# Fantastical Calendar vs WidgetCal

The clearest difference is rating: WidgetCal at 5.0 against Fantastical Calendar's 4.2. Fantastical Calendar's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 32 months) and ratings volume (25K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Fantastical Calendar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and WidgetCal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

WidgetCal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fantastical Calendar has 25K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Fantastical Calendar ships an update every 3 weeks, WidgetCal every 32 months. The most recent releases landed on November 14, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Fantastical Calendar | WidgetCal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (25K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fantastical-calendar/id718043190/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/widgetcal-widget-calculator/id6468929338/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **25K** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 47.6% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 32 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#150** | — |
| Size | 186 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **17.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Flexibits Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/435003924) | [杏娣 吴](https://appshunter.io/developer/1275821426) |

## What reviewers say

### Fantastical Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fantastical-calendar/id718043190)

**Currently charting:** #150 Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

This powerful calendar and task management app offers intuitive natural language input for event creation, multiple calendar views, and robust task integration. It provides weather forecasts and advanced features like meeting polls and video conferencing integration for premium users.

**Highlights:** Natural language event and task creation, Multiple calendar views (day, week, month, year), Integrated task management (Todoist, Google Tasks), Weather forecasts, Meeting scheduling and polls, Video conferencing integration

**Features:** Apple Watch app, iMessage stickers

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $6.99 | per month |
| Flexibits Premium | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium for Families | $10.49 | per month |
| Premium Family (2020 Upgrade) | $10.49 | per month |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $56.99 | per year |
| Flexibits Premium | $56.99 | per year |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $56.99 | per year |
| Premium for Families | $89.99 | per year |
| Premium Family (2020 Upgrade) | $89.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Excellent natural language input
- 💡 Helpful calendar integration features
- 🚀 Smooth syncing across devices
- 👍 Beautiful and clean UI design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Inconsistent behavior with reminders and event management
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🤖 Overly aggressive upselling of premium features
- 🤔 Concerns about forced account creation
- 🐛 Sync issues between iOS and Mac versions

**Reported bugs**

- Apple Watch sync problems
- Events disappearing or changing unexpectedly
- Freezing and crashing on certain user actions

**Requested features**

- Option to disable predictive input features
- Improved calendar set management
- Enhanced integration with third-party apps and services
- Ability to customize app icons and themes


### WidgetCal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/widgetcal-widget-calculator/id6468929338)

Perform calculations directly from your home screen with advanced functions. Customize your experience with multiple themes. Unlock premium features through a subscription.

**Highlights:** Home screen widget calculator, Trigonometric and calculus functions, Over 10 beautiful themes, No ads, Monthly/annual subscription for Pro features

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WidgetCal Pro | $0.99 | per month |
| WidgetCal Pro | $3.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Fantastical Calendar free?

Fantastical Calendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is WidgetCal free?

WidgetCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Fantastical Calendar or WidgetCal?

WidgetCal is rated higher. Fantastical Calendar averages 4.2 out of 5 from 25K ratings, while WidgetCal averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Fantastical Calendar or WidgetCal have ads?

Neither Fantastical Calendar nor WidgetCal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Fantastical Calendar or WidgetCal?

Fantastical Calendar ships an update every 3 weeks, and WidgetCal every 32 months. Most recently, Fantastical Calendar was updated on November 14, 2026 and WidgetCal on November 12, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*