Is Calendly or Namely better?

Neither clearly leads. Calendly starts at Free and Namely at $18/employee/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Calendly or Namely?

Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Calendly and $18/employee/month for Namely.

Does Calendly or Namely run on more platforms?

Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android. Namely runs on Web.

Can I use Calendly for free?

Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Namely starts at $18/employee/month.

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 Namely is typically brought in for.

What can Calendly do that Namely cannot?

Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Namely covers HR Management, Payroll, Benefits Administration, Time Off Management. Both handle Slack.

All industries · head to head

Calendly vs Namely

Calendly

All industries

Scheduling automation platform for eliminating back-and-forth

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Namely

Payroll & Benefits

The HR platform that employees love

From: $18/employee/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

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; Namely limited customization for complex HR processes: workflows and customization options are limited compared to enterprise solutions
They diverge on capability: Calendly covers Calendar sync, Namely covers HR Management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Calendly and Namely actually diverge.

Attributes where Calendly and Namely differ
Attribute	Calendly	Namely
Starting price	Free	$18/employee/month
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web
Category	All industries	Payroll & Benefits
Founded	2013	2012

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Namely

HR Management
Payroll
Benefits Administration
Time Off Management
Performance Management
Onboarding
Google Workspace
Microsoft 365

Both cover

Slack

What people use each for

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

Calendly

Sales meetingsnot Namely
Interview schedulingnot Namely
Customer callsnot Namely
Office hoursnot Namely
Webinar registrationnot Namely

Namely

No use cases recorded yet. See the Namely review.

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

Namely

Limited customization for complex HR processes: workflows and customization options are limited compared to enterprise solutions
Payroll limitations: better served for less complex organizations and struggles with complex time-and-attendance or multi-FEIN scenarios
Missing ATS and surveys: lacks built-in applicant tracking system and pulse survey capabilities
Slow support response times: pod-based support model has led to slow response times for customers
Designed for specific market segment: best fit is mid-sized companies with 50-350 employees

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

Namely

$18/employee/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Namely 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 Namely if

You need hr management.
You also want payroll.

Namely review

Questions people ask

Is Calendly or Namely better?: Neither clearly leads. Calendly starts at Free and Namely at $18/employee/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Calendly or Namely?: Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Calendly and $18/employee/month for Namely.
Does Calendly or Namely run on more platforms?: Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android. Namely runs on Web.
Can I use Calendly for free?: Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Namely starts at $18/employee/month.
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 Namely is typically brought in for.
What can Calendly do that Namely cannot?: Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Namely covers HR Management, Payroll, Benefits Administration, Time Off Management. Both handle Slack.

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

Namely: Does Namely support global payroll?

Namely primarily focuses on mid-sized US-based companies with 50-350 employees. While it can handle complex payroll scenarios, it is better served for less complex organizations and does not have extensive global payroll capabilities compared to enterprise platforms.

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

Namely: What is included in Namely's Premium pricing?

Premium plans cost $18-24 per employee per month plus implementation fees of 10-25% of annual software costs. Plans include payroll, HR, benefits administration, time management, and talent management features.

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

Namely: Does Namely include performance management features?

Yes, Namely offers customizable performance review modules enabling dynamic, ongoing feedback rather than traditional annual-only reviews. This is one of Namely's standout features.

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

Namely: How long does Namely implementation typically take?

Namely is designed for mid-sized companies and implementation timelines vary based on complexity. The platform includes implementation fees of 10-25% of annual software costs in addition to monthly per-employee pricing.

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

Calendly vs Namely

Calendly

Namely

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Calendly

Only in Namely

Both cover

What people use each for

Calendly

Namely

Where each one falls short

Calendly

Namely

Pricing, plan by plan

Calendly

Namely

Which should you pick?

Choose Calendly if

Choose Namely if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Calendly

More on Namely

Keep looking

Other head to heads