17 Best Scheduling Apps & Software 2023 (Ranked & Reviewed)

As our lives become increasingly busy and complex, managing our schedules can be a daunting task. 

Whether it’s scheduling appointments, organizing meetings, or keeping track of deadlines, having the right scheduling app can make all the difference. 

With so many options available, it can be challenging to know which app is best suited for your needs. 

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the best scheduling apps across different categories, including calendar apps, project management apps, time tracking apps, appointment scheduling apps, meeting scheduling apps, employee scheduling apps, task management apps, reminder apps, personal assistant apps, and social scheduling apps. 

So, whether you’re a busy professional or someone looking to stay organized, read on to find the best scheduling app for your needs.

What Are Scheduling Apps?

Scheduling apps are software applications that allow users to manage and organize their schedules, appointments, and tasks. 

These apps can be used on desktop or mobile devices and provide a wide range of features, including creating and editing events, setting reminders and notifications, syncing with other calendars, and sharing schedules with others.

Scheduling apps have become increasingly popular in recent years as more people have turned to digital tools to manage their busy lives. 

These apps can be used for personal use, such as managing one’s own schedule, or for professional use, such as scheduling meetings, appointments, and tasks for a team or organization.

How To Choose The Best Scheduling App

Here are some factors to consider when selecting a scheduling app that suits your needs:

Features

Look for a scheduling app that has the features you need, such as calendar integration, appointment scheduling, task management, and reminder notifications. Make a list of the features that are essential for you and prioritize them based on their importance.

Ease of Use

The scheduling app should be easy to use and navigate. It should have an intuitive user interface, and the features should be easy to access and use.

Compatibility

Check if the scheduling app is compatible with your device and operating system. Also, consider if the app integrates with other tools or software that you use, such as your email client, project management tool, or social media platforms.

Customization

Look for a scheduling app that allows customization to meet your specific needs. For example, you may want to customize the colors and themes of the app, or the frequency and type of reminders you receive.

Price

Consider the pricing of the scheduling app. Some apps are free, while others may have a subscription or one-time purchase fee. Look for an app that provides value for money and fits within your budget.

What is The Best Scheduling App?

Below are some of the most popular scheduling apps:

• Calendly
• Connecteam
• Acuity Scheduling
• YouCanBook.me
• Doodle
• When2Meet
• NeedToMeet
• When I Work
• Shiftboard
• Deputy

Comparing The Best Scheduling Apps

Best Appointment Scheduling Apps

These apps are specifically designed for scheduling appointments, meetings, and consultations.

1. Calendly

Best Free Online Appointment Scheduling App

Calendly is a powerful scheduling automation platform that simplifies the process of booking meetings and appointments. 

With Calendly, users can easily share their availability with others and eliminate the need for back-and-forth emails to find the perfect meeting time. 

Calendly offers a variety of special features for teams in different industries, including sales, marketing, customer success, recruiting, information technology, and education. 

The platform integrates with a wide range of software tools, allowing users to boost productivity and streamline their workflows. 

Calendly also offers powerful security features, making it a great choice for teams and companies of all sizes. 

Signing up is easy and free, and users can get started in just seconds. Whether you’re looking to grow your business or simply streamline your scheduling process, Calendly has everything you need to succeed.

Calendly Key Features:

• Customizable meeting types: Calendly allows users to create and customize different types of meetings, with the ability to set different durations, locations, and availability.
• Availability sharing: Users can share their Calendly scheduling link with others, making it easy for them to find available time slots and schedule meetings.
• Calendar integrations: Calendly integrates with a variety of calendar systems, including Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, iCloud, and more, ensuring that all scheduled meetings are automatically synced and updated.
• Automated scheduling: Calendly can automatically send reminders and follow-ups to both the user and the meeting attendee, reducing the risk of missed or forgotten meetings.
• Team scheduling: Calendly offers special features for teams, including the ability to create team scheduling links and co-host meetings with colleagues.
• Integration with third-party tools: Calendly integrates with a wide range of third-party software tools, including Zapier, Salesforce, Hubspot, and more, allowing users to automate their workflows and streamline their processes.
• Branding and customization: Users can customize their scheduling pages with their own branding, colors, logos, and messaging.
• Analytics and reporting: Calendly provides detailed analytics and reporting on meeting activity, including the number of scheduled meetings, cancellation rates, and more.
• Mobile app: Calendly offers a mobile app for iOS and Android, allowing users to schedule and manage meetings on-the-go.

Calendly Pricing:

• Basic Plan: Always free
• Essentials Plan: $8 per seat per month when billed annually
• Professional Plan: $12 per seat per month when billed annually
• Teams Plan: $16 per seat per month billed annually
• Enterprise Plan: The enterprise plan is designed for large organizations with advanced security and compliance needs, and includes features such as SSO, dedicated account management, and custom reporting. Pricing is available upon request.

