How to Compare Time Zones for a Meeting (Without Getting It Wrong)
Updated October 2026
Planning a call with people in other countries is easy until the clocks change. The difference between two cities is not always the same, and a meeting that was fine last week can land an hour off. This guide shows how to find a good time and how to check it.
Convert a meeting time in three steps
- Choose the date and time of the meeting.
- Choose the time zone that time is in, usually your own.
- Read the time in the other cities.
The tool starts with your own time zone and shows major cities side by side, so you see everyone's local time at once.
Always convert for the exact date
The time difference between two places changes during the year, because countries move their clocks on different dates. The Netherlands and the United States, for example, change on different weekends. For a few weeks in spring and autumn the gap is an hour more or less than usual.
The converter calculates the difference for the exact date you choose, with daylight saving time included. So always enter the real date of the meeting, not a date next to it.
Check that nobody gets a night call
Once you have the times, look at every column. A good meeting time is in everyone's working day, or at least in the early evening or morning. If one person ends up before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m., move the time or agree to take turns, so it is not always the same person.
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Everyone is between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. | A normal working day, easy to say yes to |
| Nobody is before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. | Early and late calls get cancelled or are tiring |
| The date is the same for everyone | A late meeting can fall on the next day somewhere else |
What to write in the invitation
- Give the time with the time zone, such as 15:00 CET or 9:00 a.m. EST.
- Give the date in full, with the month as a word, such as 14 October. It prevents 10/11 being read as two different dates.
- Add the time in the other person's zone, so they do not have to calculate.
- Use a calendar invitation, which shows each person the meeting in their own local time.
What is UTC?
UTC is the time standard that all time zones are measured from. It does not change with the seasons. Programmers often store times in UTC, then show them in the local time zone. If you need to turn a UTC timestamp into a date, use the timestamp converter.
Privacy
The conversion is done in your browser, using the time zone data that your browser already has. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.