This list is for solo businesses and small teams that want to start online booking for free without a surprise on the bill later. We read the providers' pricing pages and public feature lists in September 2026 and noted, for every free plan, what is included and where it ends. terminio.ai is on the list, in first place. Weigh that as you read: we name the limits of our own Free plan as plainly as everyone else's, so you can decide for yourself.
What we looked at
Free does not always mean free. Some free plans run indefinitely, others are a trial with an end date. Some cap bookings, others cap staff or reminders. And with a few you pay not in money but with a customer account or a marketplace listing. We measured every provider against five questions.
- Duration: a free plan with no time limit, or a trial of 7 to 30 days?
- Limits: how many bookings, staff members and reminders are free each month?
- Customer account: do your customers book with a name and mobile number, or do they have to register?
- Reminders: email, SMS or WhatsApp, and what does a single message cost?
- The step up: what does the first paid plan cost, and is there commission or a fee per booking?
1. terminio.ai: 50 bookings, WhatsApp included
terminio.ai Free is for solo businesses and small teams with a modest number of appointments a month: the foot-care practice that books two days a week, the coach, the new tattoo studio. You get a booking page with a calendar, unlimited staff and rotas, unlimited services and up to 50 bookings a month. Your customers need no account and no app; they book with a name and a mobile number. Five WhatsApp reminders a month are included, sent from your own number, with no fee per message.
The plan has no time limit and needs no payment details. It ends at the 51st booking of the month and the sixth WhatsApp reminder. Pro then costs €19.99 a month, according to the provider's pricing page, September 2026, with unlimited bookings and reminders, your own branding and no 'Powered by'. No setup fee, no commission, cancel monthly. What is missing: a marketplace that brings you new customers, a till and stock module, and a link to practice-management software. terminio.ai is a young provider focused on Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Pick Free if you stay under 50 appointments a month, already have your customers and want reminders on WhatsApp rather than by email. If you book more, Pro is a fixed price that does not grow with your team. If you need new customers, you will not find them here; that is what the marketplaces further down are for.
2. SimplyBook.me: 50 bookings, one provider
SimplyBook.me is an international booking tool with a long list of extra features you add one by one. The free plan is genuinely free: 50 bookings a month, one provider, a booking page of your own, booking without a customer account, no commission. For one person who likes to assemble their own feature set, it is a solid start with no expiry date.
The free plan ends at the same booking limit as terminio.ai, but already at the second staff member. Basic costs €13.90 a month, cheaper than terminio Pro, and prepayment is available from Basic. WhatsApp reminders run on credits, €8 per 100 messages. Choose SimplyBook.me if you work alone, book internationally and want the cheapest paid plan in euros on this list. Count your messages, though, or the credit price eats the difference.
3. TIMIFY: Classic is free for one resource
TIMIFY is built for businesses and chains with many resources and locations, but it has a lasting free entry point: Classic at €0, one resource, guest booking without a customer account, no commission, a booking page of your own and an app. If you work alone and want an established system that can grow with you later, you are in good hands.
Classic ends at the team: staff come with Premium, €25 a month plus VAT. Prepayment runs through Stripe and PayPal. Reminders go by email and SMS; the pricing page says nothing about WhatsApp. Pick TIMIFY if you start alone today and plan three locations in two years. For a small team on day one, terminio.ai Free is cheaper, because staff are unlimited there even on the free plan.
4. Calendly: one event type, free
Calendly is the tool for meetings: consulting, sales, coaching, first conversations between professionals. The free plan is genuinely free with no time limit: one event type, sync with your Google or Outlook calendar, booking without a customer account, no commission. Anyone who receives a Calendly link knows what to do.
The limit is the single event type. If you offer three services of different lengths, you need Standard at $10 per seat a month; prepayment starts at Standard, teams at the Teams plan. Reminders come by email and SMS; there is no WhatsApp. Pick Calendly if you arrange conversations, not treatments. For a salon or practice with a service menu, staff and customers who do not sit at a desk, it is the wrong tool, however cheap.
