7 Best Scheduling Software for Coaches 

Running a coaching practice involves a full schedule of sessions, administrative work, and marketing activities. Managing all of it efficiently becomes difficult if there’s no help at hand. Luckily, there are scores of software available in the market that help automate your daily schedule, so you don’t have to deal with overbooking, the endless back-and-forth over schedules, and so on. 

Now, when it comes to scheduling software, you have good old tools such as Google Calendar or the more intricate Calendly that allow you to run your schedules. Coaching management tools, however, build on top of these tools to offer you coaching-specific functionalities that save you even more time and effort. 

Let’s have a look at both types of software with these 7 best scheduling software for coaches: 

Scheduling software

1. Calendly 

Calendly is a scheduling automation platform that facilitates team-based scheduling, integrations, and solutions for different departments like sales, marketing, customer success, recruiting, etc. You can create scheduling links and booking pages with Calendly and share the same so that your clients/prospective clients can book appointments based on your availability. This scheduling software is AICPA-SOC, PCI-DSS, GDPR, and ISO compliant. Other than their free basic plan, their essential plan costs $8 / month per seat. 

2. Acuity Scheduling 

This appointment management software allows you to automate processes such as payment, reminders, scheduling, etc. It lets you customize your scheduling page and share your real-time availability so that your clients can book appointments on their own. 

With Acuity scheduling software, you can manage your schedule across multiple locations and clients, make visible the slots you want clients to see, auto-adjust for time zones, allow clients to cancel and reschedule appointments, automate nudges, and manage client information. Its basic plan costs $16/ month when paid annually. 

3. Appointlet 

Appointlet is another go-to scheduling app created for different types of businesses. Like other scheduling software, with this scheduling app you can display your availability by sharing a link to your scheduling page with your clients. You can also evaluate your scheduled meetings, take down internal notes, and “filter through” your booking record. 

The software also takes into account the necessary features that we’ve come to count on – cancellation and rescheduling, email notifications, and so on. 

You can get started with their free plan or choose to pay just $8/ member/ month to enjoy an enhanced scheduling experience that includes sending automated reminders, payment collection, Zapier integration, and disabling Appointlet branding. 

4. Chili-Piper 

Chili-Piper offers its scheduling tool separate from (but connected to) its CRM offerings, allowing your prospective clients to schedule meetings quicker and easier – for example, right from an email you’ve sent them – to prevent lead loss. At this point, Chili-Piper’s CRM tool comes into play and picks up the lead information, routing it to the correct sales representative. Because its Instant Booker scheduling tool is built to be part of a bigger sales tech stack, however, it’s more suited to enterprises – that and its steeper pricing that begins at $15 per user per month. 

Let’s now have a look at coaching management software that offers scheduling tools (via integration with scheduling software) and minute scheduling functionalities. 

Coaching management software with scheduling

1. Simply.Coach 

Simply.Coach is a coaching management software designed for coaches by coaches. It integrates with your Google/Microsoft calendar and video conferencing accounts such as Zoom and has built scheduling capabilities on top of these integrations. You could, for example, have prospective clients scheduling a session with you via your landing page, and pre-configure details such as buffer times in between sessions, different types of sessions (like discovery sessions, first session, etc.), and so on. 

Having a note-taking tool inbuilt, when Simply.Coach sends you a reminder for an upcoming session it does so with the previous session’s notes attached for easy preparation. You can even attach prep forms with each scheduled session for a more meaningful interaction with your clients. 

The scheduling feature also offers another major benefit – helps track session frequency, number of sessions completed or cancelled, how often sessions have been rescheduled, etc. You can easily track such metrics across different session types, export the required data into a spreadsheet, and share it with your client for a transparent billing procedure. 

Because it is built for coaches and is HIPAA, GDPR and SOC2-compliant, Simply.Coach is a noteworthy alternative to a simple scheduling software. 

The starter plan is priced at $9 per month when billed annually. 

2. Paperbell 

As a coaching management platform, Paperbell offers a number of administrative benefits to users. As a part of its scheduling module, it requires you to create “blocks” of time, i.e. a schedule of your day where you block time for different activities/aspects of your business. The sessions are then scheduled by your client/you, and a Google Calendar integration ensures there is no double-booking taking place. Like Simply.Coach and most scheduling software, it works across time zones. 

The barrier, however, may lie in its pricing, which comes in at $47.50 per month when billed annually. 

3. Delenta 

Delenta’s scheduling module offers all the basics you expect from a scheduling software. It integrates with Google and Outlook Calendars, allows you to automate sessions reminders, and easily reschedule/cancel sessions. You can also configure your availability and allow clients to request sessions with you. 

Delenta pricing starts at $19 per user per month when billed annually. 

When it comes to scaling your online coaching business, coaching management software are indispensable now. 

Read our blog to know the factors that help you choose the right coaching management software here! 

What to look for in scheduling software for coaches

Researching scheduling software can be both time-consuming and confusing. Here are some of the parameters you can use to evaluate scheduling software: 

1. Your must-have features 

Once you do your research and find out what scheduling apps are capable of, make a list of your must-have features. Some basic ones that are most necessary include working across time zones, allowing multiple calendars, easy rescheduling and cancelling, and reminders. 

2. Easy to use 

The last thing you need is a software that isn’t user-friendly and adds to your day-to-day complexity. A scheduling software should be a) easy to navigate, b) intuitive, and c) automated. This will not only allow you to manage your schedule better but also make it easy to use for yourself and your clients alike. Make sure the scheduling software allows easy and effortless cancellation, rescheduling, etc. 

3. Integration capability with existing software 

It is worth mentioning here that all your organizational software should have a great degree of interconnectivity – in simpler terms, it should all be well-integrated. Picking a scheduling software that has integration capabilities with software you already use (such as Google Calendar or Zoom or Stripe) will make it easier to use without additional effort.  

Plug: Simply.Coach seamlessly integrates software like Google Calendar, Stripe, Zoom, etc. for top results. 

4. The expense 

As a coach, you may be torn between choosing a low-cost scheduling software and going for a feature-rich one that could burn a hole in your pocket. Our suggestion: Try and achieve a balance between the two. There are plenty of scheduling software available in the market that will more or less fit both your needs and budget. Identify what capabilities you require, have a budget (and a ceiling to that budget) and avoid cheaper options that may look attractive cost-wise but might prove to be counterproductive in the longer run. 

5. Additional features 

Your ideal software should offer the necessary features, give you the best bang for your buck and ideally go a bit further. Consider all the additional features being offered and how much value they add for you.  

Plug: Simply.Coach, with its all-encompassing coaching management features, is the one-stop solution for coaches. 

Key takeaway

Choosing the best online scheduling software for your business is not easy. There is no limit to the factors that might influence your decision. Great research is a critical first step to determine your choice – and with this blog post, we hope we have helped you on your way!  

FAQs

1. Why do coaches need scheduling software? 

Scheduling software helps streamline a coach’s daily schedule without all the back and forth that usually goes on to schedule sessions, and without the chaos that ensues when business needs take a back seat. Software allows coaches to conveniently add, delete or modify engagements and make for a very productive workday with minimal scheduling errors like overbooking, etc. 

2. What are some of the scheduling software for coaches? 

Some of the scheduling software for coaches include Simply.Coach, Calendly, Acuity, Appointlet, Chili-Piper, Delenta, and Paperbell. 

About the author

Jayashree Mukherjee

Content Specialist  @Simply.Coach

Jayashree Mukherjee is a content specialist by day and a content junkie (on OTT) by night. Passionate about traveling, street food and overturning the underuse of em dashes — she would have been a globe-trotter if she hadn’t been so lazy.