Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plotly VS Cal.com

Compare Plotly VS Cal.com and see what are their differences

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Plotly logo Plotly

Low-Code Data Apps

Cal.com logo Cal.com

Cal.com (formerly Calendso) is the open source Calendly alternative.
  • Plotly Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-31
  • Cal.com Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-08

Plotly features and specs

  • Interactivity
    Plotly offers highly interactive plots that allow users to pan, zoom, and hover over data points for more information. This enhances the user experience and provides deeper insights.
  • High-quality visualizations
    It provides aesthetically pleasing and highly customizable charts, making it suitable for publication-quality visuals.
  • Versatility
    Plotly supports multiple chart types including line charts, scatter plots, bar charts, and 3D plots, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.
  • Python integration
    Plotly is well-integrated with Python and works seamlessly with other popular data science libraries like Pandas, NumPy, and Scikit-learn.
  • Web-based
    The plots can be easily embedded in web applications or dashboards, making it ideal for sharing insights over the internet.
  • Open-source
    Plotly offers an open-source version, which allows users to create and share visualizations without any cost.

Possible disadvantages of Plotly

  • Performance
    Rendering very large datasets can sometimes be slow, which may not be suitable for real-time data visualization requirements.
  • Learning curve
    Even though the library is well-documented, the extensive range of features can have a steep learning curve for beginners.
  • Cost for advanced features
    While the basic functionality is free, more advanced features, such as export to certain formats and additional customizable options, require a paid subscription.
  • Dependency management
    Plotly has a number of dependencies that need to be managed properly, which can sometimes complicate the setup process.
  • Complexity
    For simple visualizations, Plotly might be overkill and simpler libraries like Matplotlib or Seaborn could be more appropriate.

Cal.com features and specs

  • Customizable
    Cal.com allows extensive customization to fit various branding and scheduling needs, which makes it adaptable for different types of users including businesses and individuals.
  • Open-source
    Being an open-source platform, Cal.com provides the flexibility for developers to modify and extend the software as per their specific needs, fostering a collaborative development environment.
  • Integrations
    Cal.com offers a wide range of integrations with other software tools like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and Zoom, enhancing its functionality and making it easier to fit into existing workflows.
  • User-friendly Interface
    Cal.com has an intuitive and clean interface that makes it easy for users of all technical skill levels to set up and manage their scheduling.
  • Privacy-focused
    Cal.com emphasizes data privacy, ensuring user information is handled securely, which is crucial for users who need to comply with regulations like GDPR.

Possible disadvantages of Cal.com

  • Learning Curve
    Although it is highly customizable, the plethora of options and features may result in a steeper learning curve for new users who are not familiar with such scheduling tools.
  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of Cal.com comes with limitations that may not be sufficient for growing businesses or advanced users who require more comprehensive features.
  • Dependency on Integrations
    Cal.com's effectiveness heavily depends on its integrations. Without these integrations, some users might find the tool less useful or incomplete, especially if their primary tools are not supported.
  • Support
    While open-source has many benefits, it may also mean that immediate, personalized support could be limited compared to fully commercial solutions. This might pose a challenge for users needing quick resolutions.
  • Performance
    As an open-source platform, the performance might vary depending on how it is hosted and managed. Suboptimal configurations could lead to slower performance or downtimes.

Analysis of Plotly

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Plotly is a strong choice for those looking to create dynamic and interactive data visualizations, thanks to its range of features and ease of integration with web technologies.

Why this product is good

  • Plotly is considered good because it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for creating interactive visualizations that can be used in web applications, reports, and dashboards. It supports many different types of plots, is easy to use for both beginners and experienced developers, and integrates well with popular programming languages like Python, R, and JavaScript.

Recommended for

    Plotly is recommended for data scientists, analysts, and developers who need to create interactive and visually appealing data visualizations. It's particularly useful for those who work with Python or R and want the ability to embed their visualizations in web applications or dashboards.

Analysis of Cal.com

Overall verdict

  • Cal.com is generally considered a good option for scheduling and calendar management.

Why this product is good

  • Cal.com is praised for its open-source nature, allowing for greater customization and integration flexibility. It offers a user-friendly interface and supports various calendar integrations, making it a versatile tool for individuals and businesses alike.

Recommended for

  • Freelancers who need a simple yet effective scheduling tool.
  • Small businesses looking for a customizable scheduling solution.
  • Developers who appreciate open-source software and need a tool they can modify.
  • Businesses seeking a platform that can integrate with existing tools and workflows.

