The 6 Best Calendar Apps to Stay Organized in 2024

What Is A Calendar App?

Calendar apps, as the name implies, provide you with an electronic calendar. However, they don’t just show you dates. They often also provide address books, appointment scheduling, and other useful features. These apps are widely used by businesses since they make it easy for employees to book appointments and set meeting times.

Some calendar applications are bundled with other software, like Outlook or Google Suite. However, you can find standalone calendar apps like Calendly.

How Does A Calendar App Work?

Calendar applications work much like a traditional calendar that shows you dates and what appointments you have on a given day. However, calendar apps take your time management one step further by allowing you to see your coworkers’ availability and what meetings they have that day, preventing clashing schedules.

Many calendar apps also integrate with other applications like your email service or project management software. These integrations make it easy to schedule a meeting by email and automatically put it on your calendar.

Why Should You Get A Calendar App

Tracking your days with a calendar app may seem like time-consuming busywork, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are four ways calendar apps can help your day-to-day organization:

• Schedule Appointments Easier: With calendar apps, you don’t have to email or call every single participant and find a good time for a meeting anymore. You can see everyone’s availability, find a time that’s good for everyone, and invite them to meetings in a few clicks.
  You don’t even have to get everyone in the same office anymore! Some apps like Google Workspace provide video conferences for remote team members. 
• Improve Daily Productivity: On busy days, some tasks are bound to slip through the cracks. Many calendar apps have task trackers and to-do lists with automatic reminders so you don’t forget what you were supposed to do. If you’re blanking out on what to do next in the middle of the day, just check your daily agenda and work on whatever’s next!
• Make Priority And Time Management Easier: On any given day, you may be juggling several different things at work. Calendar apps help you sort out which tasks you should do first based on the deadline and the task’s complexity. This way, you don’t accidentally prioritize tasks that are due next week and forget the ones that are more urgent.
• Balance Professional And Personal Appointments: It’s easy to throw your work-life balance off if you can’t keep track of your appointments and commitments. Calendar apps usually offer filtered views that put both kinds of appointments in one calendar. This prevents you from accidentally booking an important work meeting when you were supposed to have a personal engagement or vice versa.

What Makes a Good Calendar App

Not all calendar apps are created equal. So what makes a calendar app truly stand out among all the options on offer? Here are four things that a good calendar app needs to be.

• Easy To Use: The best calendar app should be intuitive and easy to use. An easily understood user interface ensures that everyone can pick up the app and make the most of it before too long. 
• Feature-Rich: A good calendar app should have many features and numerous integrations to make it easy for its users. Things like automatic appointment scheduling, customizable calendar views, and app integrations help you get the most out of the app. 
• Customizable: If the app has limited features, the second-best option is for it to be customizable. Plugin-friendly calendar apps let you tailor the app to your needs. 
• Multi-Device Support: A good calendar and scheduling app should support multiple devices. This is much more important if you travel often since you can’t always check appointments on your computer. Having a calendar app that can be accessed from mobile devices as well as computers gives you a lot of flexibility and lets you schedule appointments from anywhere.

How Much Does a Calendar App Cost?

Calendar and scheduling apps have varying prices. Some apps like Google Calendar come bundled with Gmail for free, while other apps like Outlook require a subscription or one-time purchase.

Your calendar provider may also offer free and paid versions. For instance, Calendly has a free basic version for all users but also offers premium plans with more handy features.

Is a Calendar App Worth the Cost?

Whether a calendar app is worth the cost or not depends on how you use it. If you’re a regular user who only uses its basic features, you’ll likely be fine with just a free calendar app. However, if you’re a power user who uses all the features a calendar app offers, you may find more value in a paid calendar and scheduling app.

How To Choose the Best Calendar Apps

With all the options on offer, it can be tough to pick the best calendar app for you. Here are some things to consider when shopping for the ideal calendar and scheduling app.

• Features offered: The first thing to consider is a calendar app’s features – does it do what you need it to do? While appointment scheduling is usually a standard feature, your business may need other specific features like customized meeting reminders.
• Customizability: Even if a calendar app doesn’t do everything you need it to do, plugins may help you get the feature you need. Therefore, customizability is also essential in your calendar and scheduling app.
• Device compatibility: Calendar apps should support a wide range of devices. This ensures your team can easily arrange appointments and check on each other’s schedules from anywhere.
• Budget: If you’re a small or medium business, you may not have the budget to buy enterprise-level calendar app subscriptions. Take a look at your finances and find the calendar app that you can comfortably afford.
• App integrations: Picking a calendar app with numerous third-party integrations lets you automate much of the time-consuming clerical work. For instance, integrating your calendar and email apps lets you schedule meetings directly through email.
• Customer support: Even if a calendar app is very user-friendly, there’s always a chance that something can go wrong. Choosing a calendar app with strong customer support means you’ll get through problems quicker.