SimplyBook.me

Pros

Very easy to use, fully compatible with my website, and the mobile app is invaluable.

Cons

It can become expensive when you have to upgrade to get more features. Fortunately, you can just scale up as needed.

Pros

The customer service team deserves special recognition for their dedication and responsiveness. They have gone above and beyond to ensure our questions are answered and that any challenges are resolved swiftly. [sensitive content hidden] have been exceptional throughout our engagement. Each of them has demonstrated professionalism, patience, and a deep understanding of our unique requirements, making our interactions smooth and productive. Their proactive approach and attention to detail set a high standard for customer support.

Cons

One area for improvement would be to offer customizable revenue-sharing options. I'd love to see a way to implement revenue splits between each service provider and my company, which would open even more opportunities for collaboration and growth.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Feature rich to expand use as my needs grow. New to system but does everything I need as a single provider with one to one services and classes. Support so far has been excellent. Combines a lot of services into one that a basic booking service doesn't provide.

Cons

The only reason I would take off a star or move on down the road is that it isn't a complete white label solution. You still have to use their favicon, but it should be an easy feature for them to add in future. There is a learning curve to use site with all of its features.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

It has a wide range of (theoretically) great features. App is handy.
It is not as pricey as many others.

Cons

As a tourguide I was long looking for a booking tool to make my tours easier to book and generate automated invoices. Simplybook.it does that on a simple level, but after several years in use it really frustrates me, that their (paid) features are not really thought-through in the end (and they don't care to change it).

Examples:
Group booking feature makes it possible, that one person can book a tour for e.g. 4 people, which is great. Invoices then are also correctly generated for the price of 4. But if the customer cancels their group booking, it is not possible to do that for the group of 4 people, instead technically the cancellation is 1 out of 4 bookings of this group, and 3 remains. Oddly the invoice remains unchanged for 4 people, and the calender shows 3 bookings inside the group.

That brings up several inconveniences:

1) I have to confirm the customers, if they wanted to cancel the whole booking or if they only wanted to cancel single people in the booking (100% wanted to cancel the whole group and arent even aware they did not). So I have to cancel the remainig 3 manually.

2) If I have to cancel a group, I need to cancel x-times. So the customer receives x-confirmation emails. That just makes me appear bothering and unprofessional.

3) The amounts of the invoices are not affected from any cancellation, so you really need to be careful not to mess up your accounting

Which brings me to the central flaw (bug in my opinion) of simplybook.me:

Cancelled bookings (group or single) still have a generated invoice in the system and are not flagged as cancelled, but pending (and so have no different status than any other open invoice). So to have a correct invoice journal at the end of the year or quarter, you carefully need to filter the invoices to status "paid". Otherwise your accounting is full of wrong revenues due to invoices from cancelled services.

Another bug in the group booking feature is that it is only available on service selection level (eg. tour 1, 2 and 3). If you set the widget to only show tour 1, there is no possibility anymore to book for a group.

If I reach out to their customer service to improve on all this, I get more or less the same answer over the years: it is like it is and I dont get a sense of ambitions to change or update (sometimes they offer me some kind of workarounds with other paid features - haha).

I find this pretty frustrating, because this tool could be so much better than it is right now if they actually listen to their customers. But they refuse.

Pros

All of the features and that the price was affordable.

Cons

The software is not user friendly enough. There is a bit of a learning curve compared to other systems on the market. The YouTube video's are not detailed enough to be helpful. Luckily, I had additional assistance from other's that helped me build the system out so that I could use it.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Extremely simple to use. This is perfect for someone with little knowledge of how to put together a scheduling site. I have had many compliments on my site and feel like I get more bookings because of it.

Cons

Sometimes I find it hard to navigate on the mobile app. Secondly, If I book a client for them on my booking page, not the admin side, if I go to book someone else the last person info is still there and I cant seem to get rid of it without shutting the app or desktop off and then rebooting..

