I’m constantly on the lookout for great time management tools, especially for tracking goals. These days, I’m constantly trying new apps for this purpose. Because of that, I thought it would be useful to create a short list of what I consider to be the best calendar apps. It includes my favorites as well as some cool new apps I’ve tested recently.
Best calendar app for Microsoft users
Microsoft Outlook Calendar (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web)
The most stalwart of calendar apps, Microsoft Outlook Calendar is more of a personal information manager than a place to see your next appointment. The desktop app unifies your calendar, email, notes, tasks, and contacts into one view. Outlook’s mobile apps aren’t quite so ambitious, but they do at least combine your calendar and email.
Outlook, which is part of Microsoft Office, lets you share calendars with teammates, and that’s its real strength. With Exchange Server accounts and the appropriate permissions, team members can view and manage each other’s schedules and subscribe to one another’s calendars. Outlook offers options for how you can view multiple calendars at once: side-by-side or with calendars combined in an overlay view.
If you don’t use Outlook within an organization, you might still appreciate the calendar’s many features. You can drag and drop an email onto the calendar icon in the navigation menu to turn it into an appointment (available in the Windows app only), or quickly send a meeting request from either email or the calendar. Outlook supports multiple time zone views, too. There’s a lot to dig into.
You can get a free online version of Outlook, called Outlook.com, which is more streamlined and has fewer features. Outlook.com has family sharing, so you can add other household members to your account to make your calendar accessible to others. The Mac version of Outlook isn’t as robust as the Windows version, but if you like having everything in one place, this is an all-in-one productivity tool to consider.
Connect Outlook to Zapier for more power. That way, you can send calendar appointments to other apps, including other calendars or your to-do list.Add Microsoft Outlook events to Google CalendarUse this ZapAdd Microsoft Outlook events from new Google Calendar eventsUse this ZapAdd new Microsoft Outlook events to Todoist as tasksUse this ZapSee more Microsoft Outlook integrations powered by
Here’s how you can supercharge your Microsoft Outlook calendar with Zapier.
Microsoft Outlook Pricing: Free plan available; Microsoft 365 Personal plan, which includes most Microsoft Office apps, starts at $7 per month.
Best calendar app for scheduling external appointments
Calendar.com (Android, iOS, Web)
It’s hard to think of a simpler name for a calendar than Calendar.com, but fortunately, that’s not all this app has to offer. Everything you need to manage your appointments is here, on a site with modern design and full support for collaboration. This is a well-thought-out app.
But it’s not just a calendar app: it also works as an appointment scheduler. Sign up for Calendar.com, and you’ll get a public profile—for example, calendar.com/michaelscott. You can set up times that you’re available, then allow anyone with the link to schedule an appointment with you.
There are plenty of appointment scheduling apps that do this, but so far as we know, Calendar.com is the only full-fledged calendar app to also offer a feature-complete scheduling feature like this. That alone makes it worth trying out.
You can also connect Calendar.com to your other favorite apps through Zapier. You can, for example, get a Slack notification every time someone signs up for a meeting with you. Send direct messages in Slack when new meetings are scheduled in CalendarUse this Zappowered by
Calendar.com pricing: Free plan available; Pro version starts at $8/month with unlimited scheduling time slots.
Best free calendar app for Apple users
Cozi Family Organizer
Running a family is a full-time job. Juggling kids’ extra-curricular activities, planning meals, organizing shopping trips, and visiting doctors arguably requires even more careful attention to agendas than typical 9 to 5 employment.
If you want to make sure your family is all on the same page, you could sign up for Cozi Family Organizer.
It’s a free web calendar that has separate sections for activities such as meals, birthdays, and health appointments. There’s also a contact manager, a family journal, and a built-in way to send SMS messages to other family members.
The free version of Cozi is ad-supported. It’s $20 per year for the Gold version. It removes ads and introduces a few extra features such as month view on mobile and a birthday tracker.
Apple Calendar (iOS, macOS, Web)
Because it’s built into macOS and iOS, Apple Calendar is the default place to store calendar entries on Apple devices. Without any real effort on your part, you can keep your calendar up to date across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, thanks to iCloud. In a pinch, you can also view and update your calendar entries from a web app on iCloud.com.
Apple Calendar allows you to pull in info from other calendars, too, such as Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, and any calendar that uses CalDAV. Setting this up is as easy as connecting an email client app to another email account.
Apple’s clean and simple calendar lets you focus on your events rather than the app itself. It’s intuitive to use if you’re familiar with other Apple apps, with support for drag and drop and Siri integration. Click or tap the plus sign (+) to create a new event, which can include a title, location, reminder, note, and invitees. You can also add a travel time estimate that will be factored into event alerts. As you might expect, this no-frills calendar integrates with Apple devices, so that you see notifications from it in the iOS and macOS notification bars.
