When it comes to productivity, the most effective tool is often a calendar app. If you view time as valuable, then your schedule is like a budget. This is why choosing the best Calendar Apps for your business is crucial. Collaboration is also important, especially if you work remotely. Keeping track of your time and knowing who is doing what, where and when is essential.
A calendar is also important for managing your personal life. I have tested and evaluated many calendar apps to find the top five. Whether you want to try something new or switch from Google Calendar, these are my recommendations for the best calendar apps available.
Prime Calendar Applications
- Microsoft Outlook Calendar
- Google Calendar
- Fantastical
- Calendar
- Apple Calendar
What Features Distinguish A Superior Calendar Application?
Are you not aware that calendars, by definition, display what is on the agenda for you? Even the simplest and most bugged-up calendar application does the job. But, the real deal here isn’t functionality, but rather functionality backed up by design. Planners that proved efficient adjust quite well to your life and provide you with features that allow you to keep track of how you utilize your time.
I’ve been a tech writer for more than a decade and my calendar is my “go-to” tool that assists me in the management of all the various aspects of a freelance career. I also use my calendar in my personal life to remain organized and ensure that my regular activities like my trip to the dentist or my friend’s birthday don’t fall through the cracks. My pick no. 1, Fantastical (which occupies a place in that list) is a tool that I use regularly along with a handful of others.
- Easy to use. Calendar applications work even better when they can be operated with just a minimum of clicking and seeking in menus. The ability to add events in a flash, accurately and easily without having to consult the help docs should be at your fingertips; It should be effortless to arrange your schedule and to see what’s up next.
- Designed with intention. Does the calendar system deliver on all the things it promised? These are two questions that could be raised about music. Calendars are simple in theory, albeit, there are many problems in the practice. What is their strategy for different time zones? Or overlapping events? Is it possible to use it for personal and professional arenas at the same time? I had in mind to locate calendars that would feel like those made by people who are crazy about calendars.
- Jampacked of Features and Customizable. If you need simply to keep up with your days then a wall calendar may be what you need. On the other hand, serious schedulers will find power features, such as customizable views and integrations, very helpful for them to be able to make the best out of their calendar application. For simple apps without many features, I wanted adjustment options that would make the app’s viewing style unique— a calendar does not have to follow the same guidelines as after all you are the one using it.
- Simple to share. It’s quietly certain you must put events in someone else’s itinerary—be they for work or your private life. The ultimate shared calendar applications can send event invitations and even to share entire calendars among friends. It makes it convenient for you to fit your times together when you need them due to this feature.
- Available for multiple devices. My highly prioritized apps are those operating on multiple platforms. The main feature of a great online calendar is that it lets you check your agenda no matter where you are or which device is available to you at that very moment, or at least on all the devices you own.
Overall I was interested in the calendars and hadn’t given much thought to other types of apps that weren’t mobile- or desktop-only and not capable of integrating with the other platforms. If I were to develop an app that has close ties to other calendars, it should have extra functionality to help it stand out from the rest. Go through our articles on Android calendar apps, iPhone calendar apps, and Mac calendar apps if you desire to have apps of a particular platform (Android, iPhone, or Mac).
How About Calendars Powered By AI?
I believe that AI will one day replace calendars just like any other tool of daily routine, but it has not been done yet. I tried as many top alternate AI calendars as I could to know if any of them may serve me as a standalone calendar, and none of them did.
Nevertheless, the apps are outstanding at rearranging your schedule and planning it for you, but you should remember to have a calendar app so that you don’t forget to view things while you progress with your day. The majority of these AI applicants have no mobile app support. And they’re nearly all built around of Google Calendar and other calendars, so you can’t even use this app without signing up for one of their top choices.
Quick Overview Of Top Calendar Apps
Name | Best for | Stand-out feature | Pricing |
Microsoft Outlook Calendar | Microsoft users | Works really well cross-platform | Outlook.com is free, mobile apps are free, Microsoft 365 Personal starts at $7/month, Microsoft 365 Business Basic starts at $6/user/month with an annual contract |
Google Calendar | A free calendar app for teams | Seamless integration with most other calendar services | Free with a Google account; Business Starter for Google Workspace starts at $6/user/month |
Fantastical | A nice design | Super powerful features | Free basic calendar; Premium plan with scheduling and other features starts from $5/month |
Calendar | Scheduling external appointments | Combined calendar and meeting scheduler | Deep integration with the Apple ecosystem |
Apple Calendar | Apple users | Deep integration with Apple ecosystem | Included with macOS and iOS devices, or via iCloud with an Apple ID |
The Top Calendar App Tailored For Microsoft Users
Microsoft Outlook Calendar (Web, Android, iOS, macOS, Windows)