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Love how easy to use it is for me and my clients. It has automated my business so I can focus on teaching classes. Also compared to US-based companies it is sooo affordable and I love all of the custom features that are included especially the progressive web app (mobile app)

Cons

One feature I still need for my business is a waiting list per class right now it only has waiting list per day.
Took a while to set up, but very helpful user guides / customer service when I did get stuck.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

I really love the customizable features and that I can select the ones I need most depending on my plan.

Cons

I don't like that I can't over-book myself as an administrator, I think some of the options that you have to pay extra to use or choose as a feature are a little pedantic and could be included in the overall price, such as add-ons for services.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

I love that my clients can easily book their own times.

Cons

I don't like how sometimes it shows your schedule in reverse as some of my clients have paid for future invoices instead of the current one. Sometimes I have to go off the site and verify payment because it's not always showing accurately on my end on the program

Pros

The Live Customer Support Chat. All the Live Agents are excellent. It is 24 hours a day. And even on the weekends when they need to close down for a day and a half, they still return your emails. They help you set it up. It's worth it.

Cons

There is nothing that I like least about SimplyBook.

Pros

Nice Design, easy to use, fast Server, own homepage

Cons

Too expencive when you need more Features, every Feature costs money, Not perfect for rental Business

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

The interface for setting up was intuitive and quick to master. There were plenty of features to cover most use-cases especially payment options for international operations such as South Africa is supported.

Cons

I did not like that I had to pay for setting up a custom domain (to link one I already own - ostensibly for SSL which doesn't make sense since this could be free or included in subscription fee) and more options are needed for managing late bookings or adding bookings to a waiting list.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Pros

Lots of customization options, overall very flexible, and great system once setup correctly.

Cons

It can be overwhelming trying to figure out which add-ons are most useful as there are so many (not a bad thing though). The system won't allow multi-day bookings either unless enable clients to book past closing time.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Ease of entire set-up, classes, days/times, restrictions
Ability to change and edit system entries
Online system support has been so very helpful whenever needed

Cons

No live body to speak to, everything is done via text or email only.
It still works, just not as convenient for an old man like me...

Pros

I was spending so much time scheduling and re-scheduling my students. With SimplyBook.me, they do all of that at their leisure.
It's more than worth the $30 monthly fee I pay.
I've had great experiences with their online help chat and in person phone calls.

Cons

Sometimes it's difficult to find where things are on the website. When that happens, I have to call/chat with their support team. Sometimes the admin website doesn't feel as intuitive as it could.

Pros

It eas very easy to start and you can use their free version indefinitely by renewing monthly. Free version gave me all the basics and more to use for my salon, so grrat for my budget

Cons

Nothing really. I am a happy customer that will be using it forever. Easy, simple grrat product

Pros

We enjoyed the wide variety of options and configurations it allows. You can set different services and different employees for your clients with ease. For us, using it as a booking system is our top priority, and it does this well.

Cons

Limited features unless you unlock them. It would be nice if they allowed more features by default.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

Online scheduling and ease of use
Easy to navigate to edit and make changes

Cons

Can’t adjust times from app is the big one for me

Pros

I like that it has its own app. A lot of booking website rely just on its website and connected calendars but SimplyBook gives app on paid plans so its easier to use it. I can also add time that I need to be ready for the next meeting; for example, I can make sure that no two people can book a meeting just next to each other. We can also run marketing campaigns directly from the website. There is also a free plan to test the service and decide if we want to go for the paid plan.

Cons

The custom features are limited. For instance, if I am on the $9 per month plan - I can only use 3 custom features. I wish they allowed many custom features to be used on all paid plans like other software.

Pros

It's simple to use and to set up new service providers.
Whenever there are questions the online chat facility always deals with issues quickly and efficiently.

Cons

That there are limits on the number of service providers that are allowed.

Pros

I enjoyed the easy set up for my cleaning services. I can book my clients directly, and it sends them notices of the dates of my cleaning. It’s an excellent tool and value for the money.

Cons

I wish you could get more custom features for the regular plan.

Pros

Good price for a lot of possibilities and super support

Cons

Between different packages to much price levels.

