The Best Alternative to Motion: Carly
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.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Carly | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Powered Scheduling | ✅ | Partial |
| Human-like Assistant | ✅ | ❌ |
| Click-to-Book (One-Click Scheduling) | ✅ | ❌ |
| SMS Integration | ✅ | ❌ |
| Multiple Calendar Support | ✅ | Partial |
| Smart Time Zone Detection | ✅ | ✅ |
| Natural Language Understanding | ✅ | Partial |
| Email Thread Awareness | ✅ | ❌ |
| Handles Incoming Invitations | ✅ | ❌ |
| Pricing | $35/month | $19-34/user/month |
| Setup Time | 2 mins | 30 mins |
| Response Time | 1 min | 20 min |
| Available 24/7 | ✅ | ✅ |
| Task Management | ❌ | ✅ |
Why Carly is the Better Choice
Motion is a comprehensive productivity platform that combines task management with calendar features. While this all-in-one approach appeals to some users, it comes with significant complexity and a steep learning curve. Carly takes a focused approach: be the best AI scheduling assistant possible.
Click-to-Book Simplicity: Carly’s new click-to-book feature lets your contacts schedule meetings with just one click - no booking pages, no availability grids, no forms to fill out. Motion relies on traditional booking links that require multiple steps from your contacts.
True Conversational Scheduling: Carly works like a human assistant, handling scheduling conversations naturally via email and SMS. Motion’s AI is focused on auto-scheduling tasks and optimizing your calendar layout, not on communicating with other people on your behalf. If someone emails you asking to meet, Carly can handle the entire coordination; Motion cannot.
SMS Integration: For quick scheduling requests that come via text message, Motion offers no solution. Carly handles SMS scheduling just as smoothly as email, so you’re never stuck copying availability back and forth manually.
Faster to Start, Faster to Use: Motion requires significant setup time (30+ minutes) to configure projects, tasks, and scheduling preferences. Carly is ready in 2 minutes. And when you need to schedule a meeting, Carly responds in 1 minute compared to Motion’s 20-minute average.
Better Value: Motion charges $19-34 per user per month and requires annual billing. Carly offers straightforward $35/month pricing, making it more cost-effective for individuals and small teams who primarily need scheduling help rather than a full task management system.
Conclusion
Motion excels as a task management and calendar optimization tool for users who want AI to plan their entire workday. However, if your primary need is an AI assistant that handles scheduling conversations with other people - via email, SMS, or click-to-book - Carly delivers a more focused and effective solution. With faster setup, faster responses, and purpose-built scheduling features, Carly is the better choice for professionals who want to eliminate scheduling friction.
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