DEV Community: Kalman Andrasi

How I Built a Calendly Alternative in 4 Weeks (and Why)

Kalman Andrasi — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 13:45:07 +0000

I never intended to build a scheduling tool. The market is crowded, right? You have the giants like Calendly, the open-source heroes like Cal.com, and a dozen others.

But then I tried to set up a simple booking flow for my agency team.

The Problem: The "Team Tax"

I wanted a simple workflow:

Client books a "Discovery Call".
The system checks anyone on my dev team who is free.
The booking goes to them.

In industry terms, this is Round Robin scheduling.
In pricing terms, this is usually "$16/user/month" or requires an "Enterprise" plan.

For a small team of 5, I was looking at $1,000/year just to route phone calls. That felt wrong.

The Solution: TimeFlux

I decided to build TimeFlux with one core philosophy: Collaboration shouldn't be a premium feature.

The Stack

Next.js & React: For a snappy, client-side booking flow.
Firebase: Real-time availability syncing.
Google Calendar API: The source of truth for free/busy times.
AI Integration: (Coming soon) To handle complex queries.

The Hardest Part: Timezones

Everyone warns you about timezones, but you don't realize the pain until you're trying to calculate whether "10 AM Tuesday in Tokyo" overlaps with "8 PM Monday in New York."

Dev Tip: Store everything in UTC. Display everything in Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone. Never trust the client clock.

Launching on Product Hunt

We just went live!
The response has been validating. It turns out, I wasn't the only one tired of the "Team Tax." Agencies, small dev shops, and consultants are switching because they can finally organize their team without a massive monthly bill.

What's Next?

We are building a "Lead Dashboard" right into the tool—so you don't need a separate CRM just to see who booked you.

Check it out here: https://timeflux.dev
I'm hanging out in the comments if you have questions about the tech stack!

TimeFlux vs Calendly: Why We Built a Team-First Scheduler

Kalman Andrasi — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 13:36:31 +0000

By Kalman Andrasi, Founder of TimeFlux

When we looked at the scheduling market, we saw a lot of great tools for individuals. Calendly, Cal.com, and others are fantastic if you're a freelancer or a solo consultant.

But as soon as you add a second person to your team, things get complicated—and expensive.

The "Team Tax" in Scheduling

Most scheduling tools treat teams as an upsell rather than a core feature.

Want to let a client book "any available engineer"? Pay extra.
Want to route sales calls to the right person? Pay extra.
Want to remove the "Powered By" branding so you look professional? Pay extra.

We call this the "Team Tax." It punishes you for growing.

Enter TimeFlux: Built for Teams, Standard.

We built TimeFlux with a different philosophy: Collaboration should be standard.

Here is why engineering teams and agencies are switching to TimeFlux:

1. Round Robin is Standard

If you have a support team, you need to distribute calls evenly. In other tools, this is a premium "Professional" feature. In TimeFlux, it is standard. You can create a "Support" event type that cycles through your available team members automatically.

2. Collective Booking included

Need to book a project kickoff with a Designer AND a Developer? TimeFlux's Collective scheduling finds times when both active hosts are free. Again, no extra "per seat" tax for this basic necessity.

3. Every Booking is a Lead

We do not just put a block on your calendar. TimeFlux treats every booking as a Lead.
Our integrated dashboard shows you:

Who booked (and their email).
Any notes they left.
A history of their bookings with your team.

Why Switch?

If you are a team of 5, you could be paying $80-$100/month just to have basic Round Robin scheduling on other platforms.

With TimeFlux, you get the tools you need to operate as a professional team from Day 1.

Try TimeFlux for Free →