Picktime vs SimplyBook.me Comparison 2026
Picktime gives three team members unlimited appointments for free, then charges $3 a user a month billed annually as the team grows. SimplyBook.me caps its free plan at 50 bookings a month for one provider, then $11.90 a month billed annually raises that to 100 bookings across five providers, with deposits taken at the point of booking. Picktime's limit is headcount. SimplyBook.me's limit is booking volume, and only one of them ever caps how many appointments you can actually take.
Appointments and classes, free for three people
Booking for a business with staff
At a glance
- Picktime starts cheaper, at $3.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Picktime | SimplyBook.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $3 | From $11.90 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | None | 14 days |
Picktime
Appointments and classes, free for three people
Picktime books appointments, classes and rooms, and its free plan is unusually complete: three team members, unlimited bookings and the mobile apps included. Paying adds resources, locations and email customisation rather than removing a cap on how much you can work. It suits somebody running sessions who does not want a subscription before the first booking.
Our note
For a small team this is the most generous free plan in the category by a distance. The interface shows its age next to Cal.com, which is the trade you are making for three free seats.
Only on this side
- Covers project management
SimplyBook.me
Booking for a business with staff
SimplyBook.me is built for the appointment business rather than the meeting: several providers, a service list, deposits taken at the point of booking, and an app for the client. Its plans are counted in bookings a month instead of seats. That is the right unit for a studio with four staff and the wrong one for a consultant taking four calls a week.
Why people weigh these two
- SimplyBook.me instead of Picktime
- SimplyBook.me handles a business with staff to roster, from $12 with a free tier, if classes grow into a schedule.
- Picktime instead of SimplyBook.me
- Picktime stays free for up to three staff and adds class scheduling, lighter than SimplyBook.me for a small team before its $3 plan.
Which one should you pick
Choose Picktime if you run classes or sessions with up to a few staff and never want a booking count to force an upgrade: the free plan holds three users, three resources and two classes with unlimited appointments included. Paid seats are $3 a user a month billed annually, mostly for lifting the class and location limits. There is no deposit-at-booking feature here, so a business that needs money down to stop no-shows wants SimplyBook.me instead.
Choose SimplyBook.me if the business takes deposits or payments at the point of booking and has staff, rooms or equipment to book against: free covers 50 bookings a month for one provider, and Basic at $11.90 a month billed annually raises that to 100 bookings across five providers. Plans are also counted by optional feature modules, like payments or HIPAA, so picking the wrong four on a cheap plan is a real trap. A studio running more than 50 bookings a month will hit this ceiling before Picktime's unlimited-appointments free plan ever notices.
Common questions
- Which has the more generous free plan?
- It depends what might run out first. Picktime's free plan never caps the number of appointments, only the team at three users. SimplyBook.me's free plan caps bookings themselves at 50 a month, regardless of team size, since it has only one provider on that tier.
- Which one takes deposits or payments when somebody books?
- SimplyBook.me does, built in as deposits and payments taken at the point of booking, which is what cuts no-shows. Picktime's listing does not describe an equivalent deposit-at-booking feature at any tier.
- Which is cheaper, Picktime or SimplyBook.me?
- Picktime's paid seats are cheaper on paper, $3 a user a month billed annually against SimplyBook.me's $11.90 entry plan, but the two charge for different things: Picktime scales with headcount and SimplyBook.me scales with booking volume and feature modules.
- Can I run group classes on SimplyBook.me the way I can on Picktime?
- Picktime is built around that from the free plan, with two classes included alongside one-to-one appointments. SimplyBook.me's listing describes providers, services and rooms rather than a dedicated class structure, though it does cover several providers at once.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.