Even though we've flipped the page on a new year, one of the best calendar apps for your mobile device is still worth making a part of your routine for the next 12 months and beyond. With a good calendar app, you can stay on top of upcoming appointments and events, whether they're personal or for work. But you'll find that some apps offer even more.
Depending on the app you download, you'll also find event management and social features or highly customizable and easy-to-read view modes that you won't find on the built-in apps that come with your phone.
- The best productivity apps
- Best email apps for your phone
If you're having a hard time keeping track of all the places you have to be today or you just want a different calendar to manage the rest of the year, the best calendar apps for Android and iOS can boost your productivity and make sure you're always where you need to be, when you need to be.
The best calendar apps for Android and iOS
Fantastical (iOS: $4.99/£4.99 per month)
Fantastical is an iOS calendar that delivers a clean presentation of events in daily, weekly, and monthly calendar views, backed up by really easy reminder and event management. Users can create events through a traditional menu-based interface, or simply type or speak a quick audio note that the app automatically parses into an event (which users can further tweak).
The app now features a unified interface for the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. More importantly, Fantastical offers helpful features for proposing meetings as well as extended support for to-dos from Todoist and Google Tasks. iPhone users will be impressed by dark mode support plus a new full-screen vertical view; as you might imagine, the app now takes advantage of iOS 14's ability to add widgets to the home screen of your iPhone.
Fantastical offers a free 14-day trial before you're prompted to pay $4.99 a month for the calendar app's premium features. An annual subscription allows you to save money over paying month to month.
Download Fantastical: iOS
Calendars 5 (iOS: $6.99/£6.99/AU$10.99)
Readdle's Calendars 5 is a neat iOS app that does a deft job of displaying everything you need to know about your schedule, whether you're on an iPhone or an iPad. It's got all the requisite views, from monthly down to daily, and natural language support means it's easy to enter new events in plain speech.
The app also has solid task and event management, which syncs easily with the built in iOS calendar app, Reminders, and Google Calendar for easy event importing. We particularly like the timeline view, where events are categorized with icons for a good at-a-glance look.
Download Calendars 5: iOS
Google Calendar (Android, iOS: Free)
Google Calendar service has grown to become the backbone of a variety of calendar apps, but the mobile Google Calendar app itself is no slouch, with a clean and bright interface and a variety of views, such as traditional month and week views as well as more focused schedule views.
The calendar app integrates with Gmail to give you the option of automatically creating events for flight, hotel, and restaurant reservations based on your emails, and also works in to-dos and reminders, as well as habit-forming goals (pulled in from Google's acquisition of Timeful). It's a feature-packed and nicely designed calendar app that works great.
Download Google Calendar: Android, iOS
Woven (iOS: Free)
Woven is an impressive-looking smart calendar app currently that operates like a personal scheduling assistant when it comes to your appointments. Available as a free beta as of this writing, the app currently syncs with Gmail and G Suites (with Exchange and other platforms coming soon), and helps you easily set up events and meetings with smart event templates, availability sharing, map-based travel time planning, analytics, and more. iMessage integration on the iPhone lets you text scheduling links and suggest times or have Woven suggest them for you.
Woven’s scheduling features make it a compelling calendar alternative for the busy professional, and we’re hoping it gets support for more calendars like iCloud and Exchange soon.
Download Woven: iOS
24me (iOS: Free)
24me is a smart virtual assistant app that helps you make sense of your business day and appointments by combining calendar features, a to-do-list, and note-taking. The calendar syncs with a wide range of calendar services such as Google Calendar, iCal, Exchange and Outlook. 24me also provides smart notifications such as a heads-up notice for the next day's events and tasks, the right time to leave for your next appointment based on traffic conditions, and weather alerts.
Voice controls make it easy to take down notes and set appointments, and you can even create tasks through Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Apple Watch. A premium subscription provides extra features like more customization options and the ability to turn emails into tasks.
Download 24me: iOS
BusyCal (iOS: $4.99/£4.99)
BusyCal is an excellent calendar app for Mac, and comes with a solid iOS companion app that brings the experience to mobile. BusyCal supports iCloud, Google, and other CalDAV calendar systems, and offers color-coded month, day, week, and list view of your upcoming events.
Natural language parsing for event creation helps you set up appointments, with tags and a wide range of configurable attributes to get the details just right. Map support can show you an event's location and estimated travel time, and BusyCal comes with to-do list functions that are compatible with the iOS Reminders app. About the only thing we can fault is its bland but functional look.
Download BusyCal: iOS
Outlook (Android, iOS: Free)
If you haven't looked at Outlook lately, Microsoft's email and scheduling app may be worth a second look. Microsoft integrated features from Sunrise Calendar into Outlook, given the latter app's calendar and scheduling features a shot in the arm.
In addition to its powerful email functions and MS Office app integration, Outlook on mobile has been improving on its scheduling and events functions, with new Calendar App tie-ins for Facebook, Evernote and Wunderlist (though that latter app is getting shut down this May). You also get event directions from your favorite mapping apps and an "Interesting Calendars" feature that you can subscribe to for things like sports games and TV shows.
