Switching from Calendly to CoreHue
Calendly does one thing very well: it lets someone pick a time. CoreHue's booking page does that too, and then keeps going, because a photography booking isn't just a slot in a diary. It's a price, a deposit, an agreement and a client record.
If Calendly is the only tool you're replacing, this is the smallest switch in the list. The concepts line up almost one to one.
What things are called
| In Calendly | In CoreHue | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| Event type | Booking service | A service also carries a price, a contract, questions and payment. Its mode is fixed when you create it: inquiry, direct booking or mini session |
| Scheduling link | Booking page | One page at yourname.corehue.co/services listing every published service, plus a direct link to each one |
| Availability schedule | Shared weekly availability | One shared schedule by default. A service can run its own instead |
| Date override | Availability for specific dates | Three options: unavailable all day, unavailable during certain hours, or available during certain hours |
| Buffer before or after | Booking gap | One gap per service, chosen from No gap, 15 min, 30 min, 45 min or 1 hour |
| Minimum scheduling notice | Minimum notice | Same idea. The default is 24 hours |
| Date range, rolling window | Booking window | How far ahead people can book. The default is 365 days |
| Duration | Duration or Slot duration | Chosen from a menu: 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 or 120 minutes for direct booking, and 10 to 60 for mini-session slots. You can also offer longer bookings priced by length |
| Group event | Mini session | Short slots on set dates, with Spots per slot for how many people share one |
| Invitee | Contact | A real record with their whole history, not a line in a calendar invite |
| Invitee questions | The Booking flow tab | Phone, notes and referral source, plus a full questionnaire while they book |
| Routing form | Inquiry service or intake form | Use an inquiry service when you want to screen a request before agreeing a time |
| Collect payment | Deposit or full payment at booking | Payment happens as part of booking, through Stripe, and the time is held until the money clears |
| Workflows, reminder emails | Booking emails and reminders | Fixed schedules: 7, 3 and 1 days before, and the day of the booking |
| Calendar connections | Google Calendar | Google only. There's no Outlook or iCloud connection |
| Meeting location, Zoom | Where sessions happen | In person at an address, or virtual by Google Meet, Zoom, a custom link, or details you add later |
| Team scheduling, round robin | Nothing | CoreHue is one account, one person |
What to bring across
There's nothing to export. Calendly holds your event types and your hours. You'll retype both in an afternoon.
Your event types. Each becomes a service. Write down the name, the duration, the buffer and the price before you start, then create them one at a time. A service isn't live until you Publish it, and Core allows 5 published services.
Your hours. Enter them once under Bookings → Settings → Availability. They apply to every service unless a service is set to run its own schedule.
Your upcoming bookings. Anything already booked through Calendly stays there. Let those run out, and point new traffic at your CoreHue link.
Your contacts. Nothing imports. People create themselves as contacts the first time they book.
Set these up first
- Business name, logo and details in Settings → Business.
- Your default currency in Settings → Profile, if you're taking payment. It's permanent.
- Connect Stripe, so payment at booking works.
- Connect Google Calendar, so your own diary blocks times.
- Your availability.
Your first week
Day 1. Finish setup and the five things above. Take the tour of the app.
Day 2. Recreate your busiest event type as a direct booking service, with its real price and duration.
Day 3. Decide about payment. If you turn on Collect payment, the time is held rather than confirmed until the money arrives, and an unpaid hold expires. Read Unpaid bookings before you switch it on, because that part surprises people.
Day 4. Publish the service, turn on your booking page, and book yourself through it end to end.
Day 5. Swap the link everywhere it appears: your website, your email signature, your social profiles.
Then. Recreate the rest of your event types as you need them, and turn Calendly off once nothing new is landing there.
What you gain, and what you give up
You gain a price on every booking, a deposit taken before the slot is held, a contract signed at the point of booking, a client record that builds itself, and a calendar that also shows the jobs that didn't come through your booking page.
You give up team scheduling, round robin, and anything other than Google Calendar. See What CoreHue doesn't do.