dates, not a heat map

A When2meet alternative

If dragging across a wall of half-hour blocks is not the interaction you wanted, this is the other approach.

Who can when? is an alternative to When2meet that asks people to mark yes, maybe or no against a small set of proposed dates, rather than painting their availability across a continuous grid of time slots. It suits deciding between a handful of candidate dates; a grid tool suits finding an hour inside a single week. Both are free, and neither requires an account.

Free, and nobody needs an account.

Two different questions

A grid tool answers "which hour next week is everyone free?" It is good at that, and it wants a lot of input from every person to do it.

A date poll answers "which of these six evenings can you make?" It asks for far less, which is why more people finish it. If your question is really about picking between a few options rather than mapping a whole week, the grid is doing work you do not need.

What you get instead

  • Three taps per person, not a drag across a canvas.
  • Works properly on a phone, because tapping three buttons always did.
  • Maybe as a real answer, distinct from yes and from no.
  • Answer from the email, if the invitation came by email.
  • A calendar invitation sent to everyone once the date is decided.

When to use the other kind

If you need to find a one-hour window inside a specific week for a group whose availability is patchy and unpredictable, a continuous grid is genuinely the better instrument. This is not a claim that date polls win every time - just that most social and team scheduling is a choice between a few options, and asking it that way gets more answers.

Common questions

Can I propose times as well as dates?
Yes. A date can carry a time, so "Thursday 12th, 19:00" is one option and "Thursday 12th, 20:30" can be another.
Is there a limit on people?
Up to 50 people and 20 dates in one date poll.
Do I need an account?
No, and neither do the people you invite. Signing in with a magic link is optional and only collects your date polls in one place.

Ready when you are

Free, and nobody needs an account.

Coming from something else

How this compares with the other tools people use for the same job.

Related

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