Outlook Calendar Pros:
- Stunning, but good app that is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android and includes emails and contacts management too.
- Efficient enterprise functions for every company that depends on Microsoft’s apps.
Outlook Calendar Cons:
- The addition and subscription of other calendar services add a portion of a mess.
Outlook which was implemented back in the ’90s and is still one of the top calendar apps currently. It is an integrated application that enables users to manage email, calendar, and contacts. Some adore this hacker, others don’t. This can be achieved in two ways. Either that, the calendar itself is sturdy—and it’s our one favorite email app too.
Creating an event takes only a couple of clicks within your calendar. Putting together many different calendars and seeing views like that of today, this week, even just for work is possible. Support for Exchange and Microsoft 365 help you to send event invitations to those at your organization easily, compare it to their schedule during this process, and share full calendars. With the built-in Scheduling Assistant, you can have an easy time finding a slot within all people’s calendars for the meeting.
This is your online calendar if your company runs on the Microsoft box. Yet Outlook is still worth checking out because this email client has a couple of cool features. The weather is always there to be factored in, say top of your agenda. It is now very convenient to turn an email into a calendar appointment or to have both emails and calendars side by side. Lastly, there is a facility for calendar subscriptions as well. The latest mobile applications, both Android and iOS, are also great.
Similar to Google, Microsoft will be boosting AI capabilities across practically everything it can touch. Currently, Outlook’s Copilot can’t do too much with your calendar and, Microsoft is showing off new features that will enable you to get action items and a summary of meetings you miss.
Of course, it’s a Microsoft product, the word “Outlook” here has several meanings, and some of them are so alike that distinguishing them might be difficult. Outlook for Mac is capable of synchronizing with Google Calendar; Outlook for Windows has only the option to follow them; and there are more than a few variations in interface between the two similar products. The third one refers to Outlook.com as a free email and calendar service of Hotmail back in the ’90s. It has a lot of Outlook’s features but it’s still different.
Microsoft Outlook Pricing: The Outlook.com accounts are free, as well as the mobile apps. The first one is the Microsoft 365 Personal plan which costs $7/month if you get it for a desktop and you can get Microsoft 365 Business Basic which starts at $6/user/month, if you agree to a yearly contract. Want to get into Outlook, but don’t want to pay for it? Windows features a calendar app that contains most of these features.
Prime Option For Teams In Need Of A Free Calendar Application
Google Calendar (Web, Android, iOS)

Google Calendar pros:
- This service is completely free and open to the public, as long as one has a Google account.
- Flows well across all calendar services that you wish to use.
Google Calendar cons:
- Being Google calls for this service, it can be annoying if you use another service to handle your email.
- No desktop apps, but it links with a bunch of them.
All these Google Calendar features are both powerful and flexible, at the same time, easy to use is a must. Instead, for those like you who just want an ordinary calendar to keep track of your schedules, you won’t miss anything. It’s clearly not rocket science to understand how to add some events or change the default week view to a month or day view. The convenience of incorporating other contacts adds a Google Meet video conference is also effortless.
If you just dig in, you will come across so many features. For instance, you can directly manage a whole calendar that shows you when your team is meeting and even a shared calendar with your spouse. (This is how my partner and I organize ourselves in tandem with our hectic situations.) You can create as many calendars as you’d like and subscribe to any iCal-compatible calendar, then choose which calendars you do and do not want to see. In this case, there are several great mobile apps, if you prefer and you can also choose to use any third-party application desktop ( every other app on this list can be synchronized with Google Calendar).
Google seems to be also making updates by adding AI-powered features into all its apps as well. Even though Google Calendar is yet to get any crucial update, it is just a matter of time before it is entirely integrated with Bard, which is the company’s chatbot product. Unfortunately, until that point, Google Calendar will be the backbone of every AI scheduling app Zapier’s found favorite, and most of them will need Google Calendar as such. It is this great level of integration and flexibility, which definitely makes Google Calendar very simple to recommend for everyone.
Moreover, you don’t need to go for the outside app. Google Calendar’s ability to interface with other Google products is an advantage, if you are already a Google user. You will quickly put your Google Calendar beside your Gmail side remark, e.g., or you can call your Google Contacts for an event. Google Workspace users enjoy various work-related features. Sometimes, they are even designed specifically for remote or hybrid teamwork. There’s a job location tool that takes into account the changing nature of the work environment and the feature of splitting the work hours. Besides that, you can arrange your appointments so they look like you are using a meeting scheduler tool. If the need for one calendar to bundle up a professional staff is what you are looking for, Google Calendar should be the real answer.
In essence, there aren’t any cons to the app, and to be honest I’m a bit of an expert on that. It should be the numero uno app for most people to test, regardless of whether you require it for your personal or professional life.
Google Calendar pricing: For free, with a Google account; the Business Starter plan is for Google Workspace which includes all Google apps and starts at $6/user/month on one one-year commitment.
Superlative Calendar App Celebrated For Its Sleek Design
Fantastical ( iOS, macOS)

