TidyCal for podcasters
Book the guest in one email, not eleven
A setup for a weekly interview show: one recording link, a short pre-interview, and a booking form that collects the guest's bio, links and topics. You show up to record already prepped.
Free plan with no time limit. No card needed.
TidyCal is the best scheduling app for podcasters 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 SavvyCal if you mostly do 1:1 calls and want invitees to overlay their calendar on yours.
The old way vs this way
- Old: email 1 to 6
- "Does Tuesday work?" "What time zone?" "Can we do 2pm your time?" "Sorry, meant 2pm mine."
- Old: email 7 to 11
- Asking for a bio. Asking for a headshot. Asking how to say their name. Two days before recording.
- New: email 1
- "Would love to have you on. Grab a slot here." Done.
- New: the form
- Bio, links, topics and name pronunciation arrive with the booking.
The 4 best scheduling apps for podcasters
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 | SavvyCal | Consultants and sales reps with lots of 1:1 calls | $12/user/mo |
| 4 | Cal.com | Developers who want open source | Free, Teams $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: 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.
04
Best for: developers who want open source
- Price
- Free for one user. Teams is $12 per user a month, billed yearly.
Open source with a generous free plan. Team features are $12 per user a month, billed yearly.
Three booking types for a show
Here is how a weekly interview show might set it up. "The Small Shop Show" is made up.
| Booking type | Length | Price | Type | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest recording | 60 min | Free | Free | The link you send invited guests. 30-minute buffer for setup. |
| Pre-interview | 15 min | Free | Free | Optional. For first-time guests or big names. |
| Sponsor intro call | 30 min | Free | Free | For brands asking about ad slots. |
Example prices. Charge what you charge.
The guest form
Four questions. Every one of them used to be an email.
- Your bio, the way you want it read on air (2-3 sentences) On: Guest recording
- Links to plug (website, product, social) On: Guest recording
- Two or three topics you would love to talk about On: Guest recording
- How do we say your name? On: Guest recording
- Company and product On: Sponsor intro call
- Budget range (Under $500 / $500 to $2,000 / $2,000+) On: Sponsor intro call
The name one sounds small. It is not. Getting a guest's name wrong in the intro is the fastest way to start an episode badly.
Only record two days a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 to 4. Guests find a slot anyway, and you get three days to edit, write and do your actual job.
How a show actually uses it
The host keeps one short email template: "Would love to have you on. Grab any Tuesday or Thursday slot here." The link goes in, the guest books, and the bio, links and topics arrive with the booking.
The producer reads the answers the night before and writes the intro. The name pronunciation note goes at the top of the run sheet.
Sponsors use their own booking type with a budget question, so a "$500 or less" inquiry does not take a 30-minute slot meant for a $5,000 one.
Settings
| Setting | What to set | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 4pm | Batch recordings. Protect the rest of the week. |
| Buffer | 30 minutes after each recording | Mic check before, quick debrief after. |
| Minimum notice | 3 days | Time to read their stuff and prep questions. |
| Booking limit | 2 recordings a week (Lifetime and Pro) | Your editing queue will thank you. |
| Location | Your Riverside, SquadCast or Zoom studio link | Or have TidyCal create a Zoom or Google Meet link (Lifetime and Pro). |
Small things that matter
Automatic time zones
Guests see your slots in their own time zone. Nobody joins an hour early.
Free planGuest invites
The guest can add their co-founder or their assistant to the invite.
Free planDate polls
Recording a panel with four people? Let them vote on a date first.
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 podcasters 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 podcasters ask us
Do guests need a TidyCal account?
No. Guests open your link, pick a time and enter their name and email. There is nothing to sign up for.
Can a guest bring a co-guest?
Yes. Guest invites let the person booking add other people to the calendar invite.
Can I use my own recording studio link?
Yes. Set the location of the booking type to your studio link and every guest gets it in their confirmation. Auto-created Zoom, Google Meet and Teams links are on the Lifetime and Pro plans.
Is it free?
Yes. Guest booking with intake questions, time zone handling and email reminders works on the Free plan.
Can my producer see the bookings too?
Yes. Add their email as a CC on the booking type (Lifetime and Pro) so they get every notification, or share the Google Calendar the bookings land on.
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.