Microsoft Bookings vs Zoho Bookings

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

Zoho Bookings

• Teams already using Zoho CRM, Bigin or Zoho One
• Solo users who need a free booking page with two-way calendar sync
• Businesses with several branches or departments taking bookings

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.

Zoho Bookings

• The free plan is limited to one user.
• Online payments, group and recurring bookings, SMS and WhatsApp notifications, white labeling and a custom domain all need Premium.
• Basic is limited to one workspace. Extra workspaces beyond Premium's three, and bookable resources, are paid add-ons.
• Revenue reports, the customer portal, appointment limits and the audit log are Premium-only.

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.

Zoho Bookings

Event types and booking pages

Four event types: one-on-one, collective, group and resource-based. Share a booking link or embed a widget. Group, recurring and resource bookings need Premium.

Workspaces

Workspaces group event types by location or department. Basic is limited to one; Premium includes three, with more sold as add-ons.

Round robin and routing forms

Both paid plans distribute appointments across users with a choice of four methods. Premium adds routing forms that send a customer to the right booking page.

Workflows

Email notification workflows come with Basic. SMS workflows and custom workflows built with a script builder are part of Premium.

Payments

Premium can charge for appointments at booking through providers that include Stripe, PayPal and Razorpay.

Zia setup and MCP server

Zia, Zoho's AI, configures an account and can build a booking page from a company's web address. An MCP server lets outside AI assistants manage appointments.

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.

Zoho Bookings

• Free$0

  One user, online meetings, notification emails and reminders, and two-way sync with Zoho, Google and Microsoft calendars.

• Basic$6

  per user / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)

  One workspace, one-on-one and collective bookings, round robin, email workflows, appointment reports, and Zapier and Zoho CRM integrations.

• Premium$9

  per user / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)

  3 workspaces, group, recurring and resource bookings, online payments, SMS and WhatsApp notifications, routing forms, white labeling and a custom domain.

• FlexCustom

  A tailored plan for organizations with custom requirements, quoted by Zoho's sales team.

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.

Zoho Bookings

• Annual discount

  Save 25% with yearly billing

  Zoho's pricing FAQ says an annual plan saves 25%: Basic is $6 instead of $8 per user / month and Premium is $9 instead of $12.

• Nonprofit

  Special pricing for nonprofits and education

  The pricing FAQ says nonprofits and educational institutions get special pricing on request by email. No rate is published.