Calendly also offers a 14-day free trial of their premium and pro plans, allowing users to test out the additional features before committing to a paid plan.

2. Acuity Scheduling

Best all-in-one Appointment Management System

Acuity Scheduling is an all-in-one appointment management system that helps businesses of any size to easily schedule and manage their appointments. 

As a Squarespace company, it provides a cohesive and user-friendly system for running a business end-to-end. 

With Acuity Scheduling, businesses can control their availability 24/7, manage multiple locations and employees, and offer customized scheduling pages to clients, allowing them to easily view real-time availability and self-schedule appointments. 

The scheduling app also provides features such as automatic reminders, intake forms, and video conferencing integrations to simplify the scheduling process. 

Additionally, Acuity Scheduling offers various integrations with third-party apps, such as Stripe, Square, and PayPal, to accept online payments and sync calendars. 

Whether you’re a yoga studio or a massage and spa, Acuity Scheduling adapts to any business and provides features to help you run your business efficiently.

Acuity Scheduling Key Features:

• Customizable scheduling pages: Acuity Scheduling allows businesses to create customized scheduling pages that clients can use to book appointments online.
• Automatic reminders: The platform sends automated reminders to clients via email or SMS to help reduce no-shows and ensure appointments are not missed.
• Calendar sync: Acuity Scheduling seamlessly syncs with external calendars, such as Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook, to prevent double bookings and keep all appointments in one place.
• Online payments: The platform integrates with popular payment gateways like Stripe, Square, and PayPal to enable businesses to accept online payments.
• Intake forms: Acuity Scheduling enables businesses to create and send intake forms to clients before their appointments, helping to streamline the check-in process.
• Group scheduling: Businesses can use Acuity Scheduling to schedule group appointments or classes, and manage waitlists to fill last-minute cancellations.
• Video conferencing integrations: The platform allows businesses to conduct virtual appointments and meetings with clients via integrations with video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, or GoToMeeting.

Acuity Scheduling Pricing:

• Emerging Plan: This plan is priced at $14 per month and includes more features than the Free Plan, such as the ability to accept payments and send SMS reminders. It also includes integrations with third-party apps.
• Growing Plan: This plan is priced at $23 per month and includes features like group scheduling, custom branding, and intake forms.
• Powerhouse Plan: This plan is priced at $45 per month and includes advanced features like advanced reporting and analytics, HIPAA compliance, and custom API access.

Acuity Scheduling also offers a free 7-day trial of its paid plans, which allows businesses to test out the features before committing to a plan.

3. HubSpot Meetings

Best Free Meeting Scheduler App

HubSpot Meetings is a free meeting scheduler app that makes scheduling appointments quick and easy. 

With its ability to sync with Google Calendar and Office 365 Calendar, your calendar stays full, and you stay productive. It eliminates the back and forth of meeting scheduling and lets prospects book a meeting time that works for both of you. 

This creates a seamless customer experience, saves time spent on unnecessary emails, and everyone wins. HubSpot Meetings also gives prospects more flexibility to schedule time with your team, whether it be a group meeting or a round-robin meeting link.

In addition, HubSpot Meetings allows you to grow your database and make meeting information accessible to your entire team. 

As prospects schedule meetings, they will be automatically added to your HubSpot CRM, which keeps your database organized. 

You can also log notes for meetings in a contact’s record so the rest of your team knows what was discovered or accomplished in those meetings.

HubSpot Meetings Key Features:

• Meeting Scheduler: HubSpot’s meeting scheduler is a free app that helps schedule appointments quickly and eliminates the back-and-forth of scheduling. It syncs with Google Calendar and Office 365 Calendar, making it easy to keep track of appointments and availability.
• Flexible Scheduling: With HubSpot Meetings, prospects can book a meeting time that works for both parties, allowing for a seamless customer experience. Group meeting links and round-robin meeting links provide prospects with more flexibility to schedule time with your team.
• Database Growth and Organization: As prospects schedule meetings, they are automatically added to your HubSpot CRM, so your database grows and stays organized. You can also log notes for meetings in a contact’s record so the rest of your team knows what was discovered or accomplished in those meetings.
• Embedding and Emailing Your Calendar: With HubSpot Meetings, you can embed your Google or Office 365 calendar on your website without any coding required. Interested visitors can conveniently schedule meetings directly on your website. You can also include your calendar link in your email to make scheduling appointments easy.

HubSpot Meetings Pricing:

HubSpot Meetings is included as a free feature for all HubSpot CRM users.

