Best diary and booking apps with CRM: five compared

Tool	Who it is for	Limits	Price
Calendly	Professionals and teams who want a booking link connected to their CRM	Charged per seat and month; the free plan allows one event type and one calendar	Free; $10 or $16 per seat a month billed annually Source, accessed on 10 October 2026.
Cal.com	Anyone who wants to start free, with HubSpot and Salesforce sync	The free plan is for 1 user; teamwork starts on the Teams plan	Free; $12 or $28 per user a month billed annually Source, accessed on 10 October 2026.
SimplyBook.me	Service businesses with appointments that want payments, reminders and a booking page	Each plan includes a number of bookings a month; the CRM connects through Zapier	Free (50 bookings); €11.90, €24.90 or €49.90 a month billed annually Source, accessed on 10 October 2026.
Acuity Scheduling	Service businesses that want to charge for the appointment, with forms and reminders	No free plan; the number of calendars depends on the plan; prices are in dollars	$16, $27 or $49 a month billed annually Source, accessed on 10 October 2026.
BAI Business	Small businesses that want diary, CRM, website, invoices and receptionist on one platform	General platform: the diary is one part of it, not an independent booking app	Depends on the plan; explained in a conversation

For plain scheduling, Calendly and Cal.com have a free plan; SimplyBook.me and Acuity are aimed at service businesses that charge for the appointment; BAI Business integrates the diary with the CRM, the website and the invoices. Choose according to what happens before and after the appointment.

Reviewed on 2026-10-10. BAI Business is one of the tools compared and publishes this article. In the table, BAI appears as "depends on the plan": it is explained in a conversation.

The criteria we compare by

• Connection with the CRM. Whether the booking reaches the CRM through a connection built into the app, through Zapier, or no connection is stated.
• Price and seats. Whether you pay per user or per plan, and what the free plan includes, if there is one.
• Features for service businesses. Payment for the appointment, reminders, forms and waiting lists.
• Usage limits. Bookings included, calendars and number of professionals per plan.
• Where the appointment lives. Whether the diary is a separate app or part of the same platform as the customers and the invoices.

The tools

Calendly

Calendly is a booking app well known among professionals and sales teams. Its free plan allows one event type and connecting one calendar. The Standard plan adds unlimited event types, several calendars, automatic reminders, payments with Stripe and PayPal, and connection with HubSpot and Mailchimp. The Teams plan adds round-robin meetings, lead qualification and routing, connection with HubSpot, Marketo and Pardot, and sending meetings to Salesforce. There is also an Enterprise plan for large companies.

Standard costs $10 and Teams $16 per seat a month billed annually, in dollars, and Enterprise starts at $15,000 a year with a minimum of 50 licences (source: Calendly, accessed on 2026-10-10). Guests at a meeting do not need a seat; every user who connects their calendar does.

It suits anyone who wants a polished booking link and a direct connection to a well-known CRM. What to watch is that the price grows with every seat and that the invoice and the follow-up of the opportunity stay in other tools.

Cal.com

Cal.com is a booking app with a free plan that has no usage limit. That plan is for one user and includes unlimited event types and calendars, email and SMS notifications, more than 100 connectable apps, payments with Stripe and PayPal, two-way sync with Salesforce and HubSpot, and import of Calendly events. The Teams plan adds round-robin allocation of appointments, collective event types, routing forms and booking analytics, and removes the Cal.com branding. The Organizations plan adds sub-teams, SAML SSO and role-based permissions.

Teams costs $12 and Organizations $28 per user a month billed annually, with a 14-day trial, and Enterprise is quoted separately (source: Cal.com, accessed on 2026-10-10). The page is in English and priced in dollars.

It suits anyone who wants to start at no cost and connect the diary with HubSpot or Salesforce. For several professionals you have to move to a paid per-user plan, and invoice payments and the customer record stay outside the app.

SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is a booking platform for service businesses. All plans include a booking page, automatic email reminders and confirmations, customer history, several users with roles and Zapier integration. The Basic plan adds a customer app, payments, deposits and tips, and point-of-sale sales; Standard adds more bookings and providers; and Premium adds advanced payments and connection with QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Xero.

