TL;DR
Multiple durations let freelancers offer different booking lengths on one scheduler page in Plutio, so clients choose a 15-minute quick call, a 30-minute session, or a 60-minute deep dive from a single link instead of juggling separate scheduling pages.
Plutio stores each duration as an entry in the scheduler's duration options list, with its own length in minutes and an optional cost rate. When payment collection is enabled, each duration carries a different price: $0 for a free intro call, $75 for a standard session, $150 for an extended consultation. The real shift: one booking link replaces three, and each duration's price collects automatically at the moment of booking through Stripe, PayPal, or Square, so there is no follow-up invoice for a scheduled call.
Multiple durations come with all Plutio plans starting at $19/month. Set them up in under 5 minutes from the Schedulers section. A 7-day free trial includes full access to multi-duration booking pages with payment collection.
What multiple scheduler durations are
Multiple scheduler durations are a booking configuration where a single Plutio scheduler page offers two or more session lengths, each with its own price, so clients pick the option that matches their need without contacting the freelancer first.
In Plutio, every scheduler has a duration options list. Each entry in that array stores a duration in minutes and a price (the price the client pays). Adding three entries, such as 15 minutes at $0, 30 minutes at $75, and 60 minutes at $150, creates a single booking page where the client sees all three options, selects one, and books from available time slots. The scheduler respects buffer times and booking limits regardless of which duration the client picks.
Per-duration pricing
Each duration entry carries its own price. When payment collection is enabled on the scheduler, the client pays the price for their chosen duration at the time of booking. A 15-minute intro call can be free ($0 price) while a 60-minute strategy session charges $150 through the connected payment gateway. Plutio collects the payment through Stripe, PayPal, or Square before confirming the booking, so there is no separate invoice to send afterward. Freelancers billing $100 to $200 per hour for consulting sessions save roughly 10 minutes per booking by eliminating the manual invoice step that follows a scheduled call.
Duration-aware availability
Plutio's scheduler checks availability against the chosen duration. A 60-minute deep dive needs a full hour of open time, while a 15-minute quick call fits into smaller gaps. Buffer times (configured per scheduler) apply before and after every booking regardless of the selected duration, so a 15-minute buffer between a 30-minute session ending at 2:30 PM and the next available slot means the next booking starts at 2:45 PM. Booking limits cap the total number of bookings per day across all durations, preventing calendar overload on high-demand days. The practical outcome: availability rules work the same whether the client books 15 minutes or 60 minutes, so the freelancer sets the rules once and every duration option respects them automatically.
I used to share three different Calendly links depending on the session type. Now I send one Plutio link and clients pick the length and pay right there. Setup took about four minutes.
Why multiple scheduler durations matter for freelancers
Freelancers offering time-based services almost always need more than one session length, and without multi-duration booking the result is either multiple scheduling links or a manual back-and-forth to confirm the session type before booking.
A freelance marketing consultant offering a free 15-minute discovery call, a paid 30-minute audit, and a 60-minute strategy session at $150 needs three separate booking contexts. Without multi-duration support, that consultant creates three scheduler pages, shares three links in different emails, and updates availability across all three whenever the calendar changes. Across 15 to 20 client bookings per month, the overhead adds up to 2 to 3 hours spent managing scheduling links rather than doing billable work.
Calendly handles multiple durations by creating separate event types, each with its own booking page and link. A consultant offering three session lengths on Calendly manages three event types, and clients need to receive the correct link for the session they want. Calendly's free plan supports one event type, so multiple durations require the Standard plan at $10/seat/month. Cal.com includes duration options on its free tier, but without native invoicing, proposals, or project management, so the booking exists in isolation from the rest of the client workflow.
The most common scheduling mistake freelancers make is not offering a short free call option alongside paid sessions. Without a low-commitment entry point, prospective clients either skip the booking entirely or take up a full paid session for what should have been a 10-minute fit check.
Plutio solves this by putting every duration on one page. One link goes into the email signature, the proposal footer, and the client portal. Clients self-select their session type and pay the matching rate at the moment of booking, so the freelancer's calendar fills with the right mix of free intro calls and paid deep dives without any manual sorting.
How multiple scheduler durations work in Plutio
Open any scheduler in Plutio, add duration entries with a length in minutes and an optional price per entry, enable payment collection, and share one booking link where clients pick their session type and pay at booking.
Before starting, set your weekly availability in Settings under Availability. Connect a payment gateway (Stripe, PayPal, or Square) in Settings under Integrations if collecting payment on booking.
Step by step
- Step 1: Go to the Schedulers section in Plutio and open an existing scheduler or create a new one. Give the scheduler a title, such as "Book a Session with [Name]."
- Step 2: In the scheduler settings, find the duration options list. Add each duration entry: set the duration in minutes (for example, 15, 30, and 60) and set the price for each (for example, $0, $75, and $150).
- Step 3: Enable payment collection on the scheduler. Select the connected payment gateway. Clients pay the price for their chosen duration before the booking is confirmed.
- Step 4: Configure buffer time (minutes before and after each booking), booking limits (maximum bookings per day), and any blocked dates. These rules apply to all durations equally.
- Step 5: Share the scheduler's booking link. Clients land on one page, see all available durations with prices, select their option, pick a time slot from live availability, and complete the booking with payment.
Practical tip: label each duration clearly on the scheduler, such as "Quick Call (15 min), Free" and "Deep Dive (60 min), $150." Clients who see the purpose of each option alongside the price self-select more accurately and book fewer wrong-length sessions.
Who needs multiple scheduler durations
Freelancers and agencies selling time-based services, particularly consultants, coaches, therapists, and designers offering discovery calls alongside paid sessions, get the most value from multi-duration scheduling.
A freelance coach charging $200/hour who offers a free 15-minute intro call and a paid 60-minute session needs both options on one booking page. Without multi-duration support, the coach either creates separate scheduling links (and risks clients booking the wrong one) or handles session selection over email before sharing a link, adding 2 to 3 messages per booking. With Plutio's multi-duration scheduler, the coach sends one link and the client self-selects, saving roughly 5 minutes per new client interaction.
Agencies running client onboarding use multiple durations for different meeting types: a 15-minute check-in, a 30-minute project review, and a 60-minute kickoff. All three live on one scheduler page connected to the agency's Google Calendar or Outlook calendar through Plutio's calendar sync, so double-booking across meeting types never happens.
Freelancers switching from Calendly often discover that Calendly's free plan allows only one active event type, which means a single duration per booking page. Adding a second duration requires Calendly's Standard plan at $10/seat/month. Plutio includes unlimited durations per scheduler on all plans starting at $19/month, bundled with invoicing, proposals, contracts, and a client portal. HoneyBook includes scheduling through its Smart Files workflow but has no per-duration pricing or multi-duration booking on a single page, so clients cannot self-select session lengths at the time of booking.
Bottom line: any freelancer or agency offering more than one session length, whether a free intro call plus a paid consultation or three tiers of service, replaces multiple booking links with one and collects the right payment at the moment of booking.
