Effective calendar and task management is essential for optimizing time management techniques and increasing productivity. Choosing the right calendar app can make or break your success; with many available options, it’s tough to know which to choose.
Fantastical is a calendar app that allows users to add their calendars to keep track of events and tasks. It also provides additional productivity boosters, like Focus Filters, event scheduling links, and various home screen widgets. Fantastical has some great features but has its fair share of limitations, including its steep cost.
Long-time Fantastical users reported a significant price increase in 2023, leaving some frustrated and searching for a new calendar app. If this applies to you (or you want to learn more about some of the best calendar app options), you’re in the right place!
In this quick guide, we’ll share a handful of Fantastical alternatives worth exploring so you can choose the right calendar and task management tool that works for you and your budget.
Why look at Fantastical calendar app alternatives?
Even though Fantastical is an effective calendar and task management tool, there are more affordable options on the market (and even some free ones worth considering!) A similar tool may meet your needs at a cheaper price. Additionally, the tools listed below may have features that Fantastical doesn’t include, so it’s worth considering what you need out of your tool to find the one that works best for you.
We’ve rounded up five Fantastical alternatives you might enjoy using, listed in alphabetical order with Clockwise listed last.
A quick note: I haven’t used all of these tools, so I’m not going to tell you which one is the best for you to use—that’s for you to decide. Here we go!
Alternative 1: Any.do
Functionality
Any.do is a task management and planning app that helps users manage personal tasks, family commitments, and teamwork in one place. It’s available on the web, and you can find it on iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows. Individuals can jot down their tasks and create lists, organize calendar events from multiple sources, use widgets on mobile to stay on top of their schedules, set event reminders, and visually organize their lives. There are some great features for families and teams, including the ability to assign tasks and collaborate with others.
Features
Compared to Fantastical and the other apps on this list, Any.do emphasizes its focus on task and project management. Any.do’s key features include the following:
- Color-coding, prioritization, and category-setting for your tasks
- A daily private planner with personalized suggestions, task lists, and seamless calendar organization
- Calendar events and tasks in one single view (pull from Google Calendar, iCloud, Outlook, and more)
- An accessible and easy-to-use homescreen widget for mobile devices
- One-time, recurring, and location-based event reminders
- Kanban, Calendar, and Table view for teams to easily track due dates and deliverables
- Integrations with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Google Calendar, Zapier, Todoist, Asana, Clickup, Trello, and more (6000+ apps)
Pricing
Any.do offers a free forever plan for personal use. It includes many essential features like tasks & lists, reminders, a daily planner, and a calendar. For more advanced features, like recurring tasks, color tags, and location reminders, the Premium plan starts at $4.99 per month, billed annually.
Alternative 2: Apple Calendar
Functionality
Apple Calendar follows Apple’s simple design philosophy with its minimalistic interface and intuitive navigation. It’s an iOS app that integrates well with the rest of the iOS ecosystem and is native to Apple devices, so if you’re a non-Apple user, Apple Calendar isn’t a good fit for you. Siri suggests events based on information from other apps, including Mail, Messages, and Safari. It also uses Apple Maps to find locations and suggest the best time to leave based on current conditions. Adding calendar events with video conferencing information, invitees, and helpful attachments is easy.
Features
Apple Calendar isn’t anywhere near as feature-rich as Fantastical. Still, it does provide some helpful organization features, including:
- Manage all of your events in one app by adding multiple accounts in the Calendar app
- The ability to create and color-code separate calendars for planning at a glance
- The ability to quickly create events for meetings, appointments, family commitments, and more
- Alerts for upcoming calendar events
- Autofilled address, map, and weather information when you add the location of your event
Pricing
Apple Calendar is a free app for Apple devices like iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Alternative 3: Google Calendar
Functionality
Google Calendar is a clean and minimalistic calendaring tool that helps users easily schedule meetings and events. It’s available on any web browser, Android devices, Apple iOS devices, and through most Google tools, like Gmail, Google Docs, and more. It’s an excellent option for Google Workspace users entrenched in the Google ecosystem due to the seamless connection between apps and products. But it is a reasonably basic calendar, meaning there aren’t a ton of extra bells and whistles compared to Fantastical’s long list of features and functionality.
