How Calendly makes money?

Excessive emails, scheduling challenges, and suboptimal meeting timing decrease productivity in the workplace. The back-and-forth emails it takes to schedule a meeting are typically a source of frustration. This universal pain point leads to a global market opportunity because meeting scheduling touches many industries, use cases, and business processes.

Calendly, an online scheduling and appointment-booking tool founded by Tope Awotona in 2013, has emerged as a prominent $3 billion company headquartered in Atlanta. It has gained widespread popularity for its effectiveness in both personal and professional scheduling, streamlining the coordination of meetings, appointments, and events. Calendly successfully eliminates the tedious back-and-forth emails and phone calls, providing users with a user-friendly solution for efficient and seamless scheduling.

The global market for appointment scheduling software, valued at $400.6 million in 2022, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.4% from 2023 to 2032, reaching an estimated $1.07 billion by 2032.

Calendly, known for its expertise in efficient meeting scheduling, highlights notable achievements on its website, such as a 45% acceleration in meeting scheduling, a 25% increase in revenue per lead, and a 100% rise in candidate screens. Recognised for its outstanding integration capabilities, mobile support, and user-friendly interface, Calendly effortlessly connects with widely used platforms such as Office 365, Google, Outlook, PayPal, and Stripe.

In 2023, Calendly achieved a revenue of $276.1 million and garnered 10 million customers, demonstrating a remarkable year-over-year growth of 52.15%. Operating under a freemium model as Software as a Service (SaaS) for both B2B and B2C, Calendly generates revenue through subscriptions to its scheduling software. This includes three premium plans alongside a free plan.

Tope Awotona, the founder, adopts an upside-down sales funnel strategy, utilizing the freemium model to attract new customers. The Basic Plan serves as the entry point, drawing users into the funnel. Although it is not a direct revenue stream, it plays a crucial role in the subscription model. Calendly’s revenue streams primarily stem from its Premium, Pro, and Enterprise plans, which are strategically positioned to cater to various customer needs within the CRM framework.

Calendly competes with a diverse range of rivals in the scheduling market, including Google. While both tools provide robust scheduling capabilities and seamless integrations, several factors should be taken into account. For businesses seeking customisable features and seamless integration with other business tools, Calendly might be the preferable option. Offering adaptable booking rules and smooth integration with tools such as Google Workspace and CRM systems, Calendly provides a comprehensive solution for efficiently managing appointments.

In the scheduling industry, Calendly faces competition from key players such as Microsoft, HubSpot, Doodle and OneHash started by our friend Rohit Gadia. As of 2022, Calendly is estimated to hold a 21% market share in this industry.

With the economy struggling, Calendly faces tough competition from big players like Microsoft and Google, who provide scheduling features for almost free. Because it’s not hard for others to enter the market and getting new clients is expensive, Calendly could risk it growing.

In a world where time is of the essence, Calendly stands out as a pioneer, reshaping the way we
approach meetings and appointments. As the global demand for streamlined scheduling solutions continues to rise, Calendly remains at the forefront, ushering in a new era of productivity and efficiency.

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