Best WordPress Calendar Plugins: 10 Compared Fairly

What is the best WordPress calendar plugin? It depends on what the calendar is for. If you only want to show events that you already keep in Google Calendar, Simple Calendar is the lightest route. If the calendar is a public events page with the biggest following and the most documentation, The Events Calendar is the default choice. If the calendar needs to take sign-ups, run recurring events and accept events from members, Eventonomy is built for that. The rest of this post covers ten plugins and says where each one wins.

A disclosure before we go on: we wrote this post, and Eventonomy is our plugin. We have tried to be fair to every tool here, and we say where each one beats us. Facts about rival plugins come from the comparison pages we keep on this site and from each vendor’s own plugin listing, which we read for this post. We quote no rival prices, because they change and you should read them on the vendor’s site on the day you buy.

If you want the quick answer, jump to the table and then “Which calendar plugin should you pick?” near the end.

What should you look for in a WordPress calendar plugin?

A calendar plugin looks the same in every demo: a grid of days with some coloured bars. The differences show up a few weeks after launch. These are the questions that separate the plugins.

Is it a display or a system?

Some plugins draw a calendar from events that live somewhere else, such as a Google Calendar. Others store events inside WordPress and give you an editor, venues, categories and a front-end archive. A display is quick to set up and has little to maintain. A system costs more setup but lets you do things a display cannot, like capacity limits or member submissions. Decide which one you need before you compare layouts.

Who adds the events?

If you are the only person adding events, almost anything works. If staff, members or outside organizers need to add their own, check whether front-end submission exists, whether it sits in a paid tier, and whether you can review events before they go live. Our guide on letting members submit events in WordPress covers the approval side.

Which views are free?

Month view is everywhere. List, week and day views are where plugins start to hold things back. Check the exact views you want against the free version, not the marketing page for the paid one. In Eventonomy, Grid, List, Month and Upcoming are in the free plugin, and Pro adds Week, Day and a map. The detail is on our event calendar page.

What happens with recurring events?

A weekly class or a monthly meetup is the most common reason to leave a basic calendar behind. Find out which repeat patterns are free, which need a paid add-on, and what you can change about one date in a series. Our post on recurring events in WordPress explains the judgement calls.

Do you need sign-ups or tickets behind the calendar?

A calendar that people can only look at is a different product from a calendar where they can say “I’m coming”. RSVPs, capacity, a waitlist and paid tickets are separate layers. Some plugins include the first, some sell them as add-ons, and some leave them out on purpose. If you will want them later, pick a plugin where adding them does not mean starting again.

Can it sync with other calendars?

Visitors like an “add to my calendar” button and a feed they can subscribe to. Organizers sometimes want to pull events in from Google Calendar or an ICS file. Look at which direction the sync goes and whether it covers recurring events, since that is where sync usually gets lossy.

What does it do to your site?

Plugins that store events as ordinary posts are simple but share a table with your blog. Plugins with their own tables keep a large event history out of your post queries. If you expect thousands of events, ask the vendor how events are stored and test archive speed on a copy of your site.

What is Eventonomy, and where does it win?

Eventonomy is a self-hosted WordPress events plugin from Wbcom Designs, the company behind this site. We make it, so read this section with that in mind.

The free plugin gives you unlimited events, a calendar with Grid, List, Month and Upcoming views, RSVPs with going, maybe and no, guest counts, a waitlist, and daily, weekly and monthly recurring events with an interval. Members can submit events from a front-end page, with an approval setting if you want to review them first. Free also includes ICS feeds and add-to-calendar links, and reminders go out a day and an hour before each event with no setup. Events and RSVPs sit in their own database tables, and there is a REST API if you want to build on top.

Eventonomy Pro, from $99 a year, adds Week and Day grids, a map view, an end count or date for a series, weekday picks, yearly and “second Saturday” repeat rules, paid tickets through Stripe, PayPal or your WooCommerce gateways, QR tickets with a door check-in screen for the organizer or an Administrator, and a BuddyPress connection. See Free vs Pro for the exact split. We take no per-ticket fee and no commission.

Where it wins is the case where the calendar is the front door to something people do: sign up, bring a guest, join a waitlist, submit their own event. All of that is in one plugin, and the blocks follow your theme.

Where it does not win, we should be plain. It is newer, so fewer developers know it and fewer tutorials exist. It has fewer layouts than the design-led plugins. In a recurring series you can cancel or restore a single date, but you cannot move one date to a new time. It is not an appointment tool, so there are no staff schedules or time slots. And a calendar that simply mirrors Google Calendar is simpler with a plugin made for that job.

