The short answer
When2meet is good at one job: showing when a group of people is free. If that's all you need, it works. When you're finding a time with clients, two more things tend to matter: the poll should end in a clear decision that everyone sees, and a one-to-one session usually doesn't need a poll at all. For a group, use a meeting poll that lets you lock the winning time. For one client, send a booking page.
The rest of this post covers what When2meet does, where it fits, and the two alternatives that suit client sessions.
What When2meet does well
When2meet describes itself plainly: it "helps you find the best time for a group to meet" and is "compact, so that events can be created and accessed quickly." You make an event from its home page in a few steps:
- Choose the dates that might work. You can survey specific dates or days of the week.
- Set the window: no earlier than one time and no later than another.
- Pick the time zone.
- Share the link, and each person marks the times they're free.
When2meet says it doesn't ask for contact or billing information, and its page carries a third-party advertisement. For a quick survey among friends or classmates, that's a fair trade.
Where it gets awkward for client work
Three things come up when the people in the grid are clients rather than colleagues.
Telling everyone the result is up to you. Because When2meet doesn't collect contact details, it can't tell the group which time won. You read the grid, then send the decision separately by email or message. That's an extra step where people miss the final time.
Time zones on recurring days. When2meet's own page says that for days-of-the-week events, it expects all participants to be in a single time zone. A coach with clients in two cities should use specific dates instead, or a tool that converts times for each person.
Ads next to your invitation. When2meet is open about the ads that help cover its costs. For a client-facing link, you may prefer a page with nothing between your client and the answer.
Alternative one: a meeting poll that ends in a decision
A meeting poll works like a grid with an ending. You propose a few times, share one link, people vote, and you lock the winner.
Here's how a meeting poll works in Pick a Time:
- You propose the candidate times and share the poll link.
- Invitees open the link, type their name and tick the times that work. No sign-up.
- Every vote lands in a live table, so you can see which slot is winning at a glance.
- Someone who opens the link again with the same name can change their ticks until you lock the poll.
- When the votes are in, you lock the winning slot and the poll closes with the decision recorded.
There are no ads on the poll. And it sits in the same account as your booking page, so the group kickoff and the one-to-one sessions that follow live in one place. The meeting polls feature page has the details.
Alternative two: a booking page, when there's only one person
A lot of grids get sent for something that isn't a group meeting at all: a discovery call, a first session, a check-in. With one client, a poll is the long way round. You propose times, wait for an answer, then confirm.
A booking page skips the wait. The client sees the times you're free, picks one, and the session goes straight into your calendar. Pick a Time reads your Google Calendar busy times so you're never double-booked, sends reminders a day and an hour before, and the client doesn't need an account. Our guide to setting up a booking page as a coach walks through it.
If the same group meets every week, such as a group coaching cohort or a study group, set it up as a group session with seats on your group bookings page instead of polling every week.
Which tool for which job
| What you're arranging | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A quick time among friends or classmates | When2meet | Fast to make, nothing to set up |
| A one-off meeting with several clients or partners | A meeting poll | Votes, then a locked decision |
| A first call or session with one client | A booking page | They pick a free time, no back-and-forth |
| A weekly group with the same people | A group session with seats | Set once, booked each week |
| Ongoing one-to-one clients | A recurring booking | The same slot every week, without asking again |
The pattern: polls are for finding a time once with several people. Booking pages are for letting people take times you've already said are free.
What to look for in a When2meet alternative
Before you switch, decide which of these your client work actually needs. Each one is a question to ask of any tool you try:
- Does it end in a decision? A grid shows overlap. A poll you can lock, or a booking that confirms, tells everyone the answer.
- Does it check your own calendar? A tool that reads your busy times only offers slots you can really make.
- Does anyone have to sign up? Clients answer faster when they only type their name.
- Does it send reminders? A time agreed two weeks ahead is easy to forget.
- Can you ask a question first? For a first session, one intake question saves the opening ten minutes.
- How does it handle time zones? Check it with someone in another city before you rely on it.
- What else is on the page? Ads, other brands or sign-up prompts sit between your client and the answer.
Here's how Pick a Time's two tools line up against those questions:
| Question | Pick a Time meeting poll | Pick a Time booking page |
|---|---|---|
| Ends in a decision | Yes, you lock the winning slot | Yes, the booking confirms |
| Checks your calendar | You choose the times to propose | Yes, it reads your Google Calendar busy times |
| Sign-up for the other person | None, they type their name | None, no account of any kind |
| Reminders | Send the final time yourself | Email a day and an hour before |
| Questions first | No | Yes, booking questions you write |
If you're also weighing the bigger scheduling tools, our comparison pages go through them one at a time: the Doodle alternative page for group polls, and the free scheduling apps comparison for booking pages, including Calendly, Acuity Scheduling and YouCanBook.me.
How to run a group poll people actually answer
Whatever tool you use, the same habits get the votes in faster:
- Offer three to six times, not a whole week. A short list is quick to answer on a phone.
- Say the time zone in the message, even if the tool shows it. One line saves the person in another city from guessing.
- Give a deadline. "Please vote by Thursday" turns a link people will open later into one they open now.
- Lock it and announce it in one message. Send the final time with the joining details straight after you lock the poll.
- Follow up with the one person who didn't vote, by name, before you lock.
Our post on meeting polls versus email threads covers why a poll beats a reply-all chain once more than three people are involved.
Time zones in a group poll
A group poll goes wrong most often on time zones. A coach in Singapore with clients in Sydney and London can't propose "9am" and expect everyone to read the same thing.
- Use specific dates rather than "every Tuesday" when people are spread out. When2meet's own page says its days-of-the-week mode expects everyone in one time zone.
- Propose times that fall inside reasonable hours for everyone, even if that means fewer options.
- In the final message, give the time in each person's city.
Our guide to the best times to schedule meetings has more on finding the overlap.
Sources
- When2meet, Plan a New Event, read 10 November 2026.
- When2meet, About When2meet, read 10 November 2026.