5. Microsoft Bookings: free if you have Microsoft 365
Strictly speaking, Microsoft Bookings is not a free plan but a part of Microsoft 365 Business. It is not sold separately and has no price of its own. If you already pay the subscription for Outlook, Teams and Office, Bookings comes with it at no extra cost: a booking page, appointment slots for the whole team, confirmation by email, booking without a customer account, no commission.
The limits are on the customer side: reminders go by email only, SMS exists only in North America, there is no WhatsApp and no prepayment. There is no app of its own; Bookings runs on the web, in Teams and in Outlook. Use it for consultations in a business that already lives in Microsoft 365, such as tax advice, insurance or real estate. Without the subscription it is not an option, and a walk-in business misses reminders and deposits.
6. Magicline: free up to 25 members
Magicline is the special case on this list: software for gyms, with members, contracts, access control and billing in one place. The free plan is genuinely free, up to 25 members, with no commission, a page of your own and team management. For a small studio just opening, that is more than a pure booking tool offers.
The limit is the 26th member; the pricing page lists the other packages on request only. Reminders go by email or SMS, not WhatsApp; prepayment is in the Pro Voice package and an app in Pro and Ultimate. Pick Magicline if you run a gym with membership contracts and a turnstile. For personal training, one-to-one yoga or physio-style sessions it is too much system; a booking page with reminders is enough there.
7. Fresha: subscription plus marketplace, no free plan
Fresha shows up in almost every search for free salon software. According to its pricing page in September 2026, though, there is no free plan: a 7-day trial, then €19.95 a month plus €14.95 per team member. On top comes the marketplace: 20% on a new customer's first booking, at least €6. The model is plain: the salon pays for new customers who arrive through the platform.
In return you get POS, stock, marketing and diary from one system, 100 WhatsApp messages a month free and then a charge per message, and an AI concierge for $99.95 per location. Your customers need a Fresha customer account, and your profile is listed in the marketplace by default, next to the salons down the road. Pick Fresha if you are new and need customers. If you already have them, you pay here for reach you do not need.
8. Booksy: €35 and the Booksy app
Booksy, like Fresha, is a booking app with a marketplace, popular with barbershops above all. There is no free plan here either: a 7-day trial, then €35 a month plus tax and €7 per additional team member. Bookings themselves carry no commission; Boost for extra reach in the marketplace is optional and costs extra.
Booking, prepayment and reminders by SMS and push come from an app many customers already know; the pricing page says nothing about WhatsApp. Your profile lives in the marketplace and the booking link leads there. Pick Booksy if your customers already book in the Booksy app and you want to be found there. You cannot count it as free booking software, and for less than €35 you get WhatsApp reminders elsewhere at no extra charge.
Trial only: Terminland, eTermin, Acuity, Shore
Four providers from our comparison offer no free plan, only a trial. Terminland, a scheduler from Germany, gives you 30 days; after that Easy costs €14.90 a month plus VAT for one schedule, €6.90 for each additional one. eTermin, with servers in Frankfurt, gives you a month; then Lite is €19 or Pro €29 a month plus VAT, €5 per additional calendar.
Acuity Scheduling, the booking tool from Squarespace, gives you seven days and then costs from $16 a month billed yearly, in English only. Shore, salon scheduling software from Munich, gives you 14 days and starts at €49.90 a month billed yearly, with deposits and WhatsApp from the Wachstum plan. A trial is no drawback if you intend to pay anyway. But 'free online booking system' with these four means the first month only.
Verdict: which provider for whom
Genuinely free with no time limit, this list has four plans: terminio.ai Free, SimplyBook.me Free, TIMIFY Classic and Calendly Free, plus Magicline Free for studios. Microsoft Bookings is free only inside a subscription. Fresha and Booksy are not free. Which one fits depends on what you need first: customers, a team or reminders.
- terminio.ai: small businesses with up to 50 appointments a month, team and WhatsApp included
- SimplyBook.me: solo operators who assemble their own features and want a cheap upgrade
- TIMIFY: a solo start with several locations and resources in the plan
- Calendly: meetings with calendar sync, where one event type is enough
- Microsoft Bookings: businesses that already pay for Microsoft 365 and stay in Outlook
- Magicline: gyms with membership contracts, free up to 25 members
- Fresha: new salons that want to win customers through the marketplace
- Booksy: barbershops whose customers already book in the Booksy app
