ShareAvailability vs. Calendly: Which Is Right for You?

Last updated: February 2026

ShareAvailability and Calendly both solve the same root problem — sharing your availability to schedule meetings — but they do it in fundamentally different ways. Calendly gives people a link to a booking page where they select a time. ShareAvailability gives you a plain-text list of your free times that you copy and paste into any message.

Neither is universally better. They're built for different situations. This comparison will help you figure out which one fits how you actually schedule.

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The Core Difference

Calendly: You send a link → the recipient visits a booking page → they pick a time → the meeting is auto-created on both calendars.

ShareAvailability: You connect Google Calendar → the tool generates a plain-text list of your free times → you copy it into an email, text, or Slack message → the recipient replies with what works → you create the calendar event.

The Calendly model optimizes for efficiency. The ShareAvailability model optimizes for tone. Calendly removes friction by automating the booking. ShareAvailability removes friction by automating the tedious part (scanning your calendar and formatting times) while keeping the human element intact.

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Feature-by-Feature Comparison

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When ShareAvailability Is the Better Choice

Coffee chats and networking

You met someone at a conference, connected on LinkedIn, and want to grab coffee. Sending a Calendly link in this context says "I'm busy and important — go book yourself in." Sending your availability as plain text says "here are some times — what works for you?" The second approach is warmer, and warmth matters when you're building a new relationship.

Job interviews and recruiter communication

If you're a job candidate and a recruiter asks for your availability, sending a Calendly link is a significant misstep. It flips the power dynamic — you're asking the hiring company to use your scheduling tool. Sending a clean list of your available times shows flexibility, professionalism, and respect for their process.

Sales outreach to warm leads

You had a great first call with a prospect. They're interested. You need to schedule a follow-up. A Calendly link at this stage can cool the relationship. It shifts from "let's keep talking" to "here's my self-service portal." Pasting your availability into the follow-up email keeps the tone collaborative.

Client relationship management

For VIP clients, high-touch accounts, or anyone where the relationship justifies extra care, plain-text scheduling is the white-glove approach. It signals that this person isn't just another booking on your calendar.

Scheduling in non-email channels

Calendly links work in email, but they're awkward in text messages, Slack DMs, WhatsApp conversations, or LinkedIn messages. A plain-text list of times works everywhere — because it's just text.

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When Calendly Is the Better Choice

Inbound appointment scheduling

If you're a consultant, freelancer, or service provider and people are coming to you to book time, a booking page makes perfect sense. Put your Calendly link on your website, in your email signature, or on your social profiles. People expect a self-service booking flow in this context.

High-volume scheduling

If you schedule 15+ meetings per day, the auto-booking feature is worth its weight in gold. You don't want to manually create a calendar event for every meeting. Calendly's "pick a time and it's booked" model eliminates that step entirely.

Team scheduling and lead routing

Calendly's Teams plan ($20/user/month) offers round-robin scheduling, collective availability (book a time when multiple team members are free), and lead routing. If you're running a sales team that needs to distribute inbound demo requests across reps, this is where Calendly excels. ShareAvailability doesn't have team features.

Integration-heavy workflows

If you need your scheduling tool to connect to Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe (for paid bookings), Zoom (for auto-generated meeting links), or Zapier workflows, Calendly's integration ecosystem is extensive. ShareAvailability is a focused, single-purpose tool — it generates text, and that's it.

Public-facing scheduling pages

If you want a branded booking page embedded on your website where anyone can schedule time with you, Calendly (or similar tools like Cal.com or Acuity) is the right category. ShareAvailability doesn't have a public booking page — by design.

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The Honest Tradeoffs

What you give up with ShareAvailability:

• No auto-booking. After the recipient replies with their preferred time, you create the calendar event manually. This adds 30 seconds per meeting.
• No integrations. It doesn't connect to your CRM, video conferencing tool, or payment processor.
• No team features. It's a single-user tool.
• Google Calendar only. Outlook and Apple Calendar support is on our roadmap.

What you give up with Calendly:

• The personal touch. A booking link, by definition, removes you from the scheduling conversation. The recipient interacts with a web page, not with you.
• Channel flexibility. Calendly links work best in email. They're clunky in text messages and Slack DMs.
• Money (on paid plans). Standard is $12/month/user. Teams is $20/month/user. For individuals, this adds up — especially if the free plan's one-event-type limit doesn't meet your needs.
• Simplicity. Calendly has a lot of settings, event types, and configuration options. If you just need to quickly share when you're free, it's more tool than you need.

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Can You Use Both?

Yes — and many people should.

There's no rule that says you have to pick one scheduling method for every situation. A practical approach:

• Use ShareAvailability for relationship-sensitive scheduling: networking, job interviews, sales follow-ups, client communication, and informal plans. Generate your availability here →
• Use Calendly (or a similar booking tool) for inbound, high-volume, or self-service scheduling: website booking pages, "Schedule a Demo" CTAs, and recurring appointment types.

The right tool depends on the context, not the tool itself.

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Quick Decision Guide

Choose ShareAvailability if:

• You want scheduling to feel personal and conversational
• You schedule in channels beyond email (Slack, text, LinkedIn, etc.)
• You don't need auto-booking
• You want something free with zero setup
• You're scheduling coffee chats, interviews, client calls, or networking meetings

Choose Calendly if:

• You need auto-booking at scale
• You want a public booking page for inbound appointments
• You need team scheduling features (round-robin, collective availability)
• You need CRM, payment, or video conferencing integrations
• You schedule 15+ meetings per day

Use both if:

• You schedule different types of meetings in different contexts (most professionals do)

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The Bottom Line

Calendly is a scheduling platform. ShareAvailability is a scheduling shortcut. Calendly replaces the entire scheduling conversation with a self-service flow. ShareAvailability makes the scheduling conversation faster without replacing it.

If you value efficiency above all else and schedule at volume, Calendly is hard to beat. If you value the human element of scheduling and want to save time without sacrificing tone, ShareAvailability is built for you.

Both are free to start. Try each in its natural context and see which feels right.

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ShareAvailability generates plain-text availability from your Google Calendar in seconds. No booking links. No sign-up for the recipient. Free.