SimplyBook

SimplyBook is the product of Notando Iceland Ltd, a software company founded in 2001 by an entrepreneur named Ingvar Gudmundsson. The company formally launched SimplyBook in 2011 and has overseen the appointment scheduling software’s growth into a popular product.

The SimplyBook app allows businesses to take appointments from their clients without difficulty. It’s a multi-lingual app, available in over a dozen languages, and therefore suitable for a global audience.

SimplyBook enjoys a stellar reputation from its user base as one of the best scheduling apps, but, we decided to check for ourselves if the app really deserves the widespread compliments it gets.

SimplyBook: Plans and pricing

There’s a free version of SimplyBook that anyone can use, albeit with limited features. For example, this version supports a maximum of five users and 50 bookings monthly. Hence, you need a paid plan to unlock the app’s sophisticated features.

You can select from three paid plans; Basic, Standard, and Premium. Basic costs $8.25 per month, Standard costs $25 per month, and Premium costs $50 per month, billed annually. The Basic plan allows a maximum of 100 appointment bookings, Standard allows 500 bookings, and Premium allows 2,000 bookings. 

If you surpass the number of bookings allotted to your plan, you must pay extra fees for more; $14 for 200, $70 for 2,000, $300 for 15,000, or $500 for 30,000. We consider this pricing structure that restricts the number of bookings to be a considerable drawback because many rival apps offer paid plans that let businesses get unlimited appointment bookings.

Likewise, SimplyBook chares separately for SMS credits if you want to send reminders to your clients concerning their appointments. The platform charges $5 for 50 SMS credits, $7 for 100, $35 for 500, $70 for 1,000, or $1,400 for 20,000.

There’s a 14-day free trial period for each plan but no refunds after purchase.

SimplyBook: Features

You can access SimplyBook through the web-based interface or mobile app (iOS or Android). To sign up, you need a unique email address that you can verify. You’ll also need to specify a company name with which the platform will assign a unique subdomain (Name.SimplyBook.me) for your business. You can’t change this name after your registration, so choose wisely.

After providing the required information and signing up, SimplyBook creates a booking page for your company using the unique subdomain. You have extensive control over the looks and settings of this webpage from which clients can book appointments with your business. 

You can change the looks of your firm’s online booking page by selecting from several templates available on the platform. However, there’s not much variety in the design of the templates, which we observed to be a major user complaint.  

The best you can do to differentiate your business is by adding custom touches to the templates. For example, you can use catchy color schemes or add attractive, high-definition images. Similarly, you can collect and display reviews from existing clients to build trust with potential customers.

One good thing about the app is that you can use a custom domain name for the booking page instead of the Simply.Me subdomain. This feature comes at an additional cost but is a clever way to differentiate your business.

You can also collect payments for bookings, thanks to the platform’s integration with various payment gateways, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Square.

Once you finish setting up your booking site, you’re good to go. You can spread the word to your clients, and they can use it to schedule appointments directly. You can also accept bookings directly from your Facebook and Instagram business pages, as SimplyBook has direct integration with these platforms.

SimplyBook: Interface and use

The SimplyBook app has a user-friendly interface. We like that you can access it from both the web and a mobile app. However, there’s no native desktop app, which is a disadvantage compared to the competition.  

SimplyBook: Support

If you encounter challenges with the app, you can access direct customer support through live chat. Otherwise, you can use the official Help Center containing detailed explanations and instructions for every SimplyBook feature or the video tutorials available on the platform’s official YouTube channel.

SimplyBook: The competition

SimplyBook’s main competitors include Setmore, Picktime, and Appointlet. SimplyBook is a good appointment scheduling tool but is a less cost-effective choice than these rivals.

SimplyBook: Final verdict

After testing the ins and outs of SimplyBook, we can confidently say it provides great value by helping businesses easily get appointments from customers. However, the app is not without its faults, which include being costly and having weak (live chat-only) customer support.   

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