For most small businesses, manually setting up appointments with clients is a significant time drain.
When clients miss meetings or double-book them, businesses lose out on revenue.
A client booking system handles all scheduling, so you can easily eliminate double bookings and automate reminders.
In this article, you’ll discover several leading client booking systems and why you might consider choosing one over the other. You’ll also see how small businesses like yours use them to take back control of their calendars.
Key takeaways from client booking systems
A client booking tool enables clients to schedule meetings with you independently, freeing up your time to focus on critical meetings in your pipeline.
Scheduling software syncs with your calendar so clients can see when you’re free and also suggests meeting times based on parameters you set, such as buffer time between meetings.
Once a meeting enters your booking system, the tool will automatically send you notifications if there are any changes or cancellations.
Pipedrive’s Scheduler is connected to the CRM, storing all your meeting notes in one place. Sign up for Pipedrive’s 14-day free trial to streamline your meeting pipeline.
Key features to look for in a client booking system
Small businesses use booking tools to save time on admin tasks when setting up meetings and calls.
Use this table to identify what to look for in an online booking system, refine your search and find the best fit for your business:
| Feature | Why it's valuable |
| Self-scheduling | Clients can book calls independently using the booking system, freeing up your time to work on more strategic tasks. |
| Calendar integration | Clients can select from free slots in your calendar without needing you to suggest meeting times manually. |
| CRM integration | A CRM stores all your communications with clients in one central location, allowing you to tailor upcoming calls based on past conversations. |
| Automatic updates | Automatic updates remind you about upcoming meetings and notify you by email or SMS if there are any schedule changes. |
| Payment processing | Building payment into the booking form means one less step for clients during the booking process, and it also nets you faster cash flow. |
Choosing a scheduling tool with these features will help you keep your meetings organized without requiring a huge time investment.
5 best client booking tools for SMBs
The best customer booking tools enable small businesses to streamline scheduling, save time and keep operations running smoothly.
Here are five top booking tools that help teams automate appointments, store appointment details, sync calendars and reduce administrative work.
1. Pipedrive: best for prioritizing strategic meetings in your pipeline
Best known as an all-in-one customer relationship management (CRM) solution, Pipedrive doubles as a powerful client booking software that helps teams save time and stay organized.
Pipedrive’s Scheduler lets clients book meetings directly into your calendar, eliminating the usual back-and-forth of finding a time that works and unnecessary waitlists.
Once a client has booked a meeting, Pipedrive automatically links it to the relevant contact or deal, keeping your pipeline up to date.
Scheduler is available on Pipedrive’s Growth plan and higher. You can learn more about the feature in this video:
Use Pipedrive’s Scheduler to create a booking link that clients can use to choose a meeting time. Email the link directly to clients, attach it to your email signature or even embed it into a landing page.
Once your client receives your link, it’s easy for them to pick a time that suits you both. This lack of friction makes important meetings happen sooner and follow-ups smoother.
Catch more hot leads before they bounce
If another client wants to book the same slot, Pipedrive will prevent this by removing booked slots in real time for all users viewing your booking link. This is a handy way to avoid wasting time on double bookings.
Once a booking is in place, Pipedrive automatically connects it to the relevant deal and contact in your CRM – giving you full context before, during and after the meeting.
Pipedrive’s standout features include:
Native integrations with calendar apps. Integrating with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar and EasyCalendar ensures that you’ll never book a sales call in the same slot as a team meeting.
Various ways to customize your meeting availability. Set your overall office hours, specify set times for different event types or pull in your colleagues’ real-time availability from their calendars.
Automated notifications. Stay in the loop when a client reschedules or if there are changes to the meeting room or agenda in your synced calendar. Get automatic reminders whenever a meeting is coming up.
Integrated CRM. Review the previous history with clients so you can tailor the meeting to their individual needs. Add meeting notes to your CRM so that future meetings are even more valuable.
Contacts timeline. Visualize how often you meet with clients and prospects and work out which leads are going stale and need a check-in call.
