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Good Apps To Download For Mac

While Apple Notes checks off most of the boxes, it may not fit into everyone’s needs. This is where the best Notes app alternatives for Mac come into the play.

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Aside from making the task of note-taking pretty straightforward, these third-party apps also double up as a super handy annotation and writing tool. Besides, they allow creating projects in many formats like text, audio, video, and whatnot.

Though the App Store has several fine options, only a few have walked into our list of the top note-taking apps for Mac. We’ve chosen them based on their effectiveness and how well they work. Dive right in along with me to take a close look at ’em!

#1. Evernote

Despite the cut-throat competition, “Evernote” remains one of the most appreciable note-taking apps both for macOS and iOS. The highlight of this app is the wide range of tools that provide more flexibility.

The option to make notes in several formats like video, audio, web clippings, sketch ensure you are able to give your thoughts the right shape. With easy-to-format word processor at your disposal, you can write your thoughts elegantly.

You can create an agenda to be discussed in a meeting, write a quick memo and transfer your Evernote notes to Apple notes.

Often forget to do some important tasks? Make a checklist of all the things you have to do. Besides, you will also create presentations to express your thoughts with the desired impact.

Price: Free
Download

#2. Microsoft OneNote

“OneNote” is a complete package. The app lets you capture your ideas in a variety of formats and offer you the needed freedom to keep everything in the perfect sync.

You can tag your notes to find them quickly. Make a list of to-dos and keep track of them so that you are able to do your tasks in time.

The collaboration features works immaculately, allowing you to work with your colleagues. For more security, you will also add an extra shield to your projects to keep them private.

Better still, OneNote for Mac is compatible with a ton of international languages including French, German, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish and more. So, a language should never become a roadblock to your note-taking.

Price: Free
Download

#3. Notebook

Zoho Corporation is well-known for producing powerful apps. And Notebook does have all the qualities to be highly efficient.

While there is a lot to like in this app, I find “Smart Cards” very adorable. What it basically does is automatically format the contents into specific cards like the recipe, video, and link.

The app provides several predefined note covers to let you design your stories elegantly. If you don’t like the readymade options, you can create a custom cover. Moreover, there is also an option to make public notes using shareable links so that anyone can view them.

With the dark-themed night mode, you will enjoy working till late at night. Plus, the reminders won’t let any of your tasks go out of your notice.

Price: Free
Download

#4. Bear

Should you want to have a top-notch writing-cum note-taking app for your Mac, give a close look to Bear. I’ve used this app for long and always found pretty neat.

The best thing about it is the simple interface coupled with the easy-to-use tools. Therefore, you can write amazing stories and give your wildest thoughts the ideal shape.

Bear has a good library of more than a dozen themes that make it a lot easier to design stories. Features like tagging, archiving and adding tasks to notes enable to take control of your stuff. Furthermore, you can export your projects in multiple formats such as HTML, PDF, DOCX, MD, JPG, and EPUB.

Lastly, after a free trial of one week, you will have to upgrade to Bear premium’s $1.49 monthly or $14.99 annually plan.

Price: Free
Download

#5. Agenda

If you want to streamline all of your projects and get them ready before the deadline, pick out “Agenda.” One of the notable features of this app is the advanced text editor.

Depending on the specific theme, you can give a befitting look to your notes. It allows you to convert your text into multiple formats like Markdown and HTML. Segregate your files into different categories so that will access them instantly.

The app lets you connect your sticky notes to the events in your personal calendar. As a result, you can plan your meeting perfectly.

Better still, you don’t have to pay any bucks to use all the features of Agenda.

Price: Free
Download

#6. Notability

For annotation and crafting rich notes, “Notability” is one of the better options. With a wide range of fonts, sizes, custom colors at your disposal, you can design your stories with complete peace of mind.

You will be able to import PDFs, DOCs, PPTs, images, GIFs to your projects and fine-tune them with more flexibility. Easily convert your stories into PDF to share them with your friends and colleagues.

Make the most of the super handy tools to annotate photos elegantly. Thanks to the automatic iCloud syncing, your tasks automatically sync across your devices.

Additionally, Notability works with multiple cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and OneDrive.

Price: $9.99
Download

#7. Simplenote

There are very few note apps for Mac that look as familiar as Simplenote. Its user interface is pretty clean, and you hardly have to spend any time to master the tools.

