Meetly vs Doodle
Meetly wins for group scheduling, and it is not close on price. Doodle's free tier is one group poll with ads shown to the people you invite, and unlimited polls cost 11 dollars a month. Meetly is free with no cap, no ads, and the thing Doodle never does: calendar import for every participant rather than only the organizer. Doodle is worth paying for only if you also need booking pages and sign-up sheets.
Doodle invented this category and then moved the free line. Its own pricing page now scopes the free plan to one group poll, one booking page and one calendar connection, with ads your participants see. If group scheduling is what you actually need, you are being asked to pay 132 dollars a year for something Meetly gives you uncapped and ad-free.
What does Doodle's free tier include in 2026?
Doodle is a scheduling suite built around group polls, booking pages and sign-up sheets, sold on a per-seat subscription with a limited free tier. As of Doodle's own pricing page, the free plan covers one group poll, one booking page, one 1:1, basic sign-up sheets and one calendar connection. Ads appear on the free tier, and your participants see them, not just you. Removing ads requires Pro.
| Meetly | Doodle | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, all features | Free tier, then paid |
| Paid tiers | None | Pro at 11 dollars per month annually. Team at 9 dollars per user per month annually. Enterprise from 15,000 dollars a year |
| Group polls on the free tier | Unlimited | One |
| Calendar connections on free | Unlimited | One |
| Ads shown to your participants | Never | Yes on free, removed on Pro |
| Account to create a poll | No account needed. An optional account syncs your polls across devices. | Account required for most of the product. |
| Account to respond | No | No |
| Calendar providers | Google, Outlook, Apple iCloud, any .ics link | Google, Outlook, Apple, Office 365 |
| Participants import their own calendar | Yes, and it fills their grid | Organizer-side connection |
| Ranked time suggestions | Yes | No |
| Reminders and deadlines | Yes, free | Pro feature |
| Booking pages | No | Yes |
| Sign-up sheets | No | Yes |
| Video links on finalize | Google Meet, Zoom, Teams | Zoom, Teams, Webex on Pro |
| Custom branding | No | Team tier |
Which one is cheaper for a group that meets regularly?
Meetly is free at every group size, so the comparison is really about what Doodle costs once you exceed one poll. Pro runs 11 dollars a month billed annually, which is 132 dollars a year for one organizer. Team is 9 dollars per user per month annually with a two-seat minimum, so a small committee of coordinators starts around 216 dollars a year.
For a company scheduling client calls all day, that is trivially worth it. For a student club, a book group, a recurring team retro, or a family trying to find a weekend, it is a subscription for something that happens six times a year.
Does Doodle do anything Meetly does not?
Yes, and it is worth being straight about it. Doodle is a suite, not a poll tool. Booking pages let people claim a slot on your published availability, which is a different job from group consensus. Sign-up sheets handle volunteer shifts and parent-teacher slots. Team tiers add an admin console, roles, co-hosting, book-on-behalf and custom branding.
Meetly deliberately does one job. It finds the time a group can meet, then sends the invite. If you need booking pages and shift sign-ups too, Doodle covers all of it under one bill, and consolidating tools has real value.
Use Meetly when
- Group polls are the job, and you want them uncapped and free
- You run more than one poll, which Doodle's free tier does not allow
- Showing ads to your invitees would be embarrassing
- Your group is split across Google, Outlook and Apple
- You want every participant importing calendars, not only the organizer
- You want reminders and non-responder tracking without paying for Pro
Use Doodle when
- You need booking pages and sign-up sheets in the same subscription
- Your organization requires an admin console, roles and custom branding
How do I move an existing Doodle poll to Meetly?
Copy the date range, not the individual slots
Meetly asks for a start date, an end date and a daily time window, then generates the grid. You do not re-enter every option the way you did in Doodle.
Exclude the dates that do not work
If your range has holes, like skipping a holiday weekend, exclude those specific dates rather than running two separate polls.
Paste your invitee list
Add names or emails so the admin view can show you who has not responded yet, then send reminders to only those people.
Share one link
Participants connect a calendar or drag the grid. When you finalize, everyone with an email on file gets an invite with the meeting link attached.
Is Meetly really free with no poll limit?
Yes. No paid tier, no seat count, no cap on polls or participants, and no ads shown to anyone you invite. Doodle's free tier allows one group poll and one calendar connection, and unlimited polls require Pro at 11 dollars per month billed annually.
Will my participants see ads on Meetly?
Never. Meetly shows no advertising to anyone, on any tier, because there is only one tier. Doodle's free plan shows ads to the people you invite, not just to you, and removing them is a Pro feature.
Can everyone import their calendar, or just me?
Everyone. This is the main functional gap. Meetly lets every participant connect Google, Outlook, Apple iCloud or any .ics feed so their real busy time fills the grid. Doodle connects the organizer's calendar, which helps exactly one person in a room of eleven.
Does Meetly send reminders and track who has not replied?
Yes, and both are free. Paste your invitee list when you create the poll and the admin view shows exactly who is outstanding, then reminds only those people. Doodle puts reminders and deadlines behind Pro.
What does Doodle still do better?
Booking pages and sign-up sheets, which Meetly does not have at all. If you need volunteer shifts or a published booking link in the same subscription as your group polls, Doodle covers all three and Meetly deliberately covers one.
Try it on your next group meeting
Create a poll, share one link, and let everyone import their calendar instead of retyping their week.
Create a free pollPricing checked 29 July 2026 against Doodle pricing. Prices move; if something here is out of date it is a mistake, not a position.