Lead scoring. This functionality is a handy way to prioritize the most important meetings in your pipeline.
Pipedrive’s all-in-one software provides tons of options to book and manage meetings, all designed to match the needs of both your business and your clients.
As your company grows, Pipedrive’s features scale with you – eliminating the need to switch systems or juggle multiple disconnected tools.
Pipedrive in action: Creative agency Accentuate adopted Pipedrive to book and track its meetings from one central location. It uses Scheduler to set up meetings while organizing account-specific information for each client within the CRM. Over the past 10 years, the company has increased revenue by 4x thanks to Pipedrive.
2. Calendly: best for custom meeting workflows
Calendly is a popular app that enables clients to book online appointments without needing to view your entire calendar.
It lets you create a booking page that you can send to your clients or prospects for online scheduling. The other party opens the link, chooses a time from your list of available slots and books the meeting with a couple of clicks.
Each time a booking occurs, Calendly automatically adds it to both calendars. The calendar event includes video conferencing details and can also feature an agenda and reminders.
Calendly allows you to set rules for your availability, such as buffer times between meetings, daily limits and lead times for bookings. You can customize the type of meeting, how long it will last and any questions you want to ask the client upfront.
Standout features include:
Multiple browser extensions. Extensions in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge speed up the process of locating your booking page and sending it to clients.
Collective events. Pull in calendar availability for multiple team members at once, allowing clients to schedule collective events.
Meeting routing. Set up rules that automatically route Calendly meetings to the team member who’s managing that particular account.
Integrated payments. When clients book meetings on Calendly, they can pay for the meetings at the same time using Stripe or PayPal.
Time zone detection. Calendly gives each client your available time slots in their time zone, so you don’t have to convert your availability manually.
Calendly works well for large teams that need to schedule calls with multiple colleagues across multiple time zones or route calls to an account manager on the other side of the world.
The app integrates with many other tools favored by sales teams, including Pipedrive.
3. Acuity Scheduling: best for paid consultations
Acuity Scheduling is a tool that helps businesses book meetings and take payments at the same time.
You can use Acuity Scheduling to create a branded scheduling page that tells clients what meeting types you offer and when they can schedule them.
Clients use this page to self-schedule time with you and make any necessary payments before the meeting.
Once a meeting gets scheduled, the software will send a confirmation email to both of you. It will continue to notify you automatically if there are any changes to the scheduled meeting.
Standout features include:
Wide range of payment options. Offer clients loyalty incentives such as discounts, gift cards and coupons. Store credit card details of long-term customers and provide them with multiple subscription options.
Custom intake forms. Personalize the intake form for each meeting type to learn more about clients’ needs and preferences.
Buffer for focus periods. Prevent clients from booking at times you’ve blocked off for your most important tasks. Limit cancellations to prevent disruption to your schedule.
Recurring appointments. Allow regular clients to book time with you weeks or months in advance.
Staff management. Each team member gets their own individual booking system in their own time zone. Managers can administer the calendars of multiple team members.
Acuity Scheduling works well for teams that want to offer clients payment options during the booking process that are more complex than simply making a one-time payment.
It integrates with Pipedrive, as well as with various calendars, payment processors and video conferencing tools.
4. Vyte: best for API meeting customization
Vyte is a scheduling app that lets you coordinate meetings without sending emails back and forth.
The tool allows you to create a page where clients can book meetings with you. This page syncs with your calendar to prevent double bookings.
Each client sees meetings in their own time zone, which reduces confusion when you’re working with clients on the other side of the world.
Beyond simply providing clients with your availability, Vyte lets you customize the duration of each meeting type and add buffer time between meetings.
Key features include:
Extensible API. If you have a developer on your team, they can use Vyte’s API to reflect meetings inside your product or add buttons linking to Vyte.
Group events. Suggest date options to multiple participants, have them vote on the best date, then lock in the most popular date.
