4appointments — alternative to Calendly
Short answer
4appointments is an online booking system: each business gets its own booking page (your name, logo and colour), calendars and schedules per provider, and requests that your team confirms manually in the panel. Calendly excels at 1:1 meeting scheduling between professionals and has a wide set of native integrations; 4appointments is aimed at businesses whose clients book services (clinics, salons, consultants). Today it does not send automatic e-mails or SMS to clients, does not take online payments and has no Google or Outlook sync (calendar import and export use ICS only).
4appointments advantages
- A booking page with your own name, logo and colour — one link to share, plus a separate link per provider.
- Guests book 24/7 without an account, or choose “Anyone available”.
- Services with duration, price and a pause between bookings; each provider has a weekly schedule, exceptions and days off.
- Team calendar (day, week, month, list) with roles and permissions per member and per section.
- Clients can cancel or reschedule from the management link on their confirmation screen; recurring bookings are created by staff.
- Reports on confirmed, cancelled and pending bookings, by day, service and provider; the bookings list exports to CSV, XML or PDF.
Limitations to consider
- No automatic confirmation or reminder e-mails or SMS to clients; bookings are confirmed manually by your team.
- No online payments or deposits, no Google/Outlook sync (ICS only), and no integrations or invoicing link.
- Calendly has a much larger network of native integrations (Zoom, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.).
- For pure professional meeting scheduling, the Calendly flow is more polished.
Comparison table: 4appointments vs Calendly
| Feature | 4appointments | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Interface language | Panel in English; the language of the public page depends on the link | Several languages (see the provider’s site) |
| Subscription | Prices in euro; first 12 months free, no card | See the provider’s site |
| Automatic e-mail reminders | No (no e-mails are sent to clients today) | E-mail yes; SMS depends on the plan |
| Payment / deposit at booking | Not today (a deposit is arranged outside the tool) | Yes, on paid plans |
| Google + Outlook sync | No; ICS import/export only | Yes, two-way |
| Multi-location | No (the locations list is informational only) | — |
| Integrated invoicing | No | No (only via integrations) |
| Booking confirmation | Manual: the request stays pending until your team confirms it | Automatic by default |
| Free plan | No permanent free plan; the first 12 months are free | Yes (limited) |
Note: third-party features and pricing may change — check the official site before deciding. Data reflects public information as of mid-2026.
Quick verdict
Choose 4appointments if you need a simple booking page with your own brand, calendars per provider and manual confirmation by your team, and you can handle reminders and payments outside the tool. Choose Calendly if you need automatic notifications, payments, calendar sync or integrations — check its site for what each plan includes.
Frequently asked questions
Calendly or 4appointments for a clinic or salon?
It depends on what you need. 4appointments gives you a branded booking page, a calendar per provider and a team panel, but confirmation is manual and it sends no automatic e-mails and takes no payments today. Calendly is built for meetings between professionals and offers notifications, payments and integrations depending on the plan.
Does Calendly include SMS reminders?
On Calendly, SMS notifications usually depend on the plan — check its site. 4appointments does not send reminders by e-mail or SMS today; if you need them, send them yourself or use another tool.
Can I collect payments at booking like in Calendly?
Not with 4appointments today: online payments and deposits are not available in any plan. A deposit has to be arranged outside the tool, and your team then confirms the booking manually. On Calendly, payment collection is usually tied to paid plans.
Can I migrate my data from Calendly to 4appointments?
There is no automatic import from Calendly. You set up services, providers and availability in the panel and then share your booking link.