Is Doodle or Namely better?

Neither clearly leads. Doodle 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, Doodle or Namely?

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

Does Doodle or Namely run on more platforms?

Doodle runs on Web, Mobile (iOS, Android). Namely runs on Web.

Can I use Doodle for free?

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

What is Doodle best used for?

Doodle is most often used for scheduling, appointment booking, time tracking, resource management. Of those, scheduling and appointment booking are not what Namely is typically brought in for.

What can Doodle do that Namely cannot?

Doodle covers Group polls, 1:1 scheduling, Booking pages, Calendar sync. Namely covers HR Management, Payroll, Benefits Administration, Time Off Management. Both handle Slack, Web support, Ios support, Android support.

Scheduling & Booking · head to head

Doodle vs Namely

Doodle

Scheduling & Booking

Find the best time for anything

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 Doodle has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Doodle free plan restricted to one active poll and one booking page with 10-slot limit; Namely limited customization for complex HR processes: workflows and customization options are limited compared to enterprise solutions
They diverge on capability: Doodle covers Group polls, Namely covers HR Management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Doodle and Namely actually diverge.

Attributes where Doodle and Namely differ
Attribute	Doodle	Namely
Starting price	Free	$18/employee/month
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, Mobile (iOS, Android)	Web
Category	Scheduling & Booking	Payroll & Benefits
Founded	2007	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 Doodle

Group polls
1:1 scheduling
Booking pages
Calendar sync
Time zone support
Google Calendar
Outlook
Zoom

Only in Namely

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

Both cover

Slack
Web support
Ios support
Android support

What people use each for

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

Doodle

Schedulingnot Namely
Appointment bookingnot Namely
Time trackingnot Namely
Resource managementnot Namely
Team coordinationnot 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.

Doodle

Free plan restricted to one active poll and one booking page with 10-slot limit
Free users see excessive advertisements on booking pages
Limited customization options for poll types and response formats
Mobile app experiences bugs and has less polished interface than desktop version

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

Doodle

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Doodle review.

Namely

$18/employee/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Namely review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Doodle if

You need group polls.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Mobile (iOS, Android).
You also want 1:1 scheduling.

Doodle review

Choose Namely if

You need hr management.
You also want payroll.

Namely review

Questions people ask

Is Doodle or Namely better?: Neither clearly leads. Doodle 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, Doodle or Namely?: Doodle has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Doodle and $18/employee/month for Namely.
Does Doodle or Namely run on more platforms?: Doodle runs on Web, Mobile (iOS, Android). Namely runs on Web.
Can I use Doodle for free?: Yes. Doodle has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Namely starts at $18/employee/month.
What is Doodle best used for?: Doodle is most often used for scheduling, appointment booking, time tracking, resource management. Of those, scheduling and appointment booking are not what Namely is typically brought in for.
What can Doodle do that Namely cannot?: Doodle covers Group polls, 1:1 scheduling, Booking pages, Calendar sync. Namely covers HR Management, Payroll, Benefits Administration, Time Off Management. Both handle Slack, Web support, Ios support, Android support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Doodle: Does Doodle offer a free plan?

Yes. Doodle's free plan includes one active group poll, one booking page, and one 1:1 meeting, limited to 10 slots per poll with ads displayed. Premium plans start at $15/month.

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

Doodle: What are Doodle's pricing plans?

Professional plan costs $15/month (or $132/year). Team plan costs $19.95/user/month (or $8.95/user/month billed annually) with a two-seat minimum.

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

Doodle: Does Doodle integrate with calendar apps?

Yes. Doodle integrates with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar to prevent double-bookings. Slack integration allows poll creation and sharing directly in Slack channels.

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

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

Doodle vs Namely

Doodle

Namely

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Doodle

Only in Namely

Both cover

What people use each for

Doodle

Namely

Where each one falls short

Doodle

Namely

Pricing, plan by plan

Doodle

Namely

Which should you pick?

Choose Doodle if

Choose Namely if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Doodle

More on Namely

Keep looking

Other head to heads