Still manually booking appointments? Try this FREE Zoho Booking App instead!
Quick Summary:
I've been using Zoho Booking App for almost a year. It allows businesses and individuals to leverage an automatic booking/scheduling tool for FREE with their Free Forever Tier. This is one of the bulkiest free tier option I found out there and their paid options are at a lower price point so you save money even if you need to upgrade to a paid tier.
Enjoy:
Unlimited Customers, Services, One-on-One Service BookingAutomatic Email Notifications for Confirmations, Reminders, and CancelationsWebsite Embeddable Booking Widget (Custom Coded or Platform)
Full Zoho Plan Comparison Here
Need help setting up Zoho Booking? Migrating to Zoho from current tool? Integrating it to your website? Reach out to us or schedule a free consult with us - plantitalabs.com
Let's get into it
I spend a lot of time researching and comparing applications and tools. This is something I learned to do while working full time as an engineer. We had dedicated time to research tools and compare them to try and find the best overall solution for our needs. A majority of the time, we would be searching for open-source or free tools that we could implement because of budget restraints. I very quickly realized there is a lot of free tech out there being used to make a lot of money by overcharging people. So I wanted to share this free booking app I use, because it's been so helpful to have this automation without paying anything.
I've been in business for almost a year - and haven't paid any $ for my automatic bookings app!
(& if I need to transition to a paid tier, the cost will be significantly lower than other competitors)
When I started Plantita Labs, I wanted a way to offer automatic appointment scheduling for my Free Consultations. I also wanted to find a solution I would feel good about recommending. So I did what I already knew how to do.
Usually, this means I spiral for some time into the depths of the internet, in this event, searching for an app that gives me the best features for the least amount of money. After all, starting a small business is already challenging and financially, I want to minimize my starting costs. I researched and compared many tools to find the one with the bulkiest FREEMIUM Tier version of the app that also had great upgrade tiers both in price and feature growth.
Allow me to introduce you to...
Zoho Bookings is one of many software tools from the Zoho Suite. I use a handful of their apps, but I'll be focusing on this one today.
During my research and comparison, I found a total of 2 random internet strangers, in separate random forums, mention Zoho. I wasn't familiar with this company and wrote it down on my list to review.
I was pleasantly surprised when the research started showing this might be the winner.
Of course, there are pros and cons to all of the tools I researched. Zoho Bookings has been great for us and now for my clients, but I know there are countless options out there that may fit your personal situation best. If you need help choosing an app that fits your specific needs, reach out to us!
HOW I USE IT
After creating my free account and spending some time configuring my account, I went ahead and configured the booking services, prices, availability, and visual booking page options.
I offer one service on specific days/times; a one-on-one 20min consultation.
I embed the booking widget directly on my website so users don't have to navigate anywhere else.
I customized the notification messages for confirmation, reschedule, and cancelation.
FEATURES I LOVE
Not Industry Specific
Throughout my search I found other pretty good freemium tier booking apps, but unfortunately, they were too industry specific for my need. For example, Fresha offers a free booking app with optional paid features, but it is for beauty & wellness professionals. It is also designed more as a marketplace for the public to find services with businesses that sign up with them for the free booking app, which is similar to booksy and a lot of other industry specific apps.
I really like that with Zoho Bookings is not industry specific and therefore, can be personalized for any need and any industry.
Freemium & Paid Tier Price Points
This isn't just a Free Trial like many of the other common booking apps. While it does have some limitations (I talk about these later down the page), it really offers a great feature list that others fall short of.
My business is still growing and I haven't had a need to upgrade to a paid subscription, but when that does happen, I feel good knowing the priced tiers are at a lower pricing point than others.
Zoho Bookings has 2 paid tiers
Monthly: $8/mo & $12/moAnnually: $6/mo & $9/mo
For comparison, let's look at some other pricing points:
Varago: $25/monthBooksy: $30/monthAcuity: $16/monthSquare: $29/month
You can also check out Zoho's comparison blog on booking apps to see a more in depth comparison of different booking tools.
Unlimited Customers
Many of the Freemium tiers I came across had limitations on how many customer profiles you can have.Zoho offers an unlimited number of customers, so no worries on having to upgrade to a paid tier just because my client base grew.
