Notion Calendar vs Fantastical

Notion acquired a company called Cron and then re-named it Notion Calendar. We loved Cron and when the acquisition happened, we had some mixed emotions...

It was very much a 5 stages of grief situation, it was a great calendar, obviously built by people who obsess over UX, so it was hard to think that Notion was going to make a ton of changes. We actually ended up deleting it for well over a year.

But over a year later, we were pleased to see that Notion kept most of it the same. They did start to plug their own products within the calendar, adding in subtle pushes to integrate your calendar with Notion and Notion Mail, which we're not huge fans of. But that aside, the calendar itself is arguably the most thoughtfully designed calendar app on the market.

It's not really that the Notion Calendar does anything revolutionary, it's not going to suddenly make you more productive or help you manage your time. It just has… excellent design.

It’s fast. It’s minimal. It feels like someone was picky about the details. For most people, Google Calendar is more than enough. But if you're just looking for a free, user-friendly calendar to replace Google Calendar, it's an easy recommendation!

• The most thoughtfully designed calendar UI available
• Extremely fast and responsive
• Excellent keyboard shortcuts
• Smooth multi-timezone support
• Smart natural language event creation

• Constant subtle push toward Notion ecosystem
• No natural language event creation

Every interaction feels intentional. You could be dragging events, resizing blocks, or even switching views and still experience the same visually polished interface.

The design team definitely obsessed over micro-interactions. With most calendars prioritizing functionality, it's really refreshing to see one that also values design!

Something calendars don't always get right is the level of customization. Too much customization and it starts to feel overwhelming. Too little and it feels restrictive. Notion calendar found that Goldilocks zone, and it's easy to see with things like the multi-day view.

It's as easy as pressing a number on your keyboard (1–9), and it instantly customizes how many days you see, with one press.

You can horizontally scroll through time, which makes it feel like you’re navigating an ongoing timeline, so really it's the little things that change how the app feels.

Like every third-party calendar built on Google, it inherits API constraints.

For example:
If someone else owns an event, you often can’t directly modify it, even if they’ve granted permission.

Most calendar apps just stop there and say, "Not our problem."

But Notion Calendar dug deeper. They created a clever workaround that allows you to temporarily hide your own calendar and directly adjust the shared calendar instead. It’s not perfect, but it’s a thoughtful layer most competitors either didn't think to implement or just didn't feel like adding.

They’re pushing the API as far as it can go, and to us, that speaks volumes.

For power users, this is where the app really shines.

Press C to create an event.
Press T to jump back to today.
Use natural language like “8 weeks” and jump directly to that date.

It makes for a seriously straightforward, fast experience that helps you to just get it done.

• Free: Best for individuals & students wanting a clean, usable calendar.
• Paid: Best for Notion users who want to unlock advanced database features and team functionality.

Fantastical is a calendar app only for MacOS and iOS users (Android users, skip this review and check out Notion Calendar, Morgen, or our favorite: Motion instead). It became popular early on for being the first to do natural language event creation, which for a long time made Fantastical stand out.

Today, Fantastical is best suited for individuals or families who are deep in the Apple ecosystem and want an Apple-native calendar experience. It's not a calendar we'd recommend for professional use or teams, as there are far better, more powerful, and modern calendars on the market. But we know people who love it for it's fast keyword shortcuts and usable mini-calendar features.

The biggest limitation is that Fantastical feels dated. It does all the basic features like event creation and light task management, but there are other features that seem out of place and unnecessary.

• Apple-native (macOS and iOS)
• Clean, familiar interface for Apple users
• Supports iCloud, Google, Microsoft, and Exchange

• Apple-only (no Android support)
• Not recommended for professional teams
• Feels outdated compared to modern alternatives

Fantastical built its name on natural language, and it still does this really well.

It's as simple as typing something like, "Meeting with Stephanie at Starbucks in Stone Oak on Wednesday at 10 for two hours,"and it understands the title, location, date, time, and duration without you clicking through all the drop downs.

It's not a full AI assistant that’s going to reschedule your life, but for quickly adding events throughout the day, it's fast and reliable.

For those who love a good keyboard shortcut you'll be happy to know that Fantastical has a few.

A favorite being that with a few clicks on your keyboard you instantly open a small calendar overlay on your Mac.

From that mini view, you can:

• Switch between month, week, or list views
• Toggle between different calendar sets (personal, business, finance, etc.)
• Quickly peek into the future
• Check availability without breaking your workflow

There's also smart behavior in a week view that helps you jump to today. The calendar shifts so that today is always on the far left. Most apps lock you into a static Sunday–Saturday grid, so "today" keeps moving visually.

All these seemingly little details add up to a pretty big reduction in mental friction.

Like more calendars, when someone books time with you using Fantastical’s "Openings" feature, the app can automatically attach a Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Webex link to the event. It lets you choose your preferred provider inside your meeting template.

Overall, it's convenient and removes extra steps, but again, most calendars offer similar functionality, so while it’s helpful, it’s not a reason to switch altogether.

• Free: Available with limited functionality
• Individual/Team:
• • 14 day trial, then $4.75 per month billed annually
  • 14 day trial, then $6.99 per month billed monthly.