Is Notion Calendar worth it in 2024?

Best Features, Limitations, Pros, Cons & Pricing

Notion Calendar is an evolution of the Cron Calendar; Notion acquired a few years ago.

The application aims to help you manage your calendar in one place by connecting with services like Google Calendar, allowing you to organize everything you’re working on effectively.

While it doesn’t require a Notion account, it integrates seamlessly with Notion to enhance your experience. It was designed to help you better manage all your calendar events. The free app lets you connect multiple Google accounts, including Google Workspace.

Additionally, it offers some impressive features for linking databases to Notion, which we’ll explore in this full review.

What is Notion Calendar?

Notion Calendar is a calendar app for managing events and scheduling meetings. It is managed and owned by Notion, formerly known as Cron Calendar.

Busy professionals use it to connect to Google Calendar and manage their meetings and events in one place. It also has an iOS, Windows, macOS and Android app.

How does Notion Calendar work?

Notion Calendar allows you to connect your Google Calendar accounts.

It allows you to add events via Google Calendar. It can be downloaded on Windows and Mac desktops and works seamlessly on iOS and Android. It offers a compact version of the calendar that many consider one of the best mobile calendar apps.

Primarily, it serves as a tool to help you visualize what’s on your Google Calendar. However, you can’t create events outside of Google Calendar. The app also offers some scheduling features, making it easier to book meetings with others without the need for external apps like Cal.comand Calendly.

Notion Calendar supports 12 languages, and one of its standout features is its direct integration with Notion. This allows you to link deadlines or project timelines with your Google Calendar events, making it easier to keep track of what’s important and upcoming. You can also connect events to your Notion documents, enhance meeting agendas, and even update project timelines within the calendar without switching apps, which is a convenient feature.

Additionally, it supports having both personal and work Gmail accounts, including Google Workspace, side by side. It integrates with Google Meet, Zoom, and other conferencing platforms through custom links. Overall, Notion Calendar is designed for busy professionals who use these tools to stay organized and focused.

This is the core premise of Notion Calendar.

Pros:

• Minimal and easy to use
• Works with multiple Google Calendar accounts
• Connects with desktop, iOS & Android
• The design is one of the best on mobile app

Cons:

• It doesn't have its own calendar tool
• Lacks an offline version for no internet use

Pricing:

Notion Calendar is free to use & add accounts

Notion Calendar Features

Here's some of the best bits of Notion Calendar for our review:

Calendar Management (A)

Calendar management across the Notion Calendar platform is excellent.

It allows you to add events and connect with Google Calendar. One of the pains and limitations is that it doesn’t connect with anything outside of that, meaning it’s very calendar-centric to Google. However, we can imagine other integrations could be on the way. During our testing, the Google Calendar sync was smooth, and we had no problems with performance.

The app works well but doesn’t have an offline mode, which can be a downside for some users. Still, using it was very functional. For example, adding a secondary time zone is something you’d expect, and features like the Command Bar help you create faster connections to your calendar. A feature like Block on Calendar allows you to block time to prevent others from booking meetings with you.

Another good feature is the ability to connect multiple Google Calendars, so this works well if you have more than one. The mobile apps for calendar management, while compact, are among the best we’ve seen in the market.

Overall, it works well as a calendar experience, but it can feel limiting if you’re using it outside of Notion. Since it’s Google Calendar-focused and Notion-centric, it may feel like a slightly better Apple Calendar experience, but it is not quite as strong as other tools like Vimcal, which offer broader calendar management features.

Meeting Scheduling (B-)

Notion Calendar includes a feature that allows you to book meetings with others.

You can drag over available times on your calendar and create a link to share with others. This integrates with Google Meet or other video conferencing platforms you use, and you can also add custom details. A nice touch is that once created, you can either copy it as a snippet or copy the scheduling link, which then reserves a time slot in your calendar—a feature, not all similar applications offer.

You can share the scheduling link with others, making it easy for them to book a time with you. Many users find internal booking systems like this helpful for managing their time. However, it’s not as feature-rich as some other tools.

For example, it doesn’t allow you to create recurring bookings, a feature available in apps like Akiflow and Motion. While it’s a convenient way to organize workload and plan, some users may find it lacking compared to more robust scheduling tools.

Additionally, there’s a “quick meet” option, easily accessible from the right-hand side, for quick and spontaneous meetings.

Notion Integrations (A+)

The Notion features within Notion Calendar are a key part of its experience, elevating it beyond a basic calendar to a deeply integrated tool for Notion users. We tested this, and it worked seamlessly. You can connect a Notion database to your calendar to track important dates like project deadlines or tasks you’re working on. These can appear as all-day or scheduled events, helping you stay on top of what’s coming up.

This integration is particularly useful for team collaboration, as the synchronization ensures you always have the most up-to-date information on deadlines or project focuses. Since many people start their day by checking their calendars, this integration level is a huge benefit.

Another great feature is linking existing Notion documents, like meeting notes, directly to your calendar. This gives your team easy access to the full meeting context, and the process of connecting documents is straightforward. You can search across workspaces or even create a new Notion page from within the calendar, which opens the app and lets you start working immediately.

Additionally, you can update database items directly from your calendar. For example, if Q4 results change, you can drag the task to a new date or time, allowing for more effective planning and time blocking.

The integration with Notion is smooth, and not using Notion Calendar would be a missed opportunity for anyone already invested in the Notion ecosystem.