Apple Calendar Pricing: Included with macOS and iOS devices, or via iCloud with an Apple ID
Best calendar app for its design
Fantastical 2 (iOS, macOS)
Is it cheesy to call Fantastical 2 fantastic? Probably, but at least in this case, it’s not hyperbole. Fantastical 2 has just about everything one could want in a calendar app for iOS and macOS, in addition to an Apple Watch companion.
While it’s nice to have the mobile app, Fantastical 2 is at its best on desktop. The app is colorful without being gaudy or overwhelming, and it’s easy to use without sacrificing control over your event details. On a Mac, the menu bar app lets you quickly add an event or see what’s on your agenda in the coming days. Adding details to your events—such as notes, URLs, invitees, and locations—feels quick and smooth. Fantastical 2 also integrates with the rest of your system to give you a Today view widget, Handoff support, and a share sheet extension that lets you create events from other apps, like addresses in Maps and URLs in Safari.
Fantastical 2 is best known for its natural-language event creation. Start typing “Lunch with Casey at noon at Park Place,” and watch as the app parses your words into calendar fields and pulls in relevant information, such as addresses and team members’ availability. If you want the best Apple calendar on the market, this is the one you’re looking for.
Fantastical 2 Pricing: Free; Premium costs $3.33 per month
Best calendar app for seeing where your time goes
Woven (Android, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows)
Woven, at first glance, doesn’t look that different from other calendar apps. The main difference is in the left sidebar, alongside your calendar. Click an appointment, and you’ll see all details there, instead of in a pop-up. It’s a subtle thing, but it makes browsing your appointments a lot easier.
And this sidebar contains all sorts of other information, most notably an Analytics tab. It breaks down all of your appointments and shows you how you’re spending your time—how many hours you have free for focused work, how many hours you’re spending in meetings, and even who you’re spending the most time in meetings with. There’s even a note about how many hours you’re spending in video calls.
Time is money. Woven does a good job of turning your calendar into a budget.
Woven pricing: Free; Premium starts at $10 per month
Any.do Calendar
This calendar has direct integration with Any.Do To-Do List, which gives you a unique tandem of two applications.
Apart from its extended functionality, Cal Calendar is easy to use. The creation of events is very simple and fast.
What is more, depending on the name of the event, the application automatically adds contacts and geolocation data to the entry description. You can even import your lists and entries from Any.do.
Any.do Calendar is a great option for any type of user. It is very convenient and doesn’t overcomplicate the mode of display.
Another good thing is that this tool is available for free, so you can use it without spending a dime for the software.
Download Any.do Calendar here!
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is the official calendar for Android devices that has been tested out by many users around the globe. If you are right now trying to get away from it, consider changing your mind.
Since this application is installed on most Android devices by default, many users think that there is nothing special in this program. They are wrong.
Google has been updating its calendar for quite a few years, and now it comes in Material Design with advanced event features, direct integration into other Google services (for example, supports reminders and Google Now), and comes with Exchange support.
The program is super easy and will not cost a dime for you. If you want to use this app more effectively, here’re some pro tips.
Download Google Calendar here.
Business Calendar
Business Calendar is geared towards people who use their calendar for work purposes and business task planning. It offers different modes with wide configuration capabilities.
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The application gives a default view mode by months, and events can be marked in different colors. Display modes/ sorting can be adjusted to your needs (by month, day, year, or events).
You can also set a multi-day viewing mode to see how things look for the next few days. Scrolling up and down moves you by month, and if you check a few days, they will be shown in a more detailed form.
The day display mode offers hourly scheduling, and the schedule mode provides a detailed schedule for a single event.
Business Calendar is a great tool for planning/ scheduling cases, tasks, and events. There is a support for recurring events, which can be set up in just a few clicks.
Having purchased software, you can use it to import and export other calendars, delete, copy, or move several events at the same time.
Android Business Calendar application may seem somewhat chaotic, but it works fine and is easy to work with if you play with it for a while.
A full version of the application is available for $4.99, but you can also find a free version for the app test drive.
Download Business Calendar here.
aCalendar
aCalendar opens our collection of top 10 calendar applications available on the market today. With its appealing design, easy navigation, and great functionality, it is one of the most popular calendar apps in our list.
Some of extra functions include color schemes for each case type (48 colors to choose from), different types of demonstrations, different widgets, moon phases, and much more.
Taking into account it functionality, aCalendar is a reliable calendar application that has an easy-to-navigate interface with three display options. Scrolling from side to side allows you to switch between the display modes of the month, week and day.
When scrolling down and up, you are moving through the calendar at intervals in accordance with the selected display mode.
Apart from its time planning feature, aCalendar synchronizes photos from contact lists or social networks to remind you about birthdays, anniversaries, or any other special dates.
The program also supports data transfer through NFC and full-screen widgets, which eases your work with any data.
The program is available for free, but you can also get even more features if you buy the extended version of software for $4.99.
Conclusion
Finding the best calendar app/planner for your needs is not always easy. There are too many apps out there that claim they are the best, but how do you choose? You can’t go wrong with this expert roundup of the best planners to help you get things done in an organized way. Hopefully, you now know where to begin from,