Download Outlook: Android, iOS
Timepage (iOS: $1.99/£1.79)
Moleskine may be better known for its notebooks than its mobile apps, but the company's Timepage calendar app for iOS does a good job at being stylish and feature-packed. A smart calendar and day planner, Timepage works with existing calendar providers like iCloud, Facebook and Google, while providing some nifty calendar views and easy event creation.
Timepage's base view provides a simple timeline of the day's coming appointments, with a date tab on the side for selecting specific days of the week. A month "heatmap" view quickly shows which days are free or busy, with filters surfacing particular events or calendars. Natural language parsing for event creation, maps and weather info, and natural language support are among the other additions. The iPad version of the app provides expanded view modes and split-screen support.
Download Timepage: iOS
DigiCal (Android: Free)
DigiCal is an excellent Android calendar app alternative that offers a good range of features, widgets, and calendar views to easily make sense of your upcoming schedule. Day, week, month, and agenda views let you quickly look up upcoming events, with widgets available to make things easy to look up without firing up the app. The free features can also be augmented with in-app purchases for interesting calendars you can subscribe to, weather forecasts, and a premium DigiCal+ tier. DigiCal+ adds extra view modes such as year view, more widgets, and a raft of customization features and themes; it also removes ads.
Download DigiCal: Android
SaiSuke (iOS: Free)
Japanese calendar app SaiSuke comes with 11 different view modes, complete with landscape and portrait support to take full advantage of iPhone and iPad screens. That's especially helpful on the iPad, thanks to split-screen support.
Event templates in SaiSuke make it easy to add entries, and a configurable interface and color themes give you some room to set the interface to how you like it. A downside, though, is that multi-device syncing requires a premium upgrade.
Download SaiSuke: iOS
My Study Life (Android, iOS: Free)
With a lot of schools conducting online classes these days, making sure your class schedule has gone digital is a bright idea. My Study Life is a cross-platform app that lets you manage your class schedule across multiple devices — there are web and Windows versions in addition to the mobile apps for iPhone and Android devices.
While class schedules are certainly a big component of My Study Life, it's not the only thing you can manage with this app. My Study Life also lets you store notes and exams, track homework and assignments, and get notifications for upcoming tasks. Best of all, that information is available across any device, as what you add from the mobile app will be synced through the cloud to any desktop version of My Study Life that you use.
Storage is a two-way street on My Study Life, as teachers are also able to create and share schedules securely with their students.
Download My Study Life: Android, iOS
iStudiez Pro (iOS: Free)
Another study planner that's increasingly helpful in this era of stay-at-home schoolwork, iStudiez Pro is a freemium schedule management app built with students in mind. Designed to be both cross-platform and easy to use, iStudiez Pro can accommodate a variety of schedule styles, from classic weekly schedules to A&B weeks, rotating and block schedules.
Students can input the details of each classes’ teacher with contact details. The app comes with a homework planner that reminds you of due dates and to-dos. A flexible Today view highlights your upcoming classes and deadlines. While the app is free, certain features, such as cross-device syncing, require a premium subscription to unlock.
Download iStudiez Pro: iOS
Fammle - Family Organizer (iOS: Free)
KeepSolid's Fammle - Family Organizer wants to make it a snap to help manage your family's schedule so you'll never forget birthdays, school trips, game days, or even your groceries and school shopping lists.
You sign up with your email or Facebook account, and then the app will let you create a family account or join an existing one. From there, you can view your family's shared calendar with personal and group events, color-coded by each family member. Users can create, share and track tasks, create categorized shopping lists, and easily sync all data between other family members to make sure everyone's on the same page.
Download Fammie - Family Organizer: iOS
Cozi Family Organizer (Android, iOS: Free)
Another good shared family calendar is Cozi Family Organizer, which has families sharing an account to help organize their events, chores, and to-dos. Family members can create events and tasks visible to everyone, with color-coded tags for events, as well as customizable reminders and a weekly agenda sent by email to family members. You can also create shared to-dos and a shopping list, as well as a recipe box and a shared family journal for recording precious memories.
The app is free and ad-supported, with a premium subscription removing advertising and adding new features such as a contacts manager, mobile month view, and an expanded month view.
Download Cozi Family Organizer: Android, iOS
TimeTree (Android, iOS: Free)
TimeTree is meant to keep family and small group schedules in sync, with support for multiple calendars displayed in month, week, or daily modes. Other tools, such as event based messaging and notifications for events and schedule changes, help you stay organized.
TimeTree users can manage separate calendars, share notes and sync schedules across devices. The app can sync with Google and iCloud calendars, and widgets let you easily access your events from the lock or home screen.
Download TimeTree: Android, iOS
Informant 5 (Android, iOS: Free)
Informant 5 is a powerful multi-purpose calendar, tasks, and notes management app.
