Setmore vs SimplyBook.me Comparison 2026
Setmore gives away unlimited appointments and a booking page for free, priced per user rather than per booking, with Pro at $5 a user a month billed annually adding two-way calendar sync. SimplyBook.me counts bookings instead of seats, built for a business with several providers, rooms or equipment to fill: free covers 50 bookings a month for one provider, and Basic at $11.90 raises that to 100 bookings and five providers. Setmore suits a calendar. SimplyBook.me suits a studio with staff and deposits to collect.
At a glance
- Setmore starts cheaper, at $5.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Setmore | SimplyBook.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $5 | From $11.90 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API | Yes |
Setmore
Free appointment booking for a small team
Setmore gives away more than most booking tools charge for: unlimited appointments, a booking page and reminders on a plan that costs nothing. Paying adds recurring bookings, two-way calendar sync and the integrations a busier calendar needs. Its own admin is plainer than the newer tools, which is either restful or dated.
Our note
Free covers unlimited appointments and a booking page, which is more than most free tiers in this category give. The $5 upgrade is mostly two-way calendar sync. The question is whether a double booking has cost you anything yet.
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.
Our note
This is the answer when a business has staff and takes deposits. For a personal booking link it is more machinery than the job needs, and Cal.com or TidyCal will be set up in ten minutes.
Why people weigh these two
- SimplyBook.me instead of Setmore
- SimplyBook.me from $12 with a free tier handles services and staff for a business, deeper than free booking for a small team.
- Setmore instead of SimplyBook.me
- Setmore gives unlimited appointments away free and starts at $5, a plainer tool for a small team than SimplyBook.me's staff-and-service-list setup.
Which one should you pick
Choose Setmore if the business is one or two people and bookings are unlimited by nature: the free plan has no appointment cap at all, and $5 a user a month billed annually adds two-way calendar sync to stop double bookings. It has no deposit collection or intake forms, so anybody needing those should look elsewhere entirely.
Choose SimplyBook.me if there is staff, a room or equipment to book against and deposits matter: Basic is $11.90 a month billed annually for 100 bookings and five providers, and taking payment at the point of booking is what actually cuts no-shows. Watch the custom feature count on whichever plan is chosen, since payments, HIPAA and memberships are each counted modules, and the wrong four on a cheap plan is the wrong plan. A solo consultant taking a handful of calls a week will find this heavier than the job needs.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, Setmore or SimplyBook.me?
- It depends on the shape of the business. Setmore is free with unlimited appointments for one user, unbeatable for a solo operator. SimplyBook.me starts at $11.90 a month billed annually but supports five providers on that plan, which Setmore's per-user pricing would charge for separately.
- Does Setmore take deposits at the time of booking like SimplyBook.me does?
- No, nothing in its feature list covers deposits or payments collected at booking. SimplyBook.me is built around exactly that, taking money when the slot is reserved, which is what cuts no-shows for a business with staff to schedule.
- Which one is priced by user and which by booking volume?
- Setmore charges per user, with unlimited bookings included even on the free plan. SimplyBook.me charges by how many bookings happen a month, 50 free, 100 on Basic, and so on, regardless of how many staff members are involved.
- Which is better for a salon or clinic with several staff?
- SimplyBook.me, clearly: it books against staff, rooms or equipment rather than one person's diary, and the client app and deposit collection are built for that shape of business. Setmore is plainer and suits a smaller operation without those needs.
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.