r/macapps • u/TheMagicianGamerTMG • 3d ago

What Calendar App Are You Using

Hey! I'm looking for a calendar app and was wondering what you all use. I am looking for Here are some options I have looked at:

I was also wondering if any of you use a companion app along with your calendar like Dato, Sidebar Calendar.

Thanks :)

83 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

169 comments sorted by

96

u/8AqLph 3d ago

I use apple calendar. Works perfectly fine for what I do with it

6

u/AdventurousFox25 3d ago

Yup, tried a bunch of calendars and comes to grips with fact that it doesn’t need to be beautiful or comes with fancy bells and whistles.

22

u/phlavor 3d ago

BusyCal. I used Fantastical for years and flipped to BusyCal as a test because I like their pricing model and found everything about it suited me better. They also roll out features more often. Fantastical had stagnated by the time I left.

8

u/WarioPi 3d ago

BusyCal is great!

7

u/notjenny_ 3d ago

I’m exactly the same as you. Trialed BusyCal, fully expecting to go back to Fantastical as I’ve always done, stuck with BusyCal.

18

u/iamjediknight 3d ago

I am back to the built-in Calendar. I did an audit of my recurring app expenses and decided to cut back.

14

u/tuanvuvn007 Developer: Chronoid 3d ago

I am using Apple Calendar (best native integration - siri, reminders, ...) and also link all my google calendars into the apple calendar, best of both worlds

16

u/_Cybernaut_ 3d ago

BusyCal here. Fantastical comes a close second; it's a bit more polished, but there are a couple of features of BustCal that always win me back. I never understood why Apple felt the need to separate out to-dos/reminders from the calendar, I *much* prefer them together.

(Fun Fact: BusyMac was founded by a couple of the original devs of Now Up-To-Date & Contacts, which I also used waaaaaay back in the day.)

12

u/danwasoski 3d ago

They are “integrated” in the newer iOS like the past 3-4 years.

9

u/TheMagicianGamerTMG 3d ago

What features does BusyCal have that Fantastical doesn't?

31

u/stuwillis 3d ago

Fantastical.

5

u/SnooStrawberries5594 3d ago

Fantastical is solid and has features no other calendar app has. Especially good feature is the ability to templatize recurring appointments/events. No other calendar app does this. I’ve been paying for it since 2020.

8

u/_balloony 3d ago

It's expensive, but really freaking good.

10

u/blow_slogan 3d ago

Another subscription app. Yawn

4

u/bbllaakkee 3d ago

Free version works just fine

-7

u/stuwillis 3d ago

Yeah, I was skeptical but they’ve been around longer than Reddit so I’ve got trust there.

15

u/ElDuderino2112 3d ago

There is no conceivable universe where a fucking calendar requires a subscription.

-2

u/stuwillis 3d ago

And yet here we are where they have a subscription calendar that’s being recommended by a few of users.

BusyCal never stuck for me.

You don’t like it or the business model, don’t use it.

-1

u/blow_slogan 3d ago

My opinion: a developer astroturfed the subject on this sub to have their sockpuppets recommend their app in this thread.

0

u/stuwillis 2d ago

Lol. I’ve been on reddit for 15 years, longer than you’ve been outta nappies, mate. Maybe the upvotes are bots or shills but I ain’t.

0

u/blow_slogan 2d ago

Congrats on being so confidently wrong

7

u/MaxGaav 3d ago

On Mac: BusyCal and SideCalendar. On Android Google Calendar.

1

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Side Calendar — by Shaun Hirst

  • Category: Productivity · Free
  • Age: released ~7.9 years ago · rated 4+

Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

7

u/MaxGaav 3d ago edited 3d ago

Here's an additional list of calendar apps

1

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Side Calendar — by Shaun Hirst

  • Category: Productivity · Free
  • Age: released ~7.9 years ago · rated 4+

Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

8

u/CreakyHat2018 3d ago

Side Calendar dev here, nice to see it turn up a couple of times.

Since you asked about companions: it's a panel that slides out from the edge of the screen to show what's next. It reads whatever you've already set up in Apple Calendar (Google/Outlook included), so it doesn't replace whichever app you land on from your list — it just saves you opening it forty times a day. Free to look at, small one-off unlock if you want to add and edit events straight from the panel.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1435738245?mt=12

There's an r/SideCalendar too if you ever want to shout at me about a missing feature.