What is The Events Calendar, and where does it win?

The Events Calendar is the category leader. The free plugin gives you an event editor, saved venues and organizers, month, list and day views, event search, categories and tags, and calendar export. Sign-ups and tickets come from a second plugin, Event Tickets, which lists RSVPs and ticket sales through Stripe and PayPal. Repeating events are listed under the paid Events Calendar Pro add-on, as are extra views and custom fields. Front-end submission is described as a separate paid Community add-on.

It wins on reach. The free calendar has had years of theme testing, the documentation answers most questions you will think to ask, and a very large pool of developers and agencies already know it. If an agency supports your site and already knows this plugin, that familiarity is worth real time.

The cost is the number of pieces. A calendar with sign-ups and a repeating schedule can touch two or three plugins, each with its own update and licence. Read Eventonomy vs The Events Calendar for the long version, or the wider list of alternatives to The Events Calendar. If you run it, read our note on the SQL injection fixed in 6.16.3 too.

What is Modern Events Calendar, and where does it win?

Modern Events Calendar is built around how a calendar looks. The vendor’s own site talks about dozens of layouts, with slider, daily, weekly and monthly views, and presents a free Lite download and a Pro booking module side by side. Advanced booking, ticketing and time-slot appointments are listed in the Pro tier, with payments through gateways including PayPal, Stripe and WooCommerce, plus QR check-in. Community event submission is listed under Lite.

It wins when the look of the calendar is the product. Someone who enjoys tuning skins gets a great deal of control, and it suits teams that build pages in a page builder and want single-event builders.

The trade is settings. Each skin has its own options, so two people can set up the same plugin and end up with very different pages, and whoever built it often has to be the one who edits it. Eventonomy has fewer layouts and uses native blocks that inherit your theme. See Eventonomy vs Modern Events Calendar and the Modern Events Calendar alternatives.

What is Events Manager, and where does it win?

Events Manager describes itself as a booking system first. Its plugin page talks about reservations, timeslots and ticket types, built on one model: an event with dates, a capacity and optional tickets. It lists recurring events with exclusion and blackout dates, long multi-day events and timeslots inside a day.

It wins when people book a place and you want to approve or reject each booking. It also lists BuddyPress and BuddyBoss support with group events and personal events, and it has been around long enough that someone has probably written about whatever odd thing you hit. On its plugin page, online payments, waiting lists and QR check-in are listed as Pro features, so check the vendor’s current split.

Eventonomy starts from the RSVP instead: an instant yes while there is room, and a waitlist after that. We did not build a step where an organizer approves each individual sign-up. Read Eventonomy vs Events Manager or the Events Manager alternatives.

What is EventON, and where does it win?

EventON is a core plugin plus add-ons. Its free Lite listing on the WordPress plugin directory is a real calendar, with month, schedule, tile and live-now views, an event card designer and a shortcode generator. It points to the full plugin and its add-ons for tickets, RSVP and seat maps. The page we confirmed describes ticket sales running on top of WooCommerce.

It wins on design. The compact tile calendar is distinctive, and plenty of sites choose EventON for that alone. If you already own the full plugin and the add-ons that cover your needs, there is little reason to move. The model is also easy to understand: buy the core, then buy the pieces.

The same job takes several purchases and licences, where Eventonomy offers one free base and one optional Pro licence. Put a screenshot of the EventON calendar you want next to our month and grid views on a staging page, because that settles the look question faster than a feature list. More in Eventonomy vs EventON and the EventON alternatives.

What is Sugar Calendar, and where does it win?

Sugar Calendar calls itself a lightweight events management plugin for event calendars, registrations and tickets. Per its WordPress.org listing, visitors can switch between month, week and day views, and both layouts are responsive. The free version includes built-in ticketing with Stripe for paid tickets, and free tickets need no payment provider. The vendor lists recurring events as a premium feature, along with RSVPs, venues, speakers and front-end submissions in Pro.

It wins on a tidy, quiet interface and a Google Calendar sync that runs both ways. The vendor says events created in Sugar Calendar appear in Google Calendar and changes made in Google sync back. In the free version a recurring Google event arrives as one event on its first date, while Pro syncs the whole series. If your team already lives in Google Calendar and wants it to stay in step with the site, that is a real advantage.

The trade-off is where the line sits. Recurring events and RSVPs both sit in the paid tier, and those are the two things most communities ask for first. Eventonomy includes both in the free plugin, and imports from Sugar Calendar are supported. Check the vendor’s current tier list for anything you rely on.

What is Pie Calendar, and where does it win?

Pie Calendar takes a different approach. Per its listing, it turns any post, page or custom post type into a calendar event, and it can read dates and times from custom fields in Advanced Custom Fields or Meta Box. It supports single-day, multi-day and all-day events, and visitors choose between a month grid, a month list, week views and a day view. It has a calendar block and an event info block, and a shortcode sets which view loads first.

It wins if your content is already built from posts or custom post types and you want to put it on a calendar without moving it into a new events system. A theme with its own event post type, or a site that stores dates in ACF fields, fits this well. WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads support, recurring events and colour-coded events are marked as Pro features on the listing.

It is a calendar layer, not an events system. There are no RSVPs, waitlists or member submissions in what the listing describes, so a site that needs sign-ups will have to add them from elsewhere. If that is what you need, look at a plugin that stores events itself.

What is Simple Calendar, and where does it win?

Simple Calendar, listed on WordPress.org as Google Calendar Events, is for a single job: displaying events from a public Google Calendar on your site. The vendor says it can display events from any public Google Calendar, and the events stay managed in Google. Its core plugin offers responsive month grid and list views, and the changelog mentions importing local ICS files and exporting a static ICS file. Week and day views, private calendar access and colour-coded events are sold as premium add-ons.

It wins on simplicity. If you or your team already maintain a Google Calendar and you want it on a page, you are done in a few minutes, with no second place to keep events up to date. The listing does not mention recurring events, which is natural since Google handles those.

The limit is the same thing that makes it simple. Events live in Google, so there is no sign-up, capacity or ticketing, and visitors see what Google gives you. If you want a full walk-through of this route, read our guide on adding an event calendar to WordPress.

What is WP Event Manager, and where does it win?

WP Event Manager is a modular plugin. Its own site says the core is free and that features such as a calendar, registrations, ticketing and marketing come as premium add-ons, each with an annual licence. The free core covers listings, a front-end submission form, search filters and box or list layouts. The vendor lists tickets without a commission through WooCommerce, PayPal or Stripe, and it lists a QR check-in system.

It wins as a directory. If your site is a catalogue of events that anyone can submit and visitors can search, the structure feels natural, and its add-ons include ways to let other organizers post and sell their own tickets. A site with exactly one paid need can buy exactly one add-on.

The cost is renewals, since each add-on has its own date. Note that the calendar itself is one of those add-ons. See Eventonomy vs WP Event Manager and the WP Event Manager alternatives.

What is Eventin, and where does it win?

Eventin describes itself as an event calendar, event registration and event management plugin for in-person, virtual, hybrid and recurring events. Per its listing, events can appear as a monthly calendar grid, a compact list or a weekly agenda, with upcoming and expired tabs and search by keyword, date, category or tag. The free version is generous: unlimited events, recurring events, registration and RSVP tracking, CSV export, Google Calendar, iCal and Outlook sync, and Zoom integration. Multi-tier ticket pricing is listed as free, with payments through WooCommerce, Stripe or PayPal.

It wins on how much the free version includes, and on builder support. The listing mentions Elementor widgets, Divi and Gutenberg support, and a list of integrations including Zapier, FluentCRM and BuddyBoss. The vendor puts QR check-in, a visual seat map, a ticket builder and a marketplace feature for multiple vendors in Pro. If you need a seat map or a multi-vendor setup, we do not offer those and Eventin lists them.

Our overlap with Eventin is large, so test both on a staging copy. We have not written a head-to-head page for it, and we make no claim about how it behaves under load or in a community. Weigh the things the listing does not tell you, such as support, how events are stored and what upgrades cost.

How do the ten options compare?

This table keeps to what each vendor’s own pages say, as we read them when we wrote this post. It leaves out prices on purpose, since vendors change packaging.

Plugin	Type	Strongest at	Where the paid tier starts	Main trade-off
Eventonomy	Plugin, free plus Pro	Calendar with RSVPs, waitlist, recurring events and member submissions	Pro, from $99 a year, for paid tickets, check-in, Week and Day grids, advanced repeats	Newer, smaller community, fewer layouts, no appointment booking
The Events Calendar	Plugin, free plus add-ons	Reach, documentation, a polished free calendar	Events Calendar Pro, Event Tickets Plus, Community	Often two or three plugins for one job
Modern Events Calendar	Plugin, Lite plus Pro	Choice of layouts and skins	Pro booking module	Many settings to keep consistent
Events Manager	Plugin, free plus Pro	Booking model, recurring events with exclusions, BuddyPress	Pro for payments, waiting lists, QR check-in	Booking-first, not RSVP-first
EventON	Plugin, Lite plus add-ons	Distinctive calendar design	Full plugin and add-ons	Several licences for tickets and RSVP
Sugar Calendar	Plugin, Lite plus Pro	Tidy interface, two-way Google Calendar sync	Pro for recurring events, RSVPs, front-end submission	Recurring and RSVP sit in the paid tier
Pie Calendar	Plugin, free plus Pro	Putting existing posts and ACF dates on a calendar	Pro for recurring events, WooCommerce and EDD	A calendar layer with no sign-ups
Simple Calendar	Plugin, free plus add-ons	Showing a Google Calendar on a page	Add-ons for week and day views, private calendars	Events live in Google, no sign-ups
WP Event Manager	Plugin, free core plus add-ons	Event directories, one add-on at a time	Add-ons, each with its own renewal	The calendar is itself an add-on
Eventin	Plugin, free plus Pro	Large free version, Zoom, page-builder widgets	Pro for QR check-in, seat map, marketplace	Not compared by us in depth, so test it

Which calendar plugin should you pick?

Start from the job, not the plugin name.

You already keep events in Google Calendar and just want them on a page. Simple Calendar. Sugar Calendar is the other route if you want events managed in WordPress and synced both ways.

You want the safest, best-known choice and have a developer who knows it. The Events Calendar. Check which of your needs sit in the paid add-ons before you count the cost.

Your events are already posts or ACF fields. Pie Calendar.

The look of the calendar is the point. Modern Events Calendar or EventON, depending on which look you prefer. Test both on a staging page.

People book a place and you approve each booking. Events Manager.

Your site is a directory that others submit to. WP Event Manager.

You want the most in a free plugin, with Zoom and builder widgets. Eventin is worth a staging test.

The calendar leads to RSVPs, a waitlist, member-submitted events and, later, paid tickets. Eventonomy. Start free and add Pro only when you want to sell tickets or scan people in.

If you are unsure, test with a real month of events. Install your top two on a staging copy, add the events you really have, look at the archive on a phone, and try to sign up as a visitor. An hour of that is worth more than any comparison, including this one.

How do you pick a free WordPress calendar plugin?

Every plugin above has a free version, but the free versions are not equal. Make a short list of what you cannot do without, then check that list against the free tier only.

1. Write down the views you need. If a week view is on the list, check that it is not a paid add-on.
2. Decide whether you need repeating events. Several of these plugins put them in a paid tier.
3. Decide whether visitors should be able to sign up. If yes, check that RSVPs are free.
4. Check whether members can submit events and whether you can review them first.
5. Confirm that the calendar can export an ICS feed, so visitors can subscribe in their own calendar app.
6. Test the free version on a staging copy with your theme before you pay for anything.

Our wider list of free events plugins is in best WordPress event plugins: five free options compared, and if tickets are your real goal, see the best events and ticketing tools for WordPress.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free WordPress calendar plugin?

It depends on what you need from the free version. For a Google Calendar on a page, Simple Calendar. For a calendar with RSVPs, a waitlist and recurring events in the free plugin, Eventonomy or Eventin. For the largest following and documentation, The Events Calendar.

Can I show a Google Calendar on my WordPress site?

Yes. Simple Calendar is made for it, and Sugar Calendar offers two-way sync. Eventonomy takes an ICS URL for calendar sync in Pro, and its free plugin publishes ICS feeds that Google Calendar can subscribe to.

Can I move my events from another plugin?

Often, yes. Eventonomy imports from The Events Calendar, EventON, Events Manager, WP Event Manager and Sugar Calendar, plus CSV and iCalendar files. Bookings and attendee lists do not come across, so export them from the old plugin first. The how-to on migrating from another plugin has the steps.

Do I need a separate plugin for recurring events?

In some plugins, yes. Several of those above list recurring events as a paid feature. Eventonomy handles daily, weekly and monthly series in the free plugin, with yearly and ordinal rules in Pro.

Will a calendar plugin slow my site down?

Any plugin can, so test on a copy. The thing to check is how events are stored. Eventonomy keeps events and RSVPs in their own tables, so a long event history does not crowd your blog queries.

The short answer

The best WordPress calendar plugin is the one that matches what your calendar has to do. For a Google Calendar on a page, that is Simple Calendar. For the best-known public calendar, it is The Events Calendar. For design control, it is Modern Events Calendar or EventON. For a calendar that takes sign-ups, repeats events and accepts member submissions on your own site, it is Eventonomy. It is the one we built for that job, which is why we are not neutral, and why we have shown you where it falls short.