Is Workday or Calendly better?

Neither clearly leads. Workday starts at On request and Calendly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Workday or Calendly?

Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Workday and Free for Calendly.

Does Workday or Calendly run on more platforms?

Workday runs on Cloud/Web. Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android.

Can I use Calendly for free?

Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Workday starts at On request.

What is Workday best used for?

Workday is most often used for hr management, financial planning, workforce planning, compliance. Of those, hr management and financial planning are not what Calendly is typically brought in for.

What can Workday do that Calendly cannot?

Workday covers Human capital management, Financial management, Planning, Analytics. Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Both handle Salesforce, Slack, SOC2, GDPR.

All industries · head to head

Workday vs Calendly

Workday

All industries

Enterprise cloud applications for finance and HR

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Calendly

All industries

Scheduling automation platform for eliminating back-and-forth

From: Free
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: Workday high implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees; Calendly the free plan allows one event type and one calendar connection, so it cannot handle different meeting formats
They diverge on capability: Workday covers Human capital management, Calendly covers Calendar sync.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Workday and Calendly actually diverge.

Attributes where Workday and Calendly differ
Attribute	Workday	Calendly
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	Unknown
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Cloud/Web	Web, iOS, Android
Founded	2005	2013

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 Workday

Human capital management
Financial management
Planning
Analytics
Payroll
Time tracking
Talent management
Procurement

Only in Calendly

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

Both cover

Salesforce
Slack
SOC2
GDPR
HIPAA

What people use each for

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

Workday

HR managementnot Calendly
Financial planningnot Calendly
Workforce planningnot Calendly
Compliancenot Calendly
Analyticsnot Calendly

Calendly

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

Where each one falls short

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

Workday

High implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees
Long deployment timelines (12-18 months standard) before ROI
Steep per-employee pricing at enterprise scale ($408-504 PEPM)
Limited pre-built templates and customization; often requires extensive configuration
Requires significant IT and change management resources during implementation

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Workday

On request

Small Business$undefined/month
- Core HR
- Payroll
- Time tracking
Medium Enterprise$undefined/month
- Full HCM suite
- Financial management
- Advanced analytics
Large Enterprise$undefined/month
- Complete platform
- Custom configurations
- Dedicated support

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Workday if

You need human capital management.
You work on Cloud/Web.
You also want financial management.

Workday review

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

Questions people ask

Is Workday or Calendly better?: Neither clearly leads. Workday starts at On request and Calendly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Workday or Calendly?: Calendly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Workday and Free for Calendly.
Does Workday or Calendly run on more platforms?: Workday runs on Cloud/Web. Calendly runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Calendly for free?: Yes. Calendly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Workday starts at On request.
What is Workday best used for?: Workday is most often used for hr management, financial planning, workforce planning, compliance. Of those, hr management and financial planning are not what Calendly is typically brought in for.
What can Workday do that Calendly cannot?: Workday covers Human capital management, Financial management, Planning, Analytics. Calendly covers Calendar sync, Automated scheduling, Custom availability, Time zone detection. Both handle Salesforce, Slack, SOC2, GDPR.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Workday: What is Workday GO and what market is it designed for?

Workday GO is a product designed for small and midsize organizations, bringing together HR and finance solutions with transparent pricing and fast activation in 30 to 60 days. It includes HCM, benefits, payroll, talent, and more at a lower price point than standard Workday.

Source

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

Workday: What is Workday Skills Cloud and how does it fit into HCM?

Workday Skills Cloud is an intelligent skills foundation built into Workday HCM. It is described as the world's most open intelligent skills foundation and fuels data-driven talent strategies across recruiting, learning, and workforce planning.

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

Workday: Does Workday include payroll and benefits management?

Yes. Workday HCM includes benefits administration and payroll capabilities as part of its core suite. Global payroll processing is available across multiple countries and tax jurisdictions.

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

Workday: What is the typical pricing model for Workday HCM?

Workday HCM uses per-employee (PEPM) annual subscription pricing. Companies at scale typically pay $34-42 PEPM. Enterprise organizations with 5,000+ employees typically pay $408-504 per employee annually. Pricing decreases with larger commitments and longer contract terms.

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

Workday: How long does Workday implementation typically take?

Standard implementations are lengthy, often taking 12-18 months. Workday GO promises faster activation in 30-60 days. Implementation costs typically equal 100-150% of the first year's software subscription fees.

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

Workday vs Calendly

Workday

Calendly

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Workday

Only in Calendly

Both cover

What people use each for

Workday

Calendly

Where each one falls short

Workday

Calendly

Pricing, plan by plan

Workday

Calendly

Which should you pick?

Choose Workday if

Choose Calendly if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Workday

More on Calendly

Keep looking

Other head to heads