How do I create an availability poll?

Choose a date range, give the poll a title, and create it. You get a public link to share and a private organizer link to manage responses. It takes about a minute and needs no account.

Do participants need an account?

No. Participants can open the shared link and mark their availability without creating an account. They enter a name, tap the days that work, and submit.

How many people can participate?

There is no participant limit on a poll. A poll can cover a date range of up to 120 days, and each day can have up to 8 time slots.

Can people change their answer later?

Yes. After submitting, each participant gets their own private link they can reopen to update their availability.

What does a 'maybe' answer actually count for?

A maybe is tracked separately from a firm yes in the results grid, so you can see at a glance whether the top date is solid or depends on people who are still unsure.

Availability poll

Create a free availability poll

An availability poll is the simplest way to find out when a group is actually free. You propose the candidate dates once, everyone answers once, and the answer is a grid instead of an argument.

Find a Date See how it works

Create a free availability poll and share it with your group.

What goes into a good availability poll

A poll is three things: a clear title, a realistic date range, and a deadline. The title tells people what they are answering for — "Sam's 30th" beats "Poll". The range should be short enough to answer quickly. The deadline stops the poll drifting.

Title and optional note explaining the plan.
A date range of up to 120 days, with optional time slots per day.
An optional response deadline that closes the poll automatically.

Three answers, not two

Every date can be marked available, maybe, or not available. The maybe matters: it is the difference between "I would need to move something" and "impossible", and it is usually what unlocks a date that otherwise looks blocked.

The results grid shows all three states per person per date, and the ranking counts them separately so you can see which dates are solid and which depend on a maybe.

Reading the results

Best dates are ranked by how many people are available, so the top of the list is your answer. Underneath, the full grid shows who said what — useful when the person who has to be there is the one who cannot make the winning day.

Export the grid as CSV or print a clean summary if you need to share it outside the link.

Availability poll vs. availability survey

People search for both, and they mean the same thing here: collecting free/busy answers from a group. The difference from a general survey tool is that the answers are dates, so the tool can do the arithmetic for you rather than handing back raw responses.

Setting a realistic deadline

A deadline should be short enough to keep momentum but long enough to catch people who check messages once a day. Three to seven days works for most groups. For anything involving travel or bookings, set the deadline a few days before you actually need to commit money, so there is slack to chase stragglers without missing the real cut-off.

Chasing non-responders without nagging

One reminder, sent once, close to the deadline, is usually enough — "poll closes Friday, please add your dates if you haven't yet". Sending it more than twice trains people to ignore it. If someone still has not answered by the deadline, decide from the responses you have rather than extending the poll indefinitely; a poll that never closes never produces a date.

Worked example

Example: an availability poll for a 14-person quiz night series

A pub quiz team of fourteen wants to agree a regular fortnightly slot for the next two months, working around exam season for three students in the group.

1The organiser creates a poll covering every Tuesday and Thursday for eight weeks.
2The note field explains that three teammates have exams in week three and four.
3The poll is shared with a five-day deadline in the team's group chat.
4The three students mark exam weeks unavailable and other weeks available.
5The organiser exports the grid to CSV to keep a record for the season.
6Tuesdays come out consistently ahead, so the team adopts Tuesday as the standing slot.

The team settled on a repeating Tuesday slot with only two exceptions across two months, agreed once instead of re-polled every fortnight.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create an availability poll?: Choose a date range, give the poll a title, and create it. You get a public link to share and a private organizer link to manage responses. It takes about a minute and needs no account.
Do participants need an account?: No. Participants can open the shared link and mark their availability without creating an account. They enter a name, tap the days that work, and submit.
How many people can participate?: There is no participant limit on a poll. A poll can cover a date range of up to 120 days, and each day can have up to 8 time slots.
Can people change their answer later?: Yes. After submitting, each participant gets their own private link they can reopen to update their availability.
What does a 'maybe' answer actually count for?: A maybe is tracked separately from a firm yes in the results grid, so you can see at a glance whether the top date is solid or depends on people who are still unsure.

find a date that works for everyoneStart here if you just need the date.group scheduling toolScheduling with larger groups.how to create an availability pollA step-by-step walkthrough.

Find the day everyone can make it