Mobile app. Vyte integrates with the iPhone calendar and is available as a standalone iOS app. An Android app is also under development.
Privacy settings. Hide guests from each other in group meeting invites to keep their identities confidential.
Meeting restrictions. Prevent guests from suggesting other dates or locations for your upcoming conversation.
Vyte works well when teams want to exert maximum control over their meeting settings and have a spare developer on hand to build on Vyte’s API.
It integrates with Pipedrive as well as with video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
5. FreeBusy: best free tool
FreeBusy is a scheduling tool that helps you book meetings with clients by automatically finding available time slots across calendars, thanks to multiple calendar integrations.
Like the other tools in this article, it integrates with Pipedrive.
FreeBusy pulls together availability from your work and personal calendars so that clients can book a slot that isn’t already taken. Clients can choose from the available times, which are presented in their own time zone to prevent misunderstandings over timings.
When the software creates participants’ calendars, it automatically adds web conferencing details, complete with a call link.
Standout features include:
Unified calendar view. FreeBusy combines all the calendars you give it into a single overview of your availability.
Smart scheduling. The software automatically suggests the optimal meeting slots based on participants’ calendars.
Group scheduling. Create meeting pages that have multiple team members and schedule meetings that include multiple people.
Appointment types. Various different types of meetings are available, each with predefined settings for the duration and maximum number of participants.
Booking widgets. Embed a widget on your website or in an email you send to a client for easier booking.
The majority of these features are available on FreeBusy’s free plan apart from its paid tiers, making this tool suitable for small teams who need a simple booking solution at an affordable price.
Why choose a client booking tool: real-life case studies
Businesses everywhere are using appointment scheduling software to streamline meetings and save time.
Here are two examples of businesses that use booking software and are thriving.
How Nirmal Web Studio boosted sales by 50% with Pipedrive
Nirmal Web Studio is a web design agency located in Sydney, Australia.
Before discovering Pipedrive, Managing Director Nirmal Gyanwali and his team were manually booking appointments from cold outreach on LinkedIn. This process was time-consuming and they sometimes unintentionally contacted the same lead multiple times.
By switching to Scheduler, the Nirmal team was rapidly able to book more meetings. Whenever they had a meeting, they left audio notes in the Pipedrive app to store all the information for each lead in one central place.
As it started using Pipedrive to qualify its leads, Nirmal found it could spend more time on the most important meetings. This resulted in Nirmal’s sales increasing by 50% within one year.
Managing Director, Nirmal Gyanwali, says:
“You can use many channels to acquire leads and you want to make sure the channels you use are diversified. To find the right people takes effort, so when you automate the repetitive stuff, it saves you a lot of time. Pipedrive is the best tool I’ve ever found!”
Read the full case study here.
How Advanced Stem Cell Institute managed 3,300 patients with Pipedrive
The Advanced Stem Cell Institute is a regenerative medical clinic based in Los Angeles, California.
Before discovering Pipedrive, it was using a phone system to book calls and Excel spreadsheets to manage patient data. This meant it had to enter patient information into three different services, which made it hard to see which stage of the process each patient was in.
By switching to Pipedrive, the Advanced Stem Cell Institute was able to schedule a higher number of bookings more quickly. Automated activity reminders helped staff members stay on track, while scheduling messages in advance proved to be a huge time-saver.
The team is now able to manage an impressive 3,300 patients concurrently – and they couldn’t do it without Pipedrive.
Treatment Coordinator, Erez Illouz, says:
“The Automations feature is amazing. New deals, confirmed bookings, setting reminders, sending messages. Sometimes you don’t want the staff to think; just do. Pipedrive helps staff stay on track with activity reminders.”
Read the full case study here.
Final thoughts
Choosing the right client booking software helps small businesses save time on admin and prioritize the meetings that matter most.
Pipedrive stands out by tying every scheduled meeting to the right CRM record, helping teams focus on the conversations that move the pipeline forward.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial to streamline your client booking system today.