4. YouCanBook.me

Best Customizable Scheduling App

YouCanBookMe is an online scheduling tool that simplifies appointment scheduling for individuals and teams. 

It works by connecting your Google or Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 calendar to YouCanBookMe and creating a customized booking page with your availability and appointment length. 

You can share your booking page link via email, your CRM, your help desk or embed it into your website. 

Customers can then schedule appointments without any back and forth, with YouCanBookMe handling timezone differences and only offering times when you’re free in your connected calendar. 

A new event will appear in your connected calendar when a customer schedules an appointment, making it easy to track your schedule in one place and avoid double bookings. 

YouCanBookMe Key Features:

• Calendar syncing: YouCanBookMe syncs with your Google or Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 calendar to check your availability and add new events when someone schedules time with you.
• Customized booking pages: You can create customized booking pages with your availability, appointment length, and notifications to send to your team and customers. You can also choose how your page looks to fit your brand.
• Sharing options: You can share your booking page link via email, your CRM, your help desk, or embed it into your website.
• Automated scheduling: YouCanBookMe handles timezone differences and only offers times when you’re free in your connected calendar, making it easy for customers to schedule appointments without any back and forth.
• Booking notifications: YouCanBookMe sends automated confirmations and reminders to reduce no-shows, and a new event will appear in your connected calendar when a customer schedules an appointment.

YouCanBookMe Pricing:

• Free Forever Plan: The free plan allows for one booking page, one team member, and up to 50 bookings per month.
• Paid Plan: The Paid plan starts at $10/month.

Best Meeting Scheduling Apps

These apps help you schedule and organize meetings with colleagues, clients, or customers.

1. Doodle

Best Scheduling App For Professionals

Doodle is a professional scheduling app that helps users create schedules, arrange meetings and organize events with ease. 

With Doodle, users can create polls, send them to participants and view real-time responses on their mobile devices. 

The app is available both as a mobile version of the website and a dedicated app for iOS and Android, allowing users to stay connected and organized while on the go.

Doodle Professional offers an ad-free experience, custom branding, and unlimited Booking Pages for an even better scheduling experience. 

Users can manage team schedules with the Control Panel or book meetings on their behalf with Hosts. 

Doodle also offers various support options, such as a Help Center and Contact Sales, and provides resources such as case studies, research reports, webinars, and tutorials to learn more about the app.

Doodle Key Features:

• Poll Creation: Doodle allows users to create polls and invite participants to vote on potential dates and times for events or meetings. This makes it easy to find a suitable time that works for everyone.
• Calendar Integration: Doodle integrates with various calendar tools such as Google Calendar and Outlook, making it easy to schedule meetings and events and automatically adding them to your calendar.
• Mobile App: Doodle offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android, allowing users to schedule and manage events on the go.
• Doodle 1:1: This feature allows users to easily schedule one-on-one meetings with others, by providing a list of available time slots that can be selected and booked.
• Group Scheduling: Doodle makes it easy to schedule events or meetings with multiple participants, by allowing users to invite people to vote on potential dates and times.

Doodle Pricing:

Doodle also offers a 14-day free trial of the Doodle Pro and Doodle Team plans, so users can try out the additional features before committing to a paid plan. 

Additionally, Doodle offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for paid plans, so users can cancel their subscription and receive a full refund if they are not satisfied with the service.

2. When2Meet

Best For Group Projects & Social Events

When2Meet is a free online scheduling tool that helps you find the best time to meet with a group of people. It allows you to create an event and share a link with the participants, who can then indicate their availability by marking the time slots that work for them. When2Meet then shows you the times when everyone is available, making it easier to find a time that works for everyone.

When you create an event on When2Meet, you can choose the date range and time slots that you want to schedule the event for. You can also set a time zone for the event, so that everyone’s availability is displayed in the correct time zone. Once you’ve created the event, you can share the link with the participants by email or by copying and pasting it into a messaging app or social media platform.

Participants can access the event by clicking on the link and marking their availability for the time slots that work for them. When2Meet will then display a grid that shows the times when everyone is available. 

You can also see a summary of the availability for each participant, which can help you to make decisions about scheduling the event.

When2Meet is a simple and intuitive tool that can save you time and frustration when scheduling events with groups of people. It’s free to use and doesn’t require any registration or sign-up, making it easy to get started right away.

3. NeedToMeet

With NeedToMeet, users can propose multiple meeting times, share availability with others, and quickly find the best time for everyone to meet. 

The tool also allows users to track RSVPs and send reminders to attendees. 

NeedToMeet can be a useful tool for anyone who needs to schedule meetings regularly, such as business professionals, project managers, and event planners.

NeedToMeet Key Features:

• Multiple time proposals: NeedToMeet allows users to propose multiple meeting times for attendees to choose from. This can help to reduce the back-and-forth of scheduling emails and speed up the scheduling process.
• Availability sharing: Users can share their availability with others by connecting NeedToMeet to their calendar. This makes it easier for attendees to see when they are available and propose meeting times that work for everyone.
• RSVP tracking: NeedToMeet tracks attendees’ responses to meeting invitations and allows users to see who has accepted, declined, or not yet responded. This can help users to keep track of who will be attending the meeting and plan accordingly.
• Customizable meeting settings: Users can customize meeting settings, such as the meeting duration and location, to fit their needs.
• Reminders: NeedToMeet can send reminders to attendees before the meeting to help ensure that everyone is on the same page and prepared for the meeting.
• Integration with other tools: NeedToMeet integrates with other tools, such as Outlook and Google Calendar, to make scheduling even easier.

NeedToMeet Pricing:

NeedToMeet offers a 14-day free trial of the premium and business plans, so users can try out the additional features before deciding to upgrade.

Best Employee Scheduling Apps

These apps are used to create employee schedules, manage shift changes, and track employee time off.

1. Connecteam

Best Free Employee Scheduling App

Connecteam is an all-in-one employee management platform that provides solutions for scheduling, operations, communications, and HR skills. 

The platform is designed to help businesses streamline their daily operations, increase productivity, and stay compliant. 

Connecteam’s operations hub offers efficient shift management, time tracking, task management, and real-time reporting. 

The communications hub provides various communication solutions such as company news feeds, secure messaging tools, company phone books, surveys, and knowledge bases. 

The HR & Skills hub offers tools for recognition and rewards, training and onboarding, quizzes, timelines, and time off management. 

Connecteam provides industry-specific solutions for industries like construction, cleaning services, field services, food and beverage, home care, manufacturing, and retail. 

Additionally, Connecteam’s solutions are designed to serve specific departments within a company, such as operations, HR, IT, and internal communication. 

Connecteam is available for businesses of all sizes and is trusted by over 36,000 companies worldwide.

Connecteam Key Features:

• Time clock: A reliable time tracking system with advanced GPS capabilities to ensure mistake-free tracking of employee work hours.
• Scheduling: Efficient shift management, from planning to distribution, to simplify work processes for managers and employees.

• Task management: Effortlessly monitor tasks and oversee employee progress, to help managers ensure productivity and keep track of project timelines.
• Forms and checklists: Real-time reporting, straight from the field, to enable managers to monitor and manage tasks and activities performed by their employees.
• Automated shift reminders: To prevent no-shows and ensure full staffing, the app automates shift reminders.
• Shift swapping: Employees can seamlessly swap shifts with approval from their managers, avoiding conflicts and overlap.
• Compliance tracking: Managers can track overtime and breaks, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations.
• Geolocation: This feature helps optimize workflow and increase productivity by allowing managers to track employees’ location and ensure they are working in the right place.

Connecteam Pricing:

• Small Business Plan: FREE up to 10 users
• Basic Plan: $29/month for up to 30 users
• Advanced Plan: $49/month for up to 30 users
• Expert Plan: Custom pricing for larger organizations

All plans come with a 14-day free trial, and there are no long-term commitments or contracts required.

2. Deputy

Best For Real-Time Employee Scheduling

Deputy is an employee scheduling software that helps businesses schedule their team efficiently and effortlessly. 

With the ability to build schedules in minutes, Deputy enables businesses to schedule the right staff, at the right times, across different roles or locations. 

The software allows users to share schedules instantly with their team, send schedules to employees via desktop or mobile, and request confirmation if the schedule is changed. 

The open shift approval feature allows businesses to fill empty shifts quickly, while the break planning feature simplifies meal and rest break compliance. 

Deputy also offers AI-optimized auto-scheduling and real-time data on wages vs. sales, which helps businesses control their costs. 

Trusted by over 330,000 workplaces across the globe, including NASA, Nike, Aesop, and Ace Hardware, Deputy is an all-in-one scheduling software that scales with your business.

Deputy Key Features:

• Scheduling: Deputy offers smart scheduling tools to help businesses build schedules quickly and easily. It enables users to schedule the right staff at the right times across different roles or locations. It also allows users to fill shifts based on employee availability, training, and cost.
• Auto-Scheduling: Deputy’s AI-powered Auto-Scheduling allows users to create AI-optimized schedules with a single click. It helps reduce unnecessary wage costs with accurate labor demand forecasts.

• Open Shift Approval: The Open Shift feature enables businesses to fill empty shifts quickly. Users can share available shifts with their team instantly via the Deputy app and fill them on a first-come, first-served basis. Or pick the most suitable person from a list of interested staff.

