Comparison

PlanPop vs GroupCal

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PlanPop

This app helps you turn social ideas into real plans with friends. Easily share suggestions, coordinate events, and manage RSVPs on a shared calendar. It's designed to simplify social planning and keep everyone updated.

Highlights
  • Share ideas with friends
  • Schedule and coordinate plans
  • Manage RSVPs
  • Create recurring events
  • Shared group calendars
  • Add photos and locations to ideas
Features
Read full description

One calendar. Everyone's plans. Nothing forgotten. PlanPop is a shared calendar for you and your people. Your partner, your family, your friends, your dog. Add your plans, see theirs, stop double-booking yourself. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Work shifts, appointments, pickups, lunch dates. If it's happening, it's on the calendar in a tap. SET IT ONCE Weekly Tuesday dinner? Rent due? Set it and (never) forget it. WE'LL REMIND YOU Reminders before plans, for everyone in your calendar. Less texting, more doing. IDEAS FOR LATER Date nights, trips, someday stuff. Jot them down and move them to the calendar when you're ready. CUTE AS A BUTTON Colorful, simple, and not a gray grid of office sadness. You might actually like opening it. Share your calendar in two taps. Get everyone on the same page.

About

GroupCal

Easily create and share calendars for families, teams, or any community. Invite members via phone number or link and receive real-time updates on events. Integrates with existing calendars for a unified view.

Highlights
  • Create multiple shared calendars
  • Invite via phone number or link
  • Real-time event updates and notifications
  • Integrates with existing calendars
  • Public calendars for businesses and communities
  • Color-coded calendars and customization
  • Event attendance tracking
Features
Read full description

GroupCal is the most powerful platform for individuals and businesses, to share calendars with groups, families, customers, followers and any community. Inviting members to a shared calendar is quick and easy. Simply send a link to members, or invite them using their phone numbers from your contact list. They will be able to instantly view the calendar on any device. Members of shared calendars get real time updates when events are added or updated. GroupCal is free, easy to use, and available on any mobile device. ==== GroupCal - Main Features ==== SHARED CALENDARS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES People use GroupCal to create shared calendars such as: • Family calendar for parents and children • Calendar for businesses with all activities and events • Calendar for teams to share meetings, projects and schedule • Calendar for students, teachers and classes • Calendar for a group of friends • Calendar for a group with a common interest • Public calendar for universities, clubs, bands and brands - anyone can search and join it CREATE MULTIPLE SHARED CALENDARS EASILY Create multiple shared calendars for different topics and groups. Each calendar is used for its own topic and with its own members. INVITE USING PHONE NUMBERS. NO NEED FOR EMAIL ADDRESS Invite members using their phone numbers, right from your contact list, or by sending a link via Email, Messenger, WhatsApp, or SMS. No need to have email addresses of the members. ALL YOUR CALENDARS IN ONE PLACE Your Existing Calendars are also in GroupCal. Your private schedule from Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook is presented in GroupCal, side by side to the shared calendar you create or join using GroupCal. You get a unified view of all your calendars on one screen and in one place. BUSINESSES - CREATE PUBLIC CALENDARS Set calendars as “public” to have them visible to anyone around the world. Public calendars are searchable by GroupCal users. REAL TIME NOTIFICATIONS Members of shared calendars get real time updates and notifications when they are added to the calendar, and when events are added or updated. JOINING SHARED CALENDARS IS SO EASY Either click on a link a member sent to you, or join an existing public calendar on GroupCal by using the search option: discover your University's schedule, Yoga class schedule, your favorite band’s concerts and more. COLOR CODED CALENDARS AND SPECIAL CUSTOMIZATION Select a color and a photo for each calendar to easily distinguish between calendars and their events. KNOW HOW’S ATTENDING Get a better visibility about each event: see when the event was delivered per member, and who accepted or declined participation. MINIMALIST DESIGN & USER FRIENDLY GroupCal has a simple and clear design that makes it super easy to use. It’s built to be very user friendly and intuitive. Features in the app are accompanied with short explanations so you don’t have to spend much time to learn and get used to it. ADD REMINDERS AND TASKS TO CALENDAR EVENTS Use advanced features such as recurrence to events, multiple reminders for each event, or notes and subtasks which are assigned to events. ADVANCED CALENDAR PERMISSIONS Choose the permission level for each shared calendar. Assign admins, set whether the calendar’s name and photo can be changed, who is allowed to add or update events, and whether members can add other new members to the calendar. CROSS PLATFORM GroupCal is available worldwide for all major platforms.

Screenshots

PlanPop4 screens
GroupCal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PlanPop at none against GroupCal's 10. PlanPop also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks) and review sentiment (89% vs 79%). GroupCal's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GroupCal sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. PlanPop asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for PlanPop against 4.7 for GroupCal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 995 and 875 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of PlanPop's written reviews are positive against 79% of GroupCal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlanPop ships an update daily, GroupCal every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
PlanPop versus GroupCal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlanPopGroupCal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (995 ratings) — better4.7 (875 ratings)
Positive reviews89.2% of reviews — better79.3% of reviews
Number of ratings995 — better875
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size280 MB74 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMoments Technologies Inc.24me

Customer experience

PlanPop

All ratings994 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews120 reviews
Positive89.2%
Neutral1.7%
Negative9.2%

GroupCal

All ratings875 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.4%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews537 reviews
Positive79.3%
Neutral5.8%
Negative14.9%

User reviews

PlanPop

From 995 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Unique calendar concept
  • 🤩 Visually appealing design
  • 🤝 Helpful for coordinating with friends

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy updates
  • 🤔 Confusing new features
  • 🕰️ Time-consuming to use
  • 🤯 Overwhelming for some users
  • 🤷‍♀️ Lack of customization options

GroupCal

From 875 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Efficient scheduling and coordination
  • 💡 Helpful for families and small businesses
  • 🙌 Great for shared calendars and event planning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔒 Concerns about privacy and data access
  • 💸 Limited features in free version

Bugs and requests

PlanPop

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Widgets not working
  • Time/date auto-changing issues
  • Formatting problems in event chat

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sync with other calendar apps
  • Ability to remove users from shared calendars
  • Customizable notification settings
  • Widget support
  • Export events to phone calendar

GroupCal

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to delete shared calendars
  • Calendar events not syncing properly
  • Phone number verification issues

Requested features

3 requests
  • Color-coding for individual calendars
  • Improved recurring event scheduling
  • Integration with other calendar apps

In-app purchases

None

PlanPop

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

GroupCal

Subscriptions9
  • Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Pro$14.991 Month
  • Business7 Days trial$74.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • GroupCal Pro1 Year trial2 variants$119.991 Year
  • GroupCal Pro7 Days trial$119.991 Year
  • Business +7 Days trial$224.991 Month
  • GroupCal Business1 Year trial$599.991 Year
  • Business7 Days trial$599.991 Year
  • Business +7 Days trial$1000.001 Year

Questions

Is PlanPop free?
PlanPop is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GroupCal free?
GroupCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PlanPop or GroupCal?
PlanPop is rated higher. PlanPop averages 4.8 out of 5 from 995 ratings, while GroupCal averages 4.7 from 875 ratings.
Do PlanPop or GroupCal have ads?
Neither PlanPop nor GroupCal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlanPop or GroupCal?
PlanPop ships an update daily, and GroupCal every 2 weeks. Most recently, PlanPop was updated on October 26, 2026 and GroupCal on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons