Should you build your own SavvyCal?
Scheduling links with overlay calendars and nicer booking UX
The core booking-link loop can be cloned, but calendar reliability, time-zone correctness, reminders, and polished link UX make it more than a trivial script.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me a solo booking page to replace SavvyCal: one person, one calendar, a few link
types. Requirements:
- Node + Express + better-sqlite3 on my VPS behind HTTPS; server-rendered pages, Luxon
for timezone math.
- Link types in links.json: slug, title, duration, buffer, allowed hours (e.g. /intro,
30-min slots, 15-min buffer, weekdays 10:00-16:00 my time).
- Availability from Google Calendar free/busy (googleapis, OAuth creds in .env); show
open slots for the next 14 days in the visitor's detected timezone with a timezone
switcher.
- Booking form: name + email + note. On submit, create the event on my calendar with the
guest as attendee so Google sends the invite, and store the booking in SQLite.
- Re-check free/busy at submit time, not just render time, so two guests cannot grab the
same slot.
- Confirmation email to guest and me via Resend or SMTP (creds in .env), including a
cancel link that deletes the event.
- No accounts, no telemetry beyond my own server logs.
- Out of scope: team links, routing, payments, and reminder sequences. One calendar,
mine.
- README: the Google Cloud console OAuth steps (budget an hour, it is the worst part)
and the DNS/HTTPS notes.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Read availability, generate shareable scheduling pages, write booked events, and email confirmations.
What you will need
- calendar OAuth
- hosted backend
- email service
- timezone library
- auth
They pay for a nicer, reliable scheduling experience that avoids friction with guests.
xoverlay-calendar UX
xteam links
xrouting
xpayments
xreminders
xsupport
Prefer something ready-made?
License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does SavvyCal cost?
- Monthly billing
- $10/mo$10/mo · per person
- Per year
- $120/yr$120/yr
- Annual billing
- $99.96/yr17% cheaper than paying monthly
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$52.26/moR$522/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on SavvyCal’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| basic | $10/user≈ $10 | $8.33/user≈ $8.33 | Unlimited calendars, scheduling links, team scheduling, and meeting polls. |
| premium | $17/user≈ $17 | $14.17/user≈ $14.17 | Everything in Basic plus custom domains, delegated access, paid bookings, and branding removal. |
Free tierno free tier
Billing termsmonthly + annual (2 months free); 30-day money-back guarantee
Additional costsPaid bookings require Premium; Stripe or other payment-processing fees still apply.
verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy SavvyCal?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (weekend). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild SavvyCal?
Kinda. The core of SavvyCal is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: overlay-calendar UX, team links. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does SavvyCal cost?
SavvyCal costs about $10/mo (Basic, checked 10/20/2026), which is $99.96 per year.
What do I lose by replacing SavvyCal?
Honestly: overlay-calendar UX; team links; routing; payments; reminders; support. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to SavvyCal?
Yes: YouCanBookMe Free (One booking page, but it keeps forms, payments, confirmations, polls and the calendar-overlay trick.) zcal Free (The booker sees calendar conflicts on the page, and free also buys unlimited links, forms, reminders and polls.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.