What is an appointment scheduling app?
A medical appointment scheduling app simplifies the process, helping practitioners efficiently schedule appointments, manage calendars, and send automated appointment reminders. With the right patient scheduling software, you can reduce missed appointments, prevent overbooking, and streamline workflows—saving time for both practitioners and patients.
Why free appointment software?
Investing in medical appointment scheduling software isn’t always necessary. Many free options offer essential tools for medical offices and healthcare services, allowing you to schedule appointments online without additional costs. These solutions help manage appointments, reduce cancellations, and improve the patient experience.
Features to look out for in an appointment scheduling app
When selecting a free medical appointment scheduling software, consider the following:
- Customizable availability: Set working hours, block time slots, and manage recurring appointments.
- Calendar syncing: Prevent double bookings and streamline the scheduling process.
- Automated reminders: Reduce missed appointments with SMS/email alerts.
- Integration capabilities: Ensure compatibility with medical history records and other systems.
- Cancellation policies: Improve communication and minimize disruptions.
- Multi-location support: Ideal for practitioners managing multiple locations.
- Online booking system: Allow patients to book and reschedule appointments quickly.
Best free appointment scheduling software
Here are free appointment scheduling software options worth sharing:
1. Carepatron
Carepatron is a powerful, free medical appointment scheduling software for medical offices, group practices, and healthcare services. It helps practitioners schedule patient appointments, manage workflows, and improve efficiency.
Carepatron key features:
- Patient scheduling software
- Task management
- Appointment reminders
- Team collaboration
- Powerful AI & automation
- Telehealth integration
- Patient portal
- Billing and payments
- EHR & documentation
- HIPAA-compliant secure messaging
- Customizable forms & templates
- Mobile app accessibility
- Integrated payment processing
Carepatron's online medical scheduling software provides an all-in-one solution for healthcare practitioners looking to streamline operations and enhance patient care. With its AI-powered features, seamless integrations, and intuitive interface, it’s an excellent choice for professionals seeking efficient and reliable practice management software.
Carepatron pricing
- Starter: Free
- Essential: $19 per month per user
- Plus: $24 per month per user
- Advanced: $29 per month per user
They offer discounted prices based on your payment terms.
2. Square Appointments
Square Appointments is a good example of a free online appointment system for single users. They enable access to all of their business management software free of charge, which is great for solo practitioners but becomes costly as soon as you require a multi-user option.
Square Appointments key features
- Unlimited appointments per month
- Access to all capabilities for free
- Email and SMS reminders
- Mobile app
- Scheduling
- Automated reminders
Unfortunately, Square Appointments was not explicitly created with healthcare in mind, so you'll have to make do with basic features if you're a healthcare professional.
Square Appointments pricing
- Free plan for individual users
- Plus: $29 per month per location
- Premium: $69 per month per location
3. Calendly
Calendly is excellent software for online booking if you want to present professionally. It also offers robust administration capabilities and a high level of security. Calendly provides a free version but only gives access to some functionalities and limited email support. In addition, the platform they provide is not customizable.
Calendly key features
- Can connect to Google, Office 365, Outlook, and iCloud calendars
- Create unlimited 1-on-1 events
- Schedule customizable appointments
- Automated event reminders and email notifications
- compatibility with Windows, macOS, IOS, and Android
However, Calendly provides limited customer support for the free version and lacks customization of the booking page. There have even been reports of issues with custom objects, fields, and views.
Calendly pricing
- Basic: Free
- Standard: $12 per seat per month
- Teams: $16 per seat per month
- Enterprise: Starts at $15,000 per year
4. Sign In Scheduling
Sign In Scheduling, formerly known as 10to8, is an appointment scheduling tool with visitor management features. It helps businesses streamline bookings, reduce no-shows, and improve efficiency.
Sign In Scheduling key features:
- Automated reminders
- Custom branding
- Pre-registration of visitors
- Multi-channel scheduling
- Advanced reporting
- Multi-site management
While feature-rich, Sign In Scheduling is not specifically designed for healthcare. Medical professionals may need additional integrations to meet industry-specific needs.
