Best free AI scheduling tools: free plans ranked
Short answer: OpenAssistant Starter is a free plan we recommend trying because it is the free plan with a full assistant you can email, text or message in Slack, with 1,000 credits at signup and a daily top-up. Reclaim Lite is the best free calendar optimizer, and Cal.com Free is the best free booking link.
Free plan or free trial?
A lot of “free” scheduling tools are really trials. In this article:
- Free plan means you can use it indefinitely at $0, with limits.
- Free trial means it stops working, or drops to a smaller plan, after some days or some number of meetings.
Only free plans are ranked. Trials are listed separately at the end so you can try paid tools without paying.
One more distinction. The best free tools fall into two groups. Free booking links (Cal.com, Zcal, Calendly) are generous, but most of their AI sits on paid plans. Free AI is rarer: Reclaim’s free plan, Cal.com’s free Cal.ai email app, and a few small free tiers for assistants you cc.
Our ranking of free plans
The order below is an editorial judgment based on what each free plan includes, per the vendor’s own pricing page, considered qualitatively for this use case. Free plans that include an AI assistant rank above plain booking links, and the assistant that documents multiple channels ranks first.
1. OpenAssistant Starter (our product): a free assistant to consider
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What’s free. OpenAssistant’s Starter plan is free with “1,000 free credits at signup,” plus 100 bonus credits a day once those are used up, up to 1,000 a month (OpenAssistant pricing). The pricing page says coordinating a meeting across several people can use “hundreds” of credits, so the free credits go further on simple tasks.
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Where it works. Email, text, Slack or in the app (OpenAssistant pricing FAQ).
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What it does. You cc an assistant with its own email address and phone number. It handles group and multi-time-zone meetings, reschedules and follows up (OpenAssistant scheduling).
Where competitors do better: the free credits are a pool, not a fixed meeting count. Group meetings use hundreds of credits each, so Blockit’s flat 15 meetings a month is easier to plan around, and Reclaim Lite and Cal.com Free cover more calendar features at $0.
Why it’s still our recommendation: it is the only free plan here that gives you a full assistant across email, text and Slack, and the daily top-up means the plan does not run dry after the signup credits.
2. Reclaim Lite: the most AI you can get for $0
- What’s free. Reclaim’s free Lite plan includes Focus Time, Habits, Buffer Time, Smart Meetings and task recommendations (Reclaim pricing). That’s real automated scheduling of your own calendar, not just a link.
- Limits on Lite.
- Scheduling only 1 week ahead (booking links aside).
- 1 scheduling link, 1 calendar sync and 2 connected calendars.
- A limited set of integrations.
- One-user teams only (Reclaim pricing).
- Calendars. Google and Outlook.
Not included: an assistant that emails people for you. Reclaim protects your calendar but doesn’t negotiate with guests.
3. Cal.com Free: the most generous free booking link
- What’s free.
- “Unlimited event types & calendars” for 1 user.
- Email and SMS notifications.
- Stripe and PayPal payments.
- “Two-way Salesforce & HubSpot sync”.
- A mobile app (Cal.com pricing).
- Calendars. Cal.com says it syncs “Google Calendar, Outlook, and more” (Cal.com AI).
- AI.
- Cal.ai phone agents are available on all plans at $0.29 a minute, but free individuals get no included credits (Cal.com AI).
- Separately, the Cal.ai email app is listed as “Free”. You email it from your own address to check your week or book, cancel or reschedule, and its examples include finding a time with someone outside Cal.com (Cal.ai app). The listing does not say how it handles that person’s replies.
Not included: round robin, collective events and routing forms. Those start on Teams at $12 per user per month on annual billing.
4. Blockit Free: a real assistant you cc, free each month
- What’s free. Blockit’s Free plan includes 15 meetings a month with its email and Slack agents, and is described as “free forever” (Blockit pricing).
- How it works. You cc Blockit or add it to a Slack thread, and it handles the back-and-forth. Google or Outlook calendars (Blockit).
The catch: the next step up is Lite at $83 a month on annual billing ($145 monthly) for 40 meetings. Free is great for light use, but upgrading is expensive.
5. Zcal Free: nearly everything, free
- What’s free. Zcal says “99% of zcal’s features are Free Forever.” That includes:
- Unlimited links and calendar accounts.
- Meeting polls, group events and email reminders.
- Stripe payments (Zcal takes a commission on Free; paid plans remove it).
- Google, Outlook and Apple calendars.
- “No ads ever” (Zcal pricing).
Not included: teams, round robin and collective events start on Pro ($7 per user per month on annual billing). There’s also no AI that negotiates for you.
6. Calendly Free: the familiar link
- What’s free. One event type, one calendar connection, one-on-one scheduling, a customizable booking page and the browser extension (Calendly pricing).
- Meeting polls. “Every Calendly plan includes access to the scheduling poll feature” (Calendly meeting polls).
- AI. Calendly’s MCP server, which lets AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT work with your Calendly, can be used on any plan, including Free (Calendly MCP post, Oct 7, 2026).
