What Is SimplyBook.me?
SimplyBook.me offers a solution for appointment booking with its feature-packed scheduling app. It offers a variety of ways for you to accept appointments including a booking site, a booking button you can add to your website, a client app for customers to download and social media integrations.
It also offers light marketing features to help you stay in touch with your customers about appointments or even send bulk emails to let them know about new services, products or promotions. There are also custom features that extend the functionality of the app such as with stronger security for medical professionals or a point of sale (POS) that allows you to take payments in person.
Featured Partners
1
Connecteam
Free; $35 per month for up to 30 users, or $29 per month when billed annually
iOS and Android
Yes
2
Acuity
7 days
Save 20% on Annual Plans
Yes
3
Homebase
Yes
Yes
Yes
SimplyBook.me makes our list of the best scheduling apps because it’s easy to use, offers a generous free plan and it includes security features to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
What Sets SimplyBook.me Apart
SimplyBook.me is a scheduling app that includes features to enable service-based businesses to book appointments and communicate with clients on social media, through a booking site and on their own website. You can block busy time, add buffer time between meetings and SimplyBook.me sends reminder emails or text messages to you and clients to prevent missed meetings.
The standout feature of SimplyBook.me is how it allows you to customize the app for your needs. It does this by offering you more than 60 custom features and each plan allows a set number of custom features you can use at once. For example, you can use a custom feature to set up forms to gather information, create and offer coupons or gift cards or build a client app.
Pros
SimplyBook.me doesn’t stop at offering you a booking site to take appointments, it also gives you social media integrations and a booking button for your own site. The custom features let you set unavailable times or add buffer times between meetings or get advanced reports to gain insight into your customer’s journey.
There are also security features that help ensure the tightest data protection for you and your clients, which helps with HIPAA compliance, making SimplyBook.me a great choice for medical professionals. A generous free plan allows you to take 50 bookings, use one custom feature and you get a booking site, which is appropriate for a solo entrepreneur just starting out.
Cons
Although SimplyBook.me offers a free plan and an affordable entry-level plan, other plans are a bit pricier and there are limits on every plan available. Even at the highest-tier plan, you’re limited to 5,000 bookings per month and you have to purchase more if you run out. Similarly, you’re limited to a handful of users and custom features on most plans.
SimplyBook.me Core Features
SimplyBook.me makes it easy to accept appointments from a few different touch points. It also enables you to set your availability to a degree without custom features. Along with other scheduling apps, you can send and receive reminders about upcoming appointments. SimplyBook.me covers most of its bases with the core features you need.
Availability
You can accept online bookings any time with SimplyBook.me’s social media integrations, booking widget for your site or booking page, or set the appointments yourself through the app. Inputting your available hours is easy enough in the settings and you can use custom features to set up buffer times between meetings or block time to make it look like you’re busy.
Calendar Sync
There’s a calendar sync custom feature that SimplyBook.me offers to let you set up a two-way sync with Google or Outlook calendars. You can use iCal with SimplyBook.me but it isn’t a two-way sync, rather you can add an iCal link to emails, but any calendar notifications will open in Google or Outlook.
Booking Page
All SimplyBook.me plans come with a booking site, even the free plan. You can set up your services, hours, days and locations for your site and clients can create an account and set appointments at their convenience. There’s also a booking widget you can add to your website or to social media pages to make it even easier for clients to book with you.
Reminders and Notifications
You can set up the rules for confirmations, reminders and notifications for your clients and your staff members. Send email or SMS text messages to clients to help reduce no-shows and to users on staff so they don’t miss appointments either. It’s worth noting that if you choose to send text messages, you’ll need to purchase SMS credits at $5 per 50 credits, but larger packages come with slight discounts.
Software Integrations
Integrations are important for any scheduling app and SimplyBook.me provides several native integrations with popular apps you may already use for your business. The social media connections you can make include Facebook, Instagram and Google Business Profile. Video integrations such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom are available either natively, via Zapier or through a link.
Payment processors such as Stripe and PayPal are native integrations. And if there isn’t a native integration available, you can likely find a way to connect apps through a Zapier integration. Otherwise, SimplyBook.me offers an API so you can build your own integrations.
SimplyBook.me Pricing and Plans
SimplyBook.me offers five plans from free to $82.50 per month, if billed annually. Each upgrade you choose will reduce your limits on users, bookings, custom features and overall features. The only feature that’s unlimited is access to custom features and only on the Premium plans. See the chart and summaries below for a rundown of what you get in each plan.
| Free | Basic | Standard | Premium | Premium Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Starting Price (Monthly)*
|
$0
|
$8.25
|
$24.90
|
$49.90
|
$82.50
|
|
Users
|
One
|
Five
|
15 | 30 | 60 |
|
Bookings
|
50 | 100 | 500 |
2,000
|
5,000
|
|
Booking Site
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Client App
|
X
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Coupons, Gift Cards
|
X
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
HIPAA Security
|
X
|
X
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Custom Features
|
One
|
Three
|
Eight
|
Unlimited
|
Unlimited
|
Free
A free SimplyBook.me account works well for one person, but it’s fairly limited overall. You’re allowed up to 50 bookings per month, one custom feature and a booking website and widget for your own website. Many of the helpful features available are locked behind paid plans.
