The Best Booking Apps for Outlook to Use in 2024

Struggling to manage multiple Outlook accounts? We have compiled a list of 5 booking apps that seamlessly sync with Outlook calendars, making it easier for you to manage your busy schedule. 

We will walk you through each app's features, pros and cons to help you find the perfect tool for your needs. 

Let's get started on finding the best solution for you.

Why Use a Booking App for Outlook?

You might wonder why bother with a booking app for Outlook instead of Microsoft Bookings from Microsoft 365. Here are some of the reasons why use a third-party booking app.

More Affordable Options

Choosing a third-party booking app can save you money. Microsoft Bookings is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, so you have to buy the bundle, which can be expensive if you don't need all the apps it includes. This makes these apps a great choice for those who want specific scheduling tools without paying for a full office suite.

On the other hand, some third-party apps offer free plans that work well for basic needs, similar to Calendly and Koalendar. Apps like OneCal are even cheaper when coming to paid plans, starting at less than $5 per month, including key features like calendar view and the ability to sync multiple outlook calendars, individual and collective booking links and more.

More Scheduling Features

Besides being more affordable, third-party booking apps usually have more scheduling features than Microsoft Bookings. For example, OneCal has special features like automatic reminders for appointments, customizable booking pages, and team management for scheduling with multiple users. 

These features make it easier to set up appointments in a way that fits your specific situation, whether for personal use or business. This makes third-party apps a more flexible option for everyone.

Make Collaborations More Easy

Third-party booking apps are great for teamwork. They let team members easily join the platform and assign different roles and permissions. This is really helpful for teams where many people need to manage or see the booking calendar. It improves how teams work together and makes scheduling simpler and more efficient.

5 Booking Apps for Outlook to Boost Productivity

Now, let's dive into the top 5 booking apps for Outlook. We'll take a close look at what each app offers, along with its benefits and drawbacks, to help you decide which one fit  the best for your needs.

1. OneCal

OneCal is a powerful and intuitive booking app compatible with both Outlook and Google calendars. It's designed to simplify the process of organizing meetings, events, and appointments in real-time, making it an excellent tool for personal and professional use.

This app comes packed with a range of features aimed at automating calendar management, enhancing collaboration with both internal teams and external partners, and increasing overall productivity. Users enjoy a straightforward calendar interface, the ability to create personal and team booking links, and options to block out time to manage availability more effectively.

Additionally, OneCal allows users to customize their scheduling environment, offering branding options to align with their corporate identity and enhancing the professional appearance of their booking pages.

OneCal helps freelancers, CEOs, and businesses aiming to streamline operations, save time, and minimize scheduling conflicts.

To top it off, OneCal provides a 14-day free trial, giving you full access to explore all its features without any financial commitment. The sign-up process is quick and easy, requiring no credit card, allowing you to start optimizing your scheduling processes immediately.

OneCal Pros

• Intuitive UI and UX. The app is quite intuitive and easy to use. You can set up your account, calendar syncs, and booking links in minutes.

  

• The support team is always there for you. Our support team is always ready to assist you. They reply fast and give solutions within minutes.

  

• Share your availability with a single click. Let others know when you're available with just one click. Create custom booking links for your team or clients with ease.

  

• Flexible synchronization options. You can select from one-way or multi-way synchronization across two or more calendars to suit your specific needs.

• Privacy commitment. At OneCal, we prioritize your privacy by storing only essential data required for synchronization. We do not retain any information about your events in our systems.

• Team plans available. We offer team plans for your whole organization to start using OneCal and sync their Outlook calendars.

  

• Branding options. OneCal allows you to brand your booking links by providing a color and a cover image. Branding can be applied globally or for each scheduling link. When sharing them on social media, the cover image will also show as a preview.

OneCal Cons

• No free plan. There isn't a free plan available, but you can access OneCal features through a free trial. Subscriptions start at $5/month and include features like unlimited calendar syncs, one-on-one booking links, and collective booking links.

2. Doodle

Doodle is a helpful tool that makes scheduling meetings easier. It shows when people are free and helps pick the best time for everyone. 

People use it for training sessions, meetings, and organizing work tasks. Doodle also helps with daily tasks by organizing meetings and keeping everyone in the loop. It's much simpler than sending emails or having endless meetings. 

Whether it's planning calls, setting up training sessions, or just figuring out when to meet, Doodle makes it easy. Plus, it's great for confirming who's coming to a meeting or event.

Doodle Pros

• Doodle polls. Doodle makes it quick and easy to poll a group of people, whether you’re trying to find the best time for a meeting or get a consensus on a topic.

• Custom branding. This paid feature allows you to personalize your polls with your own logo, background image, and color scheme, aligning them with your brand identity.

• Admin console for team management. This feature is ideal for team leaders, providing account administrators with a dedicated dashboard. It enables them to manage how their users use Doodle effectively, enhancing team coordination and productivity.

Doodle Cons

• Ads in the free plan. Unlike most scheduling tools, Doodle includes ads in its free version. This can be distracting and unprofessional for users who are booking appointments. If this is an issue for you, consider upgrading to a paid version or exploring other scheduling apps that do not display ads in their free services.
  No API support. Currently, Doodle does not support API actions for scheduling links. If integrating with other software via API is important for your scheduling needs, you might want to look at other alternatives.

3. Koalendar

Koalendar is an intuitive scheduling platform that simplifies the process of setting appointments for both individuals and organizations. 

