OpenSlot vs Scheduling Polls (FindTime)
Microsoft's built-in Scheduling Polls (formerly FindTime) versus OpenSlot: voting rounds versus a paste-ready list of free times.
The short answer
Choose Microsoft Scheduling Polls (FindTime)
Choose Scheduling Polls for internal meetings where the time is a genuine group decision and nobody minds a voting round.
Choose OpenSlot
Choose OpenSlot when you want the answer now, when the recipient is external, or when the output needs to be text in a conversation rather than a poll.
On this page
Scheduling Polls — the built-in Outlook feature that replaced FindTime — lets attendees vote on a shortlist of times. OpenSlot skips the voting round entirely: it computes when everyone is actually free and gives you the list. Both live in Outlook and both are aimed at meeting scheduling, which makes the difference in approach worth understanding before you pick.
A comparison page is not worth reading if it cannot say what the other tool is genuinely better at, so both sides get stated plainly.
Where Microsoft Scheduling Polls (FindTime) shines
- It's free and built into Outlook — nothing to install or pay for.
- Democratic scheduling: when the meeting time is genuinely a group decision, voting distributes the choice.
- Auto-books the meeting once votes agree, with holds on tentative times.
Where OpenSlot takes a different approach
- No voting round-trip: polls add days of latency while attendees vote (or forget to). A computed list needs zero cooperation from anyone.
- Works for external conversations: a poll asks outsiders to engage with a Microsoft voting page; a pasted list works in any email thread, to anyone.
- You stay in control: you offer the times; there's no risk the group votes for the slot you hated.
- Output is portable text — usable in chat, documents, and ticket systems, not just meeting invites.
Side by side
| Dimension | Microsoft Scheduling Polls (FindTime) | OpenSlot |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism | Attendees vote on candidate times | Computes actual free/busy overlap |
| Latency | Wait for votes | Instant |
| External recipients | Interact with a voting page | Read plain text in your email |
| Cost | Included in Microsoft 365 | Free plan; paid plans for teams |
| Control | Group picks | You offer the times |
| Output | A booked meeting | A paste-ready list (and then your meeting) |
Common questions
Is FindTime still available?
Microsoft has retired the FindTime add-in. Its replacement is Scheduling Poll, which is built into Outlook for Microsoft 365 work and school accounts, so there is nothing extra to install.
Do people outside my company need Outlook to vote in a poll?
No. Invitees open the poll page in a browser and pick the times that work. It still asks them to visit a page and vote, which is the step a pasted list of times avoids.
Can I use OpenSlot and Scheduling Poll together?
Yes. A practical pattern is to let OpenSlot find the times when everyone inside your organization is free, then offer those times to the outside party, either as a list in your email or as the options in a poll. That way the poll never offers a slot your own team cannot make.
Which is faster for a four-person internal meeting?
If everyone is on Microsoft 365, OpenSlot is: the overlap is computed from calendars that already exist, so you get the list in seconds instead of waiting for four people to vote. A poll is the better choice when calendars do not reflect real preferences, for example when half the open slots are technically free but inconvenient.
OpenSlot
Try the list approach
Every new OpenSlot account starts with 14 days of Pro — no card, and nothing for the person you are scheduling with to install, visit or sign up for.
Try OpenSlot freeSign in with Microsoft, pick people, paste the times.