What it is
Cal.com is an open-source alternative to Calendly: you share a link, connect your calendars and the other person books. You can use the hosted version or self-host it on your own server, and its API lets you embed scheduling inside your product. The individual plan is free, and it appeals to technical teams that want control over their data and customization.
How to use it
- Create event types with duration, questions and availability rules.
- Schedule as a team with round-robin or collective availability.
- Charge at booking by connecting Stripe.
- Self-host it on your infrastructure when you need full control of your data.
- Embed scheduling in your app with its API and embeddable components.
What it's good for
- A telehealth startup building bookings into its own app through the API.
- A dev agency self-hosting Cal.com to meet a client's privacy requirements.
- An independent consultant who needs several event types without paying.
Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Free individual plan with unlimited event types
- API and components to embed booking in your product
- Interface available in Spanish
Cons
- Self-hosting means maintaining a server, database and updates
- Team and organization features are priced per user
- Some enterprise features in the codebase require a commercial license
