TidyCal

YES

Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.

A booking page bought once rather than rented: availability, calendar connections, paid bookings and a simple page, at a fraction of the usual price.

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is

Build a booking page. The price is already low, so build for control.

STACK
- Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite, Google Calendar API

AVAILABILITY
- A weekly grid per booking type, stored in a named time zone, minus busy time and buffers
- Minimum notice enforced when slots are computed, not in the interface

TIME, THE PART THAT BREAKS
- Every instant in UTC, every rule in a named zone
- Test explicitly across a daylight-saving change in both directions

HOLDING A SLOT
- A five-minute hold while the form is filled in, and a unique constraint on the start time so two people cannot take one slot

AFTER
- Event written to the calendar with the invitee attached
- Confirmation with an .ics using a stable UID, and signed cancel and reschedule links

Include the availability query, the hold and the .ics rules.

What you lose

A one-off price that no build can beat on cost
Calendar connections already written and maintained
Paid bookings through Stripe without configuration

If you would rather not build

A booking page you write, which the prompt covers
TidyCal itself, which is genuinely cheap

The escape hatch

open source · no votes, no paid placement

Cal.com

Open scheduling with calendar connections already built.

calcom/cal.diyfree · open source

Easy!Appointments

A booking system that runs on ordinary shared hosting.

alextselegidis/easyappointmentsfree · open source

Why this verdict

our own opinion · changed only by a person

84/100

Verdict yes at 84 for control rather than cost — a one-off $29 is hard to beat. The daylight-saving tests are the part to actually write.

History

tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten

Interest · last 30 days

Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.

Questions about TidyCal

answered from the record above

Is TidyCal free?

No — the plan we track is $2.50 a month. A one-off lifetime purchase of around $29 rather than a subscription; the figure shown spreads that over a year.

Can you replace TidyCal by building your own?

YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 84 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.

How much does TidyCal cost?

$2.50 a month on Lifetime — $30 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.

What do you lose by replacing TidyCal?

A one-off price that no build can beat on cost; Calendar connections already written and maintained; Paid bookings through Stripe without configuration. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to TidyCal?

Yes: Cal.com, Easy!Appointments. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.

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All 11 in Scheduling

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