What do we want from a free calendar app?
The majority of calendar apps connect to Google, Apple, or Outlook calendars. This allows us the freedom to roam and upgrade the look of your calendar with third-party calendar apps. Think of these as a better interface sitting on top of your existing calendar data.
A lot of the calendar apps on the market are premium or offer paid subscriptions, so we've found the best free calendar apps out there. These aren't stripped-down trials that nag you every five seconds to upgrade. These are genuinely usable free options that can serve as your daily calendar without spending a dime.
Here's what to expect from our recommendations:
Connect Services: At least connects one of the popular services you already use like Google, Outlook, or Apple Calendar. No point in a calendar app that can't access your existing events and calendars.
Handle the Basics: You don't want to worry about limits when using and adding the basic calendar features. Creating events, setting reminders, and viewing your schedule should all work without hitting arbitrary restrictions.
Optional Upgrades: If you seek more power or features beyond the basics, you can upgrade easily to bolder plans. But you shouldn't need to pay just to have a functional calendar.
Despite Google, Apple, and Outlook offering their free calendar experience, these are all third-party apps. They can plug in with those services, but we didn't want to recommend those tools, as they are the core foundations for most apps. You already have access to those. We're looking for something that adds value on top.
What makes a calendar app worth using over the default options? A few things matter here. Better design and user experience can make a huge difference in how much you actually enjoy planning your day. Smart features like natural language input ("Meeting with Sarah next Tuesday at 2pm") save time. Cross-platform availability means you can access your calendar from any device. And integration with other tools (tasks, notes, habits) can consolidate your productivity stack.
We've tested dozens of calendar apps to find ones with genuinely useful free tiers. Some are better for specific use cases (iOS users, teams, time blockers), but all of them deliver real value without requiring your credit card. Let's dive in.
Notion Calendar
Best for Cross Platform: Notion Calendar
Notion Calendar is a calendar app developed by the Notion team (they acquired Cron Calendar in 2026 and rebranded it). It helps you handle Google and iCloud calendars on one platform, across a wide range of devices. Notion Calendar is totally free, making it a great candidate for the job.
It helps make those calendars easier to browse, with scheduling links for booking meetings, an easy-to-use layout, and a beautiful set of apps that work fast. The design is clean and modern, way nicer than the default Google Calendar interface if we're being honest.
Despite being free, it deeply embeds with Notion pages and databases, so if you're a Notion nerd already, you'll find it perfect for your needs. You can link calendar events to Notion pages, which is clutch for keeping meeting notes and project details connected to your schedule. Many people love that you can use it on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows without issues, making it a perfect cross-platform tool.
The scheduling links feature is surprisingly powerful for a free app. You can create booking pages (like Calendly) where people can see your availability and book time with you. No need to pay for a separate scheduling tool. This alone saves you $10-15/month if you do a lot of meetings.
It is likely Notion will add more Notion AI features that upgrade the experience for premium Notion users, but this shouldn't affect the core free calendar experience. Right now, the only real limit is the "Notion Meet" feature for AI meeting note-taking, which requires Notion AI as part of a premium Notion subscription.
One thing I appreciate: there are no arbitrary limits on how many calendars you can connect or events you can create. Some free calendar apps cap you at 2-3 calendars, which is ridiculous. Notion Calendar doesn't pull that nonsense.
The time zone handling is smooth, perfect if you work with people across different regions. And the keyboard shortcuts are solid once you learn them, making it fast to navigate and create events without touching your mouse.
Downsides? It's not as good for individuals who like time blocking with tasks. It's really focused on calendar events, not task management. And if you don't use Notion at all, you're missing out on some of the best integration features. But as a free calendar client? Hard to beat.
Fantastical Calendar
Best for iOS & Mac: Fantastical Calendar
Fantastical is a calendar app with a long background. Designed for iOS and macOS by popular developer Flexibits, it presents a good free calendar experience for Apple users. It consistently wins design awards and has been around long enough to nail the user experience.
It connects to all the popular calendar services including Exchange, and comes with task management built-in as well, which is handy for time blocking. While the time blocking isn't as advanced as dedicated apps, the task management area helps tally tasks up and see what's next alongside your events. Having tasks and calendar in one view is clutch for planning your day.