Sign In Scheduling pricing
- Free: Free 15-day trial
- Core: £365 per year per site (roughly $470 per month)
- Enhanced: £770 per year per site (roughly $993 per month)
- Pro: Speak to their specialist.
5. Appointlet
Appointlet is an online appointment scheduling platform that simplifies the booking process for businesses and their clients.
Appointlet key features
- Unlimited appointments
- Can edit and customize availability
- Prevent double bookings
- Time zone management
- Custom intake forms
- Ability to cancel and reschedule meetings
- Google calendar and Office 365 integration in all plans
- Automated notifications for rescheduling and cancellations
However, many users find that Appointlet has some limits. Contrary to some claims that only one staff member is allowed on the free version, Appointlet's free plan supports unlimited members and bookings.
Appointlet pricing
- Basic: Free
- Premium: $10 per month
- Enterprise: Inquire for cost.
6. Appointy
Appointy is a free scheduling software that simplifies appointment management for businesses, including healthcare professionals. It offers an intuitive interface and automation to streamline bookings.
Appointy key features:
- Online scheduling
- Automated reminders
- Payment processing
- Staff management
- Customizable booking pages
- Calendar integrations
- Mobile app
While Appointy provides robust scheduling tools, its healthcare-specific features are limited compared to specialized medical scheduling software.
Appointy pricing
- Free
- Growth: $29.99 per month if billed annually
- Professional: $59.99 per month
- Enterprise: $99.99 per month
They offer a 14-day free trial for all the paid plans, too.
7. HubSpot for Healthcare
HubSpot's customer platform equips your teams with the tools they need to deliver seamless, compassionate patient and provider experiences.
HubSpot key features
- Great calendar sync options
- Scalability
- Offers high-security features
- Email scheduling
- Mobile optimization
- Custom domain
- Multi-language options
- SEO recommendations
The downside of HubSpot is that many users find that its paid plans come with a hefty price tag for small business owners.
HubSpot pricing
- Free
- Marketing hub starter: US$20/mo/seat
- Starter customer platform: US$20/mo/seat
- Marketing hub professional: US$890/mo
8. SimplyBook
SimplyBook, as the name suggests, is a platform designed to simplify the scheduling process. With a wide range of features and availability in several countries, it allows businesses to streamline booking and increase client engagement.
SimplyBook key features
- Wide range of automated reminder options
- Recurring bookings
- Customizable appointment information
- 50 included bookings
- Up to 5 users
- Booking website
- Mobile app
- Time zone management
- Customizable appointments
What most users don't like about SimplyBook is that the add-on features have attached fees, and the interface isn't very intuitive—just a few things—but it's still pretty good software.
SimplyBook pricing
- Free plan
- Basic: €9.90 per month (roughly $11 per month)
- Standard: €29.90 per month (roughly $33 per month)
- Premium: €59.90 per month (roughly $65 per month)
9. Zoho Bookings
Zoho Bookings is a smart scheduling platform that automates appointment booking. It customizes your interface depending on your industry, making it accessible to many professional fields.
Zoho Bookings key features
- Calendar sync with Zoho, Google, Outlook, Office 365
- Schedule online meetings
- Notification emails
- Two-way calendar sync
- Attractive interface
Still, users find that Zoho Bookings has limited features for the free plan, and it only allows for one staff member to be logged in.
Zoho Bookings pricing
- Forever free: Free for one person
- Basic: $8 monthly per staff member, $6 per month if paying by the year
- Premium: $12 monthly per staff member, valid for 3 workspaces. $9 per month if paying by the year.
- Flex plan: Custom pricing for tailored features; you need to get a quote from them.
Main takeaways
A free medical scheduling software makes it easier for healthcare practitioners to manage appointments without extra costs. The best options include helpful features like automated reminders, calendar syncing, and patient self-scheduling, making the booking process smoother for staff and patients. However, some free plans have limits, like a cap on users or appointments, so choosing one that fits your clinic’s needs is essential. Cloud-based platforms offer added convenience, allowing access from any device, which helps keep schedules organized on the go. The right scheduling tool can save time, reduce no-shows, and boost overall clinic efficiency, making daily operations much more manageable.