One of my favorite feature of this app is focus mode. Times when you want to write with maximum concentration, this feature comes into play really well.

You can use pins and tags to organize your notes. And with Markdown, you will ideally format your projects. To ensure your eyes don’t burn while working in the night, the app comes with the dark mode.

Price: Free
Download

#8. GoodNotes

I have picked out GoodNotes for a couple of main reasons. First, it makes annotating docs really fun. And if you are fond of giving your docs a creative look, this one can be your thing.

You can highlight or strikeout the text in your PDF documents. Easily move, scale and ideally customize the object color. There is also an option to add the bookmarks to your docs.

Courtesy the fast iCloud sync, you will find your notes on all of your devices. You can share your notes with others and also print them. The compatibility with a number of languages like English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese and more make it an evergreen tool.

Price: $7.99
Download

#9. Quip

“Quip” is a lot more than just a simple note app for macOS. To be more precise, this is what you should use to collaborate with your teammates. Thanks to the chat and messaging integration, it helps you work with your colleagues in a fun way.

You can use the app to note down your thoughts faster, create to-do lists, and edit your docs. It also lets you make comprehensive spreadsheets.

Another notable feature of this app is that it allows you to import your address book from several services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Microsoft Outlook, Google, and iCloud.

You will create insightful charts by using the data from spreadsheets and Salesforce records. The smart slides would not just make your presentation more impressive but also save your time.

Price: Free
Download

#10. BoostNote

If you are a developer, “BoostNote” should be your preferred option. The reason why I say it because the app has the support for code syntax highlighting in over a hundred languages such as Javascript, Python, HTML, CSS and more.

This open source markdown editor offers several tools that allow devs to take notes faster. The formatting features have semi-live previews so that you can quickly check your writing.

Besides, the text is automatically formatted as you type, which speeds up your task and also saves plenty of time. That’s not all, BoostNote works offline as well so that you can work anytime and anywhere.

Price: Free
Download

Bonus

Unclutter

“Unclutter” is really smart! It’s designed to be a multitasker and lets you organize your clipboard data, files, and notes. If you aren’t able to take control of them, give it a chance to sort out the mess.

You can keep an eye on your clipboard history and manage it with ease. Store all of your files at once place and access them quickly. And yes, make sticky notes to never forget to do essential things.

The easy editing tools allow you to make changes conveniently. Due mainly to the quick search feature, you will instantly find a list. Besides, the app can be set up with Dropbox to sync data across the devices.

Price: $13.99
Download

That’s pretty much it! So, this sums up our roundup of the top note apps for Mac.

What’s your favorite?

Now that you have known our favorite note apps, tell us about the ones that can walk into your personal roundup. We’d really appreciate your collection and the valuable feedback.

Take a glance at the following posts as well:

The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.

  • https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
  • https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
  • https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
  • https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/

We all have so much to organize in both our work lives and our personal lives. And while paper calendars can be useful, it’s impractical to carry them everywhere we go. So in 2020, it’s essential that we all use at least one calendar app.

But with so many on the market, how do you choose? To help you out, we’ve tested dozens of calendar apps on a range of devices and platforms. In this article, we’ve explained the 12 best calendar apps in 2020, that we truly think are truly best in class & functionality.

While they all take different approaches and offer different features, all the apps on this list are easy to use, stable, and robust. Plus, each of them offers a few standout features that distinguish them from the rest of the pack.

Table of Contents

  • Best Cross-Platform Calendar Apps
  • Best Calendar Apps for iOS & Mac
  • Best Calendar Apps for Windows
  • Best Mobile-ONLY Calendar Apps

Best Calendar Apps of 2020

Check out our list of the best calendar apps below, and find out which ones are best suited to your personal needs.

Best Cross-Platform Calendar Apps

1. Google Calendar

The best calendar app for GSuite users & in-general use

Google Calendar is free, easy to use, and allows you to plan your life, seamlessly, across all your devices.

Most suitable for: Anyone using G Suite for Business, or using Google apps regularly.

Pricing: Free

Platforms: iOS, Mac OS, Android OS, web browser

Key features

  • Easy to set up and use: Google Calendar is very simple to set up and use, and lets you access your calendars on all of your devices easily and quickly; especially if they’re already logged into Google.
  • Browse Calendars of Interest: Google Calendar includes prepared lists of dates, such as sporting events and religious holidays, to drag and drop to your calendar at will.
  • Add events from Gmail: With Google Calendar, whenever you receive event invitations via Gmail, they’re added to your calendar automatically. Here’s how they’ll look in your Google Calendar:
  • Integration with other apps: Millions of apps or websites are already integrated with Google Calendar. So whether you’re using a To-Do list app or a flight reservations service, you’ll be able to add tasks, bookings, etc, without leaving the app or site.

    Also, with a single click, you can now add a Google Meet Video Conferencing link to your Google Calendar event. Doing so, keep your attendees well informed about the meeting link and description while you send out the invitation via Google Calendar.

Works with Automate.io

Automate.io can help you connect your apps with Google Calendar in many useful ways. For example, you might want to create Google Calendar events from rows on Google Spreadsheet or update a card in Trello when a Google Calendar event is modified.

2. Woven

Best Calendar App for arranging meetings

Woven is a calendar app specifically designed to help business people arranging meetings and other events with others.

Most suitable for: Busy professionals

Pricing: Free

Platforms: iOS, Mac, Windows, Web

For the Woven app, the mobile view doesn’t show the calendar view with each day but does show key dates and recent updates from your plan.

Key features

  • Smart Templates: Most professionals have meetings where the details repeat often; for instance, perhaps your marketing meetings always take place in the same building and room. Smart Templates let you create a template for these meeting types, to save you entering the same information each time.
  • Scheduling Links: Scheduling Calendar feature allows people to agree on a meeting time without having to get involved in endless email discussions. Instead, you just share a special scheduling link. Guests click on the link and select the most convenient time from those you offer.
  • Availability Sharing: The Availability Sharing feature allows other people to see if you are free or busy at a specific time, without letting them see all the contents of your calendar.
  • Group Polls: Group Polls are one further way of agreeing the time of a meeting collectively. Once you activate your poll, Woven collects the votes, and reports back the results, leaving you to make the final decision on when to schedule the meeting.

3. TimeTree

The best calendar app for your personal life

TimeTree brings together your work and social calendars to help friends and relatives share information and keep track of what everyone is doing.

Most suitable for: Couples, families or small groups

Pricing: Free

Platforms: iOS, Android OS, web browser

Key features

  • Contextual calendars: Whenever you create a new calendar, you’re asked whether it’s for personal, family, friends, work, relationship, or group use. This categorization really helps to keep the different aspects of your life organized.
  • Chat rooms: TimeTree encourages collaboration, so each event you create is given its own chat room, to allow comments, ideas, questions, and images to be exchanged.
  • Map of the event in the view: TimeTree allows you to add locations to each event, and automatically pulls in a Maps view.
  • Undecided dates: If you want to plan an event, but don’t want to commit to a date as yet, the ‘Keep’ tab lets you create and store an event to be worked out later on. You can store To-do lists and simple notes around these events.

4. My Study Life

The best calendar app for education

A calendar created specifically for anyone studying or working in education, My Study Life makes it easy to plan your educational activities around the academic year, including classes, exams, holidays, and term times.

Most suitable for: Students and teachers

Pricing: Free

Platforms: iPhone, Android OS, Windows 8, Chrome, web browser

Key features

  • Add academic schedules: The minute you open up the app, you’re prompted to add the dates for your academic year, term times, and holidays. This is all incorporated into your calendar automatically, saving you a lot of time.
  • Add classes: You don’t have to add every date of each class manually. Just tell My Study Life how your schedule works – for example, class times, start and end dates – and it will work out the rest. My Study Life makes adding classes much easier than with a normal calendar app.
  • Add holidays: When you add holidays to your schedule, not only can you see which days you have off but you can also shift rotation schedules. Usefully, you won’t get reminded about your classes while you’re on holiday.
  • Track your homework and revision: Often you’ll start a study task but not finish it the same day. So My Study Life lets you specify how much of a task has been completed. You can also set reminders for unfinished assignments.

Below is the clean mobile view of the My Study Life Calendar app:

Best Calendar Apps for iOS & Mac

5. Apple Calendar

A powerful and lightweight calendar app for iOS and Mac

Installed for free on Mac and iOS, Apple Calendar is a great option for keeping your calendars synced across all your Apple devices.

Most suitable for: Apple users.

Pricing: Free

Platforms: macOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

Key features:

  • Built into Apple: Apple Calendar is pre-installed on all Apple devices, so there’s nothing to download, and it’s easy to sync your calendars across all of them. Plus, you can view and update your calendars via the iCloud web app.
  • Clean and simple design: The beauty of Apple Calendar lies in its simplicity. As with almost all Apple software, the interface is super-elegant, the features work smoothly and the app is very intuitive to use.
  • Colour coding: Apple Calendar allows you to create multiple calendars for different areas of your life, and color-code them accordingly. That way, you can glance across your work, family, and personal events without fuss.
  • Travel Time: Travel Time calculates when you need to leave for an event based on the likely length of your journey, using Apple Maps, and what mode of transportation you’ll be using to get there. Apple Calendar syncs with Apple Maps, although not with Google Maps.

6. Fantastical 3

The best calendar app for Mac

Desktop

Fantastical 3 has long been the best calendar app for Mac, and the latest version brings even more improvements.

Most suitable for: Mac power users.

Apps For Mac

Pricing: $4.99 a month

Platforms: macOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

Key features

  • Streamlined interface: While Apple Calendar is nice and simple, Fantastical (now on version 3) has an even better looking and more streamlined interface, particularly on desktop and iPad.
  • Events and tasks templates: You may have a recurring event or task that doesn’t always happen at the same time; eg, you visit the dentist every six months, but not always on the same day. For this, Fantastical lets you create templates to save you adding all the information each time.
  • Weather forecast: When you attach a location to an event, weather forecast information, up to 10 days ahead, is automatically pulled in, and updated on a minute-by-minute basis.
  • Event time proposal management: Need to get people to agree a time for an event, such as a meeting? Fantastical 3 lets you suggest multiple dates and time options in an invite email. Invitees don’t have to reply to the email (saving your inbox getting cluttered), but just click on the options within it. If there are date and time that works for all of them, that’s set and added to your calendar automatically.

7. BusyCal

A very customizable Mac calendar app for business use

BusyCal is a Mac calendar app aimed at people who need to stay on top of a lot of events, meetings, and tasks. Its flexible and customizable features allow you to do so with the minimum of effort.

Most suitable for: Busy professionals

Pricing: $49.99

Platforms: macOS (iOS app sold separately)

Key features:

  • Customizable views: BusyCal doesn’t just offer day, week, month, year, and list views; it lets you customize these views precisely. For instance, you can choose the number of weeks shown in the month view and the number of days shown in the week view.
  • Customizable info panel: Redesigned for version 3, the info panel that appears in the sidebar helps you view and edit event details quickly and easily. And if you want it to show different information than the presets, the panel itself also customizable.
  • Integrated To-Dos: To-Dos are integrated into your calendar, display on the date they are due, and carry forward until completed. Alternatively, you can add Timed To-Dos, which are set to occur at a specific time of day.
  • Travel Time: Similar to the Apple Calendar, BusyCal has the Travel Time feature to let you block out time for travel to an event or location. You can add your own estimate for how long to block out, or ask Location Services and Apple Maps to calculate it automatically. With this, you can ensure to build enough space into your schedule to get places on time.

Best Calendar Apps for Windows

8. Microsoft Outlook Calendar

The best calendar app for Windows and Outlook users

Outlook Calendar ties in nicely with both Windows and Outlook, and helps these systems work together efficiently and seamlessly.

Most suitable for: Windows and Outlook users.

Pricing: Free

Platforms:Web browser, Windows, Windows Phone, Android, iOS

Key features

  • Integration into Windows and Outlook: Outlook Calendar is integrated smoothly into Windows and Outlook. So if you use either, you’ll find Outlook Calendar very simple to use. For example, in your Outlook email inbox, you can launch Outlook Calendar from the icon in the bottom left-hand corner.
  • View side-by-side calendars: Outlook lets you view multiple calendars side-by-side, as well as calendars shared with you by other Outlook users. You can also view calendars on top of one another in the overlay view. Outlook Calendar lets you create multiple calendars and control their look and feel.
  • Share only part of a calendar: Outlook Calendar allows you to share your calendar via email without sharing everything. The other person can open it in Outlook, but you control how much information they can see.
  • Manage another user’s calendar: With the Delegate Access feature, you can manage another person’s Outlook Calendar once they give you permission. A personal assistant, for example, would be able to create, move, or delete appointments on their employer’s calendar.

9. OneCalendar

Good Apps To Download For Macbook Air

Best calendar app for Windows users & managing multiple calendars

OneCalendar is a great way to manage multiple calendars from different providers, bringing them all together in one, beautifully designed place.

Most suitable for: Windows power users.

Pricing: From free

Platforms: Windows 10, Windows, Windows Mobile, Android

Key features

  • View all your calendars at once: OneCalendar lets you pull in calendars from a range of platforms, including Google, Live, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, Office365, Facebook, and more.
  • Multiple views: OneCalendar offers a variety of ways to view your calendars, including day view, week view, month view, year view, and list view. We especially like how all the views display week numbers.
  • Customize your calendars: OneCalendar lets you choose different colors for each calendar, and select different colors for specific appointments.
  • Lock screen and glance screen: To save time, you can quickly view all your upcoming appointments on the lock screen. For Windows Mobile, they can also be shown on Glance.

Best Mobile-ONLY Calendar Apps

10. ACalendar

Good Apps To Download For Mac Windows 10

The best calendar app for android users to customize calendars

If you’re an Android user but don’t like the way Google Calendar displays your information, then ACalendar can let you customize how your calendar looks, in several different ways.

Google App Download For Mac

Most suitable for: Android users.

Pricing: Free

Platforms: Android OS

Key features

  1. Easy interface: ACalendar’s interface is brilliantly intuitive. Switching between day, week, month, and agenda view using swipe and tap feels so natural that there’s virtually no learning curve.
  2. Colors: Many calendar apps only offer a limited range of colors, but ACalendar provides a generous 48 colors for each case type.
  3. Synchronized photos: ACalendar allows you to synchronize photos from your contact lists and social networks, to add an extra visual reminder on your calendar for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special days.

Special mention to its Charity donation: When you upgrade to a paid-for version of ACalendar, the makers of ACalendar will donate 10% to environmental groups such as the World Land Trust and the Rainforest Trust.

11. Calendars 5

Calendar app for iOS users to view events at-a-glance

Calendars 5 is a powerful, feature-rich calendar app that’s comparable to Fantastical, for iPhone and iPad.

Most suitable for: iOS users.

Pricing: $2.99 for 3 month subscription; $8.99 one-time purchase

Platforms: iOS

Key features

  • Natural language input: Natural language processing makes adding events easier. For instance, if you just type “Meet Tom at Starbucks on Sunday”, the event will be created automatically.
  • Drag and drop to reschedule: Calendars 5 lets you reschedule events with drag and drop. You can do this online and offline.
  • Set up to five reminders: You can set up to five reminders for an important event like a meeting, dinner, or a birthday, by alarm or email.
  • Timeline view: The simplified Timeline view just shows you colored dots for events and colored checkboxes for reminders. This is great for getting a quick sense of your day at a glance.

12. Cozi

The most suitable calendar app for family activities

Cozi is specifically designed to help everyone in your family to keep track of each other and take part in activities together.

Most suitable for: Families

Pricing: From free

Platforms: iOS, Android OS

Key features

  • Family schedules in one place: Your color-coded calendar make it easy to see the whole family’s schedules at once, or to filter by an individual. Reminders go out to each member of the family so that everyone stays on track.
  • Shopping lists: Create online shopping lists that all the family can access, and add to. You can cross items off the list, and add others, whenever you like. You can also email your shopping lists to other people outside of your family.
  • Recipe Box: Save recipes from the ‘Cozi Picks’ tab, and transfer the ingredients into your shopping lists. You can also drag and drop recipes onto specific days in your calendar to help with your weekly meal planning.
  • Family Journal: The Family Journal feature allows you to write quick notes and store photos, to help build up a store of memories that you can look back on in years to come. You can share your journal updates via email or as a private family website.

Final Thoughts on Choosing the Best Calendar App

So, that was all about the 12 Best Calendar Apps of 2020 based on the ease of use, pricing, platforms they support, best features that make them stand-out, and who is it the most suitable for. To sum it up for you, the below infographic can give you all this at a glance.