Microsoft Bookings vs YouCanBookMe

Microsoft Bookings

• Organizations already paying for Microsoft 365 that need appointment booking
• Teams that hold customer appointments as Microsoft Teams meetings
• Internal booking pages limited to people inside the organization

YouCanBookMe

• Solo professionals and small businesses that want a branded booking page
• Taking payment through Stripe at the moment of booking
• Teams that need round-robin assignment across members

Microsoft Bookings

• Bookings is not available as a standalone app; it requires an eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription with Outlook on the web enabled.
• Microsoft's FAQ states there is no payment support, so it cannot charge customers when they book.
• SMS notifications are limited to North America, and staff cannot be given their own time zones.
• Appointments can only be edited in the Bookings web portal, not from an Outlook calendar, and reports cover the past 120 days.

YouCanBookMe

• The Free plan allows 1 calendar connection and 1 booking page, and its pages and emails carry a 'Powered for free' button.
• There is no mobile app; YouCanBookMe says its pages are mobile responsive and bookings are managed from a browser, calendar or email.
• Automated workflows, analytics, promotion codes and the HubSpot and Zapier integrations start on Professional; round robin and API access need Team.
• The lowest listed prices require paying for 2 years up front, and UK customers have 20% VAT added.

Microsoft Bookings

Personal booking page

Personal Bookings gives one person a page for their own time slots, with meeting types for different purposes. Anyone with the link sees the free times and books one.

Shared booking pages for teams

Shared Bookings covers a team: define services, add staff, set business hours and scheduling policies, and run several Bookings calendars, each with its own setup.

Teams meetings for appointments

An appointment booked as an online meeting gets a unique Microsoft Teams link sent to attendees. Bookings also runs as an app inside Teams and Outlook.

Self-service booking and changes

Customers book, reschedule or cancel on the page, which can be embedded in a website through an iFrame or restricted to accounts in your own organization.

Email and SMS notifications

Confirmation and reminder emails go to staff and customers with a calendar file attached. SMS text notifications are currently available in North America.

Group bookings and staff assignment

Several people can book the same slot, for example for a class. If customers are not allowed to pick a staff member, Bookings assigns an available one at random.

YouCanBookMe

Customizable booking pages

Every plan takes your logo and text; paid plans add a brand color, background image and footer. Pages can be embedded on a website or shared as a link or QR code, and support over 40 languages.

Appointment types and availability

Offer appointment types with their own durations, prices and locations, and control availability with buffers, minimum and maximum notice periods and a daily meeting limit.

Payments at booking

The Stripe integration takes credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay before a booking is confirmed. Promotion codes are available from the Professional plan.

Notifications and workflows

Email and SMS confirmations, reminders and follow-ups can be customized. Professional adds automated workflows with no-show management. SMS carries an extra charge.

Team scheduling

The Team plan lists several team members on one page, distributes meetings by round robin, and manages members, roles and billing from one dashboard.

Meeting polls and Chrome extension

Polls let a group vote on times before a meeting is fixed, and the Chrome extension shares preferred times from the browser. Both are listed on the Free plan.

Microsoft Bookings

• Business Basic (no Teams)$5.40

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Microsoft 365 with web and mobile Office apps, business email and 1 TB of storage per user. Bookings is included, Microsoft Teams is not.

• Business Basic$7.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  The same plan with Microsoft Teams, so Bookings appointments can be held as Teams meetings. For up to 300 users.

• Business Standard with Copilot$23.50

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Adds desktop versions of the Office apps and Microsoft Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Bookings is included.

• Business Premium with Copilot$32.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Adds device security and management, threat protection and data protection on top of Standard. Bookings is included.

YouCanBookMe

• Free$0

  1 calendar connection and 1 booking page, with your logo and text, Stripe payments, Zoom, Teams and Meet links and up to 7 form questions.

• Individual$7.20

  per month, billed every 2 years ($8.10 yearly, $9 monthly)

  2 calendar connections and 2 booking pages, custom colors and backgrounds, reminders, group sessions, notice periods and password protection.

• Professional$10.40

  per month, billed every 2 years ($11.70 yearly, $13 monthly)

  6 calendar connections and 10 booking pages, automated workflows, promotion codes, analytics, and HubSpot and Zapier integrations.

• Team$14.40

  per member / month, billed every 2 years ($16.20 yearly, $18 monthly)

  10 calendar connections and 15+ booking pages per user, a team dashboard, roles, round robin, centralized billing and API access.

Microsoft Bookings

• Nonprofit

  Business Basic free for eligible nonprofits

  Microsoft's nonprofit page lists Microsoft 365 Business Basic, which includes Bookings, as a grant that is free for up to 300 users, with nonprofit staff pricing on Standard and Premium.

YouCanBookMe

• Annual discount

  10% off yearly billing, 20% off 2-year billing

  The pricing page lists 10% off when billed yearly and 20% off when billed every 2 years. Individual falls from $9 a month to $8.10 or $7.20.

• Education

  Educators' discount on application

  YouCanBookMe says schools can get a discount in certain circumstances and links to an application form for educators. No rate is published.