Crab Fit vs Timeful
We give Crab Fit and Timeful the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACrab FitVery good | 3.4GPATimefulVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt costs nothing. There's one plan and it's $0: the web tool, the Android app and the browser extensions. The project runs on optional donations. | AFree for everyone since 7 October 2026. The Premium subscription was withdrawn and the ads removed, so every feature costs nothing. Donations are optional. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree with no account, for you and for everyone you send the link to. The privacy policy says the service is provided at no cost. There's no paid tier to be nudged towards. | AThe product is free: no cap on the number of events, no ads, and everything that used to sit behind the paywall is open to all. The code is open source under AGPL-3.0, so you can host it yourself as well. |
| Features | BIt does one narrow thing and does it fully: a live heat map of who's free, with time zones handled, Google and Outlook import and an optional password per person. It won't book the meeting or keep a record, since events go after 3 months idle. | BOne job, done fully: polls that fill in from Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar or an ICS feed, slots you can mark as only if needed, time zone conversion and reminders. Availability groups read from Google Calendar only, though. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is the ceiling. One form makes an event, and you can even leave the name blank and let it invent one. No sign-up for anybody. | BThe home page says no login is required, so guests just open the link and answer. Apple Calendar is the fiddly one: you have to generate an app-specific password for it. No rating on record to go by, so a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, an Android app, and extensions for Firefox and for Safari on Mac, with availability pulled from Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar. No iPhone app is listed, and it doesn't work offline. | BIt runs in a web browser only, and the site links to no desktop or mobile apps. It reads Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar, and you can self-host it with Docker Compose. |
| Best for | finding a time a whole group is free | a free group poll that fills in from your calendar |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Crab Fit and Timeful. How we grade
Where they differ
- Crab Fit is free. Timeful is free.
- Only Crab Fit lists an Android app.
- Only Crab Fit lists a browser extension.
- Timeful also covers calendar.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableSurveys
At a glance
| Crab Fit | Timeful | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free with no account. The privacy policy says the service is provided at no cost, and the site asks for donations so that it can stay free for everyone. | Free for everyone since October 7, 2026: no ads, no cap on the number of events, and every feature that used to need Timeful Premium. Donations are optional. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ben Grant | Liu Laboratories LLC |
| Price read from | crab.fit | timeful.app |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Crab Fit
- Friends, clubs and coworkers picking a time for a one-off event
- Groups whose members should not have to create accounts
- People who want to run their own scheduling poll server
Timeful
- Groups choosing a meeting time without anyone creating an account
- Respondents who want to fill in availability from their own calendar
- Organizations that want to self-host an open-source scheduling poll
Worth knowing
Crab Fit
- Events are deleted after 3 months of inactivity, so it does not keep a long-term record.
- The mobile app is for Android only; no iPhone app is listed.
- Extensions are offered for Firefox and for Safari on Mac. The project's code notes that the Chrome extension was removed.
- It needs a connection: the app's own message says a Crab Fit does not work offline.
Timeful
- It runs in a web browser only; the site links to no desktop or mobile apps.
- Email notifications, reminders and showing responses only to the event creator all require signing in.
- Connecting Apple Calendar means generating an app-specific password for your Apple ID and entering it in Timeful.
- Availability groups, which track members' weekly availability, read it from Google Calendar only.
Key features
Crab Fit
- Events created in one form
- Name the event or leave the name blank to have one generated, pick specific dates or days of the week, drag out a time range and choose a time zone. There is no sign-up step.
- Live availability heat map
- Responses appear live on a heat map where darker cells mean more people are free. Hovering or tapping a slot shows who is available, and names can be clicked to view people individually.
- Google and Outlook calendar import
- When entering availability you can sync with Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar, or reuse a recent event. Importing overwrites the availability you had already entered.
- Time zone handling
- Each event stores the time zone it was created in, and a respondent can switch to their detected local time zone. Hours outside the event are greyed out.
- Name and optional password per event
- Respondents enter a name for each event and can add a password to stop others changing their availability. The site says passwords are hashed.
- Open source and self-hosting
- The code is published under the GNU GPLv3, and the repository links to a guide for running your own instance.
Timeful
- Availability polls
- Create an event with a range of dates and times, share the link, and see where everyone's availability overlaps. The home page says no login is required, and the FAQ puts no limit on respondents.
- Calendar autofill
- Respondents can fill in their availability from Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar or an ICS feed URL. Other people see only the availability entered, not the calendar events.
- Available and if-needed times
- A respondent can mark a slot as available or as possible only if needed, and the results can show when a chosen subset of the group is free.
- Time zone conversion
- Times are converted to each viewer's local time zone, and a selector at the bottom of every poll lets a viewer switch zones by hand.
- Email notifications and reminders
- A signed-in organizer can be emailed on each response or after a set number of responses, and can send reminders on the day an event is created, one day later and three days later.
- Open source and self-hosting
- The code is on GitHub under the AGPL-3.0 license, with a deployment guide for Docker Compose and NixOS and a plugin API for reading and setting availability from a browser plugin.
Plans
Crab Fit
Crab Fit$0
The complete web tool, the Android app and the Firefox and Safari extensions. Donations are optional.
Timeful
Free$0
Unlimited events and every feature, with no ads. The former Timeful Premium subscription has been withdrawn.
