# BusyCal

> Customizable calendar and task app for Mac and iPhone

BusyCal is a calendar app for Mac, with a separate app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, now developed by Beehive Innovations. It shows events and tasks together, syncs with iCloud, Google, Microsoft 365, Exchange and other CalDAV servers, and lets you adjust nearly every part of each view. The Mac app can be bought once as a perpetual license with 18 months of updates, or used by subscription through the Mac App Store, where a Free Edition covers basic calendaring.

- **Category:** Calendar & Scheduling
- **Made by:** Beehive Innovations FZE (since 2007)
- **Website:** https://www.busymac.com/busycal/
- **Runs on:** macOS, iOS
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

BusyCal has a free plan. Paid plans start at $49.99 one-time for Mac, or $39.99 per year on the Mac App Store; iOS app $9.99.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** The Mac App Store version has a Free Edition for non-subscribers that covers essential calendaring. The listing does not spell out which premium features it leaves out.
- **Free trial:** 14-day free trial of the full Mac app, from the direct download or the Mac App Store.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free Edition | $0 | Essential calendaring in the Mac App Store version, for people without a subscription. |
| Mac App Store subscription | $4.99 per month, or $39.99 per year | The full Mac app by subscription. One subscription covers a family's Macs through Family Sharing. |
| BusyCal iOS | $9.99 one-time purchase on the App Store | Universal app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with Family Sharing. Not included with the Mac license or subscription. |
| BusyCal for Mac license | $49.99 one-time purchase with 18 months of updates | Perpetual license from BusyMac's store for one user on up to 5 personal Macs. Renewing for further updates is optional. |
| BusyCal + BusyContacts | $79.99 one-time purchase | Both Mac apps as a bundle, listed at 20% off the $99.99 combined price. |

Read from https://www.busymac.com/store/ on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with BusyCal before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **20% off for staff and students** (Education): BusyMac's store offers a 20% discount to staff and students at educational institutions, requested by email. Source: https://www.busymac.com/store/
- **Volume discounts from 2 licenses** (Other savings): Discounts apply automatically at checkout: 10% off 2 to 4 licenses, 20% off 5 to 9, 25% off 10 to 49, 30% off 50 to 99 and 35% off 100 or more. Source: https://www.busymac.com/store/
- **Discounted license renewals** (Other savings): Renewing a license for another 18 months of updates is 20% to 40% off the original price. The licensing FAQ puts a renewal at $39.99. Source: https://www.busymac.com/docs/faqs/120616-licensing-explained
- **Bundle with BusyContacts for $79.99** (Other savings): Buying BusyCal and BusyContacts together costs $79.99, which the store lists as 20% off the $99.99 combined price. Source: https://www.busymac.com/store/

## Mac App Store prices by country

"Monthly", as each country's Mac App Store showed it on Oct 9, 2026. These are the app's prices, not the website's.

| Country | Price | In US dollars |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | $4.99 | |
| United Kingdom | £4.99 | about $6.60 (32% more) |
| Germany | 5,99 € | about $6.71 (35% more) |
| Canada | $6.99 | about $4.91 (about the same) |
| Australia | $7.99 | about $5.58 (12% more) |
| India | ₹ 499 | about $5.16 (about the same) |
| Brazil | R$ 29,90 | about $5.97 (20% more) |
| Mexico | $99.00 | about $5.44 (9% more) |
| Turkey | ₺249,99 | about $5.08 (about the same) |
| Indonesia | Rp 89ribu | about $4.98 (about the same) |
| Philippines | ₱ 299.00 | about $4.76 (about the same) |
| South Africa | R99.99 | about $6.05 (21% more) |

## Key features

- **Views you can reshape:** Day, Week, Month, Year planner and List views, with control over weeks per month, days per week, fonts, colors and density, plus a sidebar or floating Info Panel.
- **Natural language quick entry:** Type a phrase such as "Lunch with Joe next Tuesday at 12:30" to create an event or task, with a live preview of the title, time and location. Several languages are supported.
- **Tasks on the calendar:** Tasks appear on their due dates and carry forward until completed, and a sidebar list sorts them by date, priority or tag. They sync with Apple Reminders, Google Tasks, Todoist and Microsoft To Do.
- **Smart Filters and Calendar Sets:** Group calendars into sets for work, personal or family, and save combinations of searches, sets and view settings as Smart Filters you can switch between.
- **Travel time and time-to-leave alerts:** Travel time to an event is calculated from your location or set by hand, and alerts adjust to traffic so you know when to leave.
- **Menu bar app:** A menu bar calendar with a mini month, a heat map of availability, a scrolling event list and task entry. It keeps working when the main app is closed.

## Good for

- Mac users who want fine control over how their calendar looks
- People who prefer a one-time license to a subscription
- Anyone juggling iCloud, Google, Microsoft 365 and CalDAV accounts

## Worth knowing

- Mac and iOS only. The iPhone and iPad app is a separate $9.99 purchase and is not covered by the Mac license or subscription.
- A direct license includes 18 months of updates. The app keeps working after that, but newer versions need a paid renewal.
- The Mac App Store version is sold by subscription only ($4.99 a month or $39.99 a year); the one-time license is sold on BusyMac's own store.
- The App Store listing does not detail the Free Edition's limits, and BusyMac's licensing FAQ still says the App Store apps need an active subscription.

## Works with

iCloud, Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Fastmail, Apple Reminders, Todoist, Zoom

**Tags:** Calendar, Tasks, Natural-language input, One-time purchase, Menu bar app, Works offline

## Alternatives

- [Fantastical](https://toolgpa.com/tools/fantastical): Calendar and tasks app for Apple devices, Windows and Googlebook. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/busycal-vs-fantastical)
- [Apple Calendar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/apple-calendar): Free built-in calendar for iPhone, iPad, Mac and iCloud.com. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/apple-calendar-vs-busycal)
- [Calendars by Readdle](https://toolgpa.com/tools/calendars-by-readdle): Calendar and task planner for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/busycal-vs-calendars-by-readdle)
- [Dato](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dato): Mac menu bar calendar with world clocks and meeting alerts. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/busycal-vs-dato)
- [Notion Calendar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/notion-calendar): Free calendar app that connects to Notion databases. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/busycal-vs-notion-calendar)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://www.busymac.com/busycal/
- https://www.busymac.com/store/
- https://www.busymac.com/docs/faqs/120616-licensing-explained
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/busycal-calendar-reminders/id1173663647?mt=12
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/busycal-calendar-tasks/id1035689743
- https://www.busymac.com/about/
- https://www.busymac.com/docs/busycal/70585-getting-started-with-busycal-for-mac

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/busycal
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).