Calendars by Readdle for Mac in 2026: Is It Worth Paying For?

Calendars by Readdle is worth paying for on a Mac if you want to drag tasks onto your schedule and keep them in step with an iPhone. For events alone, Apple Calendar already handles several accounts, repeating events and reminders for free. The App Store lists PRO at $19.99 a year or $3.99 a month, after a 7-day trial.

Paying for a calendar feels odd when your Mac came with one, so the real question is whether this app fixes something Apple's doesn't. Below: what Calendars does on a Mac, what the free plan leaves out (Readdle's own pages disagree on this), a side-by-side with Apple Calendar, how to spend the trial so you can decide, and how to cancel.

Should you get Calendars by Readdle on your Mac?

Get Calendars by Readdle if your to-do list and your schedule need to live in one window, and you also plan on an iPhone. Stay with Apple Calendar if you mostly look at events and add new ones. Everything else in this comparison is detail around that split.

What does Calendars by Readdle do on a Mac?

Calendars by Readdle is a calendar and task app that combines Google, Outlook, Exchange and iCloud calendars with Apple Reminders and Google Tasks in one view, according to Readdle's product page. The Mac version arrived in June 2022 and needs macOS 12.0 or later. On the App Store it now goes by the name "Calendars: Schedule Planner", so don't be thrown if you search for the old name.

These are the parts that matter on a Mac:

• Planner. Readdle's task guide describes the Mac flow: open the Planner tab, click + to create a task, then drag it onto your calendar.
• Tasks. A separate Tasks tab holds your lists. Choose a color under My List in the sidebar, then click + to add a task.
• Natural language input. You type an event in plain English and the app schedules it, which Apple Calendar also does.
• Video links. The App Store listing says you can join Zoom, Google Meet and GoToMeeting calls from the calendar.
• Coworker schedules. Readdle's coworker article says you can add a colleague's calendar on a Mac, for Google Workspace accounts only. Readdle still calls them G Suite accounts.
• Habit tracking, a productivity course and an AI assistant. Readdle's page lists these too, with the AI assistant behind a "Get early access" link. It doesn't say which of them reach the Mac, so don't buy for them without checking in the trial.

My read is that this is an iPhone app first, with a Mac companion. Readdle's own page says it is "optimized for iPhone," and the most recent App Store release notes are about an iPhone layout. That isn't a criticism, and it's useful if your phone is where you plan. It does mean a Mac-only user gets less of what they're paying for.

The App Store shows 4.7 stars from about 123,000 ratings, though the listing doesn't break that out for the Mac version, so I wouldn't lean on it for this decision.

The reason a Planner appeals to me is simple. When I plan a launch week, my to-do list sits in one app and my calendar in another, and I end up retyping items just to see whether they fit around my meetings. Dragging the task over is the step I want, and it's the feature Apple Calendar doesn't try to match.

How much does Calendars by Readdle cost in 2026?

Calendars by Readdle is free to download, and PRO is listed on the US App Store at $19.99 or $21.99 a year, or $3.99 a month. Readdle says the price varies by region and local taxes, and the listing doesn't explain why two yearly prices appear. To see yours, open any PRO feature on your Mac, and the app shows the price.

The arithmetic favors the yearly plan if you stay. Twelve months at $3.99 comes to $47.88, against $19.99 for a year, so the monthly plan only makes sense for a short project. The same listing also shows items such as "Recurring Events" at $31.99 and "Full Pack" at $12.99, with no explanation. Go by what the upgrade screen offers you, not that list.

What's free and what needs PRO?

Readdle's two pages give different answers, and it's worth knowing that before you start. The product page FAQ says "You can sync calendars, manage tasks, create events with natural language input, and collaborate with others at no cost." The support article on free and full versions describes the free plan as a basic calendar and lists tasks, natural language input and more as PRO.

I'd plan around the support article, since it's the more specific page and the cautious reading. Its Google setup guide backs it up on one point: connecting more than one Google account takes PRO. If you end the trial without paying, check which of these you still have before you rely on them, repeating meetings above all.

Calendars by Readdle vs. Apple Calendar

Apple Calendar is free, built into your Mac, and covers most of what Calendars PRO charges for: several accounts, repeating events, plain-English entry and reminders. Calendars by Readdle's real advantages are the Planner and more video-call options. Each row below links to the vendor's own page, and the PRO entries follow Readdle's support article, since its product page describes more as free.