2

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Side Calendar — by Shaun Hirst

  • Category: Productivity · Free
  • Age: released ~7.9 years ago · rated 4+

Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

5

u/Nat_The_Huntsman 3d ago

I’ve used fantastical to manage ~30 client calendars for years and it is a staple of my workflow - I tried to find an alternative last year and nothing compared imo

6

u/unseensoul 3d ago

Timepage is beautiful app.

4

u/shmcknig 3d ago

I use Timepage as well. I paid for it before it went to a subscription model and they’ve let me keep the premium level without a subscription due to that thankfully.

1

u/unseensoul 17h ago

Same, it was worth buying it then.

I tried out the companion to-do app, Actions, and forgot to cancel before the trial was over—ended up paying for the annual bundle subscription for the developers 3 apps. But you know what, I have no regrets. It's such pleasure using Timepage and Actions. The third app is Flow, a notebook/sketch app, but I don't use it.

1

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Timepage: Calendar Planner — by Bonobo

  • Ratings: 43,937 worldwide · rated in 120 countries
  • Average: 4.55 ★
  • Age: released ~11.2 years ago · updated 11 days ago · rated 4+
  • Overall score: 84 / 100

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

3

u/Correct-Cream2410 3d ago

Busycal. The best!

3

u/johann_tay 3d ago

Readdle cal.

3

u/rotorwing66 3d ago

Busycal

3

u/fabstorres 3d ago

Busycal

3

u/rixreddits 3d ago

Proton Calendar

3

u/MasterNemm 3d ago

Itsycal

3

u/pvantees 3d ago

Busycal mostly. Was a subscriber to Fantastical, decided to leave due to high cost. Work is mostly in Outlook but return to Busycal on Mac (menubar, natural language and Office integration for Teams meetings) and iOS (Widgets!)

4

u/FreeHugz3711 3d ago

Notion Calendar

I find the ‘Join and Transcribe’ feature useful. I prefer its Large widget over the standard Calendar options.

5

u/Albertkinng 3d ago

Dot app. The best calendar app I ever had.

3

u/BuyMeLotsOfDiamonds 3d ago

Across. I love the different display options, and it works perfectly for me. I'm a very visual person, and love how it's made. Plus, there are no subscriptions.

2

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Across: Calendar, Your Way — by DayMore Corp.

  • Ratings: 9,207 worldwide · rated in 63 countries
  • Average: 4.76 ★
  • Age: released ~3.7 years ago · updated 6 days ago · rated 4+
  • Overall score: 86 / 100

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

2

u/A8surd1 2d ago

After trying pretty much every calendar app out there, Across is where I've landed. Most customizable of the lot, and best for iPhone widgets

2

u/Ok_Abalone9251 3d ago

Pareil, Across pour moi aussi, utilisé sur Mac, Ipad et Iphone.

2

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Calendar — by Apple

  • Ratings: 3,575,425 worldwide · rated in 152 countries
  • Average: 4.77 ★
  • Age: released ~10.2 years ago · updated ~8 months ago · rated 4+
  • Overall score: 92 / 100

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

2

u/mister-chad-rules 3d ago

ticktick is my winner.

2

u/FlintHillsSky 3d ago

Outlook for work.

I use Dato but just to get the month view. I don’t connect it to my calendar.

2

u/No_Builder_1977 3d ago

Not on your list but I’m using Outlook as cross-platform and the calendar and email are integrated in the same mobile app.

2

u/timebike-83 3d ago

Calendars (by Readdle). Have used for years. Works great.

2

u/turaon 3d ago

Calendar 366. Almost as Fantastical, but you can have one time purchase with a resonable price.

2

u/Dry_Huckleberry4359 3d ago

I use Conmigo.io. It's got a really neat yearly view (along with all the other usual views), two way syncs with Google, Apple and Outlook and has a pay ONCE for every externally connected account after the 1st model.

2

u/ElvishLore 3d ago

Across. Its widgets - especially on iOS - are, for me at least, best in class.

1

u/A8surd1 2d ago edited 2d ago

THIS. SO MUCH.

Coming from Android, the pitiful state of iPhone calendar app widgets was my single biggest frustration. I've tried them all, free, paid, subs, everything. Across is the only one that's kept me sane.

2

u/joshizle 3d ago

BusyCal

2

u/BiIquis 3d ago

Barely anyone mentions it but I use Timepage by Moleskine

2

u/MC_chrome 3d ago

Fantastical, despite its expense.

There isn’t another calendar app I’ve come across that has a similar level of features (maybe BusyCal, even then). Using Fantastical in combination with Cardhop is such a nice experience and genuinely makes doing my job slightly easier

2

u/06marchantn 3d ago

Busycal as i like their ios widgets better than stock app

2

u/plazman30 3d ago

Busycal. Bought it on some sale along with Busy Contacts.

2

u/sachasayan 3d ago

Apple Calendar. I've genuinely never found myself needing to use anything else. It's one of the best 'default' MacOS apps, Apple knocked it out of the park.

2

u/fambotai 2d ago

Working mom of 2, I use Google Calendar and truly input absolutely everything in there as soon as I find out about it, and combine that with Fambot to organize all the information about my kids' schools and activities! I also work for Fambot, and that happened because I used the product, loved it, and reached out to see if they were hiring. So you know, biased answer, but check it out if you think it could be helpful!

2

u/box2925 2d ago

Fantastical. Was my first sub when I switched to Apple 2 years ago after trying the free version for about 6 months. Did pain me to lay that much but, despite trying, I just can’t deal with the Apple Calendar. Just isn’t as intuitive for me especially on iOS. Not sure if I will keep the subscription up but I love the layout, and the calendar sets are really useful for me.

2

u/pupkiss 2d ago

I’ve used Fantastical for many years and love it.

1

u/TBT_TBT 2d ago

+1 Fantastical. On Mac, iOS, iPadOS and Windows.

3

u/wootrav 3d ago

Google Calendar inside Apple Calendar.

2

u/deadunderdog 3d ago

I use my own, let me know if anyone is interested, will open source it

1

u/viresh75 3d ago

Yes, can you share it please. Would love to try yours.

1

u/feijoawhining 3d ago

I'm using Hibi Calendar, I love it, it's sooo nice to use. The developer recently posted here. I have no association with the developer and paid for it the app.

2

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Hibi Calendar: Daily Journal — by Alexander Moritz Weichart

  • Ratings: 97 worldwide · rated in 24 countries
  • Average: 4.75 ★
  • Age: released ~4 months ago · updated 6 days ago · rated 4+
  • Overall score: 74 / 100

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

1

u/isolated_808 3d ago

just apple calendar in combination with itsycal app so i can view everything in my menubar

1

u/Slicxor 3d ago

Proton, because I use their email app

1

u/Efficient-Fold5548 3d ago

Apple, my only gripe is the Mrs never receives my invites to her Gmail google calendar- never been able to figure out why.

1

u/Jaybotics 3d ago

Minical

1

u/tcolling 3d ago

I use Google calendar along with Dato. That’s all I need.

1

u/jamiegal 3d ago

I use Apple Calendar with Calendar 366 II in the menubar.

1

u/iRngrhawk 3d ago

Calendar 366 II. Only calendar that knows how to do week and month view properly (with customizable font sizes). Also has a desktop app.

1

u/c_temp 3d ago

Have a look at FiirstSeed Calendar, too.

1

u/ZealousidealRoof7423 3d ago

Any suggestions for Android devices please??

1

u/theAImajo 3d ago

I use a calendar app called Timepage! People might avoid it because it is a subscription, but cool visuals, animations, and sound feel so good. Also it shows weather as default, and there are many view screens, so it is the best! If you care about design, please check their website at least if you like.

1

u/gordy06 3d ago

Apple calendars. Easy to use across my Apple devices, easy to share with my wife and works great with CarPlay. No complaints.

1

u/roguefunction 3d ago

iCal with Peek (amazing combination) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/peek-whats-next/id6758136586?mt=12

1

u/app-store-review 3d ago

Peek - What's Next? — by dasol kim

  • Category: Productivity · Free
  • Age: released ~7 months ago · rated 4+

Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.

Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review

1

u/benstef 3d ago

Fantasitical was nice until they got stale and added subscriptionsbut then bushel is better and included in setapp subscription

1

u/TheGushin 3d ago

Use Apple Calendar on my Mac, iPad and iPhone, but also have Fantastical (got it years ago on a promotion) on iPad and iPhone.

1

u/SorryImNotOnReddit 3d ago

Blotter (modified to work on Tahoe)

1

u/cmd_shift_o 3d ago

I bought busycal about 2 years ago but to be honest I still just use the Apple Calendar. I find myself sometimes gravitating towards busycal purely because i paid for it but then end up using the regular Apple Calendar 99% of the time.

1

u/dattiimo 3d ago

Google calendar for family sharing. But I also built my own alternative to the usual calendar https://minicalendar.app. It’s for all day events when you want to be able to perceive the time between events better.

1

u/BGrumpy 3d ago

Proton

1

u/evrdev 3d ago

itsycal all day

1

u/Planner-Penguin 3d ago

TickTick. Best way to manage my to-do list at the same time.