The natural language input is probably the best in the business. Type "Lunch with Sarah next Tuesday at 1pm at Starbucks" and it parses everything correctly: the event name, date, time, and location. It just works. This saves so much time compared to clicking through date pickers and dropdown menus.
Fantastical's free plan is surprisingly generous. You can connect unlimited calendars (Google, iCloud, Outlook, Exchange, all of them). You can add unlimited tasks and connect with Apple Reminders or Todoist. Weather forecasts show up in your calendar view, though the free plan limits you to 3 days ahead.
The design quality is top-tier. It's one of those apps that feels native to Apple platforms because it respects all the design conventions while adding its own polish. Dark mode looks great, the widgets are useful, and the menu bar integration on Mac is exactly what you want.
Downsides? It's limited to iOS and Mac only. If you use Windows or Android, you're out of luck. And meeting scheduling links (like Calendly) are only for premium members, which is a bummer since Notion Calendar offers this for free.
If you wanted to upgrade, Fantastical isn't crazy expensive: $4.75/month billed annually or $6.99/month billed monthly. Premium unlocks scheduling links, calendar sets, proposals, and more. But honestly, the free tier is solid enough for most people.
Perfect if you're an iOS/Mac user who wants to bring lots of calendars into one beautifully designed app. The task integration and natural language input alone make it worth trying. Just know you're locked into the Apple ecosystem with this choice.
Fantastical is a calendar app that handles events, tasks & meeting scheduling in one.
Reclaim
Best for AI Powered Planning: Reclaim
Reclaim is an AI calendar software owned by Dropbox. It's used for calendar management, planning tasks and priorities, and coordinating meetings with other team members. Think of Reclaim as a way to use AI to help plan your priorities, organize the perfect time for a meeting with a colleague, and even get your daily habits into your system.
Reclaim is perfect if you're looking for something that helps upgrade Google and Outlook calendar with the help of AI. You can use it right away to add a priority, and it will time-block that right into your calendar for optimal focus. One thing that makes Reclaim a great free calendar app is that you can get the powers of AI scheduling without paying a subscription or crazy rates.
Here's how it works: you tell Reclaim about your priorities and tasks. It looks at your calendar, finds open time, and automatically blocks time for you to work on those priorities. As meetings get added or rescheduled, Reclaim automatically adjusts your focus time blocks. It's like having a personal assistant managing your calendar.
The habit feature is clutch. You can set up recurring habits like "lunch," "exercise," or "deep work," and Reclaim will defend time for them in your calendar. It won't let meetings eat into your important routines. On the free plan, you get one smart habit, which is honestly enough for most people to start with (usually lunch or a morning focus block).
The help that AI brings to your calendar might be a game-changer for you in helping organize your work. It also works as a daily planner app that many people like as a combo of tasks and calendar management. You get unlimited task management on the free tier, which is generous.
You are limited to one calendar sync on the free plan (either Outlook or Google, pick one). This is the biggest constraint. If you need to manage multiple calendar accounts, you'll need to upgrade. But for most individuals with one work calendar, this works fine.
Comes with one scheduling link to share with external parties for meeting booking. Not as full-featured as Calendly, but it works for basic availability sharing. The time tracking features are unlimited even on the free plan, which is great for people using the pomodoro system or tracking billable hours.
The analytics are surprisingly useful. You can see how much time you spent in meetings versus focus time, track your productivity patterns, and identify where your time is actually going. This data can be eye-opening.
Downsides? It's web-only (no native apps), which can feel clunky if you're used to native calendar apps. And since it's owned by Dropbox, there's always the risk they could shut it down or change direction. Dropbox has a history of acquiring products and then letting them stagnate.
For premium features, it's $8 per user per month. Premium unlocks unlimited calendars, unlimited habits, and team features. But the free tier is solid for individual use.
Reclaim is perfect if you want to plan tasks, calendar events, and meetings in one place with AI doing the heavy lifting. Backed by Dropbox (hopefully they'll continue to develop it). If you're worried about the Dropbox ownership, check out these alternatives.
Zoom Calendar
Best for Meeting Goers: Zoom Calendar
Zoom Calendar is a free calendar service into the Zoom Workspace. It connects with Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft 365 and helps individuals to use a calendar client whilst still being inside of Zoom. This makes it perfect for meeting goers who use Zoom that want to be able to pop open their calendar, book a meeting or just see what's next right from their menu bar.