• Break Planning: With Deputy’s Break Planning feature, businesses can simplify meal and rest break compliance. Users can schedule multiple breaks and break types in a single shift, freeing their business from the worries of break compliance and coverage.
• Labor Costing: Deputy’s Labor Costing feature helps businesses control costs with real-time data on wages vs sales. It provides a clear view of how wage costs compare to sales so users can improve their labor cost percentage.

• Overtime Management: Deputy enables businesses to manage fatigue and overtime. Users can avoid employee fatigue by setting a limit on how many hours an individual can work per day or week. Part-timers can also have scheduled hours limited to avoid unnecessary overtime.
• Customized Pay Rates: With Deputy’s Customized Pay Rates feature, businesses can simplify wage and hour compliance. It helps manage compliance with federal, state, and local laws, including fair workweek. Deputy helps streamline employee attestation, break compliance, and premium pay requirements.
• Schedule by Skillset: Deputy allows businesses to schedule employees according to their skills and qualifications. Users can track staff skillsets and schedule accordingly, whether it’s first aid, food preparation, or heavy machinery.
• Leave Management: The Leave Management system enables employees to independently request time off. It helps schedule more efficiently with clear, reliable availability and leave balance insights.
• Attendance & Break Monitoring: Deputy helps businesses monitor attendance and breaks. It shows when staff arrives on-site, takes breaks, and leaves for the day. Missed or unscheduled breaks are flagged so businesses can proactively manage unexpected compliance risks.

Deputy Pricing:

You can visit their website to get the most up-to-date pricing information or to request a quote based on your specific needs.

3. Shiftboard

Best Scheduling App For Time Tracking

Shiftboard is an employee scheduling software that offers scheduling solutions for various mission-critical industries. 

The software provides flexible workforce coverage while keeping employees happy. 

Shiftboard’s software is designed to create adaptive, worker-friendly schedules that maximize shift coverage, regardless of how operating plans change. 

The product features schedule automation, worker self-service, change management, coverage optimization, labor demand planning, and timesheet management. 

It is highly configurable to match the specific needs of different industries, ensuring that every shift is covered, and every employee feels empowered to manage work with life. 

The software is accessible from any desktop or mobile browser, in addition to native mobile apps. 

Shiftboard is trusted by some of the world’s most recognized brands such as Shell, Shamrock Foods, and Saint-Gobain. 

Shiftboard’s customers report an average 30% increase in scheduling efficiency, and the company also provides customer success services and implementation options.

Best Scheduling Apps For Task Management

These apps are designed to help you organize and manage your tasks and to-do lists.

1. Todoist

Best For Automatic Rescheduling

Todoist is a task management application that helps individuals and teams organize their work and personal tasks. 

With over 30 million app downloads and 2 billion tasks completed, Todoist is the world’s #1 task manager and to-do list app. It offers a simple and advanced task management system with natural language recognition and recurring dates to easily add and prioritize tasks. 

Todoist also provides project templates and customization options such as filters, labels, and priorities to tailor the app to individual needs. 

It is available on multiple platforms and integrates with over 70+ other tools, including calendars and voice assistants. 

Additionally, Todoist offers productivity methods and personal recommendations based on unique traits and strengths. 

Todoist Key Features:

• Task management: Todoist allows users to create, organize, and prioritize their tasks. Users can add due dates, reminders, and recurring tasks.
• Project management: Todoist allows users to create projects and organize their tasks within those projects. Users can assign labels and priorities to tasks, and collaborate with others within projects.
• Natural language recognition: Todoist’s powerful natural language recognition feature allows users to add tasks quickly and easily using everyday language.
• Templates: Todoist provides project templates to help users get started quickly with pre-built task lists for common projects.
• Productivity methods: Todoist offers productivity methods and personal recommendations based on unique traits and strengths to help users achieve their goals.

Todoist Pricing:

Todoist also offers a 30-day free trial of the Pro version for new users to try out the additional features before subscribing. Additionally, Todoist offers discounted pricing for students and educators.

2. Any.do

Best For Team Management

Any.do is a task management and to-do list application that helps individuals and teams to manage their tasks, lists, and projects in one place. 

With over 30 million users, Any.do provides a simple platform for people to collaborate and manage their daily tasks effectively. 

The app offers features such as customizable workflows, real-time chat, project management, and easy integration with other tools. 

Any.do Workspace is designed to help teams organize their work processes and daily tasks with ease, all in one place. 

The app is available on multiple platforms, including Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Web.

