Comparisons

9 Free When2Meet & LettuceMeet Alternatives in 2026 (That Actually Pick the Time for You)

Ryan Sham · 2026-07-03

When2Meet did something great: it made finding a group's free time free, login-free, and dead simple. LettuceMeet made it prettier. But both stop at the same place — they show you a grid, and then you still have to squint at it, work out the best slot, and keep refreshing to see who's replied.

This is a roundup of the free tools that pick up where they leave off. No booking pages, no 'sign up for a demo' — just tools for the one job you actually have: getting a group to land on one time. And at least one of them will do the reading-the-grid-and-chasing-people part for you.

First — are you sure you want an 'alternative', and not a different kind of tool?

Quick gut-check, because this trips up half the 'scheduling tool' lists out there: there are two completely different jobs hiding under the word 'scheduling'.

• Booking — you let other people grab a slot on your calendar. That's Calendly, Cal.com, Acuity. One person picks from your openings.
• Polling — you get a group to find one time everyone can do. That's When2Meet, LettuceMeet… and everything on this list.

If you're organising a team meeting, a study group, or a trip with friends, you want a poll, not a booking page. Half the 'When2Meet alternative' lists online quietly slip Calendly and Acuity in — great tools, wrong job. This list stays in the poll lane on purpose.

What actually makes one of these better than another

They all draw a grid. The differences that matter once you've used a few:

• No login for the people you invite — the moment a tool makes your friends create an account, half of them bail. (This is table stakes, not a bragging point — When2Meet has always been login-free.)
• Actually usable on a phone — most availability grids were built for a desktop mouse; on mobile they get fiddly.
• Does it tell you when people reply — or do you have to keep opening the page to check?
• Does it pick the best time for you — or do you count filled-in cells by hand?

That last one is the quiet gap across the whole category. Almost every tool shows you the heatmap and leaves the deciding to you. Keep it in mind as you go down the list.

The 9 free alternatives, honestly

Grouped by what they're best at, not ranked one-to-nine by force — different groups need different things.

1. CrepeMeet — the one that watches the poll and picks the time for you

CrepeMeet keeps the part everyone likes — free, no login for guests, a heatmap that stacks everyone's availability — and adds the layer the rest of the category skips:

• It picks the best time automatically. It works out the slot that's long enough and works for the most people, and floats it to the top. You don't count cells.
• It emails you when people reply — and it's already ranked the best time for you to confirm. Set the poll, put it down, get on with work. A couple of the others will email you too; the difference is CrepeMeet does the deciding-legwork, not just the pinging. That combination is the real 'set and forget.'
• Guests never log in. Tap the link, drag to mark free time, done. (You can log in with Google or email if you want to keep track of your own polls — optional.)
• Mobile-first, and warm. Not a cold spreadsheet grid; on your phone you just drag.

Best for: anyone who doesn't want to babysit the poll — cross-team meetings, clubs, group projects, anyone organising more than the occasional hangout. Where it stops: built for groups in the same time zone for now (time-zone support is on the way).

Want the side-by-side? CrepeMeet vs When2Meet, feature by feature →

2. Timeful (formerly Schej) — When2Meet with a calendar view

Timeful is a modern take on the heatmap: a clean interface, and you can see your own Google Calendar while you fill in your availability, so you're not tabbing back and forth. It'll also email you as people join.

Best for: groups who live in Google Calendar and want a nicer grid. Where it stops: it still leaves the final 'so which slot wins?' call to you — no automatic best-time ranking.

3. Rallly — clean, open-source date polls

Rallly is free and open-source (self-host it, or use the free hosted tier), with no login to create or vote, and one of the nicest interfaces here. It leans toward 'which day works' polls rather than a fine-grained hour-by-hour heatmap.

Best for: picking a date for an event or dinner where you don't need to nail the exact hour. Where it stops: less suited to tight, same-day time-slot coordination.

4. LettuceMeet — the prettier When2Meet

If you searched 'LettuceMeet alternative', you already know it: a nicer-looking availability grid, decent on mobile, free, no account, with a Google Calendar option. It genuinely improved on the When2Meet look.

Best for: people who like the When2Meet model but want it to look good. Where it stops: it's still a manual read — you eyeball the grid to find the winner, and it won't chase replies for you.

5. Crab.fit — minimal, open-source, no account

Crab.fit is a clean, open-source availability grid that asks for nothing — no account, works on mobile, does one thing tidily.

Best for: a quick, no-friction 'when's everyone free' with zero setup. Where it stops: minimal by design — no notifications, no best-time logic.

6. WhenAvailable — free group availability, no guest sign-up

WhenAvailable is a straightforward free group scheduler; guests don't need to register, and you can run multiple polls.

Best for: simple recurring group coordination on a budget. Where it stops: the interface feels more utilitarian than modern.

7. When2Meet — the original everyone still uses

The one that started it: free, login-free, and the heatmap idea we're all copying. Credit where it's due.

Best for: a fast, throwaway poll when nobody minds the retro look. Where it stops: it's stuck a decade ago — spreadsheet-like on desktop, awkward on mobile, and it never tells you anything: you refresh the page to see who's filled in, and you find the best time by eye.

New to When2Meet? Here's the full walkthrough first. How to use When2Meet: step-by-step →

8. Doodle — the corporate all-rounder

Doodle is the most feature-heavy name here: it can poll for times and do booking pages, with calendar integrations, aimed at workplaces.

Best for: companies that want one paid tool across meetings and bookings. Where it stops: the free experience is heavier and ad-supported, and it nudges you toward the paid plan.

Specifically after a Doodle replacement? The best free Doodle alternatives →

9. WhenIsGood — barebones and fast

WhenIsGood is one of the oldest: a plain grid, no sign-up, no frills. It loads instantly and does the bare minimum.

Best for: the absolute quickest one-off. Where it stops: dated, minimal, and no smarts at all.

Quick comparison

Everything above is free to create a poll with, as of writing. The row that's almost all '—' is the one worth noticing.

Why is it called 'CrepeMeet'?

A Mille Crêpe is dozens of paper-thin layers pressed into one cake. Each person's availability is one layer — and the more people add theirs, the thicker the stack gets, until the best time rises out of the richest layer on its own. That's the whole idea: not endless back-and-forth, just the layers settling into one clear answer.

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