Create a Booking on Behalf of a Guest
Create a booking on behalf of a guest in TidyCal: pick a booking type and time, and we email your guest a link to confirm. Available on every plan.
Overview
Create a booking lets you start a booking for a guest instead of waiting for them to find your booking page. You choose the booking type, date, and time, then enter your guest's name and email. TidyCal emails them a secure link, and the booking is confirmed once your guest opens the link and completes it.
This is an invitation your guest confirms—not an instantly-confirmed booking. While the invite is pending, TidyCal holds that time slot so no one else can book it. The held time is released automatically if your guest confirms, you cancel the invite, or the invite expires.
The feature is available on all plans (Free, Individual Lifetime, Pro, and Agency Lifetime). If the booking type you choose uses paid features such as collecting payment or custom questions, your guest completes those steps when they confirm.
Before you start
You need at least one eligible booking type. A booking type is eligible when it is:
- Enabled (not hidden or disabled)
- A standard one-on-one booking type—not a group booking type
- Not a date poll
- Not a recurring booking type
- Not a team-managed booking type
If none of your booking types qualify, you'll see "You don't have any eligible booking types yet" in the panel. Create a standard booking type first—see Booking Types.
How to create a booking for a guest
- In the sidebar, open Bookings.
- Click Create a booking.
- In the Create a booking panel, choose a Booking type.
- Set the Timezone. Times are shown and sent to your guest in this timezone.
- Pick a Date, then choose an available Time.
- Enter the Guest email and Guest name.
- Set Invite expires in (days). The default is 2 days, and you can choose any value from 1 to 30.
- Click Send booking invite.
TidyCal emails your guest right away and adds the invite to the Invited tab on your Bookings page with a Pending confirmation status.
What your guest receives
Your guest gets an email with the subject "[Your name] invited you to book [booking type]". It explains that you've set up an appointment for them to confirm and includes a Confirm booking button. The link is also shown as copy-and-paste text in case the button doesn't work, and the email notes the date the invitation expires.
When your guest opens the link, TidyCal shows your booking page locked to the invite—the booking type, time, name, and email are already filled in from the invitation. Your guest reviews the details and confirms. If the booking type collects payment or asks custom questions, your guest completes those steps before the booking is confirmed.
Once confirmed, it becomes a normal booking for both of you, the held time is released into that booking, and you both receive the usual confirmation email and calendar invite.
Managing pending invites
Open the Invited tab on the Bookings page to see every invite that's waiting on a guest. Each row shows the guest, booking type, proposed time, status, and when the invite expires. From here you can:
- Copy link — copy the guest's confirmation link so you can share it yourself, for example in a chat or your own email.
- Cancel invite — cancel a pending invite. This releases the held time slot right away.
A pending invite holds the proposed time for your guest only, so the slot won't show as available to anyone else until the invite is confirmed, canceled, or expired.
Things to know
- The slot is reserved while pending. The proposed time is blocked for other bookers until your guest confirms, you cancel, or the invite expires.
- Invites expire. After the expiry window you set, the link stops working and the time is freed. Your guest will see "Invitation expired" if they open it too late.
- The link is tied to the invite. Your guest can't change the time, name, or email from the link—those come from the invitation, so the booking matches what you set up.
- This is different from booking approval. Booking approval lets you approve or decline requests that bookers submit themselves. Creating a booking sends an invite you started. See How to Enable and Use Booking Approval Workflow.
Troubleshooting
I don't see a booking type to choose
- Only standard, enabled one-on-one booking types appear. Group booking types, date polls, recurring booking types, and team-managed booking types are not eligible.
- Create or enable a standard booking type, then try again.
"That time is no longer available"
- Someone booked the slot, a connected calendar shows a conflict, or another pending invite already holds it. Pick a different time and send the invite again.
My guest says the link shows "Invitation expired"
- The invite passed its expiry window. Create a new booking for the guest and, if needed, set a longer Invite expires in (days) value.
Still stuck? Email support@tidycal.com.
Frequently asked questions
Does this confirm the booking immediately?
No. Your guest has to open the emailed link and confirm. Until they do, the time is held and shown as Pending confirmation on the Invited tab.
Which plans include this?
All plans, including the Free Plan. If the booking type you pick uses paid features such as collecting payment, your guest completes those steps when confirming.
Can I create a booking for a paid booking type?
Yes. Your guest is asked to pay when they open the link and confirm, just like a normal paid booking. See Paid Bookings.
How is this different from inviting additional guests?
Additional guests are extra attendees a booker adds to their own booking on the booking form. Creating a booking starts a brand-new booking for one guest. Learn more in Booking Types.