TidyCal for consultants
Stop doing free consulting on "quick calls"
A setup for an independent consultant: a 15-minute fit call, a paid 90-minute strategy session, and a monthly retainer. The client pays when they book, and you know what they want before you join the Zoom.
Free plan with no time limit. No card needed.
TidyCal is the best scheduling app for consultants who charge for their time. Clients pay when they book, with packages and subscriptions on the Free plan, and Individual Lifetime is $29 once. Pick Calendly if you run inbound sales on Salesforce or HubSpot, and Acuity Scheduling if you sell gift certificates or run a waitlist.
Put a price on the thing people actually want. If your "free 30-minute consultation" regularly turns into an hour of advice, it is not a consultation. It is the product, and you are giving it away.
The 4 best scheduling apps for consultants
I make TidyCal, so it's listed first. Each tool below says what it does better than us.
| # | Tool | Best for | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TidyCal Best value | Solo pros who charge for their time | $29 once |
| 2 | Calendly | Sales teams on Salesforce or HubSpot | $10/seat/mo |
| 3 | Acuity Scheduling | Appointment businesses with intake forms | $20/mo |
| 4 | SavvyCal | Consultants and sales reps with lots of 1:1 calls | $12/user/mo |
01
Best value
Best for: solo pros who charge for their time
- Price
- Free plan. Individual Lifetime is $29 once. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year.
Free plan with paid bookings, packages and subscriptions. $29 once if you want more.
02
Best for: sales teams on Salesforce or HubSpot
- Price
- $10 per seat a month on Standard, billed yearly ($12 monthly). The free plan is one event type.
Familiar to clients. The free plan is one event type and payments need Standard at $10 per seat a month.
03
Best for: appointment businesses with intake forms
- Price
- No free plan, a 7-day trial. Starter is $20 a month ($16 billed yearly).
Strong intake forms, gift certificates and a waitlist. No free plan, from $20 a month.
04
Best for: consultants and sales reps with lots of 1:1 calls
- Price
- No free plan. Basic is $12 per user a month ($10 billed yearly).
Invitees overlay their calendar on yours. No free plan, and payments need Premium.
The three calls to set up
This is how a solo consultant might run it. Our example, Priya, fixes pricing pages for software companies. Swap in your own numbers.
| Booking type | Length | Price | Type | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fit call | 15 min | Free | Free, needs approval | Is this a real project? Approve it or decline it. |
| Pricing strategy session | 90 min | $400 | Paid | The actual work. Paid in full at booking. |
| Advisory call (retainer clients) | 45 min | Free | Subscription | For clients on a monthly retainer. |
Example prices. Charge what you charge.
Screening questions that save you an hour
The fit call asks three things. The strategy session asks two more.
- Company website On: Fit call
- Monthly revenue (Pre-revenue / Under $10k / $10k to $100k / Over $100k) On: Fit call
- What do you want to fix? On: Fit call
- Link to your current pricing page On: Pricing strategy session
- Anything I should read before we talk? On: Pricing strategy session
On the fit call, manual approval is on. You read the answers, then approve or decline. A "pre-revenue, want to fix everything" request can get a polite no before it costs you 15 minutes.
How a consultant actually uses it
The link goes at the bottom of every LinkedIn post and in the "work with me" button on the website, embedded right on the page.
A founder requests a fit call. Priya sees their revenue band and their pricing page link, approves it, and TidyCal sends the confirmation with a Google Meet link.
On the call she says "the next step is the 90-minute session, here is the link." They book Thursday, pay $400 through Stripe, and paste their pricing page into the form. She reads it Wednesday night. The session starts at minute one, not minute fifteen.
Clients who want ongoing help go on a monthly retainer. Stripe bills them each month and they get two advisory calls to book whenever they want.
Settings
| Setting | What to set | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Manual approval | On for the fit call (Lifetime and Pro) | You decide who gets 15 minutes. |
| Minimum notice | 24 hours for fit calls, 48 for strategy sessions | Time to read what they sent. |
| Buffer | 30 minutes after a strategy session | Write the summary while it is fresh. |
| Video | Automatic Zoom or Google Meet links (Lifetime and Pro) | Each booking gets its own link. |
| Reminders | 24 hours and 1 hour before (default) | On for every plan. |
Also worth knowing
Subscriptions
Run a retainer as a subscription: Stripe bills monthly and the client gets a set number of calls per month.
Free planRound robin and a team page
Working with a partner? Share inbound calls with round robin, or book calls with both of you. Pro has no per-seat fees.
Agency Lifetime and ProEmbed on your website
Put the booking page right on your "work with me" page so nobody leaves your site to book.
Free planWhat TidyCal costs
Free, $0
Most of the setup above. Group classes, approvals, cancellation fees, booking limits and automatic video links need a paid plan. Not a trial.
Individual Lifetime, $29 once
Pay one time through AppSumo. Adds group bookings, custom reminders, automatic Zoom and Google Meet links, and 10 calendars.
Pro, $12/mo or $99/yr
All of it, with no TidyCal branding, unlimited calendars and team scheduling with no seat fees.
Stripe and PayPal charge their usual processing fees on paid bookings. On the Free plan, Stripe bookings also carry a 1% TidyCal platform fee. See payment fee details. Compare every plan.
How we checked
Every competitor price comes from that company's own pricing page, read on September 30, 2026, at the billing period shown next to it. Tools with no published price we could verify carry no dollar figure. The ranking is for consultants who take bookings and charge for some of them. Nobody paid to be on this list. TidyCal's prices come straight from the plans we sell, so they match what you will pay, and the 1% platform fee on Stripe bookings is the live rate.
Questions consultants ask us
How do I charge for a consultation?
Connect Stripe or PayPal, set a price on the booking type, and clients pay when they book. Paid bookings are on every plan, including Free.
Can I screen clients before a call?
Yes. Add intake questions to any booking type. On the Lifetime and Pro plans you can also turn on manual approval, so a request only lands on your calendar after you accept it.
Does TidyCal create Zoom or Google Meet links?
Yes, on the Lifetime and Pro plans. Connect Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams and each booking gets its own link.
Can a partner and I share one booking page?
Yes. Agency Lifetime (up to 4 people) and Pro include a team booking page, round robin and collective bookings. Pro does not charge per seat.
Keep reading
Copy this setup in about 10 minutes
Make the booking types above, paste your questions in, share the link. Free to start.
Create your free booking pageNo credit card. Upgrade only if you need to.