Scheduling · head to head
Picktime vs Timely
Picktime
Scheduling
Appointment, class and resource booking with an unusually capable free tier
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Timely
Scheduling
Smart scheduling software with AI-powered features
- From
- $11/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Picktime has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Picktime the Pro plan is cheaper per user than Starter because it is sold in a ten user block, so a business with four or five staff pays more per head than a business with ten and has no tier that fits it well.; Timely starter is capped at 20 projects and a maximum of 5 users, at $11 per user per month billed monthly or $9 billed yearly
- They diverge on capability: Picktime covers Free tier with three staff, Timely covers AI-powered scheduling.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Picktime and Timely actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Scheduling).
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 Picktime
- Free tier with three staff
- Resource booking
- Class and course booking
- SMS reminders
- Two way calendar sync
- Payments
- Multilingual booking pages
- Booking approval
Only in Timely
- AI-powered scheduling
- Online booking
- Automated reminders
- Staff management
- Client management
- Resource allocation
- Analytics and reporting
- Mobile app
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Picktime
- A public library booking study rooms and equipment where there is no budget for scheduling software at allnot Timely
- A two person tutoring business that needs a booking page, reminders and card payment for under ten dollars a monthnot Timely
- A community centre running classes with capacity limits and a waitlist across two venuesnot Timely
- A small salon that wants staff and chair availability booked together rather than assuming every stylist has a stationnot Timely
Timely
- Team time tracking for professional servicesnot Picktime
- Project billing and utilization reportingnot Picktime
- Workforce capacity planningnot Picktime
- Multi-team time management across currenciesnot Picktime
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Picktime
- The Pro plan is cheaper per user than Starter because it is sold in a ten user block, so a business with four or five staff pays more per head than a business with ten and has no tier that fits it well.
- SMS is only on paid plans and the free tier is email only, so the no cost option loses the single feature that most reduces no shows.
- Reporting is limited to basic booking counts and revenue totals, so any business that wants utilisation by resource, staff productivity or cohort retention will be exporting data and analysing it elsewhere.
- Integrations beyond calendar, payments and Zapier are sparse, with no native connection to mainstream CRM or practice management systems, meaning customer data lives in a second silo that someone reconciles manually.
- Support is email only with no phone or guaranteed response time, which is acceptable at three dollars a user but a genuine risk if the booking page goes down on a trading day.
Timely
- Starter is capped at 20 projects and a maximum of 5 users, at $11 per user per month billed monthly or $9 billed yearly
- Premium is capped at a maximum of 50 users, at $20 per user per month billed monthly or $16 billed yearly
- Unlimited users requires the Unlimited plan at $28 per user per month billed monthly or $22 billed yearly
- Capacity management and reporting, overtime and undertime tracking, Azure user management and 50+ currencies are all on the Unlimited plan only
- Team management, budgets and costs, and accounting and project management integrations are excluded from Starter
- The Enterprise plan is contact sales only with no published price
- Tasks is sold as a paid add-on rather than being included
Pricing, plan by plan
Picktime
Free- FreeFree
- Three staff members
- Two locations and three resources
- Unlimited appointments
- Starter$3/month
- Per user, billed annually
- Three staff and two locations
- SMS notifications and reminders
- Pro$2.25/month
- Per user, billed annually, minimum ten users
- Unlimited locations
- Customisable emails
Timely
$11/month- Starter$11/month
- Up to 5 users
- Up to 20 projects
- Basic time tracking
- Premium$20/month
- Up to 50 users
- Unlimited projects
- All Starter features
- Unlimited$28/month
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited projects
- All Premium features
- Enterprise$null/month
- Custom pricing
- All features
Which should you pick?
Choose Picktime if
- You need free tier with three staff.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want resource booking.
Choose Timely if
- You need ai-powered scheduling.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- You also want online booking.
Questions people ask
- Is Picktime or Timely better?
- Neither clearly leads. Picktime starts at Free and Timely at $11/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Picktime or Timely?
- Picktime has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Picktime and $11/month for Timely.
- Does Picktime or Timely run on more platforms?
- Picktime runs on Web, iOS, Android. Timely runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
- Can I use Picktime for free?
- Yes. Picktime has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Timely starts at $11/month.
- What is Picktime best used for?
- Picktime is most often used for a public library booking study rooms and equipment where there is no budget for scheduling software at all, a two person tutoring business that needs a booking page, reminders and card payment for under ten dollars a month, a community centre running classes with capacity limits and a waitlist across two venues, a small salon that wants staff and chair availability booked together rather than assuming every stylist has a station. Of those, a public library booking study rooms and equipment where there is no budget for scheduling software at all and a two person tutoring business that needs a booking page, reminders and card payment for under ten dollars a month are not what Timely is typically brought in for.
- What can Picktime do that Timely cannot?
- Picktime covers Free tier with three staff, Resource booking, Class and course booking, SMS reminders. Timely covers AI-powered scheduling, Online booking, Automated reminders, Staff management.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Picktime: Is the free plan actually usable long term?
Yes. It allows three staff, two locations and unlimited appointments permanently. The main limits are no SMS and PayPal only for payments.
Timely: Does Timely offer a free trial?
Yes, Timely provides 14 days of full feature access without requiring a credit card.
SourcePicktime: Can it book rooms and equipment?
Yes. Resources are first class objects and can be booked alongside or independently of staff.
Timely: What annual discounts does Timely offer?
Annual billing discounts range from 20% to 22% off monthly prices. Starter saves 20%, Premium saves 21%, and Unlimited saves 22% when billed yearly.
SourcePicktime: Why does Pro cost less per user than Starter?
Pro is priced for a block of ten users. Below that headcount the per user rate on Starter is what you pay.
Timely: Can I add team members to the Starter plan?
Starter plan supports a maximum of 5 users. For larger teams, Premium supports up to 50 users and Unlimited supports unlimited users.
SourcePicktime: Does it take card payments?
Stripe and Square on paid plans; the free plan supports PayPal only.
Timely: What is the cost of Timely's Tasks feature add-on?
The Tasks feature starts at $5 per person per month and is available across all Timely plans.
SourceRelated pages
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