Basic
Upgrading to a Basic plan costs $8.25 per month, billed annually, for up to five users. This gives you 100 bookings per month, three custom features and a client app. You’ll also be able to create coupons and gift cards and have access to a POS for in-person sales.
Standard
For $24.90 per month, billed annually, you can get all of what’s in the Basic plan plus HIPAA security. This is the lowest paid plan that would be suitable for medical professionals. You also get up to 500 bookings per month, 15 users and eight custom features.
Premium
The Premium plan from SimplyBook.me costs $49.90 per month, billed annually. It increases limits significantly: You get up to 2,000 bookings, unlimited custom features, 30 users and all the features available. Link removal is essentially removing the SimplyBook.me branding from your booking page, widget and emails.
Premium Plus
The Premium Plus plan doesn’t get you any new features, but it does increase your users to 60 and your bookings per month to 5,000. It costs $82.50 per month, billed annually.
SimplyBook.me Setup and Customization
Setup of a SimplyBook.me account requires nothing more than a business name, email address, phone number and business location. You’ll start with a 14-day trial and access to most features. When your trial ends, you will be downgraded to the free plan unless you subscribe to a paid plan.
The scheduling software walks you through the setup process, so you don’t miss any important settings. Once you complete the five-step setup, you’ll be ready to take bookings at the times and on dates you prefer. You’ll also have a booking site that reflects your brand. Under design settings, you can change your cover image for your booking site (use your own or a stock image), adjust theme and color and choose how many reviews to display (if any).
SimplyBook.me Ease of Use
SimplyBook.me is fairly intuitive from its interface to navigation. There’s a slight learning curve with some of the features and learning how to use some of the custom features, but the core functionality is mostly self-explanatory. For anything that’s a bit more complex, there’s plenty of help from the self-serve knowledge base or from live chat support agents.
SimplyBook.me Security
SimplyBook.me strives to make its scheduling app as secure as possible for users and their clients. It’s one of the few appointment setting software to advertise that it’s suitable for healthcare providers. The software ensures restrictive access to protected health information (PHI) and employs idle time logouts.
In addition to its commitment to HIPAA compliance, SimplyBook.me also includes standard security features such as secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates on its sites, there’s data protection that adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a European law that gives users more control over their data and how it’s used and stored.
SimplyBook.me Customer Service and Support
To contact SimplyBook.me, find the live chat option in the app or on the website. Hours are 10 p.m. Sunday through 11 p.m. Friday (GMT), so no support is available on Saturdays. Alternatively, you can send an email if your issue isn’t urgent.
Live chat support is quick and always connects you to a live agent. Our experience was smooth and we got the answer we needed. The agent that answered took live screenshots to show precisely how to do something in the app, which was helpful. As a subscriber to SimplyBook.me, you also have the option to request a callback, which may be necessary if you need more than just an answer to a question.
Additional Features
SimplyBook.me offers a variety of extra features that are unique compared to the industry standard such as custom features and a client app. These additions could make or break your decision to try SimplyBook.me.
Custom Features
A unique offering from SimplyBook.me is the custom feature option. All plans get access to one or more of these features you can enable, depending on the plan you choose. They range from marketing features such as mass emails and a blog for your website to stronger security with HIPAA-compliant features and a point of sale (POS) so you can take payments in person (for services and products).
You can turn your booking website into a full-fledged website with content using SimplyBook.me’s content management system (CMS), which is uncommon among scheduling apps. There are search engine optimization (SEO) tools as well, so you can ensure titles and meta descriptions are filled out correctly.
Marketing Features
Most of the best scheduling apps include at least a couple of marketing features that allow you to interact with your client base. SimplyBook.me follows suit by letting you connect your social media business pages such as with Facebook and Instagram. You can also integrate with your Google listing. There are even more if you use any of the custom features available.
You can create coupons or gift cards for clients, manage reviews and send individual or mass emails. There’s also a loyalty program you can enable to let your customers earn and spend points, which helps with retention.
Client Portal
Most scheduling apps offer client portals accessible by your clients through a browser. SimplyBook.me takes it a step further by offering a client app (you need to use a custom feature to enable it). You can design your app so it fits your branding with images that make sense for your business. Once you’ve created it, SimplyBook.me will make it available for clients to download and use to book services with you.
