Calendly vs. MeetLink: Honest Comparison (2026)

If you're looking for a scheduling tool, you've probably come across Calendly. It's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. But is it the right choice for everyone? Let me walk you through an honest comparison with MeetLink, including where each tool excels.

The Quick Summary

Choose Calendly if: You need enterprise features, require extensive integrations with niche tools, or primarily schedule meetings within your organization where everyone already has Calendly accounts.

Choose MeetLink if: You schedule with people outside your organization (clients, prospects, partners) and want them to see mutual availability WITHOUT creating accounts. Also great if you want a more affordable option.

Feature Comparison

1. Mutual Availability (The Game Changer)

MeetLink: When someone visits your booking page, they can connect their Google Calendar in two clicks—no account signup required. Just OAuth and go. Then they only see times when you're BOTH actually free. Green slots mean both calendars are clear. Red means someone is busy. No guessing, no conflicts.

Calendly: They DO have mutual availability, but here's the catch: your guest must have a Calendly account AND be logged in. It only works between Calendly users (account-to-account). If your guest doesn't have Calendly, they can't see mutual availability—they'll just see your available times and have to mentally cross-reference their own calendar.

Winner: MeetLink for accessibility. Both tools have the feature, but MeetLink doesn't require your guests to create accounts. Anyone can connect their calendar instantly, which means less friction and wider adoption. This is especially important when scheduling with clients, prospects, or anyone outside your organization who isn't likely to have a Calendly account.

2. Pricing

Let's talk numbers, because this is where it gets interesting.

MeetLink:

• Free: $0/month (3 event types, unlimited bookings, Google Calendar integration, account-free mutual availability)
• Pro: $6/month (unlimited event types, unlimited calendar connections, remove branding, custom colors/logo, priority support)

Calendly:

• Free: $0/month (1 event type, basic features)
• Essentials: $10/month (unlimited event types)
• Professional: $15/month (team features, workflows)
• Teams: $16/user/month (team collaboration)

Winner: MeetLink is 40% cheaper ($6 vs $10-15/month) and doesn't lock essential features like unlimited event types behind a paywall. Plus, MeetLink's free tier includes the killer feature: account-free mutual availability.

3. Calendar Integrations

MeetLink: Currently supports Google Calendar (with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Apple Calendar coming soon). The key difference: guests can connect their Google Calendar without creating a MeetLink account. This is huge for scheduling with people outside your organization.

Calendly: Google, Office 365, Outlook, iCloud. Also supports niche calendars and has more CRM integrations. However, mutual availability only works if both parties have Calendly accounts.

Winner: Calendly for breadth of integrations. MeetLink for account-free guest calendar connections, which matters more if you schedule with clients, prospects, or external partners.

4. User Experience

MeetLink: Clean, modern interface. Setup takes about 5 minutes. The booking page is uncluttered and focuses on mutual availability. Mobile-responsive.

Calendly: Professional, polished interface. More options mean more setup time (10-15 minutes). Booking pages are customizable but can feel corporate.

Winner: Tie. MeetLink is simpler and faster. Calendly is more customizable.

5. Buffer Times & Meeting Limits

MeetLink: Set buffer time before/after meetings. Limit max bookings per day. Minimum notice period.

Calendly: Same features, plus more granular controls like date-specific overrides.

Winner: Calendly for power users who need granular control.

Real-World Use Cases

Solo Consultant/Freelancer

If you're a consultant, coach, or freelancer who has frequent 1-on-1 meetings with clients:

• MeetLink saves you money ($6 vs $10-15/month) and prevents the "oh wait, I'm actually busy then" messages because guests can connect their calendar without creating an account. With Calendly, most of your clients won't have accounts, so they can't use mutual availability anyway.

Small Team (2-5 people)

• MeetLink works great for individual team members who each have their own booking pages. Each person gets account-free mutual availability with their clients.
• Calendly Teams makes sense if you need team-wide routing, shared event types, or complex team scheduling features.

Enterprise Sales Team

• Calendly is the better choice. You'll want the advanced routing, Salesforce integration, SSO, and enterprise SLAs.

Remote Workers Across Time Zones

• MeetLink because mutual availability becomes even more critical when time zones are involved. Guests can see slots that work for both of you in their local time.

What Calendly Does Better

Let's be honest about where Calendly wins:

1. Integrations: Calendly has 50+ integrations including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, Stripe, and more. If your workflow depends on niche tools, Calendly probably supports them.

2. Workflows: Calendly's Professional plan includes automated workflows for follow-ups, reminder customization, and complex routing.

3. Track Record: Calendly has been around since 2013. They have battle-tested infrastructure, 10M+ users, and a proven track record.

4. Payments: Calendly integrates with Stripe and PayPal for paid bookings. Great if you charge for consultations.

5. Enterprise Features: SSO, admin controls, Salesforce integration, and dedicated support for large organizations.

6. Mutual Availability (with account requirement): If everyone in your organization uses Calendly, their mutual availability feature works seamlessly within your team.

What MeetLink Does Better

Here's where we excel:

1. Account-Free Mutual Availability: This is our killer feature. Guests can connect their calendar WITHOUT creating a MeetLink account—just OAuth to Google in 2 clicks. Calendly requires both parties to have accounts. This matters because most people you're scheduling with (clients, prospects, partners) won't have a Calendly account, which means they can't use Calendly's mutual availability feature. With MeetLink, anyone can use it instantly.

2. Pricing: We're 40% cheaper and don't gate-keep basic features. Our free plan has unlimited bookings and 3 event types. Calendly's free plan caps you at 1 event type.

3. Simplicity: We built MeetLink to be fast. 5-minute setup. Clean interface. No feature bloat.

4. Value: You get collaborative booking, unlimited bookings, and 2 calendar connections for free. These features cost $10-15/month on Calendly.

The Honest Verdict

Neither tool is objectively "better." It depends on your needs:

Choose Calendly if you:

• Need enterprise features (SSO, Salesforce, advanced routing)
• Require integrations with niche CRM tools
• Want to collect payments for bookings
• Have a large team with complex scheduling rules
• Value a long track record and established platform

Choose MeetLink if you:

• Schedule with people outside your organization (clients, prospects, partners) who won't have a Calendly account
• Want account-free mutual availability—guests can connect calendars without signing up
• Want to save money (40% cheaper)
• Need a simple, fast tool without feature bloat
• Are an individual, freelancer, or small team
• Schedule across time zones frequently

The Bottom Line

Calendly is the safe, established choice with more bells and whistles. MeetLink is the scrappy challenger that makes mutual availability accessible to everyone—not just people with accounts.

The key insight: Calendly has mutual availability, but it only works between Calendly users. If you're scheduling with clients, prospects, or partners who don't have Calendly accounts (which is most people), they can't use that feature. MeetLink removes that barrier—anyone can connect their calendar in 2 clicks without creating an account.

Try MeetLink free for 14 days (no credit card). If it doesn't save you time and headaches, stick with Calendly. But if most of your meetings are with people outside your organization, MeetLink's account-free mutual availability will be a game changer.

The best scheduling tool is the one that actually solves your specific problem.