Plotly videos

Create Real-time Chart with Javascript | Plotly.js Tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - Introducing plotly.py 3.0
  • Review - Is Plotly The Better Matplotlib?
  • Tutorial - Plotly Tutorial 2021
  • Review - Data Visualization as The First and Last Mile of Data Science Plotly Express and Dash | SciPy 2021

Cal.com videos

What can you do with Cal? | Cal.com Version 1.1 Launch | 10 new languages

More videos:

  • Review - Cal.com Version 1.0 Launch Event

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Plotly and Cal.com)
Data Visualization
100 100%
0% 0
Appointments and Scheduling
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Calendar And Scheduling
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Plotly and Cal.com

Plotly Reviews

Best 8 Redash Alternatives in 2023 [In Depth Guide]
Plotly is specifically designed for companies who want to build and deploy analytic applications like dashboards using Python, Julia, or R without needing DevOps or Javascript developers.
Source: www.datapad.io
5 Best Python Libraries For Data Visualization in 2023
Plotly is a web-based data visualization toolkit that comes with unique functionalities such as dendrograms, 3D charts, and also contour plots, which is not very common in other libraries. It has a great API offering scatter plots, line charts, bar charts, error bars, box plots, and other visualizations. Plotly can even be accessed from a Python Notebook.
Top 8 Python Libraries for Data Visualization
Plotly is a free open-source graphing library that can be used to form data visualizations. Plotly (plotly.py) is built on top of the Plotly JavaScript library (plotly.js) and can be used to create web-based data visualizations that can be displayed in Jupyter notebooks or web applications using Dash or saved as individual HTML files. Plotly provides more than 40 unique...
5 top picks for JavaScript chart libraries
Plotly is a graphing library thatโ€™s available for various runtime environments, including the browser. It supports many kinds of charts and graphs that we can configure with a variety of options.

Cal.com Reviews

Acuity Scheduling alternatives for businesses outgrowing it
The honest read: if you're leaving Acuity because your business outgrew simple scheduling โ€” you need deposits, add-ons, multiple staff and locations, and ideally a booking site you own โ€” Opencals is built for exactly that transition, and pay-as-you-go means it costs nothing until you're earning. If you're leaving for a narrower reason, match it precisely: SimplyBook.me for...
Source: opencals.com
I've poked around a while ago at some Calendly alternatives (specifically was lo... | Hacker News
I tried using https://cal.com for a bit but ended up just switching over to https://zcal.co and it has been great so far. All these other scheduling tools end up trying to do too much and always seem to end up a bit clunky and charge absurd amounts for it

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Cal.com should be more popular than Plotly. It has been mentiond 60 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Plotly mentions (34)

  • How to Analyze 47 Million Hacker News Posts: A Data Scientist's Dream Dataset Just Got Better
    Let's dive into some practical examples. First, you'll need to set up your environment with the right tools. I recommend using pandas for data manipulation and plotly for visualization. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Python for Data Visualization: Best Tools and Practices
    Plotly is perfect for interactive visualizations. You can create interactive charts and graphs that allow users to hover, click, and zoom in. Plotly is also great for web-based visuals, making it easy to share your findings online. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Generative AI Powered QnA & Visualization Chatbot
    Front End: A React application that leverages React-Chatbotify library to easily integrate a chatbot GUI. It also uses the Plotly library to display the charts/visualizations. The generative AI implementation and details are entirely abstracted from the front end. The front-end application depends on a single REST endpoint of the backend application. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Build a Stock Dashboard in less than 40 lines of Python code!๐Ÿค“
    In this tutorial, Mariya Sha will guide you through building a stock value dashboard using Taipy, Plotly, and a dataset from Kaggle. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Essential Deep Learning Checklist: Best Practices Unveiled
    How to Accomplish: Utilize visualization libraries like Matplotlib, Seaborn, or Plotly in Python to create histograms, scatter plots, and bar charts. For image data, use tools that visualize images alongside their labels to check for labeling accuracy. For structured data, correlation matrices and pair plots can be highly informative. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
View more

Cal.com mentions (60)

  • "You Wouldnโ€™t Steal a DIV": How I Built My Portfolio
    Then for the component library, I was really into coss ui. I stumbled upon it randomly one day and loved it so much. My Nathan's AI project already had a UI heavily inspired by cal.com: send button, message suggestions... So when I saw they had a shadcn/ui library with that kind of style, it was perfect for what I needed. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • AI Almost Sold Me a Subscription I Didn't Need
    I keep coming back to what would have happened if I didn't have a strong technical understanding of how calendar technology works โ€” the difference between local and cloud calendars, what an ICS feed is, why enterprise auth blocks third-party integrations. If this was many years ago before I gained all this experience, I would have stopped at the first confident answer from my search tool, installed one of those... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Introducing Quackback: Open-Source Feedback Platform with a Built-in MCP Server
    Plausible brought open source to web analytics. Cal.com did it for scheduling. Formbricks did it for surveys. PostHog did it for product analytics. Quackback does it for feedback collection. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • ๐Ÿค Learn Front-End by Doing: Contribute to Cal.com's Open Source...๐Ÿš€
    In this tutorial, we'll be focusing on Cal.com:. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • 5 Side Project Ideas for Developers to Monetize as Micro-SaaS in 2025
    Take Cal.com (https://cal.com/), formerly known as Calendso. It started as an open source alternative to Calendly which offers a free, self-hostable version for users. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Plotly and Cal.com, you can also consider the following products

D3.js - D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS.

Calendly - Say goodbye to phone and email tag for finding the perfect meeting time with Calendly. It's 100% free, super easy to use and you'll love our customer service.

RAWGraphs - RAWGraphs is an open source app built with the goal of making the visualization of complex data...

TidyCal - Optimize your schedule with custom booking pages and calendar integrations

Tableau - Tableau can help anyone see and understand their data. Connect to almost any database, drag and drop to create visualizations, and share with a click.

Acuity Scheduling - Automate your client bookings, cancellations, reminders & payments using the worlds friendliest online scheduling software.