Fantastical pros:
- All-in-all, it’s the best planner app available, although it’s exclusive to iDevices.
- Awe-inspiring and endowed with so many little trinkets of perfection.
Fantastical cons:
- It’s so cost-intensive for a personal budget.
The movie Fantastical is beyond great! Maybe so, but anyhow, for this particular one, it is not. All you need to handle your schedule is the Fantastical app for iOS and MacOS, and you can sync to your Apple Watch as well as connect to the forthcoming Apple Vision Pro. This is the calendar app I use every day (and it is programmed to work with Google Calendar).
Although it’s good enough to have a mobile option, Fantastical performs at its best on a desktop. To put it simply, this is the best-designed version of the calendar app that is fit for macOS or any other operating system. Start with the left panel: for the most part, apps provide us with a list of calendars that are only partially useful. Not Fantastical. In this part of the review, it is a place for your agenda or your reminders.
This is a little thing, but, believe me, that’s how we can see how much effort they put into making every design element user intuitive. Another little thing: for instance, if you see a similar event in two different calendars, it will only show once to avoid double-booking, and a lighter background color will indicate that it’s in more than one calendar. For a few minutes with Fantastical, you will notice the subtle functions like this.
The many integrations of Fantastical – which is also compatible with the rest of the system – include desktop widgets, Handoff support, sharing extension for app events creation, like addresses in Maps and URLs in Safari, as well as Focus Mind-based filtering.
Fantastical is popular for its natural creating language of events. Typing “Lunch with Casey at noon at Park Place” will initiate the app to parse your words into slots of relevant fields and invite to join. Apple Calendar has this option in it; Fantastic has it much better. Besides running with iCloud, Exchange, Office 365, Google, Yahoo, fruux, and Meetup, it can sync with every CalDAV provider. Your options are nearly endless.
One of the things I like most is the scheduling of the appointments made easy. Although many calendars existed—including Apple Calendar and Google Calendar – Fantastical’s method really worked for me as it was such a perfect match for the calendar I used on all my devices. No other scheduling app is this precise in playing on Apple devices. To be straightforward, if you seek to buy the best Apple calendar, this is the one you need.
Fantastical pricing: Free basic calendar; $5/month (billed per year) for the advanced plan with time management and other important features of the premium plan.
Top Calendar App For Organizing External Appointments
Calendar (Web, Android, iOS)

Calendar pros:
- The scheduling works well with all the calendaring amenities.
- Convenient, trendy websites and mobile apps.
Calendar cons:
- The free form is a little below standard, and the paid form is absurdly expensive.
It is difficult to imagine a less complicated calendar than Calendar, but nothing about this app is as simple as its name. Everything just for managing your appointment is here at a site with a modern design that fully supports all cooperation. This is the best-reading web app.
But it’s not just a great electronic calendar app: moreover, it is both an appointment scheduler and a reminder. One way to do this is to sign up for Calendar, like for instance, at calendar.com/michaelscott. You may select instances when you are free and permit anyone with link access to make an appointment with you.
Many appointment scheduling apps take care of this. But we are aware of Calendar as the only full-scale calendar solution that also offers a calendar-style scheduling function beyond Apple devices. Granted, Google Calendar has the ability to schedule appointments, but Calendar’s version provides a lot of added conveniences. This single feature is the whole reason why you would want to give this app a short. Specially if you want to steer clear of exchanging emails and rescheduling Zoom calls. It even integrates directly with Stripe should you decide to charge your services.
The unlucky part is that Calendar just tripled its prices for their new users – now they start paying $25/month for the Standard versions. There is nothing wrong with the app. In fact, it otherwise will cost you to subscribe to two calendar apps and then schedule apps. However, it does place the value of that investment into question.
Calendar pricing: A free plan is available, the standard begins at $25/per month, allowing for up to five scheduling timeslots. Pro is $30 per month, and we give you unlimited scheduling slots.
Premier Free Calendar App Designed Specifically For Apple Users
Apple Calendar (Web, iOS, macOS)

Apple Calendar Pros:
- The simple and clear user interface shows you all the relevant information.
- Another unexpected benefit is the marriage of the AirPods with the rest of the Apple world.
Apple Calendar Cons:
- iOS or Apple users only can use this feature.
Application Calendar is the out-of-the-box calendar that comes with Mac, iPad, and iPhone. If you’ve used an Apple product, you know what to expect: simple, just beautiful, and easy to use. Apple Calendar is just the thing to help organize your life.
Continuously, iCloud and Google Calendar both sync by default. Additionally, Apple Calendar can be set to sync with Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, or any calendar with CalDAV. To achieve this you just make an attachment of any email client app to another account.
Apple keeps its desktop and app clutter-free, so you can concentrate on your event rather than on your app. This software is easy to use if you have prior experience with the Apple apps. Additionally, the product has support for drag and drop. The Siri integration is a highlight: instruct the adviser to enter the appointment, and that’s where it will conclude. But, adding appointments couldn’t be easier on the app, even on the Mac.
Create a new event by typing in regular words—just write a sentence with a title, time. And date then press enter. It can also figure out how long it will take to get there. And include that in the reminder along with other details.
If you mainly use an Apple device, Calendar is an app worth taking time to explore. It possesses all the features that you would expect on a calendar app. You can also share and sync calendars with your i Cal device-using teammates and that special someone in your life. The most disappointing part is that connection between different OS is a bit tricky. And needs jumping through some hurdles or using some different apps separately.
Apple Calendar Pricing: The feature comes with macOS and iCloud, which allow the effective use of an Apple ID.