Is Cal.com or Google Calendar free?

Both can be used for free. Cal.com: Free plan, paid from $15 a month. Google Calendar: Free.

Do I need to install Cal.com or Google Calendar?

No. Both run in a web browser, so you can open either one and start.

Price, ratings and what each one does, side by side. Every fact here comes from their listings on Linkstore.

Open scheduling that you can host yourself.

A calendar for your day, shared with other people.

Cal.com

Google Calendar

Share a booking link, connect your calendars and let people pick a time. Open source and extensible.

Keep events, share a calendar, and send invites. The thing most scheduling tools still sync back to.

Apps that do a similar job, closest matches first.

Calendly
Let people book time with you without the back and forth.
ProductivityNewFreemium
Open
Notion Calendar
A fast calendar that sits on top of Google Calendar.
ProductivityNewFree
Open
TickTick
A to-do list with a calendar and a pomodoro timer.
ProductivityNewFreemium
Open
Motion
Auto-schedules your tasks onto the calendar.
ProductivityNewPaid
Open
Buffer
Schedule posts across your social accounts.
ProductivityNewFreemium
Open
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Productivity5.0Free
Open