World Clock Meeting Planner: Free Tools Compared

I've tested every major meeting planner tool while coordinating teams across San Francisco, Berlin, and Sydney. Here's what actually works.

Finding a time that doesn't screw over half your team is harder than it sounds. You've got daylight saving time changing at different dates, someone in Australia always getting the midnight slot, and Google Calendar telling you "9 AM" without specifying whose 9 AM.

After years of this, I know which tools solve real problems and which just add more clicks to your day.

Why This Matters (Beyond the Obvious)

Sure, missed meetings waste time. But here's what really happens when you don't have good timezone tools:

Time zone mistakes are expensive. Research from Buffer shows that 23% of remote workers have missed meetings due to timezone confusion. The average person burns 30 minutes per week just trying to figure out when to schedule calls. That's 25+ hours per year per person.

Then there's daylight saving time, which moves at different dates worldwide. The US switches in March and November, Europe in late March and October, Australia in April and October. For about eight weeks per year, your usual time difference is wrong. Try doing that math manually while juggling four timezones.

And as teams scale globally? What worked for US-UK stops working when you add India, Japan, or Brazil. You need tools that grow with your team distribution.

What I Tested

I spent the last month actually using these tools daily:

Whenest — visual overlap finder

World Time Buddy — quick conversions

Calendly — external booking

Doodle — group polls

Google Calendar — the default

Every Time Zone — minimalist reference

Here's what I found.

Whenest

Site: whenest.com

I'll be upfront: I tested this because it claimed to solve exactly the problems I was having. And yeah, it does.

What it does:

The overlap finder shows you when multiple timezones actually have business hours at the same time. Sounds simple. Game changer.

Say you've got people in London, Austin, and Tokyo. Instead of manually checking "if it's 9 AM here, that's... wait let me recalculate," you see a visual heatmap of when everyone's awake and working.

Other features: availability heatmap for team-wide patterns, time zone converter for quick checks, recurring meetings planner that handles DST automatically, and the meeting planner for specific scenarios.

Best part? No signup. You just use it. No account, no email, no data collection.

What works:

The visual interface. I can see overlap in seconds instead of doing mental math. DST transitions happen automatically—you don't suddenly discover your weekly call shifted an hour. Mobile works without downloading an app.

What doesn't:

No calendar integration. By design—privacy focus—but means you can't pull in availability from your actual calendar. No booking system, so you still confirm meetings separately.

Good for: Internal teams that need to find meeting windows fast without calendar complexity. Perfect for recurring team calls where you need sustainable times.

World Time Buddy

Site: worldtimebuddy.com

The classic. I've used this for years.

What it does:

Compare up to four locations side-by-side with a drag-and-drop time slider. Visual, intuitive, fast. Mobile apps exist.

What works:

That slider. Drag it around, instantly see what time it is everywhere. After years of development, it just works reliably. Shareable links for meeting times.

What doesn't:

Free version caps at four locations. If you're coordinating five timezones, you're paying. Ads clutter the interface. Doesn't show team availability—just converts times.

Costs: Free for four zones, $2.99/month for premium

Good for: Personal use. If you're constantly checking "what time is it in London right now?" this nails it.

Calendly

Site: calendly.com

Different beast. Not for finding overlaps, but for letting others book time with you.

What it does:

You set your availability, share a link, people book slots. Calendly handles timezone conversion automatically. Integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365.

What works:

External scheduling. Clients, candidates, consultants—they pick a time that works for them within your available windows. Eliminates email tennis. Professional appearance. Notifications work.

What doesn't:

Not built for internal team coordination. Free tier limits you to one event type. Feels impersonal for team calls—you're not polling availability, you're telling people "book yourself."

Costs: Free basic, $10/month professional

Good for: Sales, recruiting, customer success. Anyone doing lots of external meetings. Not great for internal team scheduling.

Doodle

Site: doodle.com

The poll approach.

What it does:

You propose several time options. Everyone votes. Most popular time wins. Converts timezones automatically for voters.

What works:

Democratic. Good for large groups where consensus matters. Participants don't need accounts. Shows which slots work for most people.

What doesn't:

Slow. You propose times, wait for responses, then schedule. Fine for occasional big meetings, tedious for regular team coordination. Free version has ads. You can't see overlap before proposing times—you're guessing.

Costs: Free basic, $6.95/month pro

Good for: Occasional large group events. Company all-hands, team offsites, quarterly planning sessions.

Google Calendar

Site: calendar.google.com

Already in your browser.

What it does:

Secondary timezone display, world clock sidebar, "Find a time" for Google Workspace teams. Automatic timezone detection.