Any.do Key Features:

• To-Do Lists: Any.do offers a simple and customizable to-do list feature that allows users to add, prioritize, and categorize their tasks.
• Calendar: Any.do has a built-in calendar that allows users to schedule and manage their appointments, meetings, and events.
• Reminders: Users can set reminders for their tasks and appointments based on time, location, or date.
• Collaboration: Any.do Workspace allows teams to collaborate and work on projects in real-time, assign tasks, and share files.
• Templates: Any.do offers pre-made templates for common tasks and projects such as grocery lists, travel planning, and project management.

Any.do Pricing:

• Personal plan: $0/month
• Premium plan: $3/month or $26.99/year
• Teams plan: $5/month or $59.99/year

Best Social Scheduling Apps

These apps are used to schedule social media posts and manage social media accounts.

1. Hootsuite

Best For Multi-Platform Scheduling

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that provides powerful scheduling capabilities for businesses of all sizes. With Hootsuite, users can easily create and schedule social media posts across multiple social media platforms from a single dashboard.

Hootsuite also includes a content calendar, which allows users to see their planned social media content and ensure that they are publishing consistently. This feature also allows users to plan their content around key dates, events, and holidays, ensuring that their social media presence is always timely and relevant.

In addition, Hootsuite’s scheduling feature includes real-time insights, allowing users to track engagement metrics and adjust their social media strategy accordingly. This allows businesses to maximize the impact of their social media content and improve their overall social media presence.

Hootsuite Key Features:

• Multi-platform scheduling: Hootsuite allows users to schedule posts for multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more, from a single dashboard. This saves time and ensures that social media content is consistent across all platforms.
• Content calendar: Hootsuite’s content calendar provides an overview of scheduled posts, making it easy to plan and organize social media content in advance. Users can also use the calendar to schedule content around important dates and events, ensuring that their social media presence is always timely and relevant.
• Bulk scheduling: Hootsuite’s bulk scheduling feature allows users to schedule multiple social media posts at once, saving time and streamlining the scheduling process.
• Custom scheduling: Hootsuite allows users to customize scheduling options, including the ability to set specific dates and times for posts to be published, as well as the ability to schedule recurring posts.
• Real-time insights: Hootsuite’s scheduling tool includes real-time analytics and reporting, allowing users to track engagement metrics and adjust their social media strategy accordingly. This data can also be used to improve future content and scheduling decisions.

Hootsuite Pricing:

• Professional Plan: This plan starts at $99/month and is designed for individuals and small businesses. It includes basic features like 1 user, 10 social profiles, and unlimited scheduling.
• Team Plan: This plan starts at $249/month and is designed for teams and small agencies. It includes features like 3 users, 20 social profiles, team assignments, and custom analytics.
• Business Plan: This plan starts at $739/month and is designed for larger teams and organizations. It includes features like 5+ users, 35+ social profiles, advanced analytics, custom branding, and 24/7 support.
• Enterprise Plan: This plan is designed for large organizations with complex needs. It includes custom features, advanced security, and dedicated support.

Hootsuite also offers a 30-day free trial of their Professional Plan for new users.

2. Buffer

Best AI Assistant

Buffer is a social media scheduling app that helps individuals and teams to plan, collaborate, and publish social media content across different channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. 

With Buffer’s publishing tool, users can manage their social media accounts from a single dashboard. In addition, the app offers analytics and reporting features that enable users to track their social media performance and create reports. 

Buffer also provides an engagement tool to help users navigate their comments and engage with their audience. 

Furthermore, Buffer’s AI Assistant feature helps users to generate ideas, repurpose posts, and rewrite copy with just a click. 

The app offers a customizable Start Page that allows users to build a landing page in minutes.

Buffer Key Features:

• AI Assistant: Buffer’s AI assistant can generate ideas, repurpose posts, and rewrite copy in just one click, making content creation more efficient and effective.
• Social Media Publishing: Plan, collaborate, and publish content for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn from one simple dashboard.
• Analytics: Buffer’s analytics feature enables users to analyze social media performance and create reports.
• Engagement: Quickly navigate comments and engage with your audience with Buffer’s engagement feature.
• Start Page: Build a customized landing page in minutes with Buffer’s Start Page feature.

Buffer Pricing:

• Free Plan: $0/month (1 social account per platform, 3 posts per account)
• Essentials Plan: $6/month 
• Team Plan: $12/month 
• Agency Plan: $120/month 

3. Sprout Social

Best For Publishing & Scheduling

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management platform that enables businesses to manage their social media presence and transform their marketing strategy. 

With Sprout Social, you can easily plan and schedule social media posts in advance, saving you time and helping you stay organized.

Sprout’s scheduling feature allows you to view your content calendar at a glance, ensuring that you are publishing content consistently and on schedule. 

You can also collaborate with team members to ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. 

