Cal.com
Cal.com is open source scheduling software. Free for one user, with paid per-user plans for teams and organisations.
On this page
Quick verdict
Cal.com is a strong choice if you want a free, customisable scheduler or want to self-host, but teams pay per user.
For you if
- you are a freelancer and want to offer unlimited event types for free
- you share out meetings across a team with round-robin and shared availability
- you want a scheduler with an API and the option to self-host
Not for you if
- you want a simple booking link right away without any setup, in which case look at Calendly
- you have a large team and want a fixed price, because Cal.com charges per user
- you want a tool that plans your own day with AI, such as Motion
Then Calendly is probably a better fit.
How much does Cal.com cost?
- 1 user
- Unlimited event types and calendars
- Email and SMS notifications
- More than 100 integrations
- Payments via Stripe and PayPal
- Import Calendly events in 1 click
Free for 1 user, with no usage limit; team features such as round-robin and shared availability are in the paid plans.
Try Cal.com- 1 team with shared availability
- Round-robin
- Managed and collective event types
- Remove Cal.com branding
- Routing forms
- Booking insights
- Unlimited sub-teams
- Your own company subdomain
- SAML SSO and SCIM
- SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO 27001
- Role-based permissions
- Domain-wide delegation
Work it out for your team
| Plan | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | $ 36 | $ 432 |
| Organizations | $ 84 | $ 1,008 |
Total for the whole team, excluding VAT and price increases. Billed yearly where possible.
My advice: If you work alone, Individuals is free and usually enough. Teams costs $ 12 per user per month when paid yearly, or $ 16 a month, and you need it once you share meetings with colleagues. Organizations ($ 28 per user per month when paid yearly) is for companies that need SSO, SCIM and sub-teams.
Pros and cons
What I like
- Free plan with no usage limit
- Open source, can be self-hosted
- 100+ integrations, even on Free
- Payments via Stripe and PayPal
- Imports Calendly events
- Paying yearly saves 25%
What I like less
- Teams pay per user
- Free plan is for 1 user
- SSO only from Organizations
- Many options take setup work
FeaturesWhat appointment scheduling usually have: Cal.com has 4 of 6 in full and 1 in part.
green: yes, light green: partly
| Feature | Cal.com |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | NoEncryption in transit and at rest, not end-to-end |
| API | YesPublic API available for integrations. |
| Automatic time zone detection | YesAutomatic detection and conflict checking. |
| Built-in payments | YesVia Stripe and PayPal integrations. |
| Multilingual | YesSupports 65+ languages. |
| Single sign-on | PartlyOrganizations and Enterprise only, SAML SSO and SCIM. |
Full reviewBy Ruud Caris · updated September 26, 2026 · How I work
Introduction1 min
Cal.com started in 2021 as an open source alternative to closed scheduling software. You still notice that origin everywhere. You can inspect the code, host the software yourself and build your own booking system on it through the API. If you do not need any of that, you get a generous free plan.
From open source project to $ 32.4 million1 min
Cal.com was founded by Peer Richelsen and Bailey Pumfleet. The company, Cal.com, Inc., says it has no physical headquarters. According to its own site it has raised $ 32.4 million, including a $ 7.4 million seed round and a $ 25 million Series A.
The idea was scheduling software as open infrastructure, rather than a closed product. That makes Cal.com interesting for developers and for organisations that want to keep their data in their own hands.
What Cal.com does differently from Calendly1 min
The biggest difference is flexibility. Calendly has a clear, fixed way of working. Cal.com puts more in your hands: event types, embedding on your site, routing, multiple calendars and a public API.
The free plan is generous. You get unlimited event types and calendars, email and SMS notifications, a mobile app, a browser extension and access to more than 100 integrations. You can take payments through Stripe and PayPal. For Salesforce and HubSpot there is two-way sync. Coming from Calendly, you import your events with one click.
If you mostly want a quick booking link without setup work, Calendly is the more logical choice. It is less customisable, but also less sprawling.
Scheduling as a team: round-robin and routing1 min
The team features are what separate free from paid. With round-robin, Cal.com spreads new meetings across the people on your team, so the same colleague does not get every call. With a collective event, Cal.com looks for a time when all participants are free. As an admin, you set up managed event types once and make them available to the whole team.
Routing forms send a customer to the right person. You ask a few questions before the booking, for example about the topic. Based on the answers, the meeting lands with the right colleague. In Organizations you can route on your own variables.
Booking insights show how many meetings come in and for whom. Larger organisations also get role-based permissions, domain-wide delegation and instant meetings.
What it costs per user1 min
There are four plans, priced in dollars. Individuals is free and meant for one user, with no usage limit. The paid plans charge per user, and the pricing page does not mention a minimum number of users.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals | $ 0 | |
| Teams | $ 16 | $ 12 |
| Organizations | $ 37 | $ 28 |
Teams costs $ 16 per user per month, or $ 12 per user per month when paid yearly ($ 144 a year). For that you get shared availability, round-robin, managed and collective event types, routing forms and booking insights, and you remove the Cal.com branding.
Organizations costs $ 37 per user per month, or $ 28 when paid yearly ($ 336 a year). That plan adds unlimited sub-teams, your own subdomain, SAML SSO and SCIM, and complies with SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO 27001. Enterprise is custom, with yearly pricing, a dedicated database and an SLA. It also comes with onboarding, technical support and integrations with HR and directory systems.
You can try Teams and Organizations free for 14 days. Paying yearly saves 25%.
For a team, work out the cost in advance. With ten colleagues on Teams, you pay ten times $ 12 a month when paid yearly.
Self-hosting, or the cloud after all1 min
Because Cal.com is open source, you can run it on your own server. That gives you the most control over your data, but you are then responsible for updates, security and backups yourself. For most freelancers and small teams, the cloud service is simpler. Self-hosting mainly makes sense for organisations with strict requirements or developers building their own booking platform.
Lots of options also means lots of settings. Start with one event type and your calendar, and only add routing, payments and team features once that basis works.
Who Cal.com suits and who it doesn't1 min
Cal.com suits three groups. Freelancers who want to offer unlimited meetings for free. Teams who want to share out meetings with round-robin and shared calendars. And developers who build their own scheduling platform with the API or by self-hosting.
It is less suitable if you just want to share a link and be done. Calendly is simpler for that. And if you are looking for something that plans your own day with AI, Motion is a different kind of tool, without booking links for others at its core.
Alternatives to Cal.comFrom the same category.
TimetreeA shared calendar app that combines communication and planning for families, couples, and groups.★ 4.7 · free plan · from $ 3.75
TodoistA leading to-do app that organizes tasks with powerful natural language recognition and seamless synchronization across all devices.★ 4.6 · free plan · from $ 5
ObsidianA powerful, offline-first note-taking app that helps you build a personal knowledge network with Markdown files, bi-directional links, and a visual representation.★ 4.6 · free plan · from $ 4
UpnoteAn elegant and powerful note-taking app with a focus on writing, organization, and seamless synchronization across all platforms.★ 4.6 · free plan · from $ 1.99Questions about Cal.com
Is Cal.com really free?
Yes, Individuals is free for 1 user, with no usage limit. You get unlimited event types, notifications and more than 100 integrations. You pay for team features.
How much does Cal.com cost for a team?
Teams costs $ 12 per user per month when paid yearly, or $ 16 a month. Organizations costs $ 28 per user per month when paid yearly.
Can I take payments for meetings?
Yes, you receive payments at booking time through Stripe and PayPal. That works on the free plan too.
Can I self-host Cal.com?
Yes, Cal.com is open source and you can run it on your own server. You then handle updates and security yourself.