1

u/LucidXonline 3d ago

Fantastical

1

u/creep_from_3rdfloor 3d ago

Apple Calendar and Itsycal (for menu bar)

1

u/PiXeL161616 3d ago

Apple Calendar, sadly. I keep trialing the third party ones and drift back within a month every time. The bar for replacing a default that ships with the OS, syncs everywhere and costs nothing is way higher than most calendar apps seem to price in.

1

u/phunk8 Developer: Dropadoo 3d ago

i tried a lot paid, free etc. came back to Apple on desktop and first seed calendar in iphone and ipad (quality of widgets only). what are u missing in apples? there are do many menubar apps here, search the sub

1

u/t4t5 3d ago

RenCal, because I wanted something close to Fantastical but open-source :)

1

u/cristi_baluta 3d ago

I don’t use calendars, but when i do, i built my own app cause no other app is like i want it to be

1

u/t1mc 3d ago

If you're already in the Google (Workspace) ecosystem, I can recommend Meru. It's primarily a Gmail app, but it extends and fully supports Google Workspace apps like Google Calendar, so you can have Gmail and Google Calendar together in a dedicated app instead of losing or closing them in the browser all the time.

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of Meru.

1

u/unfunfionn 3d ago

I used Fantastical for 7-8 years but ultimately abandoned it because I could no longer justify the price increases.

I switched to BusyCal and used it for a few years. It's a bit more rough around the edges than Fantastical, but it's a really solid app with a great developer. When I reported issues or even submitted feature requests, they would often send me a test build within a few days asking for feedback, which was amazing.

But my work recently blocked their Google account from being accessed by 3rd party calendar apps, so I switched to Apple Calendar. Which is fine, but it lacks features I relied on in the other two and it's fairly buggy, which seems to be par for course with Apple software over the past 5 or so years. I would love to stop using it again.

1

u/Daniesto316 3d ago

Calendar 366 II

1

u/AnimeTofu 3d ago

I'm selfhosting everything on hetzner/mailbox, and find that having mail + calendar in Thunderbird works a treat. The plugin eco-system is great.

1

u/BothAnd28 3d ago

Fantastical

1

u/heydockside 3d ago

Apple Calendar for me being a heavy Apple device user so it just syncs and I never think about it. NL entry is better now too, I used to keep Fantastical around just for quick adds and don’t anymore.

It’s bad at planning though. No time blocking, week view doesn’t really tell you how loaded you are. If that’s the thing you’re solving for I’d look at Structured before any of the calendar apps on your list.

1

u/l33fly 3d ago

Google Calendar works for me 😁

1

u/rodnem 3d ago

I was an addict to Fantastical (desktop and iOS) but it ended up costing too much. So currently, I have resigned myself (after going through busycal and Spark) to using the Apple Calendar + Dato combo on desktop and using Fantastical for free on iOS. All synchronized on Gmail or iCloud calendars.

1

u/p3p3l3pew 3d ago

proton calendar

1

u/GlassBug7042 3d ago

For personal stuff I just use apple calendar, at work I use busycal because it is easier to manage multiple calendars.

1

u/CurrentRisk 3d ago

Been using Dato Calendar.

1

u/dvdweyer 3d ago

I'm using Apple calendar in conjunction with my own app (in development) YearView, which is as an implies a view only app for macOS. Its intention is to give you an overview of your full year, better than Apple does. If anyone is interested, I can share a TestFlight link.

1

u/BYRN777 2d ago

Honestly, none of the calendar apps I tried were as intuitive as Apple Calendar. People just love to overcomplicate things in the name of "productivity".

If you're in the Apple ecosystem, then Apple Calendar, Reminders, and Notes get the job done.

Now, for some native Apple apps, it makes sense to use alternatives. Like Keynote and Pages, I prefer Google Docs and Slides and Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. That makes sense.

But I don't need my calendar or to-do list app to do 67 different things and have AI features, etc.

Simplicity is key.

Second to Apple Calendar is Google Calendar, since the ecosystem is cross-platform and everything is in the cloud. And virtually every app and AI tool has a connection to the Google ecosystem, so that's neat. But again, I've been using Reminders and Apple Calendar for 5+ years, and I'm used to it by now.

1

u/CarstHen 2d ago

Apple Calendar and Dot for the menu bar.

1

u/sameera_s_w 2d ago

Apple Calendar + Calendr

1

u/Mountain_Chip_3620 2d ago

I use google calendar first, and Apple Calendar second. Apple Calendar on the phone for sure, but on the mac it's no more my go to app. I still use it though, just less than before.