Sprout Social also enables you to create and save drafts of posts, so you can work on multiple posts at once without having to publish them all at once.

Sprout Social Key Features:

• Unified inbox: Sprout Social provides a unified inbox that allows users to manage all their social media messages and notifications from a single dashboard.
• Social media scheduling: The platform allows users to schedule social media posts in advance, saving time and ensuring consistency in their social media presence.
• Social listening: Sprout Social provides social listening tools that allow users to monitor brand mentions and track conversations about their brand, competitors, and industry keywords.
• Analytics and reporting: The platform provides detailed analytics and reporting features that allow users to track the performance of their social media campaigns and gain insights into audience engagement.
• Collaboration tools: Sprout Social allows users to collaborate with team members, assign tasks, and provide feedback within the platform, streamlining the social media management process.
• CRM integration: The platform integrates with CRM tools, allowing businesses to manage their customer interactions across social media platforms and track customer conversations.
• Automated publishing: Sprout Social offers a feature called “ViralPost” that uses machine learning to determine the best times to post based on engagement data, and automatically publishes posts at those times.

Sprout Social Pricing:

Sprout Social also offers a 30-day free trial for new customers to test out the platform.

Best Scheduling Apps For Time Tracking

These apps help you track your time spent on tasks and projects.

1. Toggl Track

Toggl Track is a time-tracking tool that simplifies time management and makes it more accurate. 

The tool is trusted by over 5 million users in 120 countries, including Amazon, Uber, GE, LinkedIn, SAP, Danfoss, Wise, Ogilvy, and Booking.com. 

Toggl Track offers features such as employee time tracking, billing and invoicing, project budgeting, and payroll, among others. 

It enables companies to measure profitability, manage workloads, and reduce the amount of time spent on time tracking. 

Toggl Track offers a free, 30-day trial of Toggl Track Premium with all plans, after which users can upgrade or continue using the free version. 

The tool is intuitive and welcoming, making it easy for teams to get started without any training. 

Additionally, Toggl Track has a beautifully designed app experience and is the only time tracking tool with over 100+ integrations. 

It is GDPR compliant, has top-rated support with a response time of 3 hours, and has a 99% uptime. 

Toggl Track is suitable for freelancers, agencies, and professional services, as well as enterprise teams.

2. RescueTime

RescueTime is an award-winning productivity tool that helps users take back control of their time. 

With over 2 million users and 15 years in business, RescueTime is trusted by smart people worldwide. 

The software works by automatically tracking time spent on various applications and websites, and categorizing them based on productivity level. 

Plans start at $6.50 per month, and interested users can try a free 2-week trial.

RescueTime offers a daily Focus Work goal personalized for each user, based on their work style and meeting schedule, combined with analysis of over 3 billion hours of activity. 

The software provides smart coaching throughout the day, analyzing focus and meeting schedules and offering insights and nudges to stay on track. 

RescueTime also offers Focus Sessions, which block distracting sites and provide end-of-session reports.

In addition to tracking time, RescueTime also helps users understand where their time goes and what distracts them from getting work done. 

The software provides in-depth reporting on Focus Work, communication apps, and distractions, helping users achieve greater focus and control. 

RescueTime works on macOS 10.12+, Windows 10+, Android 5.0+, and iOS 15.4+.

Best Scheduling Apps For Project Management

These are designed for teams and organizations to manage tasks, deadlines, and schedules.

1. Asana

Asana is a popular scheduling app designed for project management, task tracking, and team collaboration. It is used by individuals, teams, and organizations of all sizes to manage their projects and workflows efficiently. Asana allows you to create and organize tasks, assign them to team members, set due dates, and track progress in real-time.

One of the key features of Asana is its flexibility in task organization. You can create different types of tasks, including subtasks, sections, and projects. You can also categorize tasks with tags, labels, or custom fields, making it easy to filter and find specific tasks.

Asana offers various views to help you visualize and manage your tasks, such as lists, boards, calendars, and timelines. You can switch between these views, depending on your preference and the stage of your project.

Asana also integrates with other productivity and communication tools such as Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox, making it easier to collaborate and share information with your team. Additionally, Asana offers a mobile app that allows you to manage your tasks on the go.

2. Trello

Trello is a popular scheduling app used for project management that allows users to organize and manage tasks and projects in a visual, user-friendly interface. With Trello, users can create boards, which represent projects or tasks, and populate them with lists and cards that represent specific tasks or items that need to be completed.

Trello’s boards are organized in a way that mimics a physical whiteboard, with cards representing individual tasks or items and lists representing stages of completion. Users can move cards from one list to another as they progress through a project or complete individual tasks, allowing them to track progress in real-time.

