Creating an online calendar for consultations

A personal booking link, session types as services and your other calendar as busy time.

By type of business

For consultants, coaches, therapists and freelancers, an online calendar ends the long email exchange about when everyone is free. With 4appointments you share one link and clients pick a free timing. You confirm each request yourself, and you send any meeting link yourself, because the tool produces none.

Create a provider for yourself with your real weekly schedule, then add your session types as services, each with a duration and a price: for example a short intro call, a full session or a follow-up. Use Availability for days off and blocks, including time you keep free for preparation or administrative work.

Copy your personal booking link, which is separate from that of other providers, and place it in your email signature, on your website or in your profile. Clients choose a service and a free timing without creating an account, and the page shows only timings that are really free.

Set the rules that protect your day. The notice rules decide how soon before the session someone may book and how far ahead; the defaults are 120 minutes and 60 days, and each service can have its own values. The pause field adds a gap after every booking for notes or a break. Mark services as online if they take place remotely: the flag does not create a meeting link, so send your own link when you confirm.

Each request arrives as pending; confirm it in the bookings section and tell the client by email or message, as 4appointments sends nothing to clients. To keep other commitments out of the way, subscribe to the ICS link of your external calendar and its busy blocks close those timings, refreshed about every 15 minutes. Your own schedule can also be followed on your phone through an ICS export.

Key points

  • ✓A personal booking link that you share once and use everywhere
  • ✓Notice rules and a pause after each session, set by you
  • ✓Your external calendar closes your busy times through an ICS link, and meeting links are sent by you

Common questions

Can I block hours for creative or administrative work?+

Yes. Add blocks or days off in Availability, and those timings will not be offered to clients.

Can I offer a free first session and charge for the rest?+

You can create one service at a price of zero and others with a price. The tool does not collect payment, so arrange it outside, by invoice or transfer, before you confirm.

More guides

Are you a consultant or freelancer?

Replace the “when are you free?” emails with one booking link. The first 12 months are free, with no card, and the plans then start from €1 per month.

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