Entrepreneurs Need a Better Calendar App Than the 2 Everybody Uses An entrepreneur might be trying to manage employees, multiple businesses, their personal life and there ideas for what comes next.
By Angela Ruth Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A few months ago I started to really pay attention to how inefficient my calendar had become. I was wasting time on pointless meetings, showing up late and it started to constantly impede my daily work. I even managed to show up a few minutes late to one of the biggest interviews of my life. Obviously, this was unacceptable to me. I had to find a solution (or solutions) that would work for me and my busy life.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you are currently using Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar as your primary business calendar. Am I right? Feel free to nod your head. Fact is, you're missing out on some of the top calendar apps by limiting you and your business to these tools.
I tested and tested and tested until I found a solution for me. While there are many options, most traditional online calendar apps don't always align with what you do as a business owner. There might not be the features or functionality that you really need to make it worthwhile. Here are the Top Calendar Apps for Business Owners that may soon be replacing your current calendars:
Overall calendar for business and personal in one location
Calendar is a relatively new app that works as a web application as well as for iOS and Android devices. This calendar app uses machine learning to do much of the work for you. It learns your contacts, schedule, and tasks. Then, it takes over things you would have normally had to do when arranging meetings.
It knows where you are and when you will be in a meeting or available. No more 3 a.m. meetings because you didn't factor in that you were traveling. Trying to book a meeting with multiple people is no problem. You can easily tag all the people you want to invite and it will only show you the times that work for everyone.
Additionally, Calendar lets you integrate any other calendars you are using, such as Apple Calendar, Calendar 365, and Google Calendar. What you have on those calendars can now be visible in your Calendar app so you have a real-time view of everything in your business and personal lives. Plus, you can choose to share this information, or part of it, with others.
Related: 101 Time Management Tips to Boost Productivity Every Day
Easy to Use Mobile Calendar
Fantastical 2 is an iOS calendar app that you can use on your iPhone. It costs $4.99 to download. There is also an iPad version, but you will need to purchase that one separately. Its benefits include a way to view your calendar events through a daily, weekly, and monthly perspective and format.
There are different options for creating events, including a menu-based interface, natural language keyword entry, or audio note. One of its differentiating features from other calendar apps is the Day Ticker, which allows you to manage events and reminders in a more user-friendly way. Both iOS versions of this calendar app integrate with your Apple Watch so you are alerted to your events and appointments through this device.
Other features include an alert option for upcoming events, a time zone option for changing time zones as you travel, and iCloud sync capability. Overall, all the features make it one of the more powerful calendar apps available for business owners.
Easy Scheduling
Calendly has an individual and team version of its calendar platform with a free trial period to see if it works for your business. The basic version remains free while upgrades to Premium is $8 per user per month or Pro for $12 per user per month, both of which expand the level of functionality.
First, Calendly works with your existing calendars to automatically check your availability so you don't have to do the work. It searches through contacts and gets to know your routine so it can take over scheduling without all the back-and-forth emails. It can handle all types of meeting scheduling from one-on-one sessions to large team meetings. However, that doesn't mean you relinquish control over your schedule. There are numerous ways to set controls and customize Calendly to work the way you want it.
Also, there are numerous integrations for this scheduling platform that make it an ideal choice for business owners. Integrations include PayPal, Stripe, GoToMeeting, Salesforce, Zapier, and more.
Easily search your calendar
Timepage was created by Moleskine, a company known for its notebook products. It offers two iOS versions (iPhone and iPad) as well as an Apple watch app, each of which must be purchased and downloaded separately. Considered a calendar and a day planner, this app integrates with other calendars and apps, such as iCloud, Facebook, and Google.
It offers a simple timeline view to focus on one day at a time as well as a month "heat map." This perspective allows you to instantly see when you are busy and when there is free time. Another feature includes an agenda view so you can easily see what you need to accomplish each day.
Advanced technology is built-in through the calendar app's natural language parsing feature. This helps you search, identify, and create events that include event, weather, and map information.
Related: 8 Time-Management Hacks to Optimize Your Life In and Outside Work
Scheduling platform for business owners
ScheduleOnce is an integrated scheduling platform for online scheduling with clients and prospects. There are basic, professional, and enterprise plans with annual pricing or month-to-month pricing options. The 14-day free trial provides a way to try the scheduling app out before committing to it.