By sharing a booking link, clients can easily select times that sync with your Outlook calendars, ensuring they only choose slots when you are available. This functionality is a great fit for schools and small businesses looking to organize their scheduling without the back-and-forth of traditional methods.

The platform not only supports individual bookings but also accommodates group scheduling, allowing team members to manage their appointments collaboratively. Koalendar's advanced features, such as booking limits and buffer times, help protect your time by preventing an overload of bookings and ensuring there's enough space between appointments for necessary breaks or preparation.

Koalendar Pros

• Ease of use. Koalendar is user-friendly, making it simple for both users and their clients to schedule appointments. Its intuitive design is frequently complimented by users who find it clear to navigate.

• Customizable QR codes. The platform allows you to generate QR codes for appointments, which is convenient for business cards and flyers.

• Responsive tech support. The app is noted for its excellent customer service, with tech support that is both personal and prompt. Users report quick and helpful responses to their inquiries, improving the overall user experience.

• Support for nonprofits. Koalendar is responsive and supportive, offering discounts for nonprofit organizations, which makes it an economically viable option for such entities.

• Branding options. The platform also provides options to customize booking links with your own branding, including choosing colors and a cover image. This feature allows businesses to maintain brand consistency across their booking tools.

  

Koalendar Cons

• Short free trial period. The Pro version of Koalendar can be tested free for only 7 days. This brief trial period may not be enough time for some users to fully explore all the features and determine if the platform is the right fit for their scheduling needs. 

4. Calendly

Calendly simplifies the process of scheduling meetings by reducing the need for lengthy email exchanges. By inputting your availability into Calendly, you enable the tool to manage meeting requests for you. 

You can share your Calendly link through email or embed it on your website, allowing others to choose a time that aligns with your open slots. Calendly automatically syncs with your calendars on Outlook, Office 365, Google, or iCloud, ensuring no double bookings.

With Calendly, you can set buffer times between appointments to avoid back-to-back bookings, restrict last-minute meetings, and create private event types that aren't visible to everyone. 

Calendly supports various types of meetings, including one-on-one, round-robin (where participants can meet with any available team member), and group meetings. It also manages time zone differences to ensure that meeting times are correct for all participants.

Additionally, Calendly integrates with a range of productivity tools, such as Salesforce, GoToMeeting, and Zapier, enhancing its functionality and workflow efficiency.

Calendly Pros

• Effortless appointment setup. The process is designed to be simple and efficient, ensuring that scheduling your appointments is a smooth and straightforward task.

  

• Integrations. Calendly integrates with popular calendar services such as Google Calendar, Office 365, Outlook, and iCloud. It also connects with productivity tools like Zoho CRM, Zoom, Salesforce, and Slack.

  

• Payment flexibility. You can connect Calendly with payment services like PayPal or Stripe to ease charging for meetings if needed.

Calendly Cons

• Limited customization. Calendly allows you to add a cover image and your organization's name to your scheduling links, but it doesn't let you change the brand colors. Other scheduling platforms offer more customization options that can help make your scheduling links feel more aligned with your brand.

• Limited free plan. Calendly's free version offers only one scheduling link and supports a single calendar, which may be too restrictive if you need more flexibility. To access multiple calendars and additional scheduling features, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

• Delayed schedule updates. Sometimes, changes made to your schedule in Calendly might not show up right away. To update the schedule, you might need to delete and recreate it entirely.

5. Clockwise

Clockwise is a tool powered by AI that helps improve productivity by organizing schedules for individuals and teams. It acts like a personal scheduling assistant, understanding your needs to rearrange flexible events and create large blocks of uninterrupted time referred to as "Focus Time." 

This process helps to ensure that you and your team have extended periods available for deep work without distractions. Moreover, the app integrates with QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics, Paychex, and other platforms.

Clockwise Pros

• Ease of use. Clockwise is designed for quick adaptation with a user-friendly interface that does not require a steep learning curve. This makes it accessible for users of all skill levels right from the start.

• Proactive alerts. The software proactively alerts you and your team when focus time is low, helping to manage workload and prevent burnout effectively.

• Customizable visualizations. Clockwise offers visually appealing customization options, including color adjustments, allowing you to tailor the interface to your preferences and enhance the user experience.

• Weekly email summaries. Every Friday, Clockwise sends out email summaries that recap your week, offering insights and suggestions for optimization. This feature helps you stay on track and improve productivity over time.

• Flexible meeting scheduling. The platform allows you to set preferences on how meetings can be rescheduled, providing flexibility between fixed and movable meetings to better suit your scheduling needs.

Clockwise Cons

• Frequent rescheduling of meetings. Clockwise tends to move scheduled meetings too often, which can be disruptive. These changes may occur too close to the actual meeting date or too far in advance, making it difficult to plan your schedule reliably.

• Limited integration options. Although Clockwise integrates with popular platforms like Slack, Zoom, and Asana, it may lack broader integration capabilities with other essential tools. 

• Challenges with external collaboration. Working with external partners or clients using Clockwise can be challenging. The tool's features and processes may not be optimized for seamless collaboration outside of your immediate team.

Easily Sync and Manage Your Outlook Calendars with OneCal

Unlike Microsoft Bookings, which can be expensive and doesn't offer as many features, OneCal lets you easily view and sync calendars and share booking links with your team at $5/month.

Try OneCal for free with our 14-day trial and see how it can help you.