The Cal.com Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Cal.com in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Cal.com
The Insider’s Guide
Scheduling platform with a free plan, API and embeds
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among calendar and scheduling apps, read from Cal.com’s own pages.
Made by Cal.com, Inc. · checked Oct 4, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
- 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 06The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 07Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Cal.com’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Cal.com’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 4, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
3.0
GPA, above 57 of the 74 other calendar and scheduling apps we grade
Cal.com is a scheduling platform for booking pages, team scheduling and scheduling built into other products. The free plan gives one user unlimited event types and calendar connections, and paid plans add team features, SSO and compliance controls. In April 2026 Cal.com announced that its production code was going closed source; an MIT-licensed community edition called Cal.diy remains available to self-host.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Cal.com, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Self-hosting Cal.diy is a different afternoon, and Cal.com says to keep it out of production.
- 1
Best for a booking page that's free for one person
The open edition left, Cal.diy, drops the team features and is advised for personal use only.
- 2
Paid plans start at $12 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly).
- 3
There is a free plan
Free forever for 1 user: unlimited event types and calendars, email and SMS notifications, 100+ app integrations, Stripe and PayPal payments, mobile app and browser extension.
- 4
It runs on 6 platforms
Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, with a browser extension too.
- 5
Unlimited event types on the free plan
A single user can create unlimited event types, connect unlimited calendars and send email and SMS notifications without paying.
- 6
Team scheduling
The Teams plan adds shared availability, round-robin assignment, managed and collective event types, routing forms and booking analytics.
- 7
Payments and CRM sync
Stripe and PayPal payments and Salesforce and HubSpot sync are listed on the free plan, alongside 100+ app integrations.
- 8
A 3.0 GPA, above 57 of 74
That is against the other calendar and scheduling apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Cal.com you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Cal.com at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial on the Teams and Organizations plans
- Runs on
- Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension
- Made by
- Cal.com, Inc.
- Category
- Calendar & Scheduling
- Our grade
- 3.0 GPA, very good
The report card
Best for a booking page that's free for one person
Cal.com is a booking page and scheduling API, free for one user with unlimited event types, unlimited calendars, payments and Salesforce and HubSpot sync. Anything shared with a team starts at $12 a user, SSO waits on Organizations at $28, and in April 2026 Cal.com said its production code was going closed source. The open edition left, Cal.diy, drops the team features and is advised for personal use only.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Teams is $12 a user a month billed yearly, $16 monthly, a shade past the $10 at this category's dear end. That covers the team features, where Acuity charges $16 for a single calendar. SSO and the compliance paperwork wait on Organizations at $28, inside the dearest tenth. |
| Free plan and trial | A | Free with no time limit for one user, with unlimited event types, unlimited calendars, email and SMS notifications, Stripe and PayPal payments, Salesforce and HubSpot sync and 100-odd integrations. The cap is the one user: anything shared with a team is paid. |
| Features | B | Covers the booking job: round-robin, managed and collective event types, routing forms, analytics, payments, CRM sync, its own Cal Video, plus an API and embeds for putting scheduling inside your own product. What's gone is the open source: Cal.diy is cut down and advised for personal use only. |
| Ease of use | C | No rating on record. The hosted version is sign up and share a link, but before that there are calendars to connect, event types to define and availability to set. Self-hosting Cal.diy is a different afternoon, and Cal.com says to keep it out of production. |
| Platforms and integrations | A | Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, plus an API, embeds, and 100-plus integrations including Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, Meet, Teams, Salesforce, HubSpot and Stripe. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Cal.com is for
- Fits if you're one person who wants a booking page with unlimited event types and no bill
- Works for developers adding scheduling to their own product with the API and embeds
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you chose it for being open source: the production code went closed in April 2026
- Tight if you're a team, since shared availability and round-robin need Teams at $12 a user billed yearly
- Not for you if you want to self-host the full product, which needs an enterprise license from sales
- Watch out: Cal.diy has no Teams, Workflows or SSO, and Cal.com advises it for personal, non-production use only
- Pricey if you need SAML SSO, SCIM or sub-teams, which start on Organizations at $28 a user billed yearly
Good to know
Good for
- Solo users who want unlimited event types without paying
- Developers adding scheduling to their own product
- Organizations that need SAML SSO, SCIM and compliance attestations
Worth knowing
- The free plan is limited to 1 user; shared team availability and round-robin scheduling need the Teams plan.
- Cal.com announced in April 2026 that its production code was going closed source. The open-source edition is now Cal.diy, without Teams, Organizations, Workflows or SSO.
- Cal.com recommends Cal.diy for personal, non-production use only; self-hosting the commercial product requires an enterprise license from sales.
- SAML SSO, SCIM and sub-teams start on the Organizations plan at $28 per user / month, billed yearly.
Part 02 · Tips
Insider tips
What most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
7
Things most people miss, each from its own help pages
The things about Cal.com that are easy to miss until they cost you: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches at renewal or when you leave. Each one is from Cal.com’s own pages, linked beside it.
Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from Cal.com's help centre (messaging credits, seat billing, importing, buffers, private links, booking questions and out of office) on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.
- 1
Pay less
Text reminders on the free plan are paid for with credits
Free accounts get no SMS or WhatsApp credits, so text reminders mean buying them in Billing Settings. A credit is $0.01, and a message costs Twilio's rate for that country plus an 80% fee. When credits run out, reminders go by email instead.
cal.com - 2
Renewal
Team seats are billed at the month's peak, not the final headcount
If your team's billing page shows high water mark billing, you pay for the most members you had at any point in the cycle. Start with 10, go up to 15, end on 12, and you pay for 15. So removing someone mid-cycle doesn't cut that cycle's bill. Check it under Team Settings, Billing.
cal.com - 3
Easy to miss
Bring your Calendly links and bookings over with the importer
Settings, Import copies booking links, questions and bookings from Calendly or SavvyCal, plus availability from Calendly, and nobody gets an email about the imported bookings. Your calendars and video apps don't come across, so connect those in Cal.com yourself.
cal.com - 4
Setting
Add buffers so nobody can book you back-to-back
Open a booking link, go to its Limits & buffers tab and set time before, after, or both. Cal.com treats that time as busy. Buffers stack, so two meetings side by side can block more than either buffer on its own.
cal.com - 5
Easy to miss
Make a private link that dies after a set number of bookings
In a booking link's Advanced tab, Private Links makes hidden URLs that can expire after so many bookings or on a set date, then show a 404. Good for a 5-person beta or a one-off consultation you don't want on your public page.
cal.com - 6
Setting
Only let people from one company book, or keep Gmail out
Edit the Email field under a link's Booking questions and you can require emails that contain a domain, such as your company's, or exclude ones like gmail.com. Handy for internal meetings or sales calls with businesses only.
cal.com - 7
Easy to miss
Block public holidays and hand bookings to a teammate when away
Settings, My account, Out of office blocks bookings for the dates you pick, and its Holidays tab blocks your country's public holidays for you. Forwarding bookings to a colleague while you're off needs the Teams plan.
cal.com
Part 03 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$12
A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too
Cal.com has a free plan. Paid plans start at $12 per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly).
The cap is the one user: anything shared with a team is paid.
Free
$0
One user with unlimited event types and calendars, payments, and Salesforce and HubSpot sync.
Teams
$12
per user / month, billed yearly ($16 monthly)
Shared team availability, round-robin, managed and collective event types, routing forms, analytics and branding removal.
Organizations
$28
per user / month, billed yearly ($37 monthly)
Unlimited sub-teams, company subdomain, SAML SSO, SCIM, role-based permissions, and SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO 27001 compliance.
Enterprise
Custom
Annual contracts with dedicated onboarding and engineering support, SLA and uptime guarantees, and a dedicated database.
The free plan
Free forever for 1 user: unlimited event types and calendars, email and SMS notifications, 100+ app integrations, Stripe and PayPal payments, mobile app and browser extension.
Trying it first
14-day free trial on the Teams and Organizations plans
Read from cal.com on Oct 4, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
Save 25% with yearly billing
Cal.com's pricing page marks yearly billing as saving 25%: Teams is $12 and Organizations $28 per user per month billed yearly, against the $16 and $37 rates quoted on its homepage.
Stated on cal.com
Part 04 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
7
Places it runs: Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and Browser extension
Scheduling platform with a free plan, API and embeds. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: self-hostable, public API, AI features, booking links, workflow automation.
What's gone is the open source: Cal.diy is cut down and advised for personal use only.
- Unlimited event types on the free plan
- A single user can create unlimited event types, connect unlimited calendars and send email and SMS notifications without paying.
- Team scheduling
- The Teams plan adds shared availability, round-robin assignment, managed and collective event types, routing forms and booking analytics.
- Payments and CRM sync
- Stripe and PayPal payments and Salesforce and HubSpot sync are listed on the free plan, alongside 100+ app integrations.
- Cal Video
- Cal.com's own video conferencing service can host booked meetings as an alternative to Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams.
- API and embeds
- Cal.com is also aimed at developers building scheduling into their own products, with an API, embeds and workflow automation.
- Cal.diy community edition
- An MIT-licensed, self-hosted fork of Cal.com with the commercial code removed. It has no hosted version and needs no license key.
Where it runs
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
- iOS
- Android
- Browser extension
What it works with
- Google Calendar
- Outlook
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- Microsoft Teams
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Stripe
Who makes Cal.com
Cal.com, Inc. is a venture-backed scheduling company. Individuals can use it free, and it earns money from paid plans for teams, organizations and enterprises. Its production code went private in April 2026; an MIT-licensed community edition is published as Cal.diy.