This powerful scheduling software can be configured to fit your business and scheduling needs. There are options for all types of appointments and events, including automatic booking, round-robin assignments, group sessions, and more. Numerous features are designed to create exceptional customer experiences for customers and prospects while keeping you organized on the back-end to sustain that experience beyond the booking and through the appointment.
The scheduling app for business offers integrations with numerous calendar apps (Office 365, Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and iCalendar) as well as other platforms, such as Salesforce, PayPal, Zapier, and Zoom. Additionally, ScheduleOnce can integrate with your brand and operations. This integration includes web forms, campaigns, and emails.
Book meetings with your team
Teamup is a shareable group calendar app that offers free, plus, premium, and enterprise plans. While the free calendar app does provide features that are good for a business owner, the premium version is better if you have employees and teams that need to share their calendars, including meetings, tasks, and appointments, with each other.
The premium edition of this calendar app includes password protection, event history, daily agendas, and multiple sub-calendars. Even with the free version, you can still share your calendar with other people and have up to eight sub-calendars.
This scheduling and calendar tool is primarily designed with groups in mind. There are no user accounts or log-ins required, which makes it easy for each team member to access quickly. Everything is organized by color coding so it's easy to find out what each person on the team is doing while nine different viewing options provide a way for each person to see the calendar their way.
Lots of ways to view your calendar
DigiCal is a free calendar app for Android devices. It stands out for its ability to provide seven viewing modes, customizable widgets, and customization options. The calendar app syncs with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Exchange.
Options include the ability to subscribe to various types of holiday or event calendars or just make your own. There are other great tools, such as a built-in weather forecast, time zone functionality, and invitation management. Other features include location match and image match for further personalization and added convenience. It's also available in 27 languages.
You can upgrade to a premium version known as DigiCal+, which does come at a fee. However, for the fee, you get additional calendar views, increased customization options, and no disruptive ads.
New calendar app with promise
Woven is a new calendar app that uses a different approach to planning, scheduling, and time management. First, it uses a more visual representation of events with a map that also includes travel time to help better understand how to use time and effectively plan a day.
Second, the calendar platform offers shared scheduling through e-mail, text, Slack, or any other messaging platforms. This level of collaboration reduces the time spent on scheduling these events. Next, Woven uses a virtual assistant that will take over scheduling for you and searches for things on your calendar so you don't have to take the time.
It's available for web and mobile use and is compatible with G Suite. The company is currently working on integration capability with Office 365.
Related: 20 Quick Tips for Better Time Management
Integrate your calendar with your whole business
Zoho Calendar is a shareable online calendar app that many business owners may prefer instead of relying on Google Apps for everything. It offers a wide range of tools and solutions for tasks, such as email, spreadsheets, time management, collaboration, word processing and more.
Application integrations include other calendar apps like Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. The app also works with Zoho Calendar integrates with the rest of their products, which is convenient and saves additional time for business owners.
Zoho Apps, which includes the Calendar, is free to set up for your domain and offers up to ten users before any fees kick in. Its calendar tool allows you to have individual and group calendars, which makes this a great tool for teams. You can also share and embed the calendar into many platforms as well as receive reminders and send invitations.
Multiple people, no problem
Doodle is a meeting scheduling and calendar app that works seamlessly across all types of devices, including iOS and Android. The ads-free scheduling experience offers an easy-to-follow format that includes suggesting times, inviting participants, and collaborating on the best option available.
Additional features provide a way to ask for participant information and leverage customized branding options like replacing the Doodle logo with your own business moniker. It's also easy to connect whatever calendar app you use to share information with others and ensure you don't double-book. The personalized dashboard allows you to see and work in a way that helps drive your productivity.
Sync and share in multiple languages
SaiSuke is a free Japanese calendar app made for iOS devices developed by Say Software. The second version of this calendar app is relatively new. Additional features like timeline view and Google Maps integration provide additional advantages for using this comprehensive business calendar app.
It combines calendar functions with schedule management functionality. There are daily, weekly, or yearly view options to track your events, appointments, and tasks. It remembers previous information you have entered so when you start typing an appointment title, it will pop up to save you time.
