11 Best Calendar Apps To Supercharge Your Productivity in 2020

Agile project management expert, Fred Wilson, recommends the Best Calendar Apps to boost your productivity in 2020 in this article.

Getting things done in a timely manner depends on the way you plan your day. If you feel like missing out on different scheduled tasks, perhaps a To Do List app can render help. On the same note, some people keep a notebook for their checklist items, while others just rely on their memory (which is not recommended at all).

The use of calendar applications is the main reason that keeps your day organized and supercharge your level of productivity. As the age-old expression goes: ‘Time is money’, you must leverage various technology-based solutions to make the most out of your time and stop the delays in your work schedule.

Calendar apps can help to schedule events, tasks, meetings, and customer calls in advance to gain control over your work. Many people have switched to calendar tools but still, some users don’t use calendar apps on a daily basis. They find calendar applications hard to use. Besides, the cost and a lack of functionality factor can also be intimidating derivatives at users’ end.

There are a lot of calendar apps available in the digital space – Which one to choose to fulfill your needs? That is an important question. This article will help you to decide which calendar application best fits your needs as a manager, entrepreneur, business person, and freelancer.

Different Criteria to Choose the Best Calendar App

Usually, these are the factors we look for when choosing the best calendar application:

1. Calendar App Usability

This factor is very important to choose the best calendar app available, and it is considered as the main yardstick on which we rated different applications.

People, who usually experience a busy work schedule, need to choose the application that is easy to use. You don’t need to read long manuals on how to use the calendar applications. The application usage process should be self-explanatory – so much so that even an amateur could use it.

In that context, get software that provides basic templates on how to use the app for different industries and different professionals.

2. Feature Sets of Calendar Apps

This one is obvious. Choose the calendar app that provides the greatest number of feature sets and functionality. However, you need to check if the given features in the calendar application are of use to you.

There are a lot of calendar apps available in the market right now. So, you need to choose wisely which features matter to you and help in organizing your work schedule in the desired manner. The main feature that is necessary for the best calendar app is the ability to share and give other people access to your schedule.

3. Value for Money

You should choose a calendar application that doesn’t burden your pocket. This way, you can use it for a longer time period. It serves no benefit if you start using one calendar application with the greatest number of features, and end up leaving it because it didn’t have the value factor going on.

It is your job to choose the best calendar application for your personal use and for your team. Let’s dive in and see the best calendar apps review.

Here are the top picks of the day to supercharge your productivity.

1. nTask

nTask is one of the best calendar app that streamlines tasks, activities, projects, issues, and risks on a beautifully integrated in-app calendar. It provides end-to-end tasks and workflow management, hence enabling you to become productive like never before.

There is a huge number of calendar features and functionality available in nTask, with compatibility on different devices such as iOS and Android apps.

nTask gives you the control you need to manage your meetings, events, and tasks on your calendar. As you schedule a meeting using the nTask calendar app, the organizer can control which attendees to invite and who can make additions to the meeting items.

These meeting items are, but not limited to meeting agenda, follow-up actions, discussion points, and meeting attendees, etc.

The user experience of the nTask application will help you to start the calendar and scheduling process with ease. The user interface of the nTask helps you to get the calendar app understanding in just a few minutes.

It provides many other tools that help in managing tasks, projects, meetings, time tracking, issue management, and risk management which is an additional benefit given to supercharge your workflow management with the help of a calendar.

Download: Web | Android | iOS

Key Features

Here is the list of nTask calendar app features:

• Create a meeting agenda
• Set start and end time for meeting duration
• Real-time task update
• Task timer
• Link to task or project
• Recurring meeting
• Discussion points
• Set follow-up actions
• Set date with just a click
• Invite members and meeting attendees
• Share minutes of meeting and other materials with anyone
• Send calendar and meeting invites to unlimited team members for FREE
• Audio and video call features (coming soon)
• Team Collaboration on your tasks and schedule

Pricing

• nTask offers a Forever FREE plan for creating unlimited tasks, meetings and calendar invites.

2. Google Calendar

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The best thing about Google Calendar is that you can create multiple calendars in one app with your Gmail or Google account. Google Calendar integrates with every other application available in the cloud (SaaS) and the desktop market.

