[HN Gopher] Open Source Calendly Alternative
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Open Source Calendly Alternative
Author : robertwt7
Score : 84 points
Date : 2022-05-15 11:14 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.meetsy.xyz)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.meetsy.xyz)
| singhrac wrote:
| This is a drive-by comment, but for free/open source software, it
| is really helpful to have a screenshot or two. The unfortunate
| truth is that a lot of open source software has mediocre design,
| and for a Calendly alternative (where I'll share a link with
| prospective work contacts), a good UX is very important.
|
| At risk of being that rsync commenter, I do think paying
| $12/month (as Calendly and Cal charge) for multiple meeting types
| is a bit much. I'm mostly ok with the free tier, though.
| robertwt7 wrote:
| Hi there! You mean a screenshot at the homepage to show how it
| looks as the invitee? Or in the github page?
|
| Would love to update it straightaway
| DreamFlasher wrote:
| Both, and screenshots from all views.
| singhrac wrote:
| I think I would appreciate it in both places! One more piece
| of drive by advice: I would reduce the font-weight of the
| hero text on the front page ("Meetsy takes two
| calendars..."). Unnecessarily bold text is a common pet peeve
| of mine.
|
| Can I ask if you're trying to monetize this service anywhere?
| If not, would you mind making it a bit more clear how to run
| it on the Github page (e.g. with a compose.yml)?
| yewenjie wrote:
| There is already Cal.com (formerly Calendso) [0] which is a more
| matured product. I do personally feel though Calcom's codebase is
| unnecessarily complex and bug-prone.
|
| Nice to see new alternatives in this space. It would have been
| nicer to see a comparison with Calcom and some self-hosting
| guidelines.
|
| [0] https://github.com/calcom/cal.com
| exdsq wrote:
| Imagine I want calendly but work in a security restricted
| environment when we can't allow others to view our calendars.
| Host this on prem and yay :)
| efff wrote:
| Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the
| browser console for more information).
|
| while opening the page.
| robertwt7 wrote:
| Which page gives you this error sorry? I think vercel was
| deploying ytd and it's okay now for me
| m4lvin wrote:
| What if I do not have a google account?
|
| Why is this better than framadate? https://framadate.org/
| leipert wrote:
| framadate looks more like doodle? This is seems to be for
| booking appointments, e.g. small business owners could use it
| so that customers book appointments.
|
| The cool thing, this could likely be extended with other
| calendar systems as it is OSS. I assume the author just
| scratched their own itch first.
| robertwt7 wrote:
| That'll be in the next feature I guess. I think the main idea
| initially was to show people their own events before booking
| available times and before invitee accept the invite too. It's
| a simple feature that I found missing from calendly
|
| However I see the point where people might not have google
| account (or other services)
| jszymborski wrote:
| The fact that you need to login to Google and share Google
| Calendars really underscores the need for an open Calendar
| standard. I know CalDAV exists, but it's always been a huge
| headache.
| robertwt7 wrote:
| Yeah.. the original idea is to show user (both inviter and
| invitee) their events as well when choosing the time. Which is
| not possible in calendly. But I guess that's another drawback!
| ergocoder wrote:
| I have always wondered if a business model like below would make
| money.
|
| For example, I could take this. Host it on heroku. And charge
| cheaper price than calendly.
|
| Not aiming to make millions a year. Maybe 1000 a month is good.
| bredren wrote:
| Sentry changed its licensing because of this.
| ergocoder wrote:
| The difference is that this isn't built by calendly.
| number6 wrote:
| It has to be cheaper than hosting it myself.
|
| "A VPS costs you $5. My service is $2. True you can host it
| with your other applications on the VPS you already own. Set up
| a reverse proxy and update it every now and then - or sign up
| and stop worrying. Go for a walk. Have a beer. Cheers!"
| ergocoder wrote:
| > It has to be cheaper than hosting it myself.
|
| It often is because your time is much more valuable.
| number6 wrote:
| Yes but that's a second thought. First it has to be more
| $-cheaper and then you have to cradle the thought that
| their time is valuable too. But that has to be their idea,
| if it's not, than you are only after their money
| pete_nic wrote:
| Why does this problem warrant an open source alternative? What
| are the downfalls with Calendly being "closed" that this aims to
| solve?
| leipert wrote:
| Free accounts in calendly only allow for one event type. Maybe
| this allows to offer more event types (e.g. different lengths)
| for free.
|
| Furthermore you could self-host, if you don't want to trust
| Calendly. calendars are somewhat problematic privacy wise.
| Especially considering if this gets extended with support for
| other calendar systems than Google.
| heliodor wrote:
| Because people are free to do whatever they want with their
| lives.
|
| Your wording sounds like there should be only one tool for any
| given problem.
| vorpalhex wrote:
| I don't want Calendly mining my event data which is extremely
| sensitive.
|
| From their privacy policy:
|
| > We may disclose information to current or future affiliates
| or subsidiaries for research, marketing, and other purposes
| consistent with this Privacy Notice.
|
| https://calendly.com/privacy
| robertwt7 wrote:
| Hello, I am the dev here!
|
| When you have an open source project, you always know what we
| do with your data, which is very important nowadays. Also apart
| from that we have small feature that aim to improve user
| experience when creating or accepting invite. In this case we
| show their own events in calendar so they have an overview of
| what are they doing during the week.
|
| It's a fun project, also I open sourced the infrastructure part
| so you can self host too.
|
| I think others has add more good points too
| joemazerino wrote:
| Calendly is useful but lacks support for calendars. I'd love to
| see a replacement support subscriptions to feeds so that I'm not
| restricted to Google/Apple calendar services.
| renewiltord wrote:
| Onboarding is raw here. My advice for adoption:
|
| 1. Screenshots of product
|
| 2. Vidcast of set up experience
|
| 3. Vidcast of user experience to book a meeting on my meetsy
|
| 4. Demo instance (book a slot with Fakeman Bogus)
|
| Hooking up Google Account without all this is not going to happen
| because I then have to go and de-authorize you after if I don't
| like it. At that point, I'm not going to do it.
| Brajeshwar wrote:
| I have been a Calendly user for 2+ years and have renewed for
| another year. The thing with the likes of Calendar is that it
| cannot make mistakes on the features that are supposed to work.
| Calendly just works.
|
| I really wanted to like Cal.com (Calendso) and support the
| founders (awesome people). Unfortunately, after trying few times,
| I gave up. There are always some thing or the other that does not
| work as advertised.
|
| We might still get back to Cal.com and host an instance ourselves
| for the team and try it again. However, I'm staying with Calendly
| for quite a while.
|
| Any new calendar app, open source or otherwise, need to meet
| somewhere very stable enough to compete with the existing ones
| that has solved most known problems with scheduling.
| encryptluks2 wrote:
| This is cool, but god do I love Go-based apps that integrate
| things into a single binary.
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