Trello also features a range of customization options that allow users to tailor the app to their specific project management needs. Users can add due dates, labels, and attachments to cards, and can also invite team members to collaborate on boards, assigning tasks and communicating about project progress through the app.

Best Calendar Apps For Scheduling

These are the most common scheduling apps that allow you to manage your schedule, set reminders, and organize your events and appointments.

1. Google Calendar

Best Scheduling App For Android

Google Calendar is a free web-based scheduling application developed by Google. It allows users to create, organize, and manage events, appointments, and meetings in a user-friendly and customizable way. With Google Calendar, users can view their schedule by day, week, or month, and easily add or modify events using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

One of the key benefits of Google Calendar is its integration with other Google services such as Gmail, Google Meet, and Google Drive. This allows users to easily schedule events, invite attendees, and attach files without leaving their calendar. Users can also create multiple calendars for different purposes, such as personal and work-related events, and choose which calendars to display or share with others.

Another useful feature of Google Calendar is its ability to send reminders and notifications to users via email, pop-up alerts, or mobile notifications. Users can set up recurring events, add notes or descriptions to events, and even attach Google Maps locations to events.

2. Apple Calendar

Best Scheduling App For iOS

Apple Calendar is a scheduling app designed to help users organize their time and stay on top of their appointments, events, and tasks. It is available on all Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers, and can be synced across all devices for easy access and updates.

One of the key features of Apple Calendar is its ease of use. Users can quickly create new events, set reminders, and invite others to events with just a few clicks. The app also integrates with other Apple services, such as Siri and Maps, to provide seamless scheduling and location-based information.

Apple Calendar offers a range of customizable views, including day, week, month, and year, allowing users to see their schedule at a glance and plan accordingly. It also includes color-coded categories for different types of events, making it easy to differentiate between work, personal, and other commitments.

In addition, Apple Calendar offers the ability to set recurring events, such as weekly meetings or monthly appointments, and to share calendars with other users, allowing for easy collaboration and scheduling with colleagues, friends, and family.

Features To Look For in Scheduling Apps

When choosing a scheduling app, it’s essential to look for the features that will help you manage your schedule efficiently. Here are some key features to look for in scheduling apps:

Calendar Integration

A scheduling app should allow you to integrate and sync with your existing calendar, such as Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook Calendar. This will enable you to view all your appointments and events in one place.

Appointment Scheduling

Look for a scheduling app that allows you to schedule appointments with clients, customers, or colleagues. It should provide options for setting the date, time, location, and duration of the appointment.

Task Management

A scheduling app should allow you to create, manage, and prioritize your to-do lists and tasks. It should enable you to assign tasks to specific dates and times, set reminders, and track progress.

Reminders

Reminders are crucial to ensure that you don’t miss any appointments or deadlines. Look for a scheduling app that allows you to set reminders for appointments, events, and tasks. It should provide options for customizing the frequency, type, and tone of reminders.

Notification

The app should provide notification options, such as email, push notifications, or SMS, to ensure that you receive alerts about upcoming events or appointments.

Collaboration

If you work in a team, look for a scheduling app that allows you to share schedules with team members, assign tasks, and collaborate on projects.

Customization

Look for a scheduling app that allows customization to meet your specific needs. For example, you may want to customize the colors and themes of the app or the frequency and type of reminders you receive.

Mobile App

A scheduling app should have a mobile app that allows you to access and manage your schedule on the go.

Benefits Of Using Scheduling Apps

Using scheduling apps can provide a wide range of benefits, including:

• Time Management: Scheduling apps help you manage your time more efficiently by providing a visual representation of your schedule, including appointments, tasks, and deadlines. This allows you to prioritize your tasks and manage your time more effectively.
• Organization: Scheduling apps help you stay organized by keeping all your appointments, tasks, and events in one place. This helps to reduce the chances of double-booking or missing important appointments.
• Productivity: Scheduling apps allow you to schedule tasks and appointments in advance, reducing the chances of procrastination and increasing productivity. This can help you stay on track and accomplish your goals more effectively.
• Collaboration: Scheduling apps that offer collaboration features allow teams to share schedules, assign tasks, and collaborate on projects more efficiently. This helps to improve communication and productivity within teams.
• Convenience: Scheduling apps can be accessed from anywhere, allowing you to manage your schedule from your desktop or mobile device. This provides convenience and flexibility, especially for people who are constantly on the go.
• Reminders: Scheduling apps provide reminders for appointments, tasks, and deadlines, reducing the chances of forgetting important events. This helps to reduce stress and anxiety related to managing a busy schedule.

Overall, using scheduling apps can help you manage your time more efficiently, stay organized, and improve productivity.

Frequently Asked Questions