It’s worth noting that the app is in beta as of the time of publishing, so there are some functions that aren’t yet working. For example, you cannot add a photo gallery, reviews or your custom page to the app. Also, this only worked for us via the Safari browser and it acts more as a bookmark you add to your home screen rather than a full-fledged app.
SimplyBook.me Alternatives and How They Compare
| SimplyBook.me | Square Appointments | Calendly | Zoho Bookings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Forbes Advisor Ratings (Out of 5 Stars)
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Starting Price (Monthly)*
|
$8.25 per user
|
$29 per location
|
$8 per user
|
$6 per user
|
|
Free Plan
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Calendars
|
Google, Outlook, iCal
|
Google
|
Google, Outlook, iCal
|
Google, Outlook, Zoho
|
|
Reminders
|
Email
|
Email, text
|
Email
|
Email, text
|
|
Marketing Features
|
Facebook, Instagram, Google listing, discounts, offers, gift certificates, book soon reminders
|
Facebook, Instagram, Google listing, discounts, marketing campaigns
|
By integrations only
|
By integrations only
|
|
Resource Management
|
✔
|
✔
|
X
|
✔
|
|
Client Portal
|
✔
|
✔
|
X
|
✔
|
|
Payment Gateways
|
Square, Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Braintree (plus 30 others)
|
Square, Afterpay, Cash App
|
Stripe, PayPal
|
Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, Forte (plus five others)
|
|
Read Reviews
|
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|
SimplyBook.me seems to fare well against its more popular competitors, but whichever one is right for you may come down to cost, integration, client access or added features. We compared SimplyBook.me to some of the highest-ranked scheduling apps to show the biggest differences.
SimplyBook.me vs. Square Appointments
At first glance, it seems that Square Appointments vs. SimplyBook.me is a fair match. Both offer similar features with booking sites, client portal or app and even resource management. However, Square Appointments is pricier and SimplyBook.me offers more payment processor options. If you look more closely though, you’ll see that Square Appointments offers more features for all users, while SimplyBook.me limits users more by requiring you to use custom features to achieve the same level of functionality.
SimplyBook.me vs. Calendly
Calendly is a popular scheduling app, though it’s more used by companies that need to run online meetings with colleagues, prospects and clients. When comparing it to SimplyBook.me, there are some clear differences. SimplyBook.me offers native features for marketing, resource management and a client app, while Calendly requires you to set up integrations for these features. Pricing is similar, though SimplyBook.me offers more plans and is slightly more expensive for its premium plans.
SimplyBook.me vs. Zoho Bookings
Comparing SimplyBook.me and Zoho Bookings starts with pricing. Both offer free plans, but Zoho Booking’s paid plans are more affordable if you just look at monthly fees. However, SimplyBook.me offers more users per plan, making the per-user fees far less. Then again, there are no limits to appointments you can book on Zoho Bookings.
Featured Partners
1
Connecteam
Free; $35 per month for up to 30 users, or $29 per month when billed annually
iOS and Android
Yes
2
Acuity
7 days
Save 20% on Annual Plans
Yes
3
Homebase
Yes
Yes
Yes
Who Is SimplyBook.me Best For?
SimplyBook.me’s security and data protection features make it the best scheduling app for medical professionals who need to ensure HIPAA compliance. However, it’s a good pick for any service-based business that relies on appointments with clients and prospects, whether you work in person or online.
Our Expert Take
We tested SimplyBook.me in a variety of ways: as a user, as a customer, through the client app, the browser-based app and mobile apps. The scheduling app was easy to set up and use from all points. While the client app is a clever addition, it seems to function more as a bookmark for iOS users, rather than an actual app. Customer support was quick to respond and helpful with responses. We did come across a few bugs and technical issues, but they were easy to resolve.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is SimplyBook.me free to use?
SimplyBook.me offers a free plan that’s good for one user, up to 50 bookings per month and the use of one custom feature. You also get a booking site and widget. To remove limitations, you have to upgrade to a paid plan, starting at $8.25 per month (if billed annually).
Is SimplyBook.me HIPAA compliant?
If you employ a custom feature for the patient data protection on SimplyBook.me, it’s one step closer to HIPAA compliance. It’s a security feature most scheduling apps do not offer.
What is a custom feature in SimplyBook.me?
A custom feature is similar to an add-on or small app that extends the functionality of SimplyBook.me’s platform. You can use them to add more security, marketing or payment features.
What are the benefits of SimplyBook.me?
Along with a booking site to take appointments, SimplyBook.me gives you social media integrations and a booking button. There are custom features for setting times and advanced reports to gain insight into your customers. There are also security features that help with HIPAA compliance.