The free plan includes 50 bookings a month; Basic, Standard and Premium cost €11.90, €24.90 and €49.90 a month billed annually and include 100, 500 and 2,000 bookings; the trial lasts 14 days with no card (source: SimplyBook.me, accessed on 2026-10-10).

It suits a hairdresser, a clinic or a beauty centre that charges for the appointment and wants payment at the time of booking. The CRM connects through Zapier, according to its page, and the price depends on the number of bookings and providers in the plan.

Acuity Scheduling

Acuity Scheduling is an appointment app from the Squarespace group. Its three plans allow payments with Stripe, Square, PayPal and Venmo, email reminders, customer forms and automatic time-zone conversion. Standard and Premium add SMS reminders, a waiting list and the sale of memberships, packages and gift vouchers; Premium adds an AI booking assistant and several time zones. All three plans allow unlimited services and appointments and connecting Google Meet, Zoom and GoToMeeting video calls.

Starter, Standard and Premium cost $16, $27 and $49 a month billed annually, with 1, 6 and 36 calendars, a 7-day trial with no card and no free plan (source: Acuity Scheduling, accessed on 2026-10-10). The prices exclude taxes and are in dollars.

It suits a service business that wants to charge for the appointment and look after the booking. Its page does not mention CRM connections: ask the provider how the booking reaches your CRM before signing up.

Where BAI fits and where it doesn't

BAI Business is a management platform for the self-employed and small businesses: CRM, website, visibility on Google, AI receptionist, appointments, invoicing and team. According to its solution sheet, its diary offers a booking page that counts your places, so that each customer only sees the times that fit, and reminders so that they remember to come. Because the appointment lives on the same platform as the customer and the invoice, there is no need to move data between programs.

It fits if the appointment has follow-up: an opportunity in the CRM, an invoice afterwards or several channels through which people book. It doesn't fit if you only need a link to book or a very specialised feature, such as advanced round-robin scheduling between salespeople: Calendly and Cal.com focus more on that part, according to their pages. If another program on this list covers what you need better, choose it. You can see BAI's diary on the online booking and diary page.

How we checked this

We read the official pricing page of Calendly, Cal.com, SimplyBook.me and Acuity Scheduling on 2026-10-10 and noted only what is stated on it; what is not stated is said so or not written. We compare programs with the same purpose and with essential, relevant and verifiable features, with no judgements about any brand, as Spain's Unfair Competition Act (Ley de Competencia Desleal) requires for comparative advertising. Prices change: each figure carries its date and the page is reviewed every ninety days, or sooner if a price changes. BAI Business is one of the tools compared and publishes this article.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Calendly?

Cal.com has a free plan for one user, with two-way sync with Salesforce and HubSpot, and SimplyBook.me has a free plan with 50 bookings included (accessed on 2026-10-10).

Which booking app connects to a CRM without Zapier?

According to their pages, Calendly connects with HubSpot and Salesforce in its paid plans and Cal.com syncs with HubSpot and Salesforce even on the free plan. SimplyBook.me lists Zapier and the Acuity page does not mention CRM connections.

How much does an online diary cost for a team?

Calendly and Cal.com charge per seat or user a month; SimplyBook.me and Acuity charge per plan, with a limit on bookings or calendars. The table gives each price with its source and date; check it before signing up because it changes.

When is an integrated diary better than a booking app?

When the appointment has follow-up: an opportunity in the CRM, an invoice afterwards or several booking channels. If all you need is a link for people to book, a booking app is enough.

You may also be interested in

• How to choose a CRM for your small business without getting lost in the demos: the criteria that complement this comparison.
• CRM for private clinics: GDPR, health records and appointments in one system: the most demanding case of appointments integrated with a CRM.

Sources

• Calendly pricing, accessed on 10 October 2026.
• Cal.com pricing, accessed on 10 October 2026.
• SimplyBook.me pricing, accessed on 10 October 2026.
• Acuity Scheduling pricing, accessed on 10 October 2026.