Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal) vs. TidyCal

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
iCal
Score 4.1 out of 10
N/A
The Apple iCloud Calendar (formerly iCal), is the calendar tool associated to Apple's productivity product suite.N/A
TidyCal
Score 9.8 out of 10
N/A
A tool to make scheduling the next meeting easier with calendar integrations, booking pages, and customization. Trying to schedule a meeting can lead to the hassle of back-and-forth emailing to find a time that works. (“Next month is a no-go, too. Should we try for 3 p.m. CT after the next solar eclipse?”) Also coordinating between time zones and tracking availability across personal and work calendars can be a challenge. TidyCal is presented as an…
$39
one-time fee per user
Pricing
Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal)TidyCal
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
TidyCal
$39
one-time fee per user
TidyCal Agency Plan
$79
one-time fee per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
iCalTidyCal
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal)TidyCal
Best Alternatives
Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal)TidyCal
Small Businesses
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Google Calendar
Google Calendar
Score 9.5 out of 10
Google Calendar
Google Calendar
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal)TidyCal
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal)TidyCal
Likelihood to Recommend
In my experience, Ical is very useful in organizing various calendar sources into one place, as well as real-time synchronization in the cloud. It is easy to integrate links, and media sources, as well as add attendees and make edits. A good example of a scenario is inviting everyone in various time zones to a meeting, and many attendees have their iCloud accounts, but some don’t. Everyone is able to be added to the meeting, showing in their correct time zone and seeing the necessary event details, as well as any virtual meeting, and invite details.
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Maybe if you are needing a large enterprise solution you may need something else but we have found that it fits all of needs as a 32 people team. It has worked flawlessly since we installed it. I keep focusing on this but it is a 30 min set up and that’s it.
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Pros
  • Perfectly syncs between all devices
  • It allows me to set multiple reminders before a meeting
  • When I add an address it automatically links to Apple Maps so I can see where i am going and also how long it will take me. I can easiy click on the link and it will start navigation for me, pretty cool
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  • The ability to create multiple booking types and personalize them
  • The integration of Zoom and payment types
  • The ability to create scheduling polls for group meetings
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Cons
  • I would love it to have more visualizations and not just the classic one in a common calendar and that it could be customized
  • You have the possibility to have a face-to-face call by sharing a link that, in my opinion, could be improved by creating groups of only contacts and limiting access to the meeting.
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  • There is a learning curve it takes some time for new user to understand the process.
  • UI can be made attractive.
  • Integration with other video conference tools like Amazon's chime
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Usability
As I've said, Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal) does not work well when integrated with Microsoft Exchange/Outlook calendars. It's not very usable. Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal) does not stay in sync well at all with Microsoft Exchange/Outlook. You will waste a lot of time manually resyncing your calendars and you will never be able to fully trust Apple iCloud Calendar (iCal).
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Usability is ridiculously easy.
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Alternatives Considered
Google Calendar and Apple iCal offer basically the same thing. If you have Google devices, Google Calendar is going to work better for you. If you have Apple devices, Apple iCal will work better. Both have issues with cross platform support, however, Google Calendar on an Apple device at least works whereas Apple iCal on a Google device is difficult to setup and difficult to manage.
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I can use the free plan, which includes
unlimited monthly meetings and appointments. However, I can only link one
calendar. The free plan calendar supports Google Calendar and Office 365
calendar integration. The software has been tried and tested by numerous employees from different backgrounds in our organizations. The interface was a hit with the majority of them, and they found it to be incredibly useful.
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Return on Investment
  • As mentioned previously iCal provides more info to me than just an appointment
  • i can add attachments like notes or links to other services inside the appointment and these will synchronise across my devices.
  • The search functionality in iCal allows me to save items in the notes and then find them at a later stage. An example - I save key information about meetings or activities and then when I am looking for it at a later stage i can jjst search iCal and find it without having to look for documents or through my notes.
  • There is no default video call setting (like Google has Meet as a default and Microsoft has Teams) this is a problem in that I can't schedule video calls so the work around is that I sync to a Gmail calender and then schedule the video call (Meet) in Google
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  • It cut my Scheduling time by at least 50%.
  • It impresses my clients and saves them time.
  • It's the reason some of my clients end up hiring me.
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ScreenShots

TidyCal Screenshots

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