The struggle is real: Balancing your work, personal life, and everything in between is a constant energy drain. Juggling so many meetings, appointments, and family activities is pretty much a scheduling nightmare, even if you’re OCD about it.
Now, an AI calendar can take that chaotic mess straight off your hands – and do it with a virtual smile.
And before you go on the internet and start subscribing to the first AI calendar you see, wait! We’ve rounded up the 5 best AI calendars so you don’t have to put in the legwork.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- What is an AI calendar, or an AI scheduling assistant?
- What’s the difference between one of those and one of the AI assistants you’ve heard so much about?
- A list of our top 5
- The free AI calendars out there
Let’s take it from the top!
What's an AI calendar?
An AI calendar or scheduling assistant is software that helps automate and optimize your calendar with Artificial Intelligence.
It takes care of those tedious scheduling tasks, suggests ideal meeting times, and keeps you on track. The best AI scheduling assistants even give you an intelligent layer of automation.
Some of the things it can do are:
- Suggesting available meeting times based on everyone's schedules. This saves you from the annoying back-and-forth of finding a time that works for a group.
- Automatically blocking off time for habits and priorities. For example, scheduling in time for exercise, family, or work projects, which helps you avoid overcommitting yourself.
- Syncing schedules across teams. An AI assistant can look at multiple calendars simultaneously to find meeting times that work for everyone. A huge win, because it reduces confusion and those pesky missed meetings.
- Managing recurring meetings. AI software can automatically schedule weekly or monthly meetings, send out calendar invites, and find alternative times if needed.
- Reducing excess notifications (can you say “yes”?). Some AI scheduling assistants use natural language processing to determine which meeting requests, invitations, and notifications actually require your attention, which cuts down on calendar spam.
What are the differences between an AI assistant and a scheduling calendar?
With so many newfangled AI terms getting tossed around, it’s easy to get confused. Are AI calendars and AI assistants the same thing? Short answer: No.
Longer answer: Read on.
- AI assistants can suggest the best times for meetings based on everyone's availability. They analyze your habits and priorities to find open slots that work. With a typical calendar, you have to coordinate with everyone individually to find a mutually agreeable time.
- Assistants use machine learning to get smarter over time. They study how you schedule and the types of meetings you have to make better recommendations and fill in details automatically, while calendars remain static unless you make manual changes.
- AI software considers factors like travel time, preparation needed, and your personal preferences to suggest the most optimal scheduling options. Basic calendars just stare back at you blankly.
- Assistants can take the initiative with routine scheduling tasks like syncing shared calendars, sending out meeting invites, and rebooking canceled events. You have to handle all of those types of scheduling duties yourself with a standard calendar.
- Some AI assistants offer premium features like smart to-do lists that reorder based on priorities, project roadmapping, and team productivity analytics. Most calendars just focus on event management.
So, what’s the solution? Combining an AI calendar and an AI scheduling assistant is the ideal approach to mastering time management in the modern workplace.
The must-have features in an AI scheduling assistant
An AI scheduling assistant can transform how you manage your time – but only if it has the right features. Otherwise, it’s just probably going to waste your time even more.
Here are some must-haves to keep in mind:
- It will easily integrate with your calendar apps. The assistant should connect directly to tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCalendar so it has full access to your events and availability. You want it to work with, not replace, the calendar you already use.
- It should have natural language processing. The ability to understand and respond to normal speech is very important. You should be able to say things like "Set up a meeting with the team next week" or "Block 2 hours for that project tomorrow afternoon" and have the assistant take care of the details.
- Does it have automated meeting scheduling? One of the biggest time-savers is an assistant that can coordinate schedules, check everyone's availability, and suggest meeting times that work for all attendees. It should find the optimal time for both one-time and recurring meetings.
- Does it track your goals and habits? An AI assistant focused on productivity and time management should help you build better habits and work towards goals. Look for one that lets you define habits and goals, schedules time for them, and sends reminders to keep you on track.
