Group planning tools: polls, calendars, chats and what each is good for
There is no shortage of tools for organising friends. They fail in different places, and knowing where saves you a lot of wasted effort.
The group chat
Unbeatable for getting attention and completely useless for holding a decision. Everything scrolls, nothing has a state, and the same question gets asked three times. Use it to send, not to store.
Date polls
Good at exactly one thing: finding the date most people can do. They stop dead at the point a plan actually needs — a place, a cost, a confirmation and a reminder.
Shared calendars
Great once something is confirmed, hopeless before. Nobody wants to publish their diary to a group of friends, and an empty slot is not the same as being free.
Event pages
Built for a fixed date and an audience, not for six friends deciding between two nights. Too heavy for the thing most groups are trying to do.
What a group of friends actually needs
One idea, a couple of dates, everyone answering the same question, a visible tally, a deadline, and a confirmation that lands in the chat. That is the whole job — and it is the job WeShould does.
- Anyone can answer from a link, with no account.
- The organiser sees who is in and who has not looked.
- The plan ends in a confirmed date, place and cost.
Common questions
- Is there a free way to plan with friends?
- Yes — WeShould is free to use for planning, and the people you invite can answer in a browser without downloading anything.
- Do we all need the same app?
- No. One person organises, everyone else answers a link. That is deliberate: needing everyone to sign up is what kills most group tools.