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Google Appointment Scheduler Review: Is It Any Good?

Tristan BERGUER - Product Manager lemcal
Liucija Adomaite
Content Writer at lemcal

April 24, 2024

Google now has a new feature for automated appointment scheduling with Google Calendar. Meet the Google Appointment Scheduling tool, which allows users to manage their availability and simplify meeting scheduling.

Many people wonder if Google has unlocked the secret to streamlined scheduling. But it seems that the feature is far from perfect.Today, we examined its features, pros and cons, and what new users can expect from it.

Ultimately, we will give our verdict and answer the question we all want to know: Is Google appointment scheduling any good?

In this table, we wrapped up what to expect from Google Appointment Scheduler:

lemcal
Google Appointment Scheduling
Pricing (user/month)
$0 / $9
$6 / $12 / $18
1-year commitment (Google Workspace subscription)
Free Version
square-check
Very feature-rich
square-xmark
Only 1 appointment to try out
Customization
square-check
square-xmark
Personalized Booking Page
square-check
square-xmark
Re-Targeting
square-check
square-xmark
Meeting Types
square-check
Unlimited
square-xmark
Limited
Round Robin
square-check
$9
square-xmark
Paid Booking
square-check
$9
square-check
Yes, but only for Google Workspace subscribers
Webhooks
square-check
square-xmark
API
square-check
square-xmark
Zapier
square-check
square-xmark
White Brand
square-check
$9
square-xmark
Calendars
square-check
square-check
Google Calendar
Cold Outreach Integration (lemlist)
square-check
square-xmark
No-Show Rate
Down to 30%
Unknown
G2 Rating
4.7
-
star
star
star
star
star-half
4.4
-
star
star
star
star
star-half

Overview

Google’s Appointment Scheduling feature allows users to manage their availability. It lets clients, partners, friends, or family book time with users directly on Google Calendar via a personal booking page.

‍

Google Scheduler is great for Google Workspace subscribers who can unlock a broader range of features.

Google Scheduler also works for Business and Enterprise subscription plans.

If you want to try the tool for personal use, you have to subscribe to Google One Premium.

However, if you don’t have a Google Workspace subscription, you can only create one appointment schedule to try out for free.

The problem with Google’s new scheduling tool is that it isn't free.

In fact, Google uses Google Calendar user interface, something we all know very well, as an advert.

As soon as you click the button to schedule an appointment, you're told to pay for a subscription.

Best For

Google's Appointment Scheduler is best suited for people who need a basic way to manage their availability and schedule occasional appointments.

It allows users to share their availability and schedule meetings without email ping-pong.

‍

Google's appointment scheduling is the best fit for:

  • Individuals: The tool is great if you're a freelancer, consultant, or anyone who needs to schedule appointments with clients or colleagues.
  • Small Teams: Small teams working on shared projects can also benefit from Google's appointment scheduling.
  • Existing Google Workspace subscribers.

Plans and Pricing

Google appointment scheduling feature requires Google Workspace subscription which comes in four different plans with one year commitment:

  • Business Starter - $6/user/month + 1 year commitment
  • Business Standard - $12/user/month + 1 year commitment
  • Business Plus - $18/user/month + 1 year commitment
  • Enterprise - contact sales for pricing
  • Alternatively, a free version technically exists but you can only schedule one appointment

A one-year commitment may seem like too much of a headache for most users, but Google Workspace plans without commitment are even more expensive.

For example, the cheapest option to get a Google Appointment Scheduler is to subscribe to the Google Workspace Individual plan without commitment.

It costs a steep $9.99/month and gives users with otherwise free Google accounts the appointment scheduling feature, longer calls on Google Meet, and a Gmail Newsletter feature.

The problem with the Google Appointment Scheduling tool is that it seems like there's always a catch.

Google Appointment Scheduler: Key Features

Google Workspace subscribers benefit from these features:

  • Different types of appointments have their own schedules and booking pages.
  • Automatic email reminders for people who book an appointment with you.
  • Up to 20 co-hosts to an appointment schedule.
  • Create appointment schedules on secondary calendars.
  • Payments for appointments.
  • Email verification to avoid spam bookings.

However, there are numerous limitations on what features you get depending on your Google subscription.

