User Reviews for Fantastical - Calendar

0 out of 5

0 Ratings

4 years ago, PaulV230

Just finished the trial and loved it, but one thing would make it perfect for me

I've been using Fantastical on iOS since v2, and when I heard about v3 and the subscription model, I was hesitant at first but wanted to give it a fair shot. After reading through the features and going through the tutorial videos, I started a trial and took the new Fantastical for a spin. From the first launch, it’s clear that the team at Flexbits has put a lot of time and effort into v3—from the wide variety of display options to features like location-based calendar sets. It's not just loaded with helpful new features but it also has a lot of "nice to have" features too. It’s also clear that the team is working hard on bug fixes and updates—just check out the version history to see the frequency of updates and the number changes with each version. So what’s holding me back from subscribing to Fantastical Premium? Simply put, the cost is too high for the value I'd get out of it. Fantastical 3 has a lot of great features that support collaboration, but I use it exclusively for individual productivity. As much as I wish I could use those collaboration features, I simply have no need for them. Now if Flexbits offered a subscription geared for individual users without the collaboration features and at a lower price, I’d be all in!

3 years ago, AlxReview07

Amazing App

Such a great app and useful way to remain organized. I used to use several apps to keep track of events and reminders, but Fantastical helped me streamline the process. Works for Mac and Iphone. I am able to look at both my work calender and check off reminders that I set for myself without even unlocking my iphone (through widgets). Great connection to additional apps such as reminders and outlook. I can still keep track of reminders in the reminders app and set work events on my work outlook, but now have it all organized in one place (Fantastical). What to improve- I LOVE the widget, but it often feels too condensed/clunky. I would love for a more clear and spacious format, specfically by minimizing all day events. Also, I believe events for the following day do not need to appear until ~6pm. At 11am I do not necessarily need to see the following day's reminders, but would rather have current reminders spread out (on the iphone widget). I would just reconsider the overall widget design, while I love the customization with colors, I would try to reduce the fixed colors and simplify design so that it is clean, spacious and yet fits several lines worth of events. I would try to make it as similar as possible to the notification center widget, as that one is perfect! Great App and worth the buy!!

4 years ago, Rufo

It's not cheap, but it can be worth it

I've a long-time Fantastical user from the Mac v1 version, and have bought every iteration for every platform - and even as a fan, I had to swallow a bit and ask myself if the $40/yr was really worth it to me. And I'll be honest, the first couple of months were a bit rough, with Watch sync and a couple of other features not entirelythere. Once some of the bugs got ironed out, though, I haven't really looked back - or wanted to look back. The ability to directly connect my work (Google) calendar and my personal (FastMail) calendar without tying control of my phone to work is really really handy, with full support for every feature on each platform; it's something no other calendar app I've tried can do. As someone that's worked remotely since before COVID, the recently added direct meeting join has been super-handy. Feature and sync parity for things like calendar sets has been a godsend, along with the customization and features and great design that's defined Fantastical. Is it going to be worth it for everyone? No - and that's fine. But if you want a feature-rich and beautiful calendar that works across every Apple device you own, it's absolutely worth giving a shot.

6 years ago, RBDelaware

Outstanding, “every-day” utility completely replaces Apple Calendar

I’ve been using Fantastical since its very first version, and it remains to this day my “use-it-every-day-all-the-time” ulitlity, on my desktop, laptop, phones and iPads. Fantastical’s best feature is its “plain language” ability to create new events. Works nearly flawlessly to parse dates, times and complicated recurring events (“first day of the month,” "second Tuesday of the month,” etc.). The user interface is excellent, even on small phone screens. Most importantly, this app is dependable, reliable. It syncs flawlessly with itself on all my devices, very quickly. Handles invitations from Outlook users well, and handles locations/maps well, too. Integrates smoothly with Google calendars and with Apple Calendar. Handles shared ICS event files flawlessly. If I have any complaint (a minor one), it’s that I’d prefer to be able to tweak my user interface a bit, such as enlarging text on the iPhone version, adjusting (‘toning down”) the app’s jarring red color banner, etc. The iOS version works well. I’m hoping the developers create a “shortcut” capability (other than Siri, which it already has) to allow users to enter events directly from the new Apple “Shortcuts” app, without having to open Fantastical on the phone. This is a first class app, made for people who use it - and depend on it - heavily.

3 years ago, Sarah Anne Maas

Big fan! 1 small suggestion

Fantastical is a really great, thoughtfully designed calender app that does exactly what I was hoping for. I was frustrated that my apple calender couldn't show my reminders on the calender. There are a lot of things I'd rather make a reminder than a calender event for such as remember to get gas, remember to make a phone call, schedule an appointment, grab an item or 2 from the grocery store, etc. Fantastical lets you customize which reminder lists you want to see on your calender and it works so well. My only complaint for this area is you get double alerts from the reminders app and Fantastical. I wish I had the option to turn off the notification from Fantastical because the Apple reminders app allows you to customize reminder alerts by priority which gives you more control over the alerts you receive. Other than that small thing, Fantastical does it all. It works seemlessly from all my devices and I'm grateful for an app that allows me to use my phone as a customizable planner rather than trying to utilize a paper planner! You can't go wrong with such a generous free trial to really get to know the app before you commit. Thanks Fantastical!