Not included: Callie, Calendly’s AI email assistant. It needs Standard Plus at $18 per seat per month on annual billing. Also no automated reminders to invitees, and only one event type.
7. Google Calendar booking page: free if you already use Google
- What’s free. A personal Google Account or Workspace Business Starter can create “a single booking page” (Google Calendar help).
- What costs more. Multiple schedules, reminders and multi-calendar checks need Google One Premium, a Google AI plan, or a higher Workspace plan.
- Gemini’s “Help me schedule” in Gmail isn’t free. It needs an eligible paid Workspace or Google AI plan (Google help).
8. Rallly and When2meet: free group polls
These aren’t AI, but for finding a time for a group they cost nothing.
- When2meet. “When2meet is a free service,” supported by ads, and you don’t need to log in (When2meet).
- Rallly.
- The free plan allows “up to 3 open at a time” polls, with unlimited participants; inactive polls are deleted after 30 days.
- Rallly says “The free plan is not a trial” (Rallly pricing).
- It’s open source and can be self-hosted.
9. Skej Free (our product): a free booking link, but the assistant isn’t free
- What’s free. Skej’s Free Forever plan gives you 1 booking link, plus daily agendas and event reminders for you (not reminders to your guests) (Skej pricing). Skej describes its booking links as “AI powered booking links with live chat,” but its pages don’t say whether that chat works on the Free plan.
- What isn’t free. The Free plan has “No usage of Skej assistants” (Skej plans help). The email assistant, which is the main reason to use Skej, is in a 7-day trial that ends after 7 days or 3 booked meetings, whichever comes first.
Where competitors do better: if you want a free assistant you cc, Blockit’s 15 meetings a month beats Skej’s trial. If you want a free link, Cal.com and Zcal give you far more than one.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan limits | AI on the free plan | Calendars |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAssistant Starter (ours) | 1,000 credits at signup, 100 bonus a day up to 1,000 a month | Yes: assistant you cc | Google, Outlook |
| Reclaim Lite | 1-week horizon, 1 link, 1 sync | Yes: focus time, habits, smart meetings | Google, Outlook |
| Cal.com Free | 1 user | Cal.ai email assistant (free app); phone AI is pay per minute | Google, Outlook, more |
| Blockit Free | 15 meetings/month | Yes: assistant you cc | Google, Outlook |
| Zcal Free | No teams or round robin | No | Google, Outlook, Apple |
| Calendly Free | 1 event type, 1 calendar | MCP access only | Google, Outlook, Exchange |
| Google booking page | 1 page | No | |
| Rallly / When2meet | 3 open polls / none | No | n/a |
| Skej Free | 1 booking link, no assistant | Assistant not included | Google, Outlook |
Free trials worth knowing about
These aren’t free plans, but you can try them without paying:
- Reclaim advertises a free 14-day trial of its paid features (Reclaim pricing).
- Calendly has a 14-day trial, then drops to Free (Calendly pricing).
- Clara has a Free plan with 5 meetings, described as “Everything you need to see what Clara can do in 14 days” (Clara pricing).
- Howie starts you with “$25 in free credits” (Howie).
- Skej gives a 7-day Premium trial, capped at 3 booked meetings (Skej plans help).
- Two smaller cc assistants have small free tiers:
- Sarra: 3 meetings a month per seat, and it says it is “not currently SOC 2 certified” (Sarra pricing).
- Ari by JustCC: “10 meetings, total” (JustCC).
Related reading
- The best AI scheduling assistants of 2026, ranked: A ranked roundup; OpenAssistant is first, Reclaim is the best free start, Calendly the best booking link and Howie the pick for texting.
- AI scheduling assistants you cc on email: Ranks the assistants you copy on a thread, including Blockit, Howie and Clara.
- Scheduling links vs AI assistants: When a link is better, when an assistant is better and when to use both.
- The best AI assistant for startup founders: Seven tools compared for founders, with price and a no-sales-call start weighed heavily; Claude costs less once you pay.
- A day-by-day first-week checklist for an AI assistant: A setup plan that takes 20 to 40 minutes a day for a week.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free AI scheduling tool?
For a full assistant, we rank OpenAssistant Starter first: it is free, takes email, text and Slack, and tops up daily after the signup credits. For calendar automation, Reclaim Lite is the best free plan. For booking links, Cal.com Free is the most generous.
Is Calendly free?
Yes. The free plan has one event type, one calendar connection and one-on-one scheduling. Callie, Calendly’s AI email assistant, needs Standard Plus at $18 per seat per month on annual billing.
Is there a free assistant that emails people for me?
Yes. OpenAssistant Starter and Blockit Free both work by cc. Blockit gives 15 meetings a month. OpenAssistant gives a pool of credits. Cal.com’s free Cal.ai email app also handles booking, cancelling and rescheduling.
What is the difference between a free plan and a free trial?
A free plan lasts as long as you want, with limits. A trial ends after some days or meetings. Clara, Howie and Skej offer trials in this article.
Try OpenAssistant free
Want an assistant that handles the back-and-forth for you? Try OpenAssistant and start on the free Starter plan. Compare paid plans on the pricing page.