The 15 Best Scheduling Poll and Survey Tools for Smarter Meeting Planning in 2024

As a busy professional, how much time do you spend each week trying to schedule meetings and coordinate calendars? If you‘re like most people, probably too much.

In fact, studies show that the average worker spends nearly 5 hours per week just scheduling meetings, with back-and-forth messages accounting for 64% of that time.[^1] That‘s a huge productivity drain that keeps you from more important work.

Fortunately, online scheduling poll and survey tools have emerged as a smarter way to plan meetings and align everyone‘s calendars. By crowdsourcing availability and automating the scheduling process, these tools can dramatically reduce the time and hassle of finding meeting times that work for all.

In this ultimate guide, we‘ll dive deep into the world of scheduling polls and surveys. We‘ll explain exactly how they work and review the 15 best tools on the market in 2024. You‘ll get expert tips for choosing the right tool for your needs and learn best practices for supercharging your meeting scheduling workflows. Let‘s get started!

How Do Scheduling Poll Tools Work?

At their core, scheduling poll tools all work in a similar way. As the meeting organizer, you start by proposing a selection of potential meeting times, usually by selecting slots on a calendar interface. You then create a poll with those times and share a link with your desired attendees, often via email.

The attendees click the link, which takes them to a page where they can indicate their availability for each of the proposed time slots, often just by checking a box. Some tools let you offer yes/no/maybe response options, while others stick to simpler binary choices.

Once everyone has responded, or the poll deadline passes, the meeting organizer can see which time(s) work best for the group and make a final selection. Some tools will automatically create a calendar invite for the winning time slot, while others require the organizer to confirm the meeting manually.

Beyond these basics, many scheduling poll tools now offer a range of powerful features to further streamline the process:

• Calendar Syncing: Two-way integration with popular calendar platforms like Google Calendar and Microsoft 365 lets you view attendee availability in real-time and automatically book meetings based on poll results.

• Time Zone Detection: Scheduling across time zones can be tricky, but top tools can now automatically detect each attendee‘s local time zone to avoid confusion and errors.

• Customization: Many tools now let organizers customize the look and feel of their scheduling pages with personalized branding, colors, and messaging. Some even support custom URLs for a more professional image.

• Integrations: Integration with email, messaging, CRM, and other productivity tools allows for seamless scheduling workflows. Some tools will even automatically send reminder messages to maximize response rates.

• Intelligent Suggestions: More advanced scheduling assistants use AI and machine learning to analyze attendee calendars and preferences to suggest optimal meeting times right from the start.

According to a study by Doodle, simply using a scheduling tool can reduce the typical time needed to plan a meeting by 15-20 minutes.[^2] For teams and professionals with busy calendars, that time savings can add up fast, unlocking hours of extra productivity each week.

The Top 15 Scheduling Poll and Survey Tools for 2024

To help you find the right solution for your needs, we tested and reviewed dozens of the top scheduling tools on the market. Here are our picks for the 15 best scheduling poll and survey tools for 2024:

1. Doodle

Doodle is the granddaddy of online scheduling tools, and it‘s still one of the best for its sheer simplicity and ease of use. You can spin up a new "Doodle" in seconds, with attendees able to respond without even creating an account.

Key Features:

• Unlimited polls with the free plan
• Syncs with Google, Outlook, and iCloud calendars
• Meeting templates for common event types
• Automatic time zone detection
• Meeting reminders and notifications
• Yes/No/If need be response options

Pricing: Free for basic use, with paid plans from $6.95/month

Best For: Doodle is great for anyone who needs a quick and easy way to schedule meetings, both personally and professionally. Its simplicity makes it especially handy for scheduling with people outside your organization.

2. Calendly

While not a traditional poll tool, Calendly has fast become a go-to scheduling solution for busy professionals, especially in sales and client services roles. Instead of suggesting times yourself, you set your availability preferences and let others book time with you through a shareable link.

Key Features:

• Customizable booking pages
• Integrates with all major calendar platforms
• Automatically detects time zones for each attendee
• Personalized booking links
• Booking with approval and team/collaborative scheduling
• Integrates with Salesforce, Stripe, Zapier, and more

Pricing: Free for basic use, with paid plans from $8/user/month

Best For: Calendly is ideal for client-facing roles that need to schedule a high volume of external meetings painlessly. It‘s also useful for coordinating interviews, demos, and other one-on-one appointments.

3. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is best known as a survey and market research platform, but it also offers handy tools for scheduling meetings. You can easily create a poll with proposed meeting times, send it to attendees, and track responses.

Key Features:

• Familiar survey-style interface
• Send polls via email, URL, or embed on a site
• Real-time response tracking
• Automatic email reminders
• Option to cut off responses at a set date/time
• Team collaboration and sharing

Pricing: Scheduling features available on plans starting at $31/month

Best For: Teams already using SurveyMonkey can easily tap into the scheduling features without adding another tool. The polling interface also works well for scheduling training and other internal events.

4. Arrangr

Arrangr offers AI-powered scheduling that can save a ton of time when planning meetings across organizations. The tool connects to attendees‘ calendars to analyze availability and automatically surfaces mutual free times.

Key Features:

• AI-driven scheduling and time suggestions
• Integrates with Office 365 and Google calendars
• Automatically adjusts for time zones
• Smart location suggestions for in-person meetings
• Professional meeting templates
• Slack, JIRA, and CRM integrations

Pricing: Free for small teams, with paid plans from $15/user/month

Best For: Arrangr is outstanding for complex scheduling scenarios involving busy professionals across multiple organizations. The intelligent scheduling features can be a life-saver when planning board meetings, investor pitches, multi-stakeholder project calls, and the like.

5. Lettuce Meet

Lettuce Meet is a newer player that‘s quickly making a name for itself with a modern interface and clever feature set. The tool makes it a snap to create great-looking scheduling pages and efficiently hone in on the best times to meet.

Key Features:

• Drag-and-drop poll creation
• Real-time availability previews from attendee calendars
• Color-coded results matrix to identify best times
• Automatic or manual time zone handling
• Meeting reminders and calendar attachments
• Zapier, Slack, and Microsoft Teams integrations

Pricing: Free for basic use, with paid plans from $12/month

Best For: Lettuce Meet is a solid all-around option for most scheduling needs. It‘s intuitive enough for quick personal scheduling but also offers the power, customization, and integration features teams expect.

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