Comparison

Raft vs GroupCal

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

Head to head
About

Raft

This app helps couples, families, and close friends stay organized and connected by sharing calendars and events. It allows users to plan together, add personal touches to appointments, and countdown to special occasions. Facilitate communication and coordination for a more synchronized life.

Highlights
  • Connect with partner, family, and friends
  • View shared plans and appointments
  • Like and comment on events
  • Personalize events with media
  • Share or keep plans private
  • Countdown to special occasions
  • In-event chat functionality
Features
Read full description

Featured by Apple - "New Apps We Love", "Level Up Your Love" & "Hot this week" Raft is beautiful calendar app designed for couples, families and close friends that wants to share calendars, spend more time together and have things to look forward to. Selected praise "Planning can actually be fun, if you do it on Raft" - startups.co “Raft simply makes creating and sharing events enjoyable.” - AppAdvice.com "Great app for keeping up with friends and family or for just keeping up with your own appointments. Best app I've found to help me stay on task." Features • Find and connect your partner, family and BFFs to you calendar. • See what your partner, family and friends got planned. • Like and comment on each others plans. • Personalize your plans and appointments with images, emojis and animated GIFs. • Share some plans. Keep others private. • Countdown the days to weddings, anniversaries, parties, child births and date nights. • Tap to invite people and they will instantly get a notification to join your event. • Chat directly in the calendar events. Join Raft and get your life in sync with your partner, family and friends - “one year from now you wish you started today”! Happy planning! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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

Raft4 screens
GroupCal4 screens

Verdict

The call

Raft and GroupCal both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 79% of GroupCal's written reviews are positive against 50% of Raft's. GroupCal also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). 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. Raft sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and GroupCal sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Raft against 4.7 for GroupCal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 823 and 873 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Raft's written reviews are positive against 79% of GroupCal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Raft ships an update monthly, GroupCal fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Raft versus GroupCal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRaftGroupCal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (823 ratings)4.7 (873 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews79.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings823873 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoin Raft AB24me

Customer experience

Raft

All ratings821 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral6.0%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.1%
Negative33.9%

GroupCal

All ratings868 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral3.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews537 reviews
Positive79.3%
Neutral5.8%
Negative14.9%

User reviews

Raft

From 823 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Cute and visual design
  • 💡 Sharing plans with partner/friends
  • 🚀 Helpful for organizing schedules

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Sync issues between users
  • 🐛 Unreliable notifications
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with new devices

GroupCal

From 873 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

Raft

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to create account
  • Events not showing up for partner
  • Dates not syncing correctly
  • Invitations not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add location details for events
  • Recurring event option
  • Monthly calendar view
  • Favorite/reuse event icons
  • Android app support

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

2 purchases

Raft

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$2.491 Month
  • Yearly Subscription1 Month trial$18.991 Year
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 Raft free?
Raft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GroupCal free?
GroupCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Raft or GroupCal?
GroupCal is rated higher. Raft averages 4.6 out of 5 from 823 ratings, while GroupCal averages 4.7 from 873 ratings.
Do Raft or GroupCal have ads?
Neither Raft nor GroupCal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Raft or GroupCal?
Raft ships an update monthly, and GroupCal fortnightly. Most recently, Raft was updated on October 24, 2026 and GroupCal on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons