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Calendly vs BambooHR

Calendly logo

Calendly

All industries

Scheduling automation platform for eliminating back-and-forth

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
BambooHR logo

BambooHR

All industries

HR software with heart

From
$10/month per employee
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Calendly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Calendly the free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, so it cannot handle different meeting formats; BambooHR organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price
  • They diverge on capability: Calendly covers Calendar sync, BambooHR covers Employee database.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Calendly and BambooHR actually diverge.

Attributes where Calendly and BambooHR differ
AttributeCalendlyBambooHR
Starting priceFree$10/month per employee
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20132008

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (All industries).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Calendly

  • Calendar sync
  • Automated scheduling
  • Custom availability
  • Time zone detection
  • Reminder emails
  • Buffer time
  • Meeting polls
  • Embed on website

Only in BambooHR

  • Employee database
  • Time-off management
  • Benefits tracking
  • Performance reviews
  • Onboarding
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Mobile access
  • Document management

Both cover

  • Slack
  • SOC2
  • GDPR

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Calendly

  • Sales meetingsnot BambooHR
  • Interview schedulingnot BambooHR
  • Customer callsnot BambooHR
  • Office hoursnot BambooHR
  • Webinar registrationnot BambooHR

BambooHR

  • HR system of record with employee data and documentsnot Calendly
  • Time off tracking and approvalsnot Calendly
  • Applicant tracking and onboardingnot Calendly
  • Performance reviews and 1:1s on the Pro tiernot Calendly
  • Compensation planning and benchmarking on Elitenot Calendly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Calendly

  • The free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, so it cannot handle different meeting formats
  • Automated reminders and multiple calendars need Standard at $10 per seat per month
  • Round-robin routing, lead qualification and Salesforce integration require Teams at $16 per seat per month
  • SAML single sign-on, audit logs and domain control are Enterprise only, starting at $15,000 a year
  • Advertised prices are the annual rates

BambooHR

  • Organisations of 25 or fewer employees pay a flat rate starting at $250 a month, so a very small team pays far more per head than the listed per-employee price
  • Per-employee pricing starts at 26 employees, from $10 on Core
  • Performance management, 360 reviews and recognition all require Pro at $17 per employee per month
  • Compensation management, salary benchmarking and advanced analytics are Elite only at $25 per employee per month
  • Compliance training is rationed by tier, at 1 course on Core against 300 on Elite

Pricing, plan by plan

Calendly

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 event type
    • 1 calendar connection
    • Basic confirmation email
  • Standard$10/month
    • Unlimited event types
    • Multiple calendars (up to 6)
    • Integrations with HubSpot, Mailchimp, Stripe, PayPal
  • Teams$16/month
    • All Standard features
    • Salesforce integration
    • Round-robin meetings
  • Enterprise$15000/year
    • All Teams features
    • Salesforce routing lookup
    • Microsoft Dynamics 365

BambooHR

$10/month per employee

No published plan breakdown. See the BambooHR review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Calendly if

  • You need calendar sync.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want automated scheduling.
Calendly review

Choose BambooHR if

  • You need employee database.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want time-off management.
BambooHR review

Questions people ask

Is Calendly or BambooHR better?
Neither clearly leads. Calendly starts at Free and BambooHR at $10/month per employee, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Calendly or BambooHR?
Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Calendly and $10/month per employee for BambooHR.
Does Calendly or BambooHR run on more platforms?
Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android. BambooHR runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Calendly for free?
Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BambooHR starts at $10/month per employee.
What is Calendly best used for?
Calendly is most often used for sales meetings, interview scheduling, customer calls, office hours. Of those, sales meetings and interview scheduling are not what BambooHR is typically brought in for.
What can Calendly do that BambooHR cannot?
Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. BambooHR covers Employee database, Time-off management, Benefits tracking, Performance reviews. Both handle Slack, SOC2, GDPR.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Calendly: Does the free tier include automatic reminders?

No. The free plan only includes a basic confirmation email when someone books. Automated reminder workflows, SMS reminders, and follow-up sequences require the Standard plan ($10/month or higher).

Source
Calendly: Can I offer multiple meeting types on the free plan?

Only one event type can be active at a time. You can create multiple event types, but only one booking link works simultaneously. Switching between different meeting lengths requires manually activating another event type.

Source
Calendly: Does Calendly work with Apple Calendar and iCloud?

No longer for new users. As of August 20, 2024, new users cannot connect iCloud or Apple Calendar. Existing connections continue to work, but Calendly ended support for new Apple Calendar integrations citing Apple's security changes.

Source
Calendly: What platforms can I use Calendly on?

Calendly is available on Web, iOS, and Android. Browser extensions are available for Safari. There are no dedicated Windows or Mac desktop applications.

Source
Calendly: What does the Standard plan ($10/month) add over free?

Unlimited event types, multiple calendar connections (up to 6), integrations with HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, and webhooks, plus automated reminders and email sequences.

Source
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