Morgen vs Cal.com: Which Calendar Tool Wins in 2026?

Morgen launched around 2020 as a response to people juggling way too many calendars. Work Google Calendar, personal Outlook, maybe an iCloud calendar for family stuff - it gets messy fast. Morgen pulls them all into one interface and adds planning tools on top.

Think time blocking, task integration, scheduling assistant. It's for people who live in their calendar and need to actually manage their time, not just see what meetings are coming up. Been using it for about 8 months now and honestly can't imagine going back to switching between calendar apps.

Cal.com showed up in 2021 as the open-source answer to Calendly's dominance. Same basic idea - give people a link, they pick a time, meeting gets scheduled. The difference? You can self-host it if you want, the code is public, and it's cheaper.

For freelancers, consultants, anyone doing client calls, it solves that annoying 'when are you free?' email chain. You set your availability rules once, share the link, done. I tried Calendly first back in 2023, switched to Cal.com when I realized I was paying $16/month for basically the same thing.

The multi-calendar view is where Morgen actually shines. Color-coded events from different accounts, all layered cleanly so you can see conflicts at a glance. Time blocking lets you drag chunks of time onto your calendar for focused work - the app treats these blocks like appointments so nothing else schedules over them.

Smart scheduling is wild: it learns when you typically schedule certain types of meetings and suggests times accordingly. Like if you always do client calls in the afternoon, it'll recommend afternoon slots first. The task integration pulls from Todoist or whatever you use, shows tasks alongside events so you're planning the whole day, not just meetings.

Cal.com doesn't manage your calendar. At all. What it does is create booking pages where people can see your availability and claim a slot. You set rules like 'only allow bookings between 9am-5pm on weekdays' or 'require 24 hours notice' and the system enforces them automatically.

When someone books, it drops the event into your Google Calendar or Outlook, sends confirmations, adds video links if needed. The workflow automation is decent - you can trigger webhooks, send custom emails, require questionnaires before booking. But yeah, if you're looking for an app to organize your existing calendar events, this ain't it.

The morning briefing feature sends a daily digest showing your schedule, travel time between meetings if applicable, and tasks you planned for the day. Sounds simple but it's genuinely useful for getting your head in the game before things get chaotic. Scheduling assistant is another winner - when you're trying to add an event, it suggests optimal times based on your preferences and existing schedule.

Keyboard shortcuts are extensive; you can navigate the whole app without touching the mouse once you learn them. Oh, and the mobile app actually works well, which is rarer than it should be for calendar apps.

Being open-source is Cal.com's biggest differentiator. If you've got the technical chops, you can self-host it and avoid subscription fees entirely. For everyone else, the hosted version is still way cheaper than Calendly. Unlimited event types is huge - you can have separate booking pages for discovery calls, support sessions, coffee chats, whatever.

Calendly locks this behind higher tiers. The workflow features let you do stuff like send Slack notifications when someone books, add contacts to your CRM automatically, trigger custom automations through Zapier. Team scheduling works if you need round-robin booking or collective availability.

Free tier gives you basic calendar consolidation and 2 connected accounts. That's probably enough if you're just tired of switching between personal and work calendars. Pro is $14/month (billed annually, so $168/year) and unlocks unlimited accounts, full scheduling assistant, task integrations, and all the keyboard shortcuts.

There's also a Pro Plus tier at $20/month with team features, but honestly unless you're managing a team's calendars, stick with Pro. FYI, there's no monthly billing option - annual only. That's annoying if you just want to try it for a month, though they do have a trial period.

Free plan gives you one event type and basic booking. Fine for testing or if you literally only need one type of appointment. Pro is $12/month annually ($144/year) and includes unlimited event types, custom branding, workflow automation, and team features. Teams plan is $15/user/month for organizations needing admin controls and better collaboration.

The pricing is straightforward, no weird gotchas. If you're currently paying for Calendly Standard ($16/month), Cal.com Pro saves you $48/year for roughly the same features. Self-hosting is free forever if you want to go that route, though you'll need to maintain the server yourself.

Desktop apps for Mac and Windows are solid. Fast, native feel, all the features from the web version. Mobile apps (iOS and Android) are surprisingly good - you can see your consolidated calendar, add events, do basic time blocking from your phone. Quick add works well for capturing appointments on the fly.

Syncing is fast and reliable. I've had maybe one sync hiccup in 8 months of daily use. The mobile experience isn't quite as feature-rich as desktop (no keyboard shortcuts, obviously) but it covers the essentials without feeling cramped.

Cal.com is primarily web-based. There's a mobile-responsive web app but no dedicated mobile apps yet. For what it is - a scheduling link tool - that's mostly fine since you're just sharing a URL and managing bookings.

The admin interface works okay on mobile browsers, though editing complex availability rules on a phone screen is kind of a pain. Desktop experience is smooth, works in any browser. Honestly you don't interact with the interface that much anyway; most of the work happens through the booking page your clients see.

Morgen connects to basically every major calendar service: Google, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, CalDAV. For tasks, it integrates with Todoist, Asana, and a few others. Video conferencing links auto-populate for Zoom and Google Meet.

The integrations are deep - like with Todoist, you can reschedule tasks from within Morgen and see changes reflected in both apps. I wish there were more task app integrations (TickTick support when?), but what's there works reliably.

Cal.com hooks into your existing calendar (Google, Outlook, CalDAV) to check availability and create events. Video tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and even custom video links are supported. Payment processing through Stripe if you charge for appointments.

The webhook system lets you connect to basically anything via Zapier or custom code. CRM integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, and others through the marketplace. For a scheduling tool, the integration options are solid - covers most of what you'd actually need.