Features
Google Calendar provides many helpful features for optimal calendar management, including:
- The ability to add tasks to your calendar and create a “My Tasks” list
- Color-coding options for entire calendars and single events
- An option for hiding your event details for privacy
- The ability to add video conferencing, such as a Google Meet or Zoom link
- Notifications for upcoming events
- Appointment schedule feature that lets you create a shareable page to book time with you
- The “Find a time” feature for group meeting scheduling*
- Focus time events that mute chat notifications and automatically decline meetings*
*Not available for personal Gmail accounts (work or school accounts only)
Pricing
The Business Starter plan (which gives you access to Google Workspace and all its products) starts at $6/user/month on an annual plan.
Alternative 4: Microsoft Outlook
Functionality
Microsoft Outlook offers Calendar, a calendar and scheduling tool that integrates with email, contacts, and other features. Users can access Outlook Calendar through their web browser or the iOS or Android Outlook mobile apps. It’s a nice option for teams who use Microsoft products because, much like Google, the products integrate seamlessly. With Outlook Calendar, users can create events, organize meetings, color-code calendars and events, and more.
Features
Microsoft Outlook Calendar provides plenty of great features for better scheduling and task management, including:
- The ability to overlay calendars and view them side-by-side
- Option to color code events by custom categories
- The option to request responses from other attendees
- Event charms (small icons) that allow you to quickly look at an event for an idea of what it is
- The option to save a calendar view and return to it quickly
- Scheduling Assistant feature for coordination across meeting attendees and rooms
- Ability to adjust the time scale of your calendar in various increments (this is helpful for advanced planning, like using the Pomodoro technique)
Pricing
Technically, you can set up a Microsoft Outlook account for free and access your online calendar on the web and mobile. But if you’re working on a team, Microsoft 365 Business Basic starts at $6 per user/month on an annual subscription plan.
Alternative 5: Clockwise
Functionality
Clockwise is an AI scheduling and calendar automation tool that calculates the best time for deep work, meetings, and tasks based on the preferences you set. With Clockwise, you connect your calendar (Google or Microsoft), set your workday preferences (which holds you want, how much Focus Time you need, etc.), and let Clockwise optimize your day.
Features
We’re slightly biased, but Clockwise has many great features to offer, including:
- Clockwise AI Scheduler, a GPT-powered conversational scheduling assistant
- Focus Time holds so you can save time for deep work
- The ability to communicate meeting and working hours so you can prioritize your personal life, too
- Color coding options for at-a-glance views and visual organization
- The ability to automatically (and privately) sync your events from your personal calendar to your work one
- Scheduling Links that allow you to share your availability quickly (and easily) with others
One of the best parts is that you can use the Asana integration to easily add tasks to your calendar as time blocks without ever leaving Asana. Thanks to Clockwise, you can enjoy a more organized calendar and manage your to-do list from Asana in one place.
Pricing
You can sign up for Clockwise for free and unlock additional features and capabilities starting at $6.75 per user/month. Get the most out of Clockwise’s robust offerings with a paid plan to coordinate calendars internally seamlessly with your teammates.
Going forward
If Fantastical isn’t the right calendar and task management tool for you, try one of the other tools on this list. If you’re looking for an AI-powered scheduling assistant (which just so happens to integrate with Asana for effective task management and time blocking), try Clockwise.
About the author
Alyssa Towns is a freelance writer for Clockwise based in Denver, CO. She works in communications and change management. She primarily writes productivity and career-adjacent content and has bylines in G2, The Everygirl, Insider, and other publications. When she isn't writing, Alyssa enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.
