CalioCalio vs Calendly: the European alternative
Calendly is the global market leader in scheduling, and for many people it is the first booking link they ever use. Even so, teams move away from it: the per-seat price adds up, data sits on US servers (subject to the CLOUD Act) and the free plan stops at a single event type.
Calio is built as the European answer: the same core (booking link, calendar sync, reminders) with your data entirely inside the EU and a free plan without an event-type limit.
Calio and Calendly side by side
| Feature | Calio | Calendly |
|---|---|---|
| Public booking page | Unlimited event types, including on the free plan | Free plan limited to 1 event type |
| Double bookings | Impossible — enforced at database level | Prevented through calendar checks |
| Confirmations & reminders (email) | Automatic, 24 hours and 1 hour before | Yes; SMS capped at 250 per user per month |
| Guests reschedule or cancel themselves | Through the link in their email | Yes |
| Google & Microsoft calendar sync | Busy-time sync + bookings written to your calendar | Yes, plus other calendar providers |
| EU data hosting | Servers and database in Amsterdam | No — US hosting (CLOUD Act) |
| European company & support | Dutch company; guest flow in Dutch, English and German | No — US company |
| iDEAL payments | Pay in full or a deposit at booking, through Mollie | No — payments through Stripe/PayPal |
| Round-robin for teams | One link, meetings shared across the team | Yes, on the paid team plans |
| AI booking in plain language | Guests type what they need; Calio offers real open slots | AI routing and follow-ups (partly beta) |
| AI agent that negotiates over email | on the roadmapSchedules with the other party’s calendar on its own | Not as a separate product |
Calendly features based on public information and reviews; they may differ per subscription and may have changed since.
What does it cost?
Calendly charges (as of February 2026) $10 per user per month for Standard (billed yearly; $12 monthly) and $16 for Teams ($20 monthly). SSO is a paid add-on. Calio has a free plan that stays free; paid plans start at €8 per user per month billed yearly — roughly 20% below Calendly Standard. Calendly’s prices may have changed since; always check the vendor’s current pricing page.
Why people switch to Calio
Your data stays in the EU
Calendly stores your data on US servers. Calio keeps it in a data centre in Amsterdam, with every sub-processor named by company and country in the privacy policy. For healthcare, legal, government and privacy-conscious businesses that is a requirement, not a detail.
A fairer free plan
Calendly’s free plan stops at one event type. With Calio you create as many as you like — intake, follow-up, intro call — without paying.
Switching takes minutes
You recreate your event types and working hours, connect your Google or Microsoft calendar and share your new Calio link. No data migration involved.
Frequently asked questions
Is Calio a full Calendly alternative?
For the core of the job — sharing a booking link, calendar sync with Google and Microsoft, automatic Meet or Teams links, custom booking questions, round-robin for teams, confirmations and reminders, rescheduling and cancelling, AI booking in plain language — yes. Paying at the time of booking works too, with iDEAL or card through Mollie, and you can charge a per-event-type no-show fee afterwards as a payment request. SMS reminders are still on the roadmap.
Can I bring my Calendly data across?
There is no automatic import, and in practice you rarely need one. You recreate your event types and working hours in Calio in a few minutes and share your new link.
What does Calio cost compared to Calendly?
Calio has a free plan that stays free. Paid plans start at €8 per user per month billed yearly — roughly 20% below Calendly Standard ($10, as of February 2026).
Try Calio for free
Booking link in 2 minutes, calendar connected, data in Europe. No credit card needed.
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