GroupCal vs Saturn

GroupCal

• Clubs, communities and schools that publish a schedule to many people
• Small teams sharing shifts, bookings or meeting-room calendars
• Families and friends on a mix of iPhone and Android phones
• Groups where only the organizer should pay: members use the app free

Saturn

• High school students with rotating, block or A/B day schedules
• Friends who want to see when each other are free without swapping emails
• Clubs and teams that need a shared calendar members join by link

GroupCal

• A plan covers the calendars its buyer owns, so prices are per calendar owner, not per member; members and admins of those calendars pay nothing.
• The free plan allows 1 admin and has no permission controls. More admins start at Team ($50 per month, billed annually).
• The REST API, webhooks and white-labeled apps are limited to Enterprise, which has custom pricing.
• Accounts are tied to a phone number: the guide says to sign in with the same number on every device.

Saturn

• Mobile apps only: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. No web or desktop version is listed.
• The website still presents Saturn as the calendar built for high school, and the terms limit each school community to students of that school.
• Google Calendar is the only outside calendar the store listings name as a connection.
• The terms of use require users to be at least 13 years old.

GroupCal

Calendars joined by link

Create separate calendars for different groups, topics or resources, each with its own color and photo. Members join from a shared link or an invite sent to their phone number, without an email address.

Real-time updates and RSVP

Members get push notifications when they are added to a calendar and when events are added or changed. Each event shows who accepted or declined.

Roles and permissions

Calendars have Owner, Admin and Member roles. Paid plans let the owner choose who can add events or members, and from Team hide event details or limit members to editing their own events.

Personal calendars alongside

Events from Apple Calendar, Google Calendar and Outlook appear next to GroupCal calendars in one view. From Pro, events from connected Google, Outlook and iCloud accounts can be shared with a group.

Public channels and embeds

A public calendar can be embedded in a website, with a WordPress plugin and a Wix widget. On Organization, a calendar channel is listed in GroupCal's search and takes unlimited followers.

Linked calendars

On the Organization plan, calendars can be linked so events sync across them, which lets a master calendar reflect several related schedules.

Saturn

School schedule formats

Handles rotating periods, block schedules, A/B days, lunch waves, advisory and flex blocks. The listing says Saturn is in over 20,000 US high schools and can be carried on to college.

Compare calendars with friends

Shows when friends and family are free without needing their email address, so overlapping free time can be turned into a plan. Friends appear alongside your own calendar on the home tab.

Shared and group calendars

A shared calendar can be made for a trip, a household, a club or a team and joined through a link. Members get change and reminder notifications as events are updated.

Typed or spoken event entry

Typing or saying a phrase such as "Dinner with Dylan on Tuesday at 7" puts the event on the calendar. Events, to-dos and reminders can all be added by text or voice.

Google Calendar and Snapchat

Google Calendar can be connected so its events appear in Saturn. Connecting Snapchat brings in friends, birthdays and Bitmojis.

Apple Watch app and widgets

The Apple Watch app shows a countdown to the end of the current class or event, a schedule view of the day and watch face widgets, synced from the iPhone app.

GroupCal

• Free$0

  Unlimited calendars and events, 25 event photo attachments and 1 admin. Aimed at sharing calendars with family or friends.

• Pro$10

  per month, billed annually at $120 ($15 billed monthly)

  150 photo attachments, control over who can add events and members, a color per member, advanced RSVP, and sharing of Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars.

• Team$50

  per month, billed annually at $600 ($75 billed monthly)

  3 calendar admins, 500 photo attachments, event ownership, hidden event details, members limited to editing their own events, a business page and priority support.

• Organization$150

  per month, billed annually at $1,800 ($225 billed monthly)

  Unlimited admins, 1,500 photo attachments, calendar channels, event sync across linked calendars, verified calendars and embedding several calendars together.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Unlimited attachments, REST API and webhooks, white-labeled web and mobile apps, a custom legal and security review and a dedicated success manager.

Saturn

• Saturn Calendar$0

  The complete app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android, listed as free with no in-app purchases on the US App Store.

GroupCal

• Annual discount

  Save 33% with yearly billing

  The pricing page marks yearly billing as a 33% saving: Pro is $10 per month billed annually against $15 billed monthly, Team $50 against $75 and Organization $150 against $225.

Saturn

No public discounts listed.