- It works with both you and your team. For any assistant to be really useful, it needs to coordinate with your colleagues' schedules too. Any tool you choose should allow for adding other users and syncing selected calendar details so it has visibility into everyone's availability and events.
- Customization. No two people or teams have the exact same needs, so look for an AI scheduling assistant that lets you customize which features are enabled, set availability preferences, add skills to the assistant, and tweak how it handles different types of requests. The more you can tweak, the better.
The top 5 AI scheduling assistants in 2024
Here are our picks for the best top 5 AI calendars available in 2024:
- Lindy: More than a time guardian, an army of mini-AIs that can automatically find scheduling slots that respect your habits and priorities, learn your preferences over time, and adapt to new tasks.
- Reclaim.ai: Excellent at taking control of meetings, suggesting times, and even handling the back-and-forth for you.
- Motion: A collaboration classic, automating routine tasks and keeping your team's schedules in sync.
- Clara: Outstanding at optimizing meetings across organizations and suggesting adjustments for work-life balance.
- Clockwise: All about maximizing workday efficiency by analyzing your calendar to create a smooth workday flow with buffer times and breaks.
Lindy
Lindy introduces an innovative approach to managing your calendar and schedule by offering miniature AI assistants, each tailored to specific tasks.
Simply communicate your requirements in everyday language, and these AI helpers, or Lindies, collaborate seamlessly.
Imagine having a dedicated Exercise Scheduler Lindy coordinating with a Business Meeting Lindy, efficiently integrating your fitness sessions with your busy call agenda. This synergy between Lindies ensures a smartly organized schedule, balancing your professional commitments and personal well-being easily.
What can it do?
- Deploy an ensemble of Lindies capable of collaborating. They offer endless possibilities, templates, and combinations for task management.
- Calendar management and integration with calendars. Lindy efficiently organizes one-off or recurring events, interpreting natural language to find suitable time slots, suggesting meeting times, and automatically syncing these with your Google or Outlook calendar.
- It provides feedback, reminders, and to-dos. Lindy excels at setting reminders for personal activities such as calling family members or booking appointments, so you're always on top of your commitments.
- A huge amount of template options. Lindy's capabilities range from professional assistance that extends just beyond being an AI calendar, with intertwining capabilities that keep expanding, like tracking your mood, being a life coach, and even helping out with your finances.
- Unobtrusive functionality. Lindy operates efficiently in the background, visible only when you need it to be.
- Proactive learning and action. Beyond understanding your preferences, Lindy autonomously manages routine, low-stakes tasks upon your approval.
Who is it for?
- Suited for busy professionals and teams aiming to drastically boost efficiency and task management.
- Ideal for individuals seeking help in balancing multiple commitments and maintaining an organized – but busy – schedule.
Pricing:
- Try Lindy today with a free first week, and enjoy access for just $29.99 per month afterward.
Reclaim
Reclaim is an AI scheduling assistant specifically developed to help busy professionals automate routine scheduling tasks and effectively reclaim their time.
What can it do?
- Very good integration. Reclaim connects to existing calendar applications like Google Calendar, Office 365, or iCloud, and analyzes your schedule to identify the best times for new meetings and events.
- Excellent meeting scheduling. Simply let Reclaim know about your meeting details, including duration and attendees, and it will suggest a range of suitable times. Choose an option, and Reclaim will add the meeting to all attendees' calendars.
- It nips conflicts in the bud. Reclaim proactively identifies potential scheduling conflicts and provides alerts, allowing for rescheduling before sending out invites. It can also offer alternative times if the initial choice is unsuitable for some attendees.
- It helps you out during busy times. For particularly busy days, Reclaim's “get me out of meetings” feature can automatically move or cancel meetings to free up time, notifying attendees of any changes to minimize disruptions.
Who is it for?
- Reclaim is for individuals and business teams who require efficient management of their scheduling tasks.
Pricing:
- Reclaim offers monthly subscription plans starting at $8/month for both individual users and business teams.
- A 14-day free trial is available, allowing potential users to experience Reclaim's scheduling assistance before committing to a paid plan.
Motion
Motion uses a comprehensive approach to analyze your team’s calendars, tasks, and priorities to help prevent those pesky scheduling conflicts and other office headaches.
What can it do?
Optimized scheduling: Takes into account various factors for scheduling meetings, including:
- Team members’ working hours and time off.
- Pre-existing meetings and commitments.
- Varied time zones of distributed teams.
- The necessary buffer time between meetings.
- Meeting priorities and levels of importance.
.
It keeps learning. Motion gets smarter and smarter with use, learning your team's scheduling preferences and patterns to suggest meeting times, durations, and frequencies.
It makes your team more efficient. Motion's AI system enhances task scheduling in project management. It evaluates timelines, priorities, and team members' workloads to suggest realistic deadlines and auto-assign tasks, adjusting for any blockers or changes in project scope.
It won’t leave you hanging. Monitors project progress and reallocates workloads as necessary, ensuring team efficiency and goal achievement.
Who is it for?
- Primarily designed for business users and teams.
Pricing:
Paid plans begin at $8 per user per month, making it accessible for various team sizes.
Clara
Clara is an AI-powered scheduling assistant designed specifically for the hustle and bustle of teams and executives.
What can it do?
- Auto-scheduling. Clara finds the best times for meetings based on everyone's availability and preferences, nixing the need for back-and-forth emails.
- Resolves conflicts. Clara prevents double bookings by identifying and resolving scheduling conflicts beforehand.
- It makes suggestions. Clara will try adjustments to make your meetings more efficient and balanced, including buffer times and work-life balance improvements.
- It offers cross-team management. Handles scheduling across different departments to facilitate better collaboration.
- Manages priorities. Adjusts and reschedules events based on your set priorities, focusing on the most important tasks.
- Insights and analytics. Provides analysis of your calendar data to offer insights into team workload and productivity, helping out with resource allocation.
Who is it for?
- Teams dealing with multiple projects and tight deadlines.
- Executives and high-performers looking to optimize their time.
- Project managers and team leaders who want to focus more on leading and less on scheduling.
Pricing:
- Starts at $10 per user per month, with various plans available based on team size and specific requirements.
Clockwise
Clockwise is an AI calendar focused on enhancing your workday efficiency.
It aims to reorganize and optimize your schedule to respect your time, energy, and priorities.
What can it do?
- It will help you place meetings strategically. Clockwise reviews your calendar to find the best times for meetings, with a focus on minimizing disruptions and maximizing focus.
- It helps you get time off. It schedules gaps between meetings for mental breaks and task transitions, helping to reduce burnout.
- It saves time! Clockwise prioritizes uninterrupted time for deep work by moving flexible meetings to less busy times.
- It learns adaptively. Clockwise will learn from your work patterns and preferences to better align its scheduling suggestions with your needs.
- It’s flexible. Clockwise quickly adjusts to rescheduling, finding the best times for all involved and maintaining team coordination.
- It helps you slow down. Suggests breaks and downtime to ensure you're not overworking and staying productive.
Who is it for?
- Individuals looking for focused work time and a schedule that matches their energy levels.
- Teams that need better collaboration and reduced scheduling conflicts.
- Organizations looking to improve time management and employee well-being.
Pricing:
- Clockwise offers a free plan for individuals to try out its main features.
- Custom pricing is available for advanced features and team-wide use, tailored to organizational needs.
Are there any free AI scheduling assistants?
Yes, although their capabilities are way more limited.
Doodle offers AI-powered suggestions for finding common meeting times, even across time zones. Although, you can transition it to a more powerful paid version.
OpenAI Whisper is not really a dedicated calendar, but its powerful speech recognition can transcribe recorded meetings and create detailed notes, helping out significantly with post-meeting organization and task management.
Summing up
By now, you should have a rock-solid understanding of the top AI scheduling assistants available in 2024.
We covered the many, many benefits of automating calendar management and reducing manual scheduling.
Now, it’s all about using the power of these AI scheduling assistants to reclaim your time and – finally! – get organized.
