Time is the center of the universe. Does that make calendar apps the best productivity app? You don't have to be a time management fiend to want to use a calendar application to better organize your events, meetings, and maybe even time blocks. Calendar apps are some of the most common productivity tools because they focus on time at their core.
Navigating calendar applications is like buying a car, so many brands, so many offerings. Which one to pick right? We feel you. The range of calendar applications is expansive and we've now seen the rise of tools like meeting planners, chrome extensions for your calendar, and smaller calendar apps too.
Here's the thing about calendar apps in 2026: they all look basically the same at first glance. You've got your grid view, your list view, maybe a week view if you're fancy. They all let you add events, set reminders, and color-code things. But after testing probably 30+ calendar apps over the past year (yeah, I might have a problem), the differences become obvious once you actually start using them daily.
Some calendar apps are just wrappers around Google Calendar or Outlook with a fresh coat of paint. Others are trying to reinvent how we think about time management entirely, with AI scheduling assistants and automatic time blocking. Then you've got the traditional productivity apps that have been around for a decade, still getting updates and still working reliably.
The question isn't really "which calendar app is best" but rather "which calendar app matches how you actually work?" If you're booking 10+ meetings a week, you need different features than someone who just wants to track personal appointments and maybe remember their partner's birthday. If you're managing a team, you need shared calendars and availability features. If you're a freelancer juggling clients, you probably want something with invoicing integration or at least good meeting scheduling links.
What makes a great calendar app?
Calendar apps are hard to pick because they look the same and present many of the same features, like the ability to time-block, add events, descriptions, reminders and video conferencing optionality.
Here's what we believe make a calendar app brilliant: Scheduling Functions: The best calendar apps should allow you to better plan meetings and events with people using meeting scheduling functions. This is becoming much more common and not every calendar app has it, but that's what makes them better. There's nothing worse than investing your time into a calendar app and using a 3rd party service like Calendly to book meetings. Two tools can become one.
Honestly, the back-and-forth email dance of "does Tuesday at 3pm work?" followed by "actually can we do Wednesday at 2pm instead?" is exhausting. Calendar apps that let you send a link with your availability and let people book directly are worth their weight in gold. I've saved probably 10+ hours a month just by switching to a calendar app with built-in scheduling.
Super Mobile Apps: Calendar is hard to get right on mobile thanks to the tiny real-estate when compared to a wide screen desktop display, so the best calendar apps make it easy and resourceful of the space on their mobile app version. Cracking examples are ones that make it easy to navigate between dates and don't overwhelm with features but deliver what's needed to view, schedule in and even plan meetings.
I've tested calendar apps where the mobile version felt like an afterthought. Tiny buttons, laggy scrolling, features that only work on desktop. In 2026, that's just not acceptable. Your mobile app needs to be as good as the desktop version, maybe better since most people check their calendar on their phone way more often.
Increasing AI Abilities: There's more need for AI to do smaller errands in the background of your calendar apps. The more prevalent calendar apps will need and activate AI to do things like plan your tasks into your calendar, save time with suggested dates and recommend the best slots for you and people to work with. Less meetings and more focus time is the best motto.
The AI stuff is still early, but some apps are already doing clever things like auto-categorizing meetings, suggesting when to decline calls based on your workload, or automatically blocking focus time when your calendar gets too packed. Not all of it works perfectly (I've had AI suggest I schedule deep work during lunch), but it's getting better.
1. Morgen
Best for All Round: Morgen
Morgen helps you plan tasks, manage your calendar and connect with other integrations like Todoist, Google Tasks and beyond, with a Notion integration coming too. Alongside your calendar events and meetings you can see a task list with the ability to create tasks and create lists for better planning, you can then use this to time-block into the schedule.
Morgen is probably even better as an all-rounder than the likes of Fantastical to be honest. It brings a wide variety of devices, good design, and a speedy app that allows users to add tasks and calendar items with ease. Much like Fantastical it offers a clean and simple design, and with the same freemium limitations too that you'd expect to see in Fantastical.
What really sets Morgen apart is how it handles multiple calendars. If you're juggling a work Google Calendar, a personal Outlook calendar, and maybe a shared family calendar, Morgen brings them all together without making your screen look like a rainbow exploded. The unified view actually works, which isn't something I can say about every calendar app that claims to do this.
The task integration is clutch. Instead of switching between your calendar and your to-do list app 50 times a day, you can see everything in one place and drag tasks directly onto your calendar to time-block them. I've been using this feature for about six months now and it's genuinely changed how I plan my days. No more overcommitting because I forgot about three hours of tasks when I agreed to another meeting.
Morgen is a notable Sunsama alternative but at a fraction of the cost, which matters if you're not expensing it.
2. Fantastical Calendar
Best for All Round (iOS): Fantastical Calendar
Fantastical is free and offers a good way to add meetings, events and weather forecasts. It is simple, with "natural language input" for quickly adding events. Fantastical was developed by Flexibits, which created an easy, fun, and approachable calendar application.
Fantastical offers a premium experience which does give you better and bolder access to conferencing, productivity features like sets for managing your tasks and calendar in one and even a meeting scheduling link that you can send out externally to book meetings. This is just one of the classics in the productivity space as far as calendar apps.
For those Apple centric (iOS and macOS) users, that want a great all-round calendar app.
This is one of the best ones the market. Fantastical is brilliant for managing events, using natural language to add quick tasks, and managing light tasks alongside events.
Fantastical is a calendar app that handles events, tasks & meeting scheduling in one.
