Reclaim.ai or Time Etc: who should manage your calendar?
One is AI calendar software that auto-schedules around your existing meetings. The other is a real human assistant who can manage your calendar, and a lot more, for you. They solve different problems at very different prices. Here's the honest breakdown.
Reclaim.ai is AI calendar software that automatically schedules your tasks, habits, and focus time around your meetings. Time Etc is a human-staffed virtual assistant service that can manage your calendar, and broader admin work, for you.
Solo founders and small businesses deciding whether to automate their own calendar or hand scheduling and admin work to a real person.
Tight budget and your calendar is mostly your own meetings: Reclaim.ai. Want scheduling and broader admin work handled entirely and can afford it: Time Etc.
Which one is right for you?
Answer 3 quick questions, no email required, nothing saved.
1. Do you want software that manages your existing calendar, or a person you can hand things off to?
2. Is it just calendar/scheduling, or do you need broader admin help too?
3. What's your monthly budget for this?
Your answers are split down the middle, either could work well. Read the full comparison below to decide based on price and scope of work.
Side by side
Reclaim.ai
AI calendar assistant that auto-schedules your tasks, habits, and focus time around your existing meetings.
- Who does the work
- You, the software auto-schedules within your existing calendar
- Your time investment
- A short setup connecting your calendar and task tools, then mostly hands-off
- +Free tier available, paid plans start around $10/mo per seat
- +Automatically protects focus time and reschedules around new meetings
- +Syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and task tools like Todoist, Asana, and Jira
- +Reports an average of 7.6 additional focus hours per week for users
- −It's software, not a person, it won't book travel, make calls, or handle non-calendar admin work
- −Needs an initial setup and adjustment period to learn your priorities
- −Best suited to internal-meeting-heavy schedules rather than heavy external coordination
Affiliate application pending
Time Etc
A dedicated, real human virtual assistant who manages your calendar, and whatever else you need, for you.
- Who does the work
- A dedicated human assistant assigned to your account, not a rotating pool
- Your time investment
- Minimal, you communicate what you need and the assistant handles it
- +A real person handles scheduling plus broader admin work, not just your calendar
- +A dedicated assistant who learns your preferences over time, not a different person each time
- +No long-term contract, month-to-month
- +Native English-speaking assistants based in the US, UK, Canada, or Australia
- −Meaningfully more expensive than AI software at every plan level
- −Only handles what you actively delegate, it won't automatically protect focus time the way scheduling software does
- −Value scales with how much you actually delegate, light users may not use their full hours
Affiliate application pending
Pricing in detail
| Reclaim.ai | Time Etc |
|---|---|
| Lite (Free): $0/mo | 10 hours/mo: $390/mo ($39/hr) |
| Starter: $10–$12/mo per seat | 20 hours/mo: $760/mo ($38/hr) |
| Business: $15–$18/mo per seat | 40 hours/mo: $1,480/mo ($37/hr) |
| Enterprise: $22/mo per seat | 60 hours/mo: $2,160/mo ($36/hr) |
Time Etc rates shown are per-hour equivalents at each plan's monthly hour allotment. Both companies offer promotional rates and trials that change over time, so confirm current pricing on their sites before buying.
Frequently asked questions
It's calendar software with real AI-driven scheduling behind it, it automatically finds time for your tasks, habits, and focus time, and reschedules them around new meetings. But it only works inside your calendar. It won't book a flight, make a phone call, or do anything outside your calendar and connected task tools.
No. Time Etc starts at $390/mo for 10 hours versus $0–$12/mo for Reclaim.ai's free and entry tiers. You're paying for a real person's time across a broad range of tasks, not just calendar automation.
Yes. It's common to use Reclaim.ai to keep your own calendar organized day to day, and bring in a Time Etc assistant for broader admin work, like travel booking, email triage, or research, that a scheduling tool can't do.
If your calendar is manageable and you mostly need help protecting focus time and avoiding meeting overload, Reclaim.ai's free or entry tier is usually enough to start. If you're already overwhelmed by scheduling and other admin work and can budget a few hundred dollars a month, a Time Etc assistant removes that work entirely.
Pricing verified directly from Reclaim.ai's and Time Etc's official pricing pages, July 2026. Prices change, so check each provider's site for current rates before deciding.