It is the official (default) calendar for the Android phones and other Android devices.  Many people think that there is nothing special about the Google Calendar app is it is for FREE on Android devices. The app gives ease of use like no other apps available. It is ranked number 2 on our list because it is super easy to use and gives hundreds of integrations.

Download: Web | Android | iOS | Chrome Extension

Key Features

• Different color pallets
• G Suite and hundred other integrations
• Linked with emails
• iOS and Android apps
• Easy calendar invite
• Events from Gmail accounts are added automatically.
• Smart title and text suggestions

Price

• Google Calendar can be used for FREE with a Google account.

3. Outlook Calendar

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Microsoft Outlook Calendar is the scheduling functionality available for Outlook users that can integrate your contacts, emails and other Outlook event features. With Outlook Calendar, you can create events, appointments, group schedules and organize your meetings.

It works as a personal task manager with simple to use UI. You can send the calendar to anyone in your team who can view and manage their schedules or subscribe to one another’s calendar to get real-time updates.

Outlook Calendar can be used in iOS and Android devices. The Mac version of the Outlook is not so handy (because it is Windows Friendly app), but Microsoft is working to make it better. This calendar tool can make you productive if you are a Windows lover and work more on desktop apps.

The Free version of Outlook can fulfill your basic needs like drag and drop options to create a meeting or a task, and sending a meeting request. You can subscribe to the Pro version of Microsoft Office to get more functionalities.

Download: Web | Android | iOS | Windows | Mac

Key Features

• Create events, and appointments
• Organize meetings
• Group schedules
• Overlay view
• Calendar view with Emails
• Send calendar invites
• Ability to subscribe to Internet Calendar
• Manage other’s calendar

Pricing

• Free plan
• Paid plan starting from $5.99 per month with Office 365 for desktop apps

4. Apple Calendar

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This one is a favorite for Apple product users on Mac or iOS. Apple Calendar is the default calendar app on all Apple devices and helps you to update your schedule on iPhone, Mac, iCloud and iPad. It has a clean and simple user interface to let you focus on your upcoming events and get organized with its calendar app.

It adds integration on several other iOS apps with drag and drops functionality. You can create new events, edit titles and descriptions, set location, create a note, set reminders and invite meeting members all in one apple device.

Download: Web | Mac | iOS 

Key Features

• Manage multiple accounts in one calendar
• Change color code
• Invite people and get invited on other’s calendar
• Integrate event map by adding the location
• Include travel time to the event location
• Invite team and family members
• Integrate with Google

Pricing

• Free on Mac and iOS devices.

5. Any.do

Any.do (Previously called ‘Cal Calendar’) is a calendar app that is available on nearly all the devices you can think of. It is available on Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Web, Siri, Amazon, Windows Desktop, Slack, Chrome and Firefox extensions, and wearable gears.

It works as an all-in-one application to manage your goals, tasks, notes, reminders, and schedule. Any.do can help stay on top of the loop with its elegant calendar app. It gives location-based reminders and real-time notifications on your schedule.

Just like Apple Calendar, you can add the travel time to location-based events with Any.do. You can set custom colors to your special events or appointments to not get drowned in a clutter.

Download: Web | Android | iOS | iPad | Mac | Windows

Key Features

• Daily planner
• Reminders
• Checklist items
• Color the tasks
• Location-based reminders
• Attachments
• Recurring tasks
• Share, delegate and chat with the team on a calendar
• Customized theme

Pricing

• Free plan
• Paid plans: Starting at $5.99 per month (billed annually)

6. Fantastical

Fantastical is a cool calendar app by Flexibits. If you are looking for the best paid calendar app for iOS and Mac then this app will fulfill all your needs. It is nice to have a calendar app for Apple products, but you can also download it for the desktop as well.

It is an easy to use calendar app with a colorful view that gives you more controls. You can quickly add events to your calendar from the menu bar with the event details and enables you to see the agenda items for your set event. In the event details, you can add links, invitees, notes, and location. You can integrate it with other Apple apps such as Safari and Maps.

Fantastical app can fetch the location directly from your event details and adds to your event. You can localize your Fantastical app into six available languages.

