Carly is an AI-powered scheduling assistant that works over email and SMS. Unlike traditional booking links or calendar tools, Carly reads messy email threads she is cc'd on, understands context, and sends real invites that keep the conversation natural. You can forward Carly an email, send her a text, or send screenshots and images for her to process and add to your calendar. It's built for busy professionals who want a human-like assistant that just works, handling coordination and calendaring so you don't have to. ChatGPT could never be this useful.

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Feature Comparison

Feature	Carly	Calendly
AI-Powered Scheduling	✅	❌
Human-like Assistant	✅	❌
Click-to-Book (One-Click Scheduling)	✅	❌
SMS Integration	✅	❌
Multiple Calendar Support	✅	✅
Smart Time Zone Detection	✅	✅
Natural Language Understanding	✅	❌
Email Thread Awareness	✅	❌
Handles Incoming Invitations	✅	❌
No Booking Links Required	✅	❌ (booking link focused)
Pricing	$35/month	Free tier + $10-16/user/month
Available 24/7	✅	✅

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Why Carly is the Better Choice

While Calendly is one of the most popular scheduling tools on the market, it relies entirely on booking links - which creates friction for both you and your contacts. Carly takes a fundamentally different approach with AI-powered scheduling that works through natural conversations.

No More Booking Links: Calendly requires you to send links to everyone you want to meet with. This means your contacts have to click through to a separate page, browse available times, and fill out forms. Carly eliminates this entirely by handling scheduling conversations naturally via email and SMS. Even better, Carly now offers click-to-book - your contacts can schedule with just one click, which is even simpler than navigating a booking page.

Security Without Compromise: Booking links expose your availability publicly and train recipients to click unfamiliar URLs - a practice that conflicts with anti-phishing best practices. Carly keeps your schedule private and works directly through trusted communication channels like email and SMS.

True AI Intelligence: Calendly is essentially a sophisticated form builder. Carly is an AI assistant that understands context from email threads, responds to incoming meeting requests on your behalf, and coordinates naturally across time zones. You can forward scheduling requests to Carly and it handles the back-and-forth automatically.

Handles What Booking Links Can’t: When someone sends you a meeting invite or asks “are you free Tuesday?”, Calendly can’t help. Carly can - it processes incoming invitations and responds intelligently based on your actual availability and preferences.

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Conclusion

Calendly works well for simple use cases where you want to share a public booking page. However, for professionals who want scheduling that feels personal, maintains security, and handles the full complexity of calendar coordination - including incoming requests - Carly is the superior choice. With click-to-book, SMS integration, and email thread awareness, Carly delivers everything Calendly can’t: a true AI scheduling assistant.