- Founded
- 2021venturebeat.com
- Based
- Fully distributed, with no physical headquarterscal.com
- Ownership
- Privately held. Privately held and venture-backed: its own posts announce a seed round led by OSS Capital and a Series A led by Seven Seven Six, and name no parent company.cal.com
- Funding
- A $7.4 million seed round led by Joseph Jacks of OSS Capital, announced in December 2021, and a $25 million Series A led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six in April 2022, according to its own blog and VentureBeat.cal.comcal.comventurebeat.comventurebeat.com
- Hiring
- 2 open roles: a senior product design engineer and a remote senior full-stack engineercal.com
- Affiliate program
- 20% commission for 12 months on each client referred, while the client gets 20% off for 12 months.cal.com
- Lately
- Cal.com v6.9.5: Workflow delays, Message your guests & Out of office integrations · Oct 15, 2026
- Cal.com v6.9: Workflows 2.0, Cal.ai & Troubleshooter 2.0 · Sep 15, 2026
- Cal.com v6.8 - Cal Events, New troubleshooter, AI chat in routing forms & more · Aug 15, 2026
- Cal.com v6.7: AI Meeting Notes, Cal Pay & Private Notes · Jul 15, 2026
Read on Oct 18, 2026 from the company’s own pages and from news reports. What is not stated there is left out.
Part 05 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
57/74
Other calendar and scheduling apps it is graded above
Cal.com's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 57 of the 74 other calendar and scheduling apps we grade, and level with 8.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (A, above 71 of 74) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $6 for the category: 43 of the 52 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 6 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 75 calendar and scheduling apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Cal.com’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 10 of 74
- AFree plan and trialAbove 56 of 74
- BFeaturesAbove 47 of 74
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 74
- APlatforms and integrationsAbove 71 of 74
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 67 calendar and scheduling apps. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Cal.com is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Cal.com you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 57 of the 74 other calendar and scheduling apps we grade. It costs $144 a year.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- Booking pages that read and write other people's calendars and send the emails.
- Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Cal.com’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 06 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Calendly, SavvyCal, Google Calendar, Reclaim.ai and Notion Calendar
The 5 tools Cal.com is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.8GPA
Calendly
Free plan · from $10/mo
Booking links and team scheduling for external meetings.
- Only Cal.com lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Cal.com is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Cal.com also covers workflow automation.
- 2.2GPA
SavvyCal
Free trial · from $10/mo
Scheduling links where invitees can overlay their own calendar.
- Cal.com has a free plan. SavvyCal does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Cal.com lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Cal.com is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 3.4GPA
Google Calendar
Free plan · from $7/mo
Online calendar from Google, free with a personal account.
- Only Cal.com lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Only Cal.com lists a browser extension.
- Cal.com is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 2.0GPA
Reclaim.ai
Free plan · from $10/mo
AI scheduling layer for Google Calendar and Outlook.
- Only Cal.com lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Only Cal.com lists a browser extension.
- Cal.com is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- 3.6GPA
Notion Calendar
Free
Free calendar app that connects to Notion databases.
- Only Cal.com lists a Linux app.
- Only Cal.com lists a browser extension.
- Cal.com is self-hostable, according to its own site.
Part 07 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Cal.com free?
Cal.com has a free plan. Free forever for 1 user: unlimited event types and calendars, email and SMS notifications, 100+ app integrations, Stripe and PayPal payments, mobile app and browser extension.
How much does Cal.com cost?
Cal.com lists 4 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does Cal.com work on?
Cal.com is available on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. It also has a browser extension.
Does Cal.com offer any discounts?
Cal.com publicly lists the following: Save 25% with yearly billing.
Is Cal.com open source?
Cal.com is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 4, 2026.
Can Cal.com be self-hosted?
Yes. Cal.com's own site says it can be run on a server of your own.
Does Cal.com have an API?
Yes. Cal.com offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Cal.com integrate with?
Cal.com's listing names Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, HubSpot and Stripe.
Does Cal.com have a free trial?
Yes. 14-day free trial on the Teams and Organizations plans.
Who makes Cal.com?
Cal.com is made by a company of the same name. Privately held and venture-backed: its own posts announce a seed round led by OSS Capital and a Series A led by Seven Seven Six, and name no parent company.
What are the alternatives to Cal.com?
The closest alternatives to Cal.com in our directory are Calendly, SavvyCal, Google Calendar, Reclaim.ai and Notion Calendar.
How does Cal.com compare with other calendar and scheduling apps?
Cal.com's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 57 of the 74 other calendar and scheduling apps we grade, and level with 8.
Is Cal.com good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Cal.com C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $12 a month for each person, against a middle price of $6 for the category: 43 of the 52 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Cal.com?
To replace Cal.com you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Cal.com’s own pages on Oct 4, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Cal.com's own pages on 4 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-02-19.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Cal.com, Inc. Prices change, so check cal.com before you buy.
Part 08 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Cal.com, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/cal-com
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Cal.com: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 4, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/cal-com
Know someone choosing between calendar and scheduling apps?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/cal-com/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded calendar and scheduling apps after Cal.com, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Calendar & Scheduling Insider's GuideEvery one of the 75 calendar and scheduling apps we grade, compared
- Notion Calendar Insider's GuideFree calendar app that connects to Notion databases3.6 GPA
- Google Calendar Insider's GuideOnline calendar from Google, free with a personal account3.4 GPA
- World Time Buddy Insider's GuideVisual time zone converter and world clock for planning calls3.4 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Cal.com’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Cal.com is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Cal.com, Inc. Prices and plans change: check cal.com before you buy.