ClearDate vs Doodle

Express preferences, not just votes

Doodle works like a poll: the organizer picks a few candidate times and participants vote yes, no, or if-need-be. It's quick, but it's limited. You only find out about the times the organizer thought to suggest. If the perfect time wasn't on the list, no one ever knows.

ClearDate takes a different approach. Instead of voting on a shortlist, participants paint their availability across the proposed dates and times using four intuitive levels: conflict, maybe, available, and preferred.

With Doodle, you get three signals: yes, no, and if-need-be. With ClearDate, you get four - and the difference matters. A host choosing between a time that's merely available for everyone and a time that's actively preferred by most of the group is going to make a better decision. That nuance doesn't exist in a yes, no, if-need-be poll.

Filling it in is fast, too. You can drag over an area to color multiple slots at once, fill an entire row or column with one click, or fill all remaining slots in one go. Try it out in a demo.

See everyone's availability at a glance

With Doodle, once responses come in, you're looking at a grid of checkmarks and question marks. With many participants and time options, figuring out the best option becomes a manual counting exercise.

ClearDate aggregates all responses into a visual summary that overlays everyone's preferences. The best options stand out immediately - you can see at a glance where the group's availability converges, and which times have the strongest preference. No counting, no squinting at checkmarks.

Hover over any time slot to see exactly who said what. Toggle individual participants on and off to see how availability changes for different subsets of the group. And switch between three comparison modes: floor (the most restrictive response for each slot - great for finding times that work for everyone), average (a blended gradient showing overall group sentiment), and ceiling (the most enthusiastic response - great for finding times people are excited about). Try it in a demo.

A familiar, calendar-like interface

Think of ClearDate as a cross between Google Calendar and Google Sheets - with some special superpowers. The layout is the familiar calendar view you already use every day, but each time slot is editable like a cell in a spreadsheet. If you've used a calendar app, you already know how to use ClearDate.

This makes a real difference when you're filling in your availability. With ClearDate, you can have your calendar open alongside it and naturally scan through your week, coloring in slots as you go. With Doodle, you're looking at a flat list of specific times the organizer picked and mentally translating each one against your calendar - a slower, more error-prone process, especially when there are many options.

No ads, no subscription tax

Doodle's free tier is loaded with display ads and persistent upgrade prompts. This is the experience your guests see when you send them a Doodle link. Removing the ads requires Doodle Pro at $6.95/month, which also unlocks features like deadline reminders and custom branding. If you only schedule events occasionally, paying monthly for a tool you use a few times a year is a tough sell.

ClearDate uses a different model. There are no ads - ever, at any tier. Instead of a subscription, events cost $2 each on a pay-as-you-go basis. Your first 3 events are free. If you do want unlimited usage, that option is available too, but it's never required. Responding to an event is always free for guests.

The result: a clean, distraction-free experience for both you and the people you invite.

A different approach to finding a time

Doodle is a polling tool - the organizer picks specific time slots and participants vote on them. That works when you already know the right times to suggest, but it has a structural limitation: the options are only as good as the organizer's guesses.

Consider a common scenario. You create a Doodle poll with two options: 3-5pm or 5-7pm. Everyone votes "no" on both. What you didn't know is that most of the group could have done 4-6pm, or even 3:30-5:30. But because the poll only asked about the specific windows you chose, that overlap never surfaced. With a larger group or a busy week, the odds of guessing the right slots get even worse.

ClearDate sidesteps this entirely. Instead of voting on a handful of pre-selected options, participants paint their availability across the full range of possible times. The best option emerges from the actual data rather than from the organizer's best guess. If there's a 4-6pm sweet spot that nobody would have thought to suggest, it shows up naturally.

If you've ever sent a Doodle poll, gotten back a sea of "no" votes, and had to start over with new options, you know the problem. ClearDate means you don't have to guess.

Invite by link, respond without an account

You don't always have everyone's email handy, and you're usually already talking to the group somewhere - a text thread, a group chat, a Slack channel. Grab a single ClearDate link and drop it right where that conversation is already happening. You can also pull people from your saved contacts or add email addresses directly, and mix all three in the same event.

Anyone with the link can open it and fill in their availability without creating an account - they just add their name so you know who responded. It's as quick to respond to as a Doodle poll, with none of the ads your guests see on Doodle's free tier.

Already know when someone's free? Fill it in for them

There's always someone who replies "I'm free any day next week except Tuesday" instead of opening the link. With a Doodle poll, that answer lives in your inbox, separate from everyone else's votes, and you're left reconciling the two by hand.

ClearDate lets you enter availability on someone's behalf. Add their name, color in the slots they told you about, and save. Now their availability sits right alongside everyone else's in the same view - no pestering, no piecing it together in two places.

Time zones without the mental math

When you create an event, you pick its timezone from a list that spans the globe. From there, anyone looking at the event can switch between the event's timezone and their own local time.

Nobody has to work out whose 3 p.m. is whose, which means fewer mistakes and fewer "wait, what time is that for me?" replies when your group is spread across time zones.

At a glance

How ClearDate works

1

Create an event

Set the possible dates and times for your event - or just dates if you don't need to narrow down a specific time - and choose the event's timezone. It takes less than a minute. Try creating an event.

2

Share the link or invite by email

Drop a single link into the thread you're already in, or add email addresses and let ClearDate send the invitations. Guests don't need an account to respond.

3

Everyone colors in their availability

Participants mark each time slot with one of four colors to express their availability and preferences. Already know when someone's free? Fill it in for them. Try filling in availability.

4

Compare, propose, and confirm

See the visual summary, propose the date that works best for everyone, and guests can RSVP to confirm. See the comparison view.