Subscribers of Google Workspace Individual don’t get:

  • Add up to 20 co-hosts
  • Appointment schedules on secondary calendars

Subscribers of Google One Premium don’t get:

  • Add up to 20 co-hosts
  • Appointment schedules on secondary calendars
  • Email verification for appointments
  • Paid appointments

Subscribers of Workspace Business Starter only get:

  • One booking page with their subscription.

Integrations

Google's appointment scheduling feature is an integral part of the Google Calendar.

It also has an integration with Stripe that allows you to collect payments when booking appointments.

Overall, integrations are limited to the Google suite, and advanced integration options are lacking.

âś… Pros

There are some advantages of using Google Appointment scheduling feature as your booking solution. They include:

  • Straight-forward scheduling 
  • Syncs automatically with Google Calendar 
  • Simple option for existing Google suite subscribers

❌ Cons

There are quite a few major disadvantages to Google Appointment Scheduling:

  • The free version gives you one booking page, which makes it a one-time trial rather than a "version"
  • No advanced scheduling features
  • No advanced customization
  • Basic integrations: it integrates well with Google Workspace products but lacks integrations with third-party tools or CRMs
  • Not suitable for bigger teams and businesses: Google’s Appointment Scheduling is limited to one-on-one appointments and doesn't offer Round-Robin features.
  • Bland booking page
  • Users often report spam events

As a result, the Google Appointment Scheduler doesn’t offer enough to be used as a stand-alone booking tool. Plus, it is not refined enough for more advanced users.

What Users Say

Google Appointment Scheduler has mixed reviews from its users. Let's see what they have to say about using it:

Key Takeaways

Google Appointment Scheduler is a good add-on tool for existing Google Workspace subscribers.

However, the Google Appointment Scheduling tool is far from ideal for new and more advanced users.

Its free version is limited, and its paid version still doesn’t offer advanced scheduling features like full customizations, rich integrations, or personalized booking pages.

To sum up, Google Appointment Scheduling tool will do its job in scheduling a meeting and syncing it on your Google Calendar. But that’s about it.

Salespeople, busy professionals, and bigger teams will find the feature restrictive and not optimal for their needs.

The Verdict

The Google Appointment Scheduling feature is a nice add-on to Google Calendar. However, Google scheduler is not sufficient as a stand-alone scheduling tool.

It doesn't offer enough benefits to new users and busy professionals. Instead, it relies on existing Google Suite subscribers who will benefit more from using other scheduling solutions with far richer features.

lemcal is an excellent meeting scheduler alternative to Google Appointment Scheduler.

lemcal's free plan is notable for its customization and personalized booking features. It gives users much more than streamlined scheduling.

It's about creating a memorable experience for your prospects from the first encounter. Plus, lemcal gets you more meetings by reducing no shows to 30%.

With lemcal's Pro Plan, users get advanced scheduling features and native integration with the cold outreach platform–lemlist.

lemcal and lemlist work in sync to get you even more meetings, boost conversions, and close deals. It's an unmatched combo in the scheduling tool market.

Book Your lemcal Demo Today!

PRM Tool
Rating
Best for
Free Pan
Product Hunt - 4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
G2 - 4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Reduced no-shows and personalized booking
Connection to 1 calendar, 3 active meeting types, unlimited availability schedules, multiple attendees, multiple integrations, ultra-customization,customized questions to qualify your prospects, native lemlist integration, reminders, embed on your website, import existing configurations
G2 - 3.8
star
star
star
star
Basic Scheduling Needs
Calendar sync, reminders and notifications, add your logo and pick a color for your booking page
G2 - 4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Scheduling between multiple team members
3 team members, 2 locations, 2 classes, unlimited appointments, email notifications, online booking page, PayPal payments, 8+ integrations
G2 - 4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Group polling and availability sharing
1 booking page that includes ads, One 1:1 meeting that includes ads
G2 - 4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Rich integrations and widely used scheduling
1 event type, basic integrations with tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud, automated notifications, scheduling page, availability sharing
G2 - 4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Appointment management
Bookings and reminders limited to 100, 1 user, 1 calendar connection, 5 event types
G2 - 4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
Unlimited appointments
Unlimited appointments, mobile app (iOS and Android), class booking, task management (for a fee)