CalMov Lite vs Pro: a plan comparison

What is the main difference between CalMov plans?

The central difference is how driving time enters availability. On Lite, the business sets the gap it wants between bookings and CalMov applies it every time. On Pro, CalMov checks roads and expected traffic for the planned appointment time on the journeys before and after the job, then checks the journey again before the booking is confirmed. Lite suits journeys that take roughly the same time; Pro suits a diary where journeys vary or traffic changes which times fit.

Plan limits also matter. Lite includes one person and up to two services, or unlimited services for £5 a month. Pro includes one person, unlimited services and Automatic travel pricing. Both plans include the Toolkit, such as saved profiles, checks before booking and visit records; photos, approve-first bookings, and the job checklist and customer report are Pro. Pro includes online payments; Lite can take them with the Online payments upgrade, for a 30p fee per paid booking (30¢ in the US). Team, for businesses where more than one person takes bookings, is in pilot and can't be bought yet, so it should not drive a purchase today.

When is CalMov Lite enough?

Lite is a free ongoing plan for a solo operator with a compact area, a short service menu and journeys that take roughly similar amounts of time. You choose the travel gap, which makes the rule easy to understand. After the Pro trial, the business moves to Lite unless it chooses a paid plan, so you can keep online booking free without committing to paid travel checks.

The limitation is deliberate: the same chosen gap applies whether customers are close together or far apart. Set it too short and long journeys become unreliable; set it for the longest journey and nearby appointments inherit unnecessary dead time. Lite works best when geography is controlled enough that this compromise is acceptable. Lite does not include automatic travel charges.

• One person included
• Up to two services, or unlimited services for £5 a month
• A travel gap set by the business
• Your own online booking page
• Working-hours and time-off controls

When does CalMov Pro make more sense?

Pro suits a solo business whose customers create meaningfully different journeys, or whose routes change with the time of day. Instead of reserving the same gap every time, CalMov checks roads and expected traffic for the planned appointment time, examines the drive before and after the proposed job and checks those journeys again when the customer selects and reserves a time. That can protect long journeys without forcing their allowance onto every nearby pair.

Pro also includes unlimited services and online payments where enabled. It is therefore a stronger fit when the service catalogue has outgrown Lite, payment collection is part of the desired booking flow or you want travel charged automatically.

Automatic travel pricing is included on Pro. Choose distance or journey time, then set the charge for each bracket. CalMov applies the matching surcharge to customer-address bookings using the one-way journey from your business base. This is separate from the travel checks that decide whether a booking fits around other visits.

When is CalMov Pro more than you need?

Expected traffic is not a promise about every incident, closure or access delay. You still need service durations, parking allowances and a sensible margin. Pro is most useful when better journey context changes which slots can safely be offered; it is unnecessary cost if a gap you set already keeps a lightly booked local diary reliable.

What about the Team plan?

Team is for businesses where more than one person takes bookings, and it is in pilot: CalMov switches it on for businesses that ask to join, and it can't be bought yet. It will include two people, with everything in Pro for each of them. Outside the pilot, Lite and Pro each take bookings for one person per business; to add a second person to Pro, you will move to Team. Extra people on Lite are in pilot too.

Extra people will cost less on Lite than on Team because on Lite the owner sets the travel gaps, so each extra person costs little to run. On Team, everyone gets road and traffic checks on every booking, which costs more to run. Neither can be bought today, so choose based on the work you have now.

How do the plans handle the same diary example?

Imagine a 60-minute service between a previous customer and a later confirmed visit. Nearby pairs of customers usually take fifteen minutes to drive between, while cross-area pairs take forty. Lite applies the gap you set to both. A fifteen-minute setting risks the long route; a forty-minute setting blocks extra time for nearby routes.

Pro checks roads and expected traffic for each journey at the planned time, so the nearby and cross-area journeys can reserve different amounts of time, and it checks again when reserving the selected time. Neither plan should be used to hide an unrealistic service duration or eliminate the margin needed for parking and setup.

Which costs and limits should you compare?

Compare the monthly price with the operational problem it solves. Lite is free, and unlimited services on Lite cost £5 a month. Pro is £29 a month, or £22 at the founder price for businesses that join by 31 December 2026, locked in while they stay subscribed. Estimate how often a fixed gap blocks a usable nearby slot or fails to protect a long journey. Also count the time spent checking addresses, collecting payment and correcting unsuitable bookings. Use your own figures rather than assuming a paid plan automatically creates more profit.

Check current limits on people, services, payments and travel features before purchase because product details can change. If one person takes bookings and the route is simple, start with Lite. If a missing feature creates repeated manual work or unreliable availability, test the plan that directly addresses it.

• How many customer-bookable services do you need?
• Do journey times vary substantially between pairs of customers?
• Do you need to charge customers automatically for distance or journey time?
• Will customers pay during the online booking flow?
• How often do you manually reject or move a booking?
• Does expected traffic materially change appointment reachability?

• Estimate the yearly cost of your fixed gap

How should you choose and review a plan?

Take a representative week and run three cases: the shortest regular journey, the longest regular journey and a proposed booking between two confirmed visits. Identify whether one gap you set is safe for all three, or whether varied journeys and time-sensitive roads change which slots are usable. Choose from evidence, not the plan name.

Review after the first month and after changes to coverage or service mix. Track late arrivals, manual interventions and unusable gaps. Move to Pro when road and traffic checks or automatic travel pricing solve a repeated, measured issue. Move back to Lite when those features no longer change decisions. The pricing page is the source of truth for what each plan currently includes.

How do you run a one-week plan decision test?

Take one representative week and mark the shortest, typical and longest journey between customers. Note every time you manually check an address, reject a requested slot or leave a large fixed gap for a nearby journey. This shows whether the problem is service count, payment handling, varied journeys or time-sensitive roads.

Match the evidence to the plan rather than starting with price. Lite is the control case for a consistent gap you set. Compare Pro where varied journeys or expected traffic would change which times you can safely offer. Use the current pricing page for the final cost.

• Record the shortest, typical and longest regular journey.
• Count manual address checks and moved bookings.
• Identify whether time of day changes the route decision.
• Test the same three diary cases with a Lite gap and with Pro's checks.
• Choose Lite unless Pro fixes a measured problem.