What works:

If you're in Google Workspace, it's already there. No extra tools. Familiar interface. Mobile included. Real-time calendar sharing with your org.

What doesn't:

Basic timezone features. No visual overlap analysis. "Find a time" only works within your organization. Doesn't handle external calendars well. No dedicated meeting planner interface.

Costs: Free personal, included with Workspace ($6+/user/month)

Good for: Teams already on Google Workspace needing basic timezone support. Not enough for complex multi-timezone coordination.

Every Time Zone

Site: everytimezone.com

Beautifully simple.

What it does:

Real-time visual display of timezones. Color-coded work hours. Drag to see different times. That's it.

What works:

Clean design. Fast. No signup. Good quick reference. No ads.

What doesn't:

Zero scheduling features. No team collaboration. Can't save preferences. Very basic.

Costs: Free

Good for: Quick glance at current times worldwide. Use alongside other tools, not as your primary scheduler.

Feature Breakdown

Here's what each tool actually handles:

Converting times:

Whenest (full converter), World Time Buddy (4 zones free), Calendly (automatic in bookings), Doodle (for poll voters), Google Calendar (basic), Every Time Zone (visual only)

Finding team overlap:

Whenest (visual heatmap), World Time Buddy (limited), Calendly (no), Doodle (no), Google Calendar (basic "Find a time"), Every Time Zone (no)

Scheduling meetings:

Whenest (planning tools), World Time Buddy (shareable links), Calendly (full booking), Doodle (polls), Google Calendar (full calendar), Every Time Zone (no)

Handling DST:

All of them handle this automatically.

Free tier:

Whenest (everything), World Time Buddy (4 zones), Calendly (1 event type), Doodle (with ads), Google Calendar (requires Google account), Every Time Zone (everything)

Account required:

Whenest (no), World Time Buddy (optional), Calendly (yes), Doodle (organizer yes, voters no), Google Calendar (yes), Every Time Zone (optional)

What to Use When

Small team (2-5 people)

Use: Whenest or World Time Buddy

Start with Whenest's overlap finder to see when working hours align. For quick "what time is it there?" checks, World Time Buddy's slider works great. Neither needs signup.

Growing team (5-20 people)

Use: Whenest + Google Calendar

Whenest's availability heatmap shows team-wide patterns as you scale. Pair with Google Calendar's "Find a time" for actual scheduling. The heatmap helps you spot sustainable meeting patterns before they become painful.

Large distributed team (20+ people)

Use: Whenest + Calendly + Doodle

Whenest for strategic planning—where are your people, what recurring meeting times work long-term. Calendly for one-on-ones with external folks. Doodle for occasional large group decisions.

External-facing role (sales, recruiting)

Use: Calendly

Stop the email back-and-forth. Share your Calendly link, let them book. Professional, automatic timezone handling, makes you look organized.

Occasional global meetings

Use: Whenest or Doodle

One-off meetings? Whenest's meeting planner finds optimal times in seconds without signup. Large events needing input? Doodle's polling works.

What Works Regardless of Tool

Document your team's timezones. Seriously. Keep a shared doc with everyone's timezone, preferred working hours, and willingness to take early/late calls. Future schedulers will thank you.

Rotate meeting times. Don't let the same people always get the 6 AM or 10 PM slot. Check our time zone etiquette guide for fair rotation strategies.

Default to async. Most meetings can be handled asynchronously. Read our async vs sync communication guide to decide what actually needs a live call.

Watch for DST transitions. Check DST dates when planning recurring meetings. Spring and fall are when time differences shift unexpectedly.

Always specify timezones. Write "3 PM EST / 8 PM GMT" not just "3 PM" in invitations. Prevents confusion, shows respect.

What's Coming

These tools keep evolving. Worth watching:

AI scheduling is getting real. Tools that learn your team's patterns and auto-suggest times that actually work based on historical data.

Deeper calendar intelligence—automatic suggestions based on real availability and preferences, not just free/busy.

Async-first features as remote work matures. More tools letting teams communicate effectively without requiring everyone online simultaneously, according to research from GitLab.

Mobile-first design. Distributed teams work from phones. Tools are catching up.

Bottom Line

No single tool does everything.

For pure timezone overlap and availability analysis, Whenest gives you the most features free. For external booking, Calendly is the standard. For group consensus, Doodle works. For teams in Google Workspace, built-in Google Calendar features handle basics.

Most teams end up using multiple tools—one for strategic planning, another for tactical scheduling. Start with something free like Whenest to understand your team's timezone landscape, add specialized tools as specific needs emerge.

Want to find your team's optimal meeting times? Try the overlap finder to visualize when your team can actually connect, or use the time zone converter for quick checks. The meeting planner handles scheduling specific meetings across any timezones.