Itsycal vs MeetingBar

Itsycal

• Mac users who want a quick month view without opening a calendar app
• People who navigate by keyboard and like Vim-style keys
• Anyone looking for a free, open-source menu bar calendar

MeetingBar

• People with back-to-back video calls who want one click to join
• Mac users who need a visible countdown to the next meeting
• Teams that prefer free, open-source utilities with no data collection

Itsycal

• Mac only, and it depends on the Mac Calendar app: it shows only calendars already set up there.
• Events can be created and deleted but not edited; the project's README says editing is not supported.
• Only the Gregorian calendar is supported, and delegate calendars cannot be shown directly.
• The current download needs macOS 11 or later (macOS 27 has its own build); older versions cover earlier systems.

MeetingBar

• Mac only, and it requires macOS 12.0 or later.
• It is a meeting launcher more than a full calendar: the menu lists events from today and tomorrow only.
• Only two calendar sources are supported: the macOS Calendar app and a direct Google Calendar connection. Exchange and Office 365 go through Calendar.app.
• Development is community-supported through donations; there is no paid plan or paid support.

Itsycal

Month calendar with agenda

A compact month grid opens from the menu bar with an agenda of events below it. It can show up to two months at a time, ISO week numbers and three text sizes.

Events from the Mac Calendar app

Displays events from whichever calendars you tick among those set up in the Mac Calendar app. New events can be created and existing ones deleted from Itsycal.

Join virtual meetings

A meeting icon in the agenda turns into a Join button 15 minutes before the start. Zoom and Teams links open in their apps, and Command-J joins the first active meeting.

Keyboard navigation with Vim motions

Arrow keys or H, J, K and L move by day, week, month and year, with an optional repeat count. Other keys pin the window, toggle week numbers and jump to a given date.

Menu bar clock replacement

The menu bar item can show the day, month and weekday, plus text built from a date and time pattern in the system clock's font, with or without the icon.

URL scheme and global shortcut

A configurable keyboard shortcut opens Itsycal from anywhere, and the itsycal://date/ URL scheme opens it at today or at a specific date.

MeetingBar

Next meeting in the menu bar

The status bar shows the current or next meeting with its title, time, countdown or service icon, and long titles can be shortened. The menu lists events from today and tomorrow.

Join in one click or keystroke

Join the current or next online meeting from the menu or with a global keyboard shortcut. Links can open in a chosen browser or in the service's own app, set per service.

More than 50 meeting services

Detects meeting links in calendar events for Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Discord, Jitsi, Slack Huddle, FaceTime and many others.

Notifications and full-screen reminders

Sends macOS notifications ahead of meetings and can show a full-screen reminder when one starts. All-day, declined, tentative, pending or linkless events can be filtered out.

Create meetings and bookmarks

Starts an ad-hoc meeting in your preferred meeting service, and keeps bookmarks for recurring meeting links so they can be opened quickly.

Shortcuts and AppleScript

Works with Apple Shortcuts and AppleScript, and can run a custom script when you join a meeting, for example to pause music. Raycast script commands are available.

Itsycal

• Itsycal$0

  The complete app as a direct download for macOS 11 or later, with a separate build for macOS 27. Donations are optional.

MeetingBar

• MeetingBar$0

  Every feature, installed from the Mac App Store, Homebrew or a DMG from GitHub. The in-app patronage purchases are optional.