Gigpie vs Calendly: Beyond Basic Scheduling

Calendly is excellent at what it does: scheduling meetings. But running a tutoring business requires much more than basic scheduling. Let's explore why many tutoring businesses start with Calendly and eventually need something purpose-built.

The Core Difference

Calendly is a scheduling tool for meetings and appointments.

Gigpie is an operating system for tutoring and coaching businesses.

This fundamental difference shapes everything else.

What You Get with Each

Why Calendly Falls Short for Tutoring

1. No Family Context

With Calendly:

• Each booking is isolated
• No household relationships
• Parents book separately for each child
• No shared package balances
• No family history

With Gigpie:

• Families are the core unit
• Multiple students per household
• Shared package balances
• Complete family history
• Parents see all their students in one place

2. Can't Track Package Hours

Tutoring businesses typically sell packages (e.g., "10-hour package"). Calendly has no concept of this:

Calendly limitations:

• No package hour tracking
• Can't prevent overbooking
• Manual balance management
• No low-balance alerts

Gigpie handles packages:

• Automatic hour deduction
• Real-time balance visibility
• Low-balance notifications
• Prevents overbooking beyond available hours

3. No Coach Management

Calendly treats everyone as individuals:

• No team hierarchy
• Limited assignment logic
• No coach specialties
• No earnings tracking

Gigpie is built for teams:

• Coach profiles with specialties
• Smart matching to students
• Earnings and utilization tracking
• Role-based permissions

4. Payment Collection

Calendly:

• Requires Stripe integration (add-on)
• Collects one-time payments
• No package tracking
• No subscription billing
• Manual invoicing for packages

Gigpie:

• Built-in Stripe integration
• Package purchases
• Subscription billing
• Automatic payment collection
• Balance tracking and enforcement

5. Parent Experience

Calendly shows:

• Available time slots
• Confirmation page
• Calendar invite

Gigpie's parent portal shows:

• All students and upcoming sessions
• Package balances and payment history
• Progress notes from tutors
• Ability to book, reschedule, or cancel
• Transaction history

Pricing Comparison

Calendly Pricing

• Free: 1 event type, basic features
• Standard: $12/seat/month
• Teams: $20/seat/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

For 5 tutors: $60-100/month minimum

Gigpie Pricing

• Starter: 5% platform fee (up to 5 coaches)
• Growth: 2.5% platform fee (unlimited coaches)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

For a business doing $10,000/month: $250-500/month

The Typical Journey

Most tutoring businesses follow this path:

1. Start with Calendly - It's simple and works for 1-2 students
2. Add Stripe or PayPal - For payments
3. Add Google Sheets - To track package hours
4. Add Venmo/Zelle - For quick payments
5. Realize it's broken - Too many tools, too much manual work
6. Switch to Gigpie - All-in-one solution

What Gigpie Adds

Beyond scheduling, Gigpie gives you:

Business Operations

• Package creation and management
• Automatic payment collection
• Coach payroll tracking
• Revenue analytics
• Session completion tracking

Family Experience

• Self-service booking portal
• Real-time balance visibility
• Progress notes from every session
• Payment history and receipts
• One login for entire household

Coach Tools

• Personal dashboard
• Student goals and notes
• Schedule management
• Earnings tracking
• Session completion workflow

When Calendly Makes Sense

Calendly is perfect if you:

• Run a solo tutoring practice
• Charge hourly (not packages)
• Have very simple needs
• Don't need family management
• Are just getting started

When You Need Gigpie

Switch to Gigpie when:

• You have 3+ students
• You sell packages instead of hourly
• You employ other tutors
• Parents ask about package balances
• You spend hours on admin work
• You want to look professional

Making the Switch

Moving from Calendly to Gigpie is simple:

1. Sign up for Gigpie - Free trial, no credit card
2. Create your packages - Mirror your current offerings
3. Import families - Manual or CSV upload
4. Invite tutors - They get their own login
5. Pause Calendly - Cancel when comfortable

Most businesses make the switch in a weekend.

Real-World Example

Sarah's Test Prep Company:

Started with Calendly:

• $20/month for 2 tutor seats
• • Stripe for payments
• • Google Sheets for tracking
• • 10 hours/week on admin

Result: Calendly was cheap but total cost (time + tools) was high

Switched to Gigpie:

• $250/month (2.5% of $10k revenue)
• Everything in one place
• 2 hours/week on admin
• Parents happier with portal

She recovered the cost difference in saved time within the first month.

The Bottom Line

Calendly is scheduling software. Gigpie is business management software.

• Choose Calendly if you just need appointment booking
• Choose Gigpie if you're running a real tutoring business

You can always start with Calendly and migrate to Gigpie when you're ready to scale.

Frequently Asked Questions