invoice and a review request. If a booking is a paid job and not a call, that difference matters more than any single feature.
| Feature | BookingMachine | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Service businesses that price by the job | Meetings and appointments |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes, with one event type and one calendar connection |
| Paid plans from | $18 a month | $10 per seat a month |
| Online payments | Paid plans, through Stripe | Standard plan and above, through Stripe or PayPal |
| Deposit at booking, balance later | Yes, on paid plans | Not listed on their pricing page |
| Price that changes with the customer's choices | Yes, shown live in the booking form | Not listed on their pricing page |
| Quotes | Yes | Not listed on their pricing page |
| Invoices | Yes | Listed for project-based work |
| Review requests after the job | Yes, with photos and video | Not listed on their pricing page |
Calendly details are taken from the Calendly pricing page, checked on 11 October 2026. Plans and prices change, so confirm with Calendly before you decide. BookingMachine prices are on our pricing page.
Choose BookingMachine if
- A booking is a paid job, and you want a deposit before you turn up.
- Your price depends on what the customer needs: size, extras, distance or time of day.
- You want quotes, invoices and review requests in the same place as the diary.
- You have no website and need a booking page of your own.
Choose Calendly if
- You mostly book calls and meetings, not jobs.
- You need a sales or recruiting team to share out meetings between them.
- One free link for one kind of meeting is all you need.
Questions
Can Calendly take a deposit?
Calendly connects to Stripe and PayPal on its paid plans so you can charge when someone books. Its pricing page does not mention a deposit with the balance collected later, which is how most service businesses want to be paid.
Is BookingMachine a Calendly alternative?
For service businesses, yes. It does the same job of letting people book themselves, and adds the parts a paid job needs: a price, a deposit, an invoice and a review request. For scheduling internal meetings, Calendly is the better fit.
Can I use both?
Yes. Some businesses keep Calendly for sales calls and use BookingMachine for paid bookings. Both sync with Google Calendar, so the two diaries do not clash.
Try it on your own bookings
Set up your services and prices on the free plan and see how BookingMachine handles a real booking before you pay for anything.