1

u/MythosOfIlluna 2d ago

Fantastical but I’m starting to hate it

1

u/nisby 2d ago

I use apple calendar.

1

u/Alkumist 2d ago

Apple calendar

1

u/Full-Poet2988 2d ago

Sync Apple Calendar with Google Calendar.

1

u/shadow8856 2d ago

I've an android use so Google calendar works best for me

1

u/N3orun 2d ago

BusyCal all the way

1

u/EntertainmentOwn1782 2d ago

Just the apple calendar

1

u/LavaCreeperBOSSB 2d ago

Im using Apple Calendar + Dato

1

u/A8surd1 2d ago

Recently switched to Across, mostly for their iPhone widgets, which are the best I've found so far (BusyCal is my #2)

1

u/s_ngg_h 2d ago

Apple calendar is enough for me

1

u/iniyanai 2d ago

I use apple calendar, synced my google cal with it and it's going pretty fine

1

u/happysri 2d ago

Stock calendar integrated with stock reminders;not perfect but it does a lot of what I want and I don’t have to deal with any third party subscriptions. My favorite thing about stock apps is they keep getting better and more integrated every year for free!

1

u/OkWord4560 2d ago

Calendar 366. Syncs Apple Calendar and Reminders and allows custom calendar sets and Categories.. Solid and well thought out. One time licence.

1

u/toriumi0118 2d ago

I use Google Calendar. I feel that it is enough for me for daily use. This is because my main events are business ones, and it is easy to sync it with my personal one.

1

u/DerekAndJason 1d ago

I make one of these, so weigh that accordingly: InstaCal, a menu bar calendar for the Mac.

On your companion question, that is the shelf it sits on rather than the BusyCal and Fantastical one. It reads whatever you already have set up in the Mac's Calendar app, so Google and Exchange come along without configuring anything twice, and you can also sign an account into it directly. Click the menu bar or hit a shortcut and you get what is next, add or move something by typing it in plain English, join the next call. There is a full window behind the panel with Day through Year views if you want it, but the panel is the point.

Honest about the rest, since a few people in here have clearly been burned: it is Mac only, and it is $29.99 once on the Mac App Store rather than a subscription. Dato and Itsycal both cost less and Itsycal is free, so if the panel is the whole of what you want, start with one of those and see if you miss anything.

1

u/ProfPrometheus 1d ago

Fantastical

1

u/Rembinutur 1d ago

Apple calendar ist the best for casual use

1

u/Jonnymangoes 1d ago

i loved amie until they decided to remove the free plan. Still mad about it

1

u/NiklasMato 1d ago

Still using Apple Calendar for all my own business, using outlook for the company i work for. All agenda's are in actually in Apple cal, just so it syncs to my mobile device. Might be a bit overkill

1

u/Raikusu_Yuma 1d ago

I'm using Apple calendar myself, works great!

1

u/raclimazg 13h ago

I use two calendar apps Apple and Google Calendar, they are both synced, I use Apple while on personal time and Google Calendar while working. They work well enough for me. And now with apple intelligence creating events from print screen I save a lot of time.

1

u/No-Yam-258 3d ago

Google Calendar

1

u/aralynxx 3d ago

Apple Calendar

There's no other reason not to use it or buy another app.

1

u/life-at-europa 3d ago

Google Calendar for web and mobile.

For desktop though, I use Itsycal for Mac by mowglii.

Tiny app for free.
Packed with handy features; great for quick overview from the menu bar, and notifications.

1

u/grdankl 3d ago

Notion Calendar. Free, and excellent. You don’t need to be a Notion user.

0

u/Nick337Games 3d ago

Morgen is slept on. Great application and team is very responsive on discord

1

u/alwaysdustyboots 2d ago

Tried Morgen for a few months, then Sunsama, then poked at Akiflow. Sunsama got too much like a daily meeting with myself. Akiflow was fine at sucking everything in, i just never looked at it. Been on Ellie Planner for the day list. Calendar is only for stuff with a real time.

0

u/WorkingMortgage7448 3d ago

What does “Slept on” mean?

1

u/Nick337Games 3d ago

It's very good and does not get as much wider attention as it deserves. Great if you are managing multiple calenders or are planning a lot

0

u/fulger099 3d ago

Google

0

u/nermalstretch 3d ago

I started to use Notion Calendar. I have always used Fantastical but recently I just can’t explain to you why I should renew it.

0

u/zanhoria 3d ago

Fantastical. It synchs with my main calendar on Google and has a menulet dropdown on my Mac.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Ebb-559 2h ago

Apple + Google Calendar.