3. Calendars by Readdle
Best for All Round: Calendars by Readdle
Calendars by Readdle is a cost-effective calendar app with a simple design and features that will help you go beyond the basics of Apple Calendar. It is one of the most recommended calendar apps and comes with a very high rating on the App Store thanks to the combination of features and build quality.
If you're looking for something not so AI-based or something that provides you with the basics for calendar management, then Readdle's option here will do you well.
It can also connect with Spark Mail more recently.
4. Notion Calendar
Best for Notion Users: Notion Calendar
Perfect for those who want a simple calendar experience. Notion Calendar connects with Google Calendar and allows you to time-block, send meeting scheduling links out, manage your tasks and meetings with video conferencing to Google Meet and Zoom. Notion Calendar brings powerful ways to connect with Notion without leaving your calendar in two ways.
With pages, you don't lose important pages that could be useful for a meeting, and with databases, you can bring in important dates to your calendar. Notion Calendar also brings a brilliant way to manage your events on the go with a reliable, fast and easy to use mobile application that many people continue to credit.
Notion Calendar is free, works with Google Calendar and has a stunning desktop and mobile design.
Notion will likely continue to integrate this with Notion and bring more features to enhance it, whether they bring it into a pricing model is open to debate, but for now Notion Calendar is fantastic and works great even more so for Notion users.
Notion Calendar is a calendar app owned by Notion for managing events & meetings.
5. Vimcal
Best for Busy Professionals: Vimcal
This is more premium but does have a solid free experience for mobile calendar application with a clean and easy to use design on the go. Vimcal wants to be the fastest way you manage your calendar and they do this with features that span into AI, team management and better collaborating with others externally.
There's a few notable features, the first of those is AI Time Finder that helps you share dates, or a Calendly link, or even a screenshot. It will pick all the meetings out and plot them out on the calendar making it easier to plug them in right away. I tested this by forwarding a messy email thread with like six different proposed meeting times, and Vimcal actually parsed it correctly and suggested the overlapping availability. Pretty slick.
They don't stop there with the team slots function. It allows you to book slots with others and even use AI to find the best slots they think will work out. You can use group voting for your meeting times and also use a Calendly link for automatic bookings. The group voting feature is especially useful if you've ever tried coordinating a meeting with five people across three time zones. Instead of the email chaos, everyone votes on their preferred times and Vimcal picks the winner.
The keyboard shortcuts are absurdly comprehensive. Like, if you're the type of person who hates touching your mouse, Vimcal is your app. Every action has a shortcut, and once you learn them (takes maybe a week of daily use), you can manage your entire calendar without clicking anything. It's the kind of speed optimization that sounds pointless until you're booking your 10th meeting of the day and you're just flying through it.
If you're hunting for something more progressive in the realm of AI then we'd say checkout Vimcal, it reminds us of the Superhuman for calendar apps: speedy, packed with features and eager to be adding more at a rate of knots. Fair warning though, the premium pricing is steep. But for people who live in their calendar (sales teams, executives, consultants), the time savings probably justify the cost.
6. TimeTree
Best for Social Sharing: TimeTree
TimeTree is a compelling yet simple calendar app for individuals who want to organize with others. You can connect your family and friends to their subscriptions and allow them to start creating and sharing events, perfect for those family members who want to stay updated.
Additionally, for those who can't create an account, you can set up a virtual one for them, ideal for kids and grandparents (who are less tech-savvy).
This is a great all-around calendar for mobile and social users.
Which Free Calendar App to Pick?
Best AI Free Calendar App
Which free calendar application should you choose? Let's break it down to help you find the right one. While many apps have a range of features, let's start by looking at the best overall free experience.
For those already using Notion, the Notion Calendar is the best option due to its seamless integration with Notion databases and powerful features. The fact that it's completely free with no premium upsell is kind of wild, honestly. Most calendar apps these days lock their best features behind a paywall, but Notion Calendar gives you meeting scheduling links, time blocking, and the Notion integration without asking for a credit card.
If you're an Apple user, Fantastical Calendar is a solid pick. It has been a top-rated calendar app for years and is known for its reliability. The natural language input alone is worth the download. Type "lunch with Sarah next Tuesday at noon" and it just works. The free version is limited compared to premium (no calendar sets, limited scheduling features), but for basic calendar management it's excellent.
For cross-platform users who need something that works on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, Morgen is probably your best bet. The free tier is generous enough for personal use, and the interface is clean without being overly simplified. Plus, the task integration actually works, which is more than I can say for some paid alternatives.
Other free apps are worth exploring on Tool Finder, but these options provide a good overview of what's available and their respective limitations. Thing is, most people will be fine with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar if they're not doing anything fancy. The third-party apps are better if you need specific features like team scheduling, task management integration, or AI-powered time blocking. Don't feel pressured to switch if your current setup works. Calendar app switching is a hassle, and sometimes good enough is actually good enough.
What is the best free calendar app out there?
Our recommendations for the best free calendar apps are Notion Calendar, Fantastical & Morgen. They all offer generous free subscriptions and allow you to manage your calendar easily using their features with services like Google Calendar.
The easiest free calendar app to use has to be Notion Calendar.
It allows you to connect your Google Calendar and reminds us a lot of Apple Calendar for managing your events and meetings efficiently. This is thanks to a beautiful, easy design. Both iOS and Android have pre-built calendar apps, on iOS, this is Apple Calendar. On Android, this could be Samsung Calendar or Google Calendar, depending on the device, you have chosen to manage your calendar.