Crab Fit vs When2meet
We give Crab Fit a 3.4 GPA and When2meet a 3.0, out of 4.0. Crab Fit grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACrab FitVery good | 3.0GPAWhen2meetVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt costs nothing. There's one plan and it's $0: the web tool, the Android app and the browser extensions. The project runs on optional donations. | AIt's a free service with no paid plans at all. Anyone can create availability surveys and take part in them at no cost. Donations through PayPal are optional. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree with no account, for you and for everyone you send the link to. The privacy policy says the service is provided at no cost. There's no paid tier to be nudged towards. | AThe product is free, and the site says it doesn't ask for contact or billing information. What you put up with is third-party ads on the page, which it says help cover operating costs. |
| Features | BIt does one narrow thing and does it fully: a live heat map of who's free, with time zones handled, Google and Outlook import and an optional password per person. It won't book the meeting or keep a record, since events go after 3 months idle. | CIt does one narrow thing: an availability survey over specific dates or days of the week, within a time window you set. The site describes no calendar sync and no booking pages, and day-of-week surveys expect everyone to be in a single time zone. Thin, even for a poll. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is the ceiling. One form makes an event, and you can even leave the name blank and let it invent one. No sign-up for anybody. | BThe home page is the setup form: type a name, click and drag across the calendar, press Create Event. You can't get much quicker. No rating on record to go by, so a B at best. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, an Android app, and extensions for Firefox and for Safari on Mac, with availability pulled from Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar. No iPhone app is listed, and it doesn't work offline. | CIt runs in a web browser and that's it. The site describes no mobile apps, and the listing shows nothing it connects to: no calendars, no video tools, no API. |
| Best for | finding a time a whole group is free | the quickest free way to compare a group's free time |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Crab Fit and When2meet. How we grade
Where they differ
- Crab Fit is free. When2meet is free.
- Only Crab Fit lists an Android app.
- Only Crab Fit lists a browser extension.
- Crab Fit is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- When2meet also covers calendar.
In commonFree planWebSurveys
At a glance
| Crab Fit | When2meet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free with no account. The privacy policy says the service is provided at no cost, and the site asks for donations so that it can stay free for everyone. | Free service: anyone can create and take part in availability surveys at no cost. Third-party ads cover some operating costs, and donations are accepted through PayPal. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ben Grant | 8 Degrees LLC |
| Price read from | crab.fit | when2meet.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Crab Fit
- Friends, clubs and coworkers picking a time for a one-off event
- Groups whose members should not have to create accounts
- People who want to run their own scheduling poll server
When2meet
- Groups that need to compare availability for a one-off meeting
- Clubs, classes and volunteer teams that want a tool with no cost
- Organizers who want a quick setup that asks for no contact details
Worth knowing
Crab Fit
- Events are deleted after 3 months of inactivity, so it does not keep a long-term record.
- The mobile app is for Android only; no iPhone app is listed.
- Extensions are offered for Firefox and for Safari on Mac. The project's code notes that the Chrome extension was removed.
- It needs a connection: the app's own message says a Crab Fit does not work offline.
When2meet
- Pages carry third-party advertising, which the site says helps cover operating costs.
- The site describes no calendar sync, booking pages or mobile apps; it runs in a web browser.
- Day-of-week surveys assume that every participant is in the same time zone.
- There are no paid plans or business features, and support is by email.
Key features
Crab Fit
- Events created in one form
- Name the event or leave the name blank to have one generated, pick specific dates or days of the week, drag out a time range and choose a time zone. There is no sign-up step.
- Live availability heat map
- Responses appear live on a heat map where darker cells mean more people are free. Hovering or tapping a slot shows who is available, and names can be clicked to view people individually.
- Google and Outlook calendar import
- When entering availability you can sync with Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar, or reuse a recent event. Importing overwrites the availability you had already entered.
- Time zone handling
- Each event stores the time zone it was created in, and a respondent can switch to their detected local time zone. Hours outside the event are greyed out.
- Name and optional password per event
- Respondents enter a name for each event and can add a password to stop others changing their availability. The site says passwords are hashed.
- Open source and self-hosting
- The code is published under the GNU GPLv3, and the repository links to a guide for running your own instance.
When2meet
- One-form event setup
- The home page is the setup form: type an event name, click and drag across a calendar to choose candidate dates, and press Create Event.
- Specific dates or days of the week
- A survey can ask about particular calendar dates or about days of the week in general, chosen from a menu when the event is created.
- Time window and time zone
- Set the earliest and latest times to offer and pick the event's time zone. Day-of-week surveys expect all participants to be in a single time zone.
- No billing or contact details
- The site states that it is a free service and does not ask for contact or billing information.
- Translated interface
- The page looks for a translation that matches the browser's preferred language and falls back to English when none is available.
Plans
Crab Fit
Crab Fit$0
The complete web tool, the Android app and the Firefox and Safari extensions. Donations are optional.
When2meet
Free$0
Create availability surveys and take part in them at no cost, with third-party ads shown on the page.