Download: iOS | Mac | Apple Watch | Desktop

Key Features:

• File attachments
• Ability to set light and dark app mode
• Check contact availability
• Propose multiple event times
• Templates: You can add most frequently used events and tasks
• Plan and schedule tasks
• See weather conditions for your set event dates
• Integrates with other popular calendar services
• Get time zone support

Pricing:

• Billed monthly: $4.99/month
• Billed yearly: $3.33/month

7. Thunderbird Lightning

Thunderbird is one of the best free Linux calendar apps. This tool is also used for emails and gives the calendar functionality. You can get the Thunderbird from the add on and also directly use it from the app. It gives you a tab for tasks, email, and calendar. You can easily use it for team communication, management, and appointment scheduling.

The Thunderbird Lightning gives you a calendar tab where you can view the complete summary of all the events in your schedule. It also shows the events planned for the future. You can easily search for your events with the time filters and built-in categories for the client calls, birthday, special events, etc. It is the best choice for Linux users and can be downloaded for Windows.

Download: Web | Windows

Key Features:

• Manage multiple calendars
• Create a to-do list
• Subscribe to public events
• Invite friends for the event
• Synchronize with your emails

Pricing:

• Available for FREE.

8. 24me

If you are looking for a calendar app that can work on multiple applications, then 24me will be your option. It works as a mobile assistant which delivers a unified interface for appointment booking, meetings, notes, and your tasks.

You can easily synchronize your Outlook, Yahoo!, iCloud and Google Calendar to have one view for all your other apps. You can also integrate other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, you can integrate your banking apps with 24me. 24me can make your hectic routine calmer and smoother.

Download: Web | Android | iOS

Key Features:

• Multiple calendar view
• Sync with all devices
• Set personal reminders
• Create to-do items
• Create notes
• Smart alerts for notifications
• Ability to set conference calls

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Paid plan starting at $4.99

9. My Study Life

It is the best calendar app for teachers and students. Scheduling the course work is really important for both students and teachers to finish work on time. The educational sector needs are a bit different than the corporate sector, so using a dedicated calendar app for students and teachers helps the people in this field.

The students in universities usually follows a semester system based on yearly quarter. With such apps, they can easily schedule their studies and course work making them more productive. My Study Life has made it easier for educationists and students to get more done with calendar apps. It is available on Android, iOS, and web. You can set the lesson plans, log assignments, keep track of exams and create a task to do with ease.

Download: Web | Android | iOS | Chrome Extension

Key Features:

• Manage schedules and timetables
• Create tasks
• Track your tasks
• Set reminders
• Sync with all devices
• Manage classes
• Store exams

Pricing:

• Free

10. TimeTree

TimeTree is one of the best calendar apps used for team collaboration. When you create a new calendar on TimeTree the application will ask you the purpose of the calendar such as; for work, relationship, group, friends and family or personal calendar. It gives the capability to add comments and start a discussion on the calendar plan. You can easily share your calendar schedule with others as well.

With the help of TimeTree you can create multiple calendars to display your events on the overlay and gives a complete view of your schedule. Moreover, you can choose different colors with the help of color codes and import other’s calendars as well.

Download: Web | Android | iOS

Key Features:

• Multiple calendars with sharing capability
• Set details of the plan with comments and images
• Set a plan to be used later with the ‘Keep’ tab
• Activity feed

Pricing:

• Free signup

11. Cozi

Looking for a calendar app for your family? Then Cozi will fulfill your needs to book your family schedules. Family schedules are difficult to manage and have many conflicting appointments. It is designed for families that are quite busy and find it hard to get time for them. You can consolidate different calendars in one view, create checklists, shopping list and set the schedules.

Cozi lets you create the main calendar and you can share it with anyone you want within your friends and family. Each participant in the calendar schedule is given a different color so it is easy to identify the responsibilities. Moreover, you can collaborate with your family as well with Cozi in-built messenger.

Download: Web | Android | iOS

Key Feature:

• Plan activities and events in one place
• Create and share to-do list, and grocery list
• Use it from mobile devices
• Recipe and meal planner
• Family journal

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Paid plan: Starting from $29.99/year

 Conclusion:

You may want to get productive with calendar apps, but nobody wants to spend long hours tweaking around with minor level intricacies. You need to choose a specific calendar app that allows you to create repeat/recurring tasks and/or events.

Furthermore, if you have knowledge about a good calendar app that deserves to be listed in this review let us know at fwilson@ntaskmanager.com