The calendar app's database of information can be synchronized with Google Calendar while also accessing events from your iPhone Calendar and iPhone Reminders. Also, it syncs with Outlook and iCloud calendars on both Apple and PC computers. Various aspects of your calendar can be customized, including fonts and colors.
Calendar simplicity
Meetingbird focuses on a simple interface, combined with numerous integrations, to deliver a fast and comprehensive way to schedule meetings, events, and appointments. You can customize aspects of the scheduling process, such as meeting times, locations, time zones, and more. Other standout features are custom branding options, reminder and confirmation emails, and unlimited meeting types.
There is Meetingbird for Gmail, Meetingbird for Front, and Meetingbird Pro, all of which give you a specific way to use this scheduling app. For example, if you use the Gmail version, you can opt to schedule directly from Gmail rather than opening the app. Other integrations include Zoom and Zapier.
Calendar app meet task manager
Vantage is a free iOS calendar app. This stylish and features-packed app keeps you on task. It offers a scrolling timeline feature. Also, collapsable event cards are color-coded to quickly find what you need. It is focused on making your calendar as visual as possible while still offering more traditional calendar views for those that prefer that format.
It supports and integrates with other calendars and apps, including Outlook, Google, iOS, and Facebook, You can create to-do lists and leverage natural language parsing for events. Also, there are greater customization options that allow you to create a calendar that reflects your personality and lifestyle.
Intelligent scheduling
Accompany is a free iOS calendar app that provides numerous intelligent scheduling, time and contact management, and calendar features that any business owner will be sure to value. Now part of Cisco, this app also creates profiles of your contacts listed in events and meetings to help you better understand who you are working with.
The Executive Briefing created for each event includes contact communication summaries and recent information about them collected from various channels and sites. Not only does this calendar keep you on task, but it also helps you to be more prepared and productive for each event.
Related: 7 Tips for Managing Your Schedule Like a Pro
Personal assistant in your pocket
Calendars 5 is the brainchild of app developer Readdle. This download-for-a-fee iOS calendar app (listed for $6.99 on the iTunes store) works as a powerful personal assistant. It intuitively knows when you are using it on an iPhone or an iPad. There are multiple calendar, event, and task views. You can speak to it and it will understand what you need through its natural language support capability.
The app syncs with the iOS calendar app, Reminders, and Google Calendar so you can import events and have a complete view of all your responsibilities. It uses an icon to categorize events while the timeline view makes it easy to see what's ahead on your calendar.
Visualize your day easier with this calendar app
CloudCal is a free Android calendar app that has a special feature known as Magic Circles. For some business owners, all it takes is a different way to visualize what they have to do and they can achieve more productivity and enhance their time management skills. Magic Circles creates a picture of how your day looks. You can use it with CloudTasks to accomplish even more during your workday.
CloudCal offers a way to get an instant overview of availability to focus on priorities. There are many customizable options to make the calendar how you like to see things, including day, week, or month views. This calendar app for business syncs with Google, Exchange, and Outlook.
Calendar artificial intelligence in your pocket
myAlfred is a free app for Android and iOS devices powered by artificial intelligence. Now in its third version of development, the app looks through your calendar and helps determine where you can add other events or activities. After scanning everyone's schedule, it also recommends the best time for group meetings or events. Plus, it can also select the meeting location and assess travel distance for the optimum meeting or event time.
However, there are so many other ways myAlfred can assist you. With Alfred's Clipboard History and Snippets features, you can locate any text, image or file you copied earlier and paste it again without having to type more. Alfred's Powerpack, which is an additional cost, leverages powerful workflows to reduce repetitive manual tasks.
Easily journal in your calendar
Whenever is a unique calendar app that uses artificial intelligence while delivering the comfortable feel of a journal format. However, it offers powerful functionality and intuitive features yet is simple to use for just about any business owner.
The calendar app and digital journal allows you to schedule, track, and reflect on both your professional and personal life events within one place. You'll also be able to access it from anywhere for easy updates and changes. Also, it's a great place to record goals and create actions around them that you can link directly to your calendar. This journal format also provides a way to reflect on what's been accomplished to help you create new goals, actions, and accomplishments.
Who knows what the future in calendars may hold? One thing's for sure, if these up and comers keep outperforming the traditional calendars that come to mind, we all might be making the switch to one of these top calendar apps very soon.
