Basic Calendar vs Lumina Calendar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Basic Calendar
Organize your schedule with a clear month view and daily event list. Customize your calendar with color themes and display events on your Home Screen with widgets. Supports lunar dates for Korean and Chinese calendars.
- Month view and daily event list
- Home Screen widgets
- Customizable color themes
- Support for Korean/Chinese lunar dates
- Selectable calendar display
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Your day and your month, clearly in view. Basic Calendar brings your schedule into a simple month view, daily event list, and Home Screen widgets. Choose which calendars to display and make the calendar your own with color themes. • See your month at a glance Select a date to check the day's events, or add and edit your plans. • Use the calendars on your device Work with calendars already set up on your device and choose which ones appear in the app. • Check your schedule from the Home Screen Choose small, medium, or large widgets to keep your calendar and events close at hand. • Choose Korean or Chinese lunar dates Turn on lunar dates and select your preferred calendar system. Korean lunar dates are supported for Gregorian dates from January 1, 1900 through December 31, 2050. • Pick your colors Give your calendar a different feel with a range of color themes. Basic Calendar is free to use. Supporting the developer is optional. Calendar access permission is required. Account syncing depends on your device settings and calendar service.
Lumina Calendar
Transform your device into a personalized smart display combining your calendar, clock, and favorite photos. View your schedule with elegant layouts that showcase your chosen backgrounds, perfect for desks or everyday use.
- Photo calendar and smart display
- Day, week, and month layouts
- Clock display
- Event and daily agenda
- Custom photo backgrounds
- iPhone and iPad support
- Calendar search
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a beautiful smart photo calendar. Lumina brings your calendar, clock, events and favorite photos together in a personalized digital display. Keep it open on an iPad at your desk, kitchen counter or bedside, or use it as your everyday calendar on iPhone. Choose your own photo backgrounds and see your schedule through elegant glass-style calendar layouts designed to keep information readable without hiding the images you love. • Photo calendar and smart display • Day, week and month calendar layouts • Clock display • Events and daily agenda • Reminders and notifications • Calendar search • Custom photo backgrounds • Portrait and landscape layouts • iPhone and iPad support View and manage your calendars in one place, including iCloud and Microsoft Exchange. Choose which calendars to display, browse and search events, import .ics files, and export when needed. Lumina Premium (optional): • Remove ads • Unlimited custom background photos • Create new calendars
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Basic Calendar at free against Lumina Calendar's free with in-app purchases. Lumina Calendar's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Basic Calendar sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Lumina Calendar sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Lumina Calendar holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively.
Basic Calendar ships an update every 2 weeks, Lumina Calendar every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Basic Calendar | Lumina Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 761 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | dotori king | Timothy Markey |
Customer experience
Basic Calendar
Lumina Calendar
In-app purchases
Basic Calendar
- Buy Me a Coffee$0.99
- Remove Ads$3.99
Lumina Calendar
- Nature Backgrounds$2.99
- Space Backgrounds$2.99
- Holiday Fall Backgrounds$2.99
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- Holiday Winter Backgrounds$2.99
- Holiday Spring Backgrounds$2.99
- Holiday Summer Backgrounds$2.99
- Lumina Premium$3.99
Questions
Is Basic Calendar free?
Is Lumina Calendar free?
Which has better reviews, Basic Calendar or Lumina Calendar?
Do Basic Calendar or Lumina Calendar have ads?
Which is updated more often, Basic Calendar or Lumina Calendar?
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