You need to connect yourself to Zoom Mail to access Zoom Calendar. It can be used on desktop or mobile apps. Deeply embedded with Zoom. Does the basics for most calendar services. Cannot schedule meetings without Zoom Scheduler add-on. Not the most attractive looking calendar app. Google Outlook (Microsoft 365) Zoom Calendar is free to use. If you have Zoom Workspace, you want to upgrade.
Zoom Scheduler is a separate add-on subscription. If you're using Zoom already, have lots of meetings, you'll love this free calendar client. You will love it if you're already using Zoom Workspace as everything will be unlocked.
Calendars
Best for Casual Users: Calendars
Calendars is a calendar app developed by Readdle. It works for managing your calendar, using light time-blocking and used by 30M people worldwide. It is highly rated and has a good free plan which makes everyone happy. It can help you block events, use plans and connects with reminders to help you never forget. You can connect up with Google, Exchange & iCloud for easy access.
Solid apps and well-built from the Readdle team. Shortcuts & routines is a great feature for time-saving events. Natural language for adding tasks at speed. Good for recurring tasks and routines. No Android, Windows or web apps. Calendars is free to use. $19.99 per year for full-access.
Google iCloud Local iPhone calendar Exchange iOS Mac This is perfect if you want something easy to use, robust & works for iOS & Mac.
It is fast, great for time-blockers and those with routines - rivals the likes of Fantastical.
Which Free Calendar App to Pick?
What is the best free calendar app overall?
Let's help you narrow down your choice for a free calendar app based on your specific needs:
The best free calendar apps overall are Notion Calendar and Calendars by Readdle. Both are great all-round choices, with Notion Calendar being better suited for cross-platform needs (works on everything) and Calendars by Readdle being perfect for iOS/Mac users who want something simple and fast.
The best free calendar app for students is Calendars by Readdle. It has a lot of good routine features (perfect for class schedules), and for students, it has a low price for upgrading if you need more. If they're on iOS and Mac, we'd also recommend Fantastical if they like task management alongside their calendar.
The best free calendar app for Mac is Fantastical. It's the best crafted for Mac and always wins awards for design. It has a lot of good free features like tasks, weather, and the ability to connect a range of calendars. The natural language input alone makes it worth using.
The best free calendar app for iPhone is easily Notion Calendar. Crafted well, it's one of the best-looking iOS apps for calendar and totally free. Other alternatives include Vimcal, which is beautifully designed and free on iPhone (though some features require premium).
The best free calendar app for Android is Notion Calendar. It works for free and has all the features you'll love for on-the-go use. A lot of people like TimeTree for shared calendar access on Android, which is a notable mention if you're coordinating with family or roommates.
The best free calendar app for shared access is TimeTree. It's a shared, social calendar app that a lot of people have adopted. It allows you to create a calendar that can be shared and updated by multiple people. Perfect for families, couples, or housemates.
The best free calendar app for time block lovers is Reclaim AI. It's one of the best for blocking time and using AI to help schedule your priorities. It's free to use with Google and Outlook (limited to one calendar on the free plan). The AI automatically protects your focus time as meetings get scheduled.
For AI scheduling, the best free calendar app we'd recommend is Reclaim AI. It helps you prioritize your time and tasks with the help of AI. For more advanced use and a pricier option, check out Motion, which is like Reclaim on steroids but costs significantly more.
The best free calendar app for ADHD is Tiimo. Tiimo is specifically designed for neurodivergence and uses a calendar-based approach to help you plan with ADHD. The visual time blocking and focus modes are built with ADHD users in mind.
The best free calendar app without ads is Notion Calendar. They're owned and managed by Notion and show no ads. Fantastical and all the others on this list also don't have ads as a monetization model. They use freemium pricing instead, which is way better than being bombarded with ads while planning your day.
Bottom line: if you want cross-platform, go Notion Calendar. If you're Apple-only, try Fantastical. If you want AI scheduling, use Reclaim. And if you need shared calendars, TimeTree has you covered. All of them are genuinely free and useful without forcing you to upgrade.