Unlimited Services & Appointments
Some applications only offered the ability to book 1 service or limited to scheduling a max # of appointments. While I don't personally think I'm going to get 50 consultation appointments a month any time soon, I have future growth plans and I rather not hit a limit when Zoho offers unlimited for the Free tier.
One-to-One Service Booking
We don't currently have a need for anything other than a one-to-one option. Paired with the unlimited services and appointments, I can book as many one-to-one appointments as I need. I can also plan to offer as many different types of one-to-one bookings as needed and still not worry about needing to upgrade.
If you need group class booking this is a limitation - you will need to upgrade and pay.
Embeddable Booking
This is super important and I just love how easily I can embed Zoho Bookings to our websites. It embeds seamlessly and just becomes part of the website. I haven't had any issues with any embedded booking apps we've implemented using Zoho, and branding is basically non-existent when embedded.This allows clients to include automatic booking on their site with ease!
Check out a few live examples:
plantitalabs.com
Online Meetings
Allows integration so a customer can book an online meeting. Meeting information is included in the confirmation email.
I also use Zoho Meeting, they have a Free tier but I'm paying $1/mo ($12/year) to go beyond their 60min meeting limit from the tier version since my consultation meetings can go over that. I'm able to integrate with the bookings app which is a great bonus.
(I'll have to write a blog post about that one - at a later time).
Online Booking - Customer & Internal Facing
Zoho offers both a customer and internal facing booking option.
For customers, aside from embedding it on a website, you can send a direct link to the booking app via Zoho.
Example: https://plantitalabs.zohobookings.com/#/customer/plantitalabs
For internal use, you can login to the admin panel and book appointments for your clients manually - although I just tell my clients to go to their site and book through there like their clients would.
Calendar Sync
I can easily connect my google calendar so that Zoho knows when not to schedule an appointment. This is great so that I can continue taking care of my life things without worrying about being booked.
The important part is remembering to add events to your calendar outside of bookings so that the app remains up to date.
Automatic Notifications for Confirmations, Reminders, & Cancelations
Some applications didn't offer any notifications on their free tiers, others had quantity limits, and a few required paying for these features.
Zoho provides automatic notifications for the core needs of confirmation, reminder, and cancelation.
Custom Fields on Booking Form
This has been super awesome because you can customize the booking form for your specific needs. Some applications have a default form that cannot be customized in the free tier. I really liked that I can create a booking form and collect the information that is helpful.
Here are some examples:
Basic Information Form
With Drop Down & Checkbox Options
Dropdown & Text Box Options
LIMITATIONS
One-to-One Booking
As mentioned above, the free tier only allows one-to-one booking. This means that if you need the ability to schedule classes with more than one seat, you'll need to upgrade to the $9/mo annual premium paid tier.
Even so, $9/mo is a fraction of what other tools are charging.
Users
Zoho has a limit of 1 user for their free tier so only one admin can exist. If you are in need of multiple users or staff, you'll need to upgrade to their Basic paid tier.
Others had a limit of 3 or 4, while Square has unlimited staff but doesn't include calendar sync and email confirmation. The other features with Zoho and my non-existent need for more staff didn't make this limitation a determent for me.
Branding
This is a controversial topic in general, but I don't really care about 3rd party tool branding. As consumers, we are used to seeing a plethora of logos and branding. When clients ask me whether they should pay to remove a tool's branding, the answer is annoyingly "it depends." You don't need any more reason other than not wanting branding to show, but is it necessary? Again, it depends. I personally won't be paying for anything unless business shows it's an investment worth it for me. When I do, I'll be glad to know their Premium Plan covers the option to remove Zoho Branding.
RECOMMENDED?
Absolutely! There are a lot of tools out there and Zoho Bookings might not be the one for you. But if you're in search of a FREE or CHEAPER automatic booking tool, this one should definitely be considered.
I'll update this blog if I find a tool that better suites me.
Need help with Zoho Apps or any other application set up or integration? Reach out to us!Plantita Labs
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I am not paid to write reviews or share my thoughts on a product, software, or tool. Everything shared and opinions expressed are solely my own.