Smaller Features in Notion Calendar

Looking at some of the more minor features in Notion Calendar, here are useful features:

Secondary Time Zone

This feature is great if you add a second or third-time zone to your setup. It helps you see when events will happen in different time zones, making it perfect for teams working across different locations. It’s also straightforward to add using the command bar.

Command Bar

The command bar is another favorite for many users. It lets you quickly access Notion databases and other items with a simple Command-K command on Mac. It’s especially helpful for sharing availability quickly, speeding up the scheduling process.

Blocking on Calendar

This feature allows you to block off time so others can’t book meetings with you, which is great for protecting your time. Many people find this essential for personal calendar management, and it’s similar to what you might see in other apps like Reclaim.

Notion does a good job of presenting this feature intuitively, helping you manage busy slots across your calendars without overcomplicating things.

Mobile App

The mobile experience for Notion Calendar is one of the best we’ve seen. While many mobile apps try to cram everything into one view, Notion Calendar balances the layout well, allowing you to view for up to three days without feeling cramped.

Although it doesn’t offer extended views beyond that, and its monthly view is limited, it’s not overwhelming. You can easily jump back to the “Today” area with a tap in the top right corner.

The app lets you quickly open event details with a smooth, non-cluttered interface. Plus, on iOS and Android, there’s a helpful widget extension for seeing everything at a glance.

Teammate Calendar

If your teammate shares a calendar with you and gives unlimited access, you can open the command bar and select “Show Teammate Calendar.”

This lets you see a full view of their schedule, giving you a clear idea of when to book meetings without disrupting them. This is a great collaborative feature in Notion Calendar, and during our testing, it worked smoothly to see what each person was working on.

Each calendar also lets you add reminders, which can be set to notify you at the start of an event, up to an hour before, or even just 5 minutes in advance. This flexibility is a great addition.

Event Types

In the event details, you can categorize events as meetings and “focus time” or “out-of-office.” Setting an out-of-office automatically declines meetings during that time, which works for both work and school calendars.

Similarly, creating focus time will also decline meetings automatically, helping you stay undisturbed when needed. This is a very useful feature for managing your availability effectively.

Notion Calendar's Performance

One of the features we liked was the speed and performance of the Notion Calendar.

Setting up events or using the command bar was fast during our testing. Everything worked smoothly and quickly, whether it was basic calendar actions or more advanced features.

Other helpful features included refining the calendar view by day, week, month, or a custom number of days. You can also toggle settings to show weekends, week numbers, and declined events, which adds flexibility to how you manage your schedule.

Notion Calendar's Limitations

However, one drawback we encountered was the lack of an offline mode. When we tested the app offline, we couldn’t make any changes, which was a bit disappointing.

Another limitation is that Notion Calendar depends entirely on Google Calendar for calendar management. While this is great for Google Calendar users, it means there’s no native calendar management system within Notion, and it doesn’t support Outlook either.

We can imagine future updates might address this, possibly adding Outlook integration or a dedicated Notion calendar system, which would be a valuable addition.

These are a few of the limitations we noticed during our experience with the app.

How much is Notion Calendar per month?

Notion Calendar is free and available to everyone. You do not need a Notion account right now to access Notion Calendar.

Pricing Breakdown (Speculation)

Pricing for Notion Calendar is one of its standout features.

The application is completely free and doesn’t even require a Notion account to get started. You simply download it and connect it with Google Calendar. In terms of what it offers at no cost, with no premium subscription options, it’s a very generous deal.

There's no need to worry if you’re concerned about the lack of a premium tier. Notion, the company behind Notion Calendar, is a large organization with significant resources. It seems likely that Notion Calendar is being used as a loss leader to draw people into the broader Notion ecosystem, where its strong integrations with Notion databases and other features can encourage users to explore the full platform.

While we don’t expect Notion Calendar to adopt pricing in the future, if it ever does, it will likely be minimal. Given the company’s focus on expanding its ecosystem, it’s probable that the team will continue investing in the calendar to enhance its features. So, if you’re considering whether Notion Calendar is a good long-term option, its current free status and likely future development make it a strong choice.

Verdict: Notion Calendar

So, should you go ahead and get Notion Calendar?

The app has a sleek design that resembles Apple Calendar, with added customizations like meeting booking and quick meet features. The ability to connect multiple Google Calendars is a huge time-saver, especially for those who love combining Google Calendar with Notion.

If you're a heavy Notion user, the integration with Notion databases is especially valuable and makes this app perfect for managing everything related to Google and Notion.

So who is Notion best for?

• The mobile app is also impressive, with a smooth experience that stands out. We recommend this app for anyone who uses Google Calendar and Notion regularly. If you're not a Notion user, it’s still a solid, basic calendar tool. But for Notion fans, it will elevate your productivity, especially if you're date-driven, thanks to the seamless integrations.
• The scheduling features aren’t groundbreaking, but they’re reliable for basic meeting planning. The speed and functionality across both mobile and desktop are outstanding. However, this app won’t suit your needs if you rely on offline calendar access.
• Looking ahead, we expect continued improvements to the Google Calendar integration, and there’s a chance they’ll add support for Outlook or other calendar systems. If you fit the profile of a Google Calendar and Notion user, Notion Calendar is definitely worth checking out. We think it's a robust and promising option.