Pros

It's easy to use and manage. Their support team has always been very responsive and helpful every time I've reached out (which has been quite a few times!). Overall, it does the job in a great way and I'm satisfied with the product.

Cons

Although it is user friendly, all of the options on the screen can feel overwhelming. There's a lot of words, images, videos, notifications, etc. that you have to sort through to find what you're looking for.

Pros

Ease of bookings when everything is set up

Cons

Price is always a factor. A good system but the price has me looking elsewhere when it comes t renewal

Pros

The price,it’s cheaper then most for a someone starting up

Cons

Limited features with each plan, making it a bit more difficult.

Pros

I like the customization of scheduling for the service providers, and real-time adjustments. if for any reason a provider is not available, you can take them off the schedule promptly and then add upon their return.
I like the option to create different locations.

Cons

Setting up locations with multiple service providers is non exisant. if you want a service provider in multiple locaions you have to create a separate profle for the service provider.

you cannot change have categories first then location. this would be a great feature.

More effective if you have one service provider per location. not for multiple use

the market place cannot be in alphabetical order. I love the marketplace feature but wish I could have edit it to my liking. I like how the services are first and then the service provider.

you have to join a group to submit an upgrade request and if it gets multiple votes it gets implemented.

Pros

The customization aspect of everything. Although setup can be confusing, once you get past that, being able to customize it is very beneficial.

Cons

Customer Service. We were in need of specific help regarding the email platform before we switched to google and they were not very helpful. Plus, it's only through chat unless you pay for help which as a loyal client, I believe should be complimentary when needed.

I still feel like there are even great opportunities for a better end-user experience and have made some suggestions without further movement.

Pros

I like that I can use it as a reservation software for my unique business needs as a brewery. I like that you can build your own package with the features. I wish other companies did that more often.

Cons

I wish that there was more features tailored to reservations and private events. I also wish that the items we sell through the payment system could be labeled with categories that transfer to our POS system. There's a bit of a learning curve if you're using the software but it's worth the effort.

Pros

It was very easy to set up an embed on our website to allow our customers to book auto detailing appointments with SimplyBook.me, and manage and cancel their appointments themselves. It's far better than customers having to call in and speak to our manager to manually find and schedule times and write down that information, then having to contact the manager again if they need to make changes, reschedule, etc.

Cons

It's not as easy as it should be to set up a customized schedule, such as only allowing a certain number of specific services during specific time periods each day (for example, 3 full details OR 2 full details and 2 express services OR 1 full detail and 5 express services).

Pros

It send real time updates when customers schedule with us.

Cons

It is not easy to update times across all classes. There are too many areas that also have to be updated and it becomes frustrating to use and takes time to figure it out.

Pros

Their customer service is fast and polite. Their app is easy and simple to use. Their widget is easy to implement to a website. I can cancel, reschedule and book appointments fast and easily through the app. Its affordable. It syncs to my calendar. Its highly
Customizable without being overwhelming and theyre constantly improving the app.

Cons

Clients like the website version better than the mobile version. I dont like that the mobile version is annoying about logging you out so easily.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

SimplyBook was the only system we could find that allowed us to overlap bookings by a specific time.

Cons

I don't like how complicated it is to make changes. This system was clearly designed for another industry, so we've had to make it work, and it isn't always intuitive as a user how to go about making specific changes.

Pros

I like how the pricing is! It’s definitely better than any other app I’ve used.

Cons

Only thing I don’t like is that you have to go thru another app to send text messages but the app will send emails.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Very similar to more expensive scheduling software. I have used Mindbody & Mariana Tek in the past for scheduling, payroll & POS. Although I was satisfied with both the other companies, the subscription prices for the software was too high.

Cons

I would prefer to have a live representative to help with the set up and other questions that could arise. The Chat feature is helpful. However, talking on the phone or video call is preferred. I have since used You Tube for help with any questions I may have.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing SimplyBook.me

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Looked professional and I could do it myself. (But it took a lot of time!)

