Scheduling & Booking - Setup Guide

How to set up SimplyBook.me

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• Monthly booking limits are described by reviewers as an artificial pricing lever rather than a real technical constraint, worth setting client expectations that "success" (more bookings) directly triggers a forced upgrade, not just growth (Source: user analysis via WebSearch summary, 2026)
• Premium custom features (the 60+ item marketplace of add-ons like payments, intake forms, coupons) count against a separate per-tier cap, and some individual add-ons carry their own extra cost, the advertised tier price is rarely the final price once a real feature list is assembled (Source: pricing breakdown via WebSearch summary, 2026)
• Final monthly cost commonly includes extra-booking charges, SMS/WhatsApp credits, payment processing fees, and optional custom domain/setup support, get a full itemized estimate before quoting a client rather than the headline tier price
• Because of the a la carte structure, always ask the client for their specific feature wishlist (intake forms? memberships? HIPAA?) before recommending a tier, the "right" tier depends entirely on that list

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your SimplyBook.me account

   Sign up at the link below. Free tier available - no card required. Use your business email so you can invite teammates later.

   Open SimplyBook.me signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If SimplyBook.me pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire SimplyBook.me into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: Google Calendar, Zoom, Stripe, PayPal, WordPress.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how SimplyBook.me deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in SimplyBook.me - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend SimplyBook.me for multi-service businesses (clinics, studios) that need real per-service booking flexibility and are willing to configure an a la carte feature set. Always build the quote around the client's actual needed add-ons rather than quoting the bare tier price, and set expectations that booking-volume growth will trigger tier upgrades faster than the advertised limits suggest. If the client wants one flat, predictable price, Acuity or Setmore are simpler to quote.