Calendly offers embed options and an API to help you add scheduling to your website or app. This article explains what each tool does — and when to use them.
What you can do with the API
Calendly’s public API lets you:
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Get your scheduling links
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View users, event types, and scheduled events
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Sync Calendly activity with other systems
With the API, you can:
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List a user’s event types
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Get the scheduling link for a user or team
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See meeting details
What you can’t do with the API
The API doesn’t support:
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Creating or editing event types
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Setting or updating availability
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Booking meetings
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Showing the full booking flow
If you want visitors to book with you, use an embed instead.
When to use an embed
Use embed options when you want to:
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Show the booking flow inside your site or app
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Match the scheduler’s look to your brand
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Let visitors book without leaving your page
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Pre-fill invitee details or use tracking codes
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Track bookings with event listeners (like
calendly.event_scheduled)
Embed types:
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Inline embed: The scheduler shows on your page
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Popup widget: A floating button opens the scheduler
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Popup text: A text link opens the scheduler
See the Developer Guide to Calendly embeds to learn more.
Example: Use API and Embed
You can combine the API and embed to customize scheduling:
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Use the API to get a scheduling link.
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Use JavaScript to place that link in your embed.
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Call
Calendly.initInlineWidget()to load the scheduler.
This lets you update links without hardcoding them.
Want to build more?
Our team is working to add more features to the API. You can’t create events or availability yet — but we know it’s a common request.
Check for updates on the:
Let me know if you'd like this in a downloadable format or ready to paste into a Help Center CMS.