Cons

My calendar is in :05 increments. I would gladly delete all of our future appointments in order to change this to a :15 calendar. And then manually put them all back in. The amount of scrolling it takes people is confusing to them.

Pros

I love the free website and online scheduling.

Cons

It glitches and needs to bre refreshed frequently. No option to put notes on a client. Only on appointment. I would like to put a pets name on file as well as their owner. Notes for the client would suffice. I haven't been able to figure out how to add text reminders.
I wish there were more useful options for enabling more add ons for the 300. I upgraded to 300 just to allow one more add on. It paid for itself with that but I would like to add more and cannot justify paying more.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

The ease of use once it is setup is nonexistent. Which it should be. We spend a lot of time fine tuning and it runs like a gem!

Cons

I hate setup of anything especially systems such as this. They made it wasy and very accessible.

Pros

Customizable Features
What sets SimplyBook.me apart is the level of customization available. From tailored booking forms to personalized notifications and reminders, I could tweak every aspect of the booking process to suit my needs. The integrations with other tools like Google Calendar, Zoom, and payment gateways were seamless, making my workflow smooth and efficient.

Cons

Mobile App Could Use Slight Enhancements
The SimplyBook.me mobile app is quite handy for managing bookings on the go, but it doesn’t yet fully match the rich experience of the desktop version. The app works well, but with a few tweaks and added features, it could become just as powerful as the main platform, providing even greater flexibility to users.

Pros

The Booking site is very difficult to navigate. My clients shouldn’t have to pay for the add ons if they are paying for the deposit. I’ve had a very hard time with using all of the custom features to market my business. The text option doesn’t work to send out notifications to clients. I was told you had to have an android to create an app when most people have iPhones. Sending out notifications to my clients needs to fixed soon.

Cons

The extra amount my clients have to pay when they’re paying a deposit and selecting and add-on.

Pros

I like the ease of scheduling for my clients and I can customize how I would like

Cons

Took me a little bit to get it set on opening hours and available hours. I'm available all day, but only take appt at specific times.

Pros

Having all appointment-related needs in one place. At the same time, being able to communicate with customers and carry out marketing activities.

Cons

Sometimes customers have trouble finding the correct option when booking an appointment. But it's still not a major issue.

Pros

The level of assistance.
Professional trainer
Creative solutions
Very helpful

Cons

The "slide" view calendar is hard to read
Set up times for services with the slide bar is challenging

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

Allows bookings for several workers and dates.

Cons

The calendar system sometimes confuses customers about what month they are booking.

Pros

Easy to set up & use. Good price. Ability to create classes.

Cons

That so many features require a higher priced plan. Would like to see more of the add-ons included in the beginning plans. Also would like to see form creation and ability to send. And a way to create more detailed notes and client management.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

I love how easy it is to get started setting up and using this platform for my clients.

Cons

It could use a few more functions but for the price it's hard to beat.

Pros

Thatvthe business is showing improvements. Pricing is ressonable

Cons

I need more options to accept payments such as paypayl venomo etc. Things commonly used in the USA

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to SimplyBook.me

Pros

I love how easy it is to use and book. Clients love that in their appointment reminders there is the ability to reschedule, so they don't have to call me!

Cons

The automatic renewal takes a couple days to hit the account, and in those days features are turned off so clients don't get their reminders

Pros

Best scheduling software for a recording studio out there. I've tested over 40 other booking software's and Simpybook is by far the best for a mult-location, multi-calendar, multi-staff, multi-user, etc option.

Cons

Calendar view could be easier to read & sort.

Pros

It’s pretty accurate and I am able to book clients worldwide

Cons

There are a lot of features and to change address i have to cancel my subscription and redo

Pros

I think the product is good and easy to navigate. It's flexible.

Cons

Two BIG issues. The first, if you start on the free plan and then upgrade to a paid plan, you CANNOT go back. You have to create an entirely new account from scratch with a different email address. You can pay to have your info ported over to the new account. This is in the fine print of the terms and conditions, no where else. Shady.

The second thing, occasionally custom features move to be paid-only, forcing an upgrade.