Natural language processing makes it easy to create new events, while multiple configurable view modes present as much or as little information as you want on screen. A Travel Assistant feature helps you manage international time zones, while location-aware features indicate travel ETAs and suggest locations when you create events. Natural language entry also extends to task creation, which you can display on your schedule, with checklists and filters to help you blast through your tasks. Variant modes support productivity techniques like Getting Things Done.
Informant also includes a raft of premium features that you can unlock a la carte, or through a subscription model.
Download Informant 5: Android, iOS
Awesome Calendar (iOS: $9.99/£9.99)
Awesome Calendar sets itself up as a combination calendar, to-do-list and note-taking application that links up with iPhone-supported calendars like iCloud, Google Calendar and Exchange.
The app supports natural language processing for event creation, Google Tasks integration, recurring events, customizable event colors, time zones, and weather forecast information. In addition to the calendar features, the app includes a to-do list function and a built-in diary that allows you to take down notes, complete with photos.
Awesome Calendar is a fairly pricey custom calendar and some users will be put off by the fact that multiple other functions such as a lunar calendar, holiday calendars, and TV schedules are walled off behind in-app purchases.
Download Awesome Calendar: iOS
CloudCal (Android: Free)
CloudCal is a free Android calendar application that has a cool way of showing you just how busy you're scheduled to be on a given day. Using a system called "Magic Circles," CloudCal marks each day on the calendar with a colored arc roughly corresponding to your scheduled appointments and events for the day, showing you at a glance when you're booked, and when you'll be free.
In addition, CloudCal features quick gesture commands, customizable views, and Google Tasks syncing, with a number of premium features locked behind an in-app purchase.
Download CloudCal: Android
Vantage (iOS: Free)
For a different look at your upcoming appointments, try Vantage, a free calendar app for iOS devices. Vantage gives you a overhead view of your calendar with dates spanning out into the distance while events and appointments stack up on top of each other. (Tapping a stack gives you a closer look at what you have scheduled for the day.)
Color-coding on the dates gives you an at-a-glance view of days when you're busy, and you can keep to-dos right in your calendar where they show up alongside events. (Vantage even brings tasks you've set up in iOS's Reminders app into your calendar.) Vantage syncs with Google, iCloud, Exchange, Facebook and other calendar services.
Download Vantage: iOS
aCalendar (Android: Free)
aCalendar is a free, robust Android calendar app that provides an easily navigable three-view interface. Swiping sideways on the phone allows you to swiftly move between a monthly, daily and weekly planner. Sliding up or down moves you up or down the calendar in increments based on your current planner selection. aCalendar is smart enough to sync photos from your address book for birthdays and anniversaries, and it features both NFC sharing and full-screen widgets.
Want a personal touch? Choose from 48 colors per calendar. A further premium upgrade unlocks other features such as additional calendar views, tasks, advanced settings and public holidays.
Download aCalendar: Android
Business Calendar 2 (Android: Free)
Business Calendar has long been a stalwart among Android calendar apps, and it gets a welcome refresh in Business Calendar 2, which gives the venerable app a modern visual makeover while retaining the original blend of usability and features.
Users can easily switch between a variety of calendar views, from precise daily and weekly calendars, agenda modes for quick summaries, and overarching month calendars, with events easily marked in colored swatches for easy reference. The app also includes easy task and event creation, and highly configurable widgets give you an easy at-a-glance reference.
A Pro upgrade provides extra features such as advanced task management and event templates.
Download Business Calendar: Android
Today Calendar (Android: Free)
Today Calendar is a solid Android calendar app replacement, thoroughly embracing the flat, colorful principles of Google's Material design, while also backing up the clean interface with a variety of informative view modes and calendar features. The default view is a handy split mode that presents both a month view with color-coded event dots as well as a daily agenda. Other views include day, week, and month views, and natural language processing helps with event creation.
Download Today Calendar: Android
tinyCalendar (iOS: Free)
Tiny Calendar doesn't have all the features of big name calendar app brands, but it does have some important ones: synching with Google, iCloud, and Exchange calendars. It features natural language processing for events creation, as well as a neat, low-frills interface for easily viewing and arranging your schedule.
Download Tiny Calendar: iOS
WeekCalendar (iOS: Free)
WeekCalendar is a bit of a misnomer, as it does more than just weekly calendar viewing. There's agenda, daily, monthly, and even yearly views.
A feature-rich application, WeekCalendar walks a tightrope between putting the day's events in focus and swamping you with too many details. Batch edit your events, drag and drop them, search through your calendars, set complex recurring events and color-code your events for easy sorting. It can look a bit cluttered, but this old reliable still delivers a feature-rich calendar experience. And iOS 14 widgets let you move your calendar to your home screen for an easy at-a-glance view.
The app is a free download, but a premium subscription unlocks additional features such as all types of calendar views and the ability to create and schedule reminders.
Download Week Calendar: iOS
