Top 7 Alternative to Calendly for Dynamics 365 Users

We have all scheduled appointments the traditional way! There is so much back and forth involved that sometimes scheduling a meeting takes longer than the duration of the meeting.

That is why scheduling software was developed. 

These apps help you schedule meetings more quickly and effectively. 

One such app is Calendly, popular for its appointment scheduling features. Their paid plan allows you to book an undefined number of meetings, integrates with other calendars and tools, and automates the workflow.

However, if you are using its free version, you won’t be able to access features like paid appointments, create custom group events, or send meeting reminders. 

So, even if you are an individual or have a small business, you have to go with a paid plan if you want to use these features. 

There are a lot of better alternatives to Calendly that you can use and leverage a lot of benefits while saving money. 

Want to know what these apps are, stay with us!

1. Calendar 365

One of the perfect alternatives to Calendly for Dynamics 365 users is Calendar 365. It is a plugin that integrates with Dynamics 365 CRM.

Thus, all the features and functionalities of Calendar 365 will be accessible within the CRM. You don’t have to manage Calendar as an extra tool. This also means that you don’t have to pay third-party extensions to integrate the calendar app with your CRM. It is safe and smooth.

The major feature of Calendar 365 is meeting scheduling. You can share your meeting link with any CRM or CRM users. They can schedule the appointment with you using this link.

Apart from this, it comes with three major types of calendars. First is the resource calendar, which helps you manage resources and their activities. You will have a better visualization of ongoing activities and the resources associated with them. It also incorporates leave management.

The other one is the Customer Calendar. With this calendar, you can have a view of the entire sales lifecycle. You can view any record and activities associated with it. There are a lot of filters to help you have clear insights and help your team with your valuable feedback.

Last but not least is the Entity Calendar. A calendar that allows you to choose from CRM entities. So, the sales team can customize its calendar with leads and the activities associated with it, while marketing will have its own process. Thus, you can save multiple calendars with the same entities and different filters. 

Thus, Calendar 365 sounds like the perfect alternative to Calendly!

2. Acuity Scheduling

It is a user-friendly app for scheduling appointments. The app allows integrations with other calendars of yours to get notifications of appointments.

Like other scheduling apps, it automatically detects various time zones. You can easily organize client information using forms. They also support paid appointments and so have a payment system integrated into their app. 

You can send customized email reminders to clients. Their dashboard is full of robust data for easy tracking of appointments. 

There are many advantages of using Acuity like highly customizable features, decent customer service, support integration platforms like Zoom, Zapier, Office 365, and highly acknowledged by the dental and medical field.

There are some points that might make you look for other options, such as its confusing UI when managing multiple calendars. It can be overwhelming for beginners. It is expensive as you will have to pay to integrate your CRM with Acuity, and they don’t offer a free plan either.

3. Chili Piper

It is not only popular for its appointment scheduling features but is also a favored platform for B2B  teams. This helps teams in managing all the processes like lead generation, sales, customer success, and more. The app uses AI to qualify leads and redirects those to the right sales representatives

Some famous and most useful features of Chili Piper are handoff meetings, meeting scheduling after form submission, multiple calendar integrations, large group meetings, and integration with Office 365 and Google Workspace. 

The app can also be embedded on your current website. Uses AI for auto-qualifying leads, supports almost all sales tools, easy to implement, especially for sales teams.

But despite all these, you have to pay extra for integrating your Dynamics 365 CRM. The app also lacks customizability on the admin’s side. There is no mobile app available as of now. They also don’t have any free plans.

4. Setmore

Setmore is a free appointment scheduling tool for individuals and businesses. You can download it on your desktop and access it offline as well. For users who are unable to access web-based tools every time, Setmore is perfect for them. 

They also have a dedicated section to display customer reviews which can help you encourage more customers. You get payment integrations as well for any paid appointments. Moreover, they allow Facebook and Instagram pages and posts as booking channels.

If we talk about the benefits, Setmore has a reliable customer support team. Their integrations with social media and websites are quite strong. Even their free plan includes a lot of features. 

Apart from all the good things, they don’t have a modern outlook when we talk about their features. It feels outdated when compared with other scheduling apps. For example, users don’t have edit or customization rights. They have to depend on the admin for any small changes.

5. Appoint.ly

Appoint.ly is the best choice for large-scale enterprises. It allows integration with popular calendars and supports different time zones as well. Appointment scheduling is easy, and most of the processes are automated.

They have interesting features like breaks between two appointments, a time frame after which users cannot book appointments, scheduling recurring meetings, auto time-zone adjustments, and auto notifications.

Their enterprise plan is highly customizable. You can generate reports and have useful insights into all the ongoing activities.  

However, there are some points that you need to consider before you invest in such an app. The app only allows you to add one calendar. The app allows limited integrations and you would have to pay extra to third-party service providers. 

You won’t be able to schedule emails before meetings to remind your customers, as the app doesn’t support email scheduling. One major disadvantage of Appoint.ly is they don’t have a mobile app.

6. Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft bookings is a suitable Calendly alternative to MS Suite users. The integration with MS 365 and Office 365 is much better compared to other scheduling apps. 

It comes with advanced features that allow you to book an appointment with prospects. But you can use all these only if you have an Office 365 subscription. You could easily use MS Teams for online meetings as well. The app allows you to manage booking page visibility.

You will save money as the app is free of use for Office 365 subscribers. The integration with the MS ecosystem is smooth. The app supports web and mobile views. 

There are some disadvantages of using MS Bookings as well. It lacks payment integration, does not support integrations with other accounting tools or CRMs, and is restricted to Office 365 subscribers.

7. Outreach

Outreach is majorly used by sales teams for appointment scheduling. The main idea was to replace the manual approach of organizing meetings with the intuitive process of scheduling or rescheduling meetings. So, in less time, you could see more efficient results. 

The app easily integrates with Office 365 and Google Calendar. It also supports auto-sync with Salesforce. Like every other app, it supports various time zones and has an insightful analytics dashboard for better visualization. 

The app is built keeping in mind the requirements of the sales team. It would be easy to implement for them. But on the other hand, if we talk about the non-sales users, they might find it a bit overwhelming as they might not be able to understand and use a lot of its features.

Conclusion

The above discussion and the features that scheduling apps provide is proof that you need a scheduling app to streamline your appointment scheduling cycle. Clients need instant reverts and actions. No client of yours would enjoy an email conversion just to book an intro call with you. 

A scheduling app would help you uplift the customer service you provide to your clients. The next step is to find a scheduling app that best fits your requirement.

To find the right tool for you, you must compare which app would feel all your requirements. You should also keep an eye on the subscription prices of these apps. 

For you, Dynamics 365 Calendar would be the best choice as it will reduce challenges like integration with third-party extensions. You don't have to worry about it, as this plugin will integrate with your Dynamics 365.

Other features like Resource Calendar, Customer Calendar, and Entity Calendar are the major highlights of Calendar 365.

So rather than rushing into subscribing to Calendly because everyone is using it, as a Dynamics 365 user, you have a better option available in the market.