1 year ago, MrWufz

Was a Hater, But It's Worth It

I have to admit I was wrong. When Fantastical first went the paid route app, I was disappointed. I wasn't interested in calendar sets and the other features. But Availability and the booking page has blown my socks off. I've tried free and cheaper alternatives, but they aren't as reliable, or only allow 1 link url, respectively. I do believe the new price is a bit much for an individual, but it can be worth it for people like me that are freelancing and trying to book with multiple people a week for different things. I have several people I work out with that I have a Gym openings for. My mom and I both get anxiety with unscheduled calls, so I have one for her to book times with me, and I do a few coffee chats per week to keep up to date with colleagues and acquaintances. For this type of thing, Openings/Availability is invaluable. The only other feature I thought I liked is the 10-day forecast, but then I realized how the weather here is almost never correct the next day. So Availability/Openings is really the only reason I'll be converting from the Pro trial to Paid.

4 years ago, HansenBoards

Once Great, now ... forget it

Was my daily calendar app, my organizer, my scheduler. I paid for the premium unlocked versions for my phone AND my Mac. That's two purchases. for the same app. I did this cuz it was my literal "go to" for all insundry, every day, to keep someone who has difficulties with focusing and keeping track of the minutia from losing their mind. They switched to this subscriotopn model and previously paid for features have now either been relegated to pretty lame, or now a part of the subscription. Any app that changes it's subscription mode from a paid-in-full model to a subscription model immediately loses prestige as far as its brand goes from my perception. Going off the amount of previously 5 star reviews to the gamut of 1/2/3 [max] star reviews from EXISTING customers and you can tell how well this switch was "welcomed" by people who have been absolute brand champions for this app for not just one year or a paltry few month, but for 3-4 years in some cases. Myself Included. I've moved on to a lesser app while i find something else to fill the gap that Fantastical occupoed until they took a big dump on their stalwart customer base with no recompense or thank you for years of support based on a - one time - lifesaver of an app. There's better out there now with multiperous functionality. Go find one that works for you and use it.

7 years ago, UWSider

Finally Upgraded From V1 & I’m Very Happy

I bought Fantastical V1 right when it was first released and have loved it right up till this morning. I held off upgrading when V2 came out because I was perfectly happy with the last version of V1, and didn’t feel like spending the money. It was an expensive upgrade back then as now. However, the latest version has improved on things to the point where I felt it was only right and proper that I upgrade, though I’m still not happy about the pricing, and, despite that, I’m happy that I did so: from the new color schemes to the wealth of additional data that’s now available (time to leave, which I want to see if it works with public transportation here in NYC), I’m happy. Had there been a reduced price for those upgrading (on top of a generally lower price overall), even so long after V2 first came out, this would’ve been a 5-star review. Instead, a star loss because of the price. If you’re still using V1, I think it’s time to come around and support the developer, despite the lack of an upgrade price. If you’ve never used it before, you’ll be very happy with it. The ease of the drop-down calendar from the top-line menu is simply terrific and I’ve used that all the time.

2 years ago, Rad41

Phenomenal

Natural language processing works pretty much flawlessly. If you're a busy executive who needs to achieve maximum efficiency arranging meetings for your teams, this app is indispensable. It has become a staple of my daily workflow. I love the option to generate Google Meetings links when creating an event, and having all my contacts autopopulate in the invite saves so much time. Note! You need to study how to set up Fantastical if you're using lots of calendars. It's a little tricky at first, but once you have it locked in you'll never leave. To the people who are complaining about having to pay for subscriptions, this app is not for you. Don't even bother. This is for serious people who have real needs and are happy to pay for the ease and organization that only an app llike this can provide. Apple should screen out all of these petty reviews, so people who are trying to decide can assess the pros and cons quickly. If ever there was a 5 star app, this is it. Will happily pay for a subscription until I'm retired and no longer need it.

2 years ago, Pishaww

I’m in like but not in love with this app...

I did the trial with this calendar app and liked it enough to buy it. I really love a couple of key features that my iCal is missing. Unfortunately, lately the app seems to be glitching or something. There is now an issue with creating repeating schedule items. Usually if I make a recurring item and then I make any changes to one of those items, it will prompt me if I want changes to be apply to all future events or just that one. Lately it doesn’t consistently ask that or give me the option. It will just alter all past and future items in that repeat. I use recurring scheduling items to keep track of when I complete things. A kind of check list. It doesn’t work for me if the program is just going to alter every item past and future to match the changes of any single day. It didn't used to do this. Now I have to go back to using iCal or look for another app because it isn’t efficient or effective to have to manually enter every recurring item for every day just so that I have the ability to make singular changes to any given item. I will also note that I just updated the app on all my devices and this is still happening.

2 years ago, Michael10452

Great App... when it worked

The app idea and most of the implementation is great. Unfortunately, it has serious issues that are why I had to cancel my yearly subscription. My google account through my scohol was deleted, and even though I switched the account, Fantastical could not handle that. It crashed my entire calendar and subscription, and has not worked since then despite my best efforts. I have had to switch calendars because of this. The following part of the review was from before, and I stand by it but it pales in comparison to it just stopping working. Other than this though the app did work fantastic... except that everything costs money. It is impossible to just even have it function as a normal calendar without paying money. I think the free version should be something actually decently substantial, and then there should be a cost associated with a pro version... rather than having a fake free version and then making the pro version the only thing that works! The cost is really just too much for an app that can be replaced by google calendar. I think this app is great, and synergizes well with the Apple Calendar, but because of the choppiness and high price to enter without any substantial free version, I would struggle to recommend it. I hope the devs consider fixing some of this!

3 years ago, Bