This year has been a literal dumpster fire, but we all still have lives that we need to live, as hectic as they can be. We know — you have meetings, appointments, events, errands, and so much more on your plate, and managing everything can be quite difficult. That's why it really helps to have a digital calendar to help you track everything on your schedule. Here are some of our favorite calendar apps on Mac.
The Calendar app from Qbix, not to be confused with OS X's native Calendar app, is very similar in operation to Itsycal. It's free in the Mac App Store and adds a button to your menu bar.
- For more mobile-minded folks, there is a free Google Calendar app for both Android and iOS devices. Sadly, there isn't a Google Calendar app for Mac OS computers or Windows 10.
- Oct 07, 2018 A few weeks ago, I wrote an article looking at what was the best calendar app for iPhone.While considering all the various options, I started coming across a lot of macOS alternatives.
- Jul 06, 2017 Google Calendar was the first truly great web-based calendar, and is the default calendar of millions of people to this day. But if you’re a Mac user, you probably don’t want to manage your calendar in a web browser, using an ugly user interface, like some kind of digital peasant.
- What's new in this version. 2020.215 - Fixes voor iCloud 2019.02.10 - Suggestions for subject and location 2018.09.09 - Android and iOS version 2018.05.01 - New logo 2018.02.24 - Weeknumbers on/off 2018.01.28 - Restyling appointment screen 2017.12.29 - Appointment color support 2017.08.17 - iCloud support 2017.05.07 - Google Login improvements 2017.04.08 - Drag & Drop 2017.02.24 - Improved.
Fantastical
Fantastical has been around for several years now, and even though it has switched to a subscription model, it remains the favorite calendar app for many of us here at iMore.
With Fantastical, you are getting a fully functional desktop app that also has a menubar version for quick access. You can customize your views for daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly, and your agenda of events appears in the side bar as well. If you are running multiple calendars at once, things can get gnarly — Fantastical lets you customize sets of calendars to view at once, and they can even be location-based, so things don't get too crazy when viewing. For example, you can have work calendars viewable while you're at work, but personal ones when you're at home.
The natural language input is also top-notch, as the app easily understands and fills out all of the appropriate fields while you type out something as simple as 'Have lunch with Mom at In-N-Out on Tuesday at 2 p.m.'
While Fantastical does have a subscription model now, previous users of Fantastical 2 get most of the features unlocked, so it's still very functional. If you're new to Fantastical, there is a trial to test it out to see if you like it before deciding on a subscription. The free version has restricted features.
Fantastical 3
Fantastical has a beautiful interface that's easy to use and plenty of robust features.
Source: Busy Apps FZE
Another great option is BusyCal. This app automatically syncs up with any accounts that you're using with the Mail app on Mac, and everything will be up-to-date. The design of the app itself is simple and clean, but there are plenty of powerful features as well. One of those is the Smart Filter, which lets you create rules for what events are shown. For example, you can set a filter to only show birthdays or repeating events. BusyCal also lets you have multiple Smart Filters set up at once, making it easier to organize your hectic calendar.
Other features of BusyCal include a menubar app, travel time, natural language input, and a ton of customization options including font face, size, colors, time format, and much more. If you don't like Fantastical's subscription model, BusyCal and its one-time cost is an excellent alternative to consider.
BusyCal
BusyCal packs in a ton of useful features and is highly customizable. It also has a single, one-time cost.
Source: Qbix
If you are satisfied with the default Calendar app on Mac, but just want a companion app to go with it in the menubar, then Calendars is worth a look. This free app lives in your menubar, acting as a viewer for the calendars that you've set up in Calendar. It serves as a quick way to see your schedule and agenda in a single glance, so you aren't able to add new events from this app. There is an optional subscription that gives you more features, like adding Google Calendar accounts and backgrounds.
Calendars
Calendars lives in your menubar and serves as a companion to the default Calendar app.
Source: Fanatic Software
Need your calendar app to be more than just a calendar? Then Informant is the one you're looking for. This powerful app rolls your calendar, task manager, and notes into one, giving you everything you need in a single glance. The task manager element of Informant is also very flexible, working with you, whether it's GTD, Franklin Covey, or a simple and basic task list. Informant also has support for multiple filters, so you can easily switch and access the important stuff whenever you need to.
Informant
Informant rolls your calendar, task manager, and notes app into one.
Source: Higher Bar LLC
If you want your calendar to live in your menubar, but need a bit more functionality than Calendars, then InstaCal is worth considering. This app also lives in your menubar, so it's not a full blown app like the others. However, it keeps your calendar a click away, so you can view your events, agenda, and even tasks, as well as having the functionality of adding new events and tasks directly. InstaCal works with any of the calendars that you already have set up in Calendar, or you can manually add unlimited accounts from Google, Office 365, and Outlook. It also has Dark Mode support, customization options, and more.
InstaCal - Menu Bar Calendar
InstaCal lives in your menubar but still gives you plenty of functionality, including the ability to add events and tasks.
Source: AntLogic
Do you want a calendar app that is simple and lightweight? Mini Calendar fits the bill perfectly. It gives you access to your calendars three ways: on the desktop, from the Dock, and from the menubar. When it's on the desktop, it is always-on and sits above the wallpaper. From the Dock, you just need to click on the icon and it will bring up the calendar as a popup. Mini Calendar is configurable in terms of color, shortcut keys, and it can show you sunrise and sunset times too. It's just a light and fast way to get to your calendar when you need to.
Mini Calendar
Mini Calendar is a lightweight calendar app that you can access from your desktop, Dock, or menubar.
Source: Vincent Miethe
Rounding out the list is Calendar 366 II, which is another menubar calendar app. However, it's one of the more fully featured ones, which is quite impressive. With Calendar 366 II, you get full access to your calendar and reminders right from your menubar, and you can change the view to year, month, week, day, agenda, or even list. It has eight themes for light and dark modes, custom colors, calendar sets, custom font sizes, Spotlight integration, travel time, Alfred and LaunchBar support, and so much more. To pack all of the features of a full on application into just the menubar is pretty amazing, and the cost of the app is not too much either, all things considered.
Calendar 366 II
Windows Calendar App For Mac
Calendar 366 II is one of the most feature-packed menubar calendar apps there is.
Keep your schedule organized
These are just a few of our favorite calendar apps on the Mac App Store. What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
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