The price anchor
| Bookslot | Calendly | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 — no subscription | $10/user/mo |
| Annual | $0 after purchase | $120 |
| 5-year total | $99 | $600 |
| 10-year total | $99 | $1,200 |
Subscription figures from the vendor's published pricing ($10/user/mo, ~$120/yr); the Bookslot column is the full price, paid once.
Break-even analysis
Pays for itself in under 10 months vs Calendly — then your booking link is free for life.
- After 1 year: Bookslot has cost you $99 total — Calendly has cost $120.
- After 3 years: Bookslot is still $99 — the subscription is at $360.
- After 5 years: Bookslot is still $99 — the subscription is at $600.
What you get for $99 once
- Event types. Name, duration, description, color, buffers, minimum notice, max days ahead — each with its own public link.
- Weekly availability editor. Per-day time ranges in your timezone, plus one-off blocked dates and times.
- Timezone-correct slot math. Stored in UTC, computed in your timezone (DST-safe, unit-tested), displayed in the visitor's.
- Double-booking protection. Slot validity re-checked inside a SQLite transaction at booking time.
- Email + ICS invites. Confirmation with calendar attachment to the visitor, notification to you — via your own SMTP.
- No renewal, ever. The license does not expire and there is no per-seat meter — $99 is the whole price.
Pricing questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/booking-page-mvp. $99 buys the packaged installer, 1-click setup, updates and priority support.
Does it sync with Google Calendar?
Not two-way — that's Calendly's strongest feature and we'll say so. Bookslot sends .ics invites your calendar ingests, and you block busy times manually. If you live across 3 synced calendars, Calendly earns its fee.
Do I need a server?
For a public booking page, yes — a $5 VPS with the included Docker setup. Desktop mode works for managing availability and bookings locally.
Is the timezone handling actually correct?
Yes — bookings are stored in UTC, availability is computed DST-safely in your timezone, displayed in the visitor's, and the math is unit-tested including DST gap days.
Bookslot — $99, one time
Or get Bookslot plus every other app in the suite: the OneTimeSuite bundle is currently $97, one time.