What Apple Calendar already does well

Apple Calendar on macOS 27 does more than people give it credit for. Click Create Quick Event and type something like "Soccer Game on Saturday from 11am-1pm," one of Apple's own examples. Turn on Scheduled Reminders in the calendar list and timed reminders appear at their time slot, next to your events. For repeats, the Repeat menu handles patterns like the last weekday of each month.

You can also time-block without any new app. Press Command-1 for Day view, then drag from a start time to an end time and name the block. It's more manual than a Planner, since you retype the task, but before spending $19.99 I'd run that for two weeks and see whether blocking time suits you at all.

One real limit is Exchange. Apple notes that full features apply only to your main Exchange calendar, that extra Exchange calendars won't show updated invitations or attendee responses, and that you can set only one alert on an Exchange event.

What Calendars by Readdle adds

The Planner is the feature to pay for. A task list beside the calendar, with drag-and-drop, is a different way of working from a reminder that simply shows up on a date. Calendars PRO also suits you if you're already in the app on your phone, because your iPhone subscription covers the Mac.

If you'd rather have a dedicated daily planner than a calendar with one attached, I've covered tools like Morgen and Sunsama separately. And if your question is really about where your events should live, start with Google Calendar vs. Apple Calendar.

How to test Calendars by Readdle in 7 days

The 7-day trial unlocks everything, so use it to answer one question: do you still open the Planner on day six? Readdle's trial starts when you upgrade, and your Apple account is charged when it ends.

1. Open the App Store on your Mac, install Calendars and check you're on macOS 12 or later.
2. Add your account: click the Calendars menu, then Preferences, click + Add account, choose your provider and follow the prompts (Readdle's steps). The shortcut Command-comma opens the same window.
3. Open the Planner tab and create the next few tasks on your real list by clicking +.
4. Drag each one onto your calendar, then try changing how long it takes. Readdle's guide mentions adjusting task length in Day view in its iPhone section, and in Week or Month view tasks land in the all-day area. So check that this works the way you want on your Mac.
5. If you have an iPhone, add the same account there and confirm that a task made on one device appears on the other.
6. Open your Apple Calendar next to it for a day and notice which one you actually reach for.
7. On day six, decide. Then pay or cancel.

Whenever I start a free trial, I put a reminder on the second-to-last day before I do anything else in the app. Otherwise the decision gets made by my card statement.

If your account won't add

A work account is the usual sticking point. When I tried to add a company Microsoft 365 calendar to a third-party app on a new laptop, sign-in stopped at a request for admin approval, and only IT could clear it. Readdle's troubleshooting article has the same advice: ask your IT administrator whether apps like Calendars are allowed.

Readdle's other suggestions are to check your connection, turn off any VPN and use an app-specific password if your iCloud account has two-factor authentication. If that fails, add the calendar to Apple Calendar first, then press Command-comma in Calendars, open Local Calendars, turn on the toggle and choose the accounts to show.

How to cancel Calendars PRO on a Mac

Calendars PRO is billed through Apple, so you cancel it in your Apple subscriptions, not inside the app. Readdle advises canceling at least one day before the billing date, and if you cancel during the trial, you keep PRO features until it ends.

1. Open the App Store on your Mac and click your profile icon at the bottom left.
2. Choose View Information, and under Manage, click Subscriptions (Readdle's path).
3. Find Calendars and click Cancel Subscription. If that button isn't there, the subscription is already canceled and won't renew.

Is Calendars by Readdle private enough for work?

Calendars by Readdle declares on its App Store privacy label that identifiers are used to track you, and that identifiers and usage data are linked to you. Apple notes these labels come from the developer and aren't verified by Apple. For a personal calendar that may be fine. A work calendar holds client names and meeting titles, so check your company's policy before connecting one.

Other Mac calendar apps worth a look

Fantastical and BusyCal are the two I'd look at next on a Mac. Fantastical has a free plan and a subscription, while BusyCal is listed at a single price.

• Fantastical by Flexibits. The free plan has core features and limits you to one invitee per event. Paid plans add unlimited invitees, scheduling and more, and you get 14 days to try them. Flexibits shows the price at checkout, not on the plan page.
• BusyCal. BusyMac lists it at $49.99, free to try for 14 days, for macOS 12 or later, and tasks carry forward until you complete them. It's also offered through Setapp.
• Google Calendar in a browser. If you also work on Windows or Android, this is the simplest shared home for your events, and it's free. These five settings are the first ones I'd change.