Setster

Full Review

Setster is made by Boxador, the same folks who created the online store app Wazala. Having tried out both, it's obvious they're doing something right that Boxador. Setster is meant to make life easier for anyone in the professional services market. It digitizes appointment scheduling, and can be added as a widget to any website. Lawyers, therapists, and stylists, are all mentioned as potential clients on Setster's site, but it can really be used by anyone who relies on appointments.

Setting up Setster takes a bit of time, but it's straightforward (it only takes time because there's so much integration). I first had to enter in some basic info that someone trying to set up an appointment would see (company logo, address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.). Then I added myself as a "provider", which is what Setster terms a person to schedule an appointment with. Next I added the service I wanted clients to schedule. The service can be anything, ranging from consultation to hair cutting appointment (I picked 'lunch').

Easy so far, but then came the good part. Setster lets you manually set availability, which is expected. But it also lets you import from Google calendar, which was incredible. It did take me a few minutes to figure it out (Google calendar has to be public to share), but after I got it to work Setster found all my open time slots in my Google calendar. It then cross referenced those times with what I had said were my business hours, and churned out a complete list of available appointment times. And the best part is, as I update my Google calendar, Setster syncs with it (every 15 minutes) and updates my availability.

The syncing goes both ways too. I set up Setster to export to my Google calendar, and now whenever someone makes an appointment with me, it shows up there too. As someone who lives and breathes by their Google calendar, I can't voice my appreciation enough. The compatibility is gorgeous.

Setster also has its own calendar where you can see your appointments, so if you don't use an external calendar it's a pretty good feature. Also I should note that calendar compatibility is only a part of the paid versions of Setster, along with SMS alerts and a number of other features.

Setster has a few enterprising options, and the pricing plans reflect how scalable the service is. The app supports multiple locations and service providers, so your basic needs will be met. Setster also has two features called Territory Assignment and Location mapping, These are newer add-ons, and the company has high hopes. They're targeted towards companies who are spread across multiple cities or have multiple locations within a geographic area, and allow customers to schedule an appointment nearest to them. It's a pretty neat feature from both the business and customer end. Setster will give businesses the infrastructure to support multiple locations with geographic context, and customers have the convenience of easily finding a location close to them. As of now, location mapping is only available for the Corporate and Enterprise packages (there are plans to expand it to the Business package in the future).

Speaking of pricing, Setster comes in five variations. The free version is pretty limited and doesn't have calendar support. Next up is Personal ($19.95/month), which is still limited to one provider but has many more features (including calendar support). Business ($29.95/month), Corporate (99.95/month), and Enterprise (299.95/month) all steadily increase in the number of providers and locations. All versions offer discounts if bought for a full year.

The Bottom Line

As a business user, Setster is just fun to work with. It makes life easier, is a breeze to set up, and works with your existing calendars - so you don't even have to change what you already use. The only downside to Setster is the price - which can get expensive. If your business is based on clients making appointments with you, it's well worth the cost. But if you're more product based, or just don't have more than 5-10 appointments a month, you'll probably be able to manage without Setster. But again, if appointments are a significant part of your business, start using Setster.

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