Comparison
When2meet vs Doodle: which one should your group use?
When2meet vs Doodle is really a choice between two ways of asking "when are you free?". When2meet has everyone drag over their free times on a grid. Doodle has the organizer propose a few times and everyone votes. Here's a fair head-to-head, built from both tools' own pages, and a third option if neither quite fits.
The short answer
- Pick When2meet when you don't know the options yet, nobody wants an account, and most people answer on a laptop.
- Pick Doodle when you already have a handful of options, or you also need booking pages, sign-up sheets and calendar integrations for work.
The rest of this page explains why, point by point.
Grid vs. poll: the real difference
When2meet is an availability grid. The organizer chooses some dates (or days of the week) and a range of hours. Everyone drags over the cells when they're free, and the grid gets darker where more people overlap. Nobody has to guess the options, so it can find a time nobody would have suggested.
Doodle is a date poll. The organizer adds specific time slots and people vote on each one. It's quick when the list is short and fixed, but it can only find the best of the options someone thought of. More on this in availability poll vs. date poll.
When2meet vs Doodle, head to head
| When2meet | Doodle (free plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Drag over free times on a grid | Vote on proposed time slots |
| Organizer account | None | Required to finish creating a poll |
| Participant account | None | None |
| Ads | Third-party ads help cover costs | Shown to organizers and participants |
| Phones | Works in the browser; many users find the grid fiddly on a small screen | Browser; the mobile app is paused and can't be downloaded from app stores |
| Limits | None stated | 10 time slots per group poll; one group poll per free account; up to 1,000 people can respond |
| Time zones | Organizer picks one time zone when making the event; days-of-the-week events assume everyone shares it | Each participant sees the times in their own time zone |
| Final time | Up to you, outside the tool | Organizer picks the winning slot and clicks "Book it" |
| Weekly templates | Days-of-the-week events without dates | Specific dates |
| Price | Free (donations welcome) | Free plan; Professional from $15/month or $132/year |
When2meet is the better pick if…
- The question is open: "some evening next week" rather than "Thursday or Friday".
- Nobody should sign up for anything, including you.
- You want a weekly pattern ("which weekday evenings work every week?"). Its days-of-the-week events do exactly that.
- Your group is used to it. Students especially often know it already.
Doodle is the better pick if…
- You already have up to ten fixed options, such as dates a venue offered.
- People are spread across time zones and you'd rather not convert anything by hand.
- You want the tool to finish the job: pick the winner, book it and sync it to calendars.
- You also schedule at work and could use booking pages or sign-up sheets. A paid plan removes the ads and adds deadlines and reminders.
A third option: whenfor.us
If your group plans in a chat app and answers on phones, both tools leave a gap. When2meet has the right idea but wasn't made for thumbs, and it stops at the grid. Doodle handles time zones and the final pick, but it wants an organizer account, shows ads and caps a free poll at ten slots.
whenfor.us takes When2meet's grid and builds the rest around a group chat:
- Drag over your free times on a phone, in the browser. No app, no account for anyone, no ads.
- The best time in one sentence, like "Sat 7–9 pm works for 5 of 6 (not Sam)", next to the heatmap.
- Everyone sees their own time zone, automatically.
- No slot cap: every slot in your days and hours, for up to 31 days and 150 people.
- The organizer picks the final time and gets an "It's on!" picture and a ready message to post back in the chat, plus a calendar file.
Whichever you pick
The tool matters less than the method. Give a short window (one or two weeks), ask for answers by a set time, decide once you have enough people rather than everyone, and announce the final time clearly in the place your group actually reads. More in how to get everyone to agree on a time.
Questions people ask
Is When2meet better than Doodle?
For an open question among friends, When2meet's grid usually finds a better time, needs no accounts and has no slot limit. For a short list of fixed options, or when you need booking pages and calendar sync, Doodle is the better fit.
Do you need a Doodle account to make a poll?
Yes, to finish creating one. Doodle's help center says you can start a group poll without an account, but you have to sign up for a free or paid account before it's created. People voting don't need one.
Which one handles time zones better?
Doodle shows each participant the times in their own time zone. When2meet uses one time zone chosen by the organizer. whenfor.us also shows everyone their own local times automatically.
Is there a free alternative with no ads and no account?
Yes. whenfor.us works like When2meet's grid, made for phones, with no ads and no accounts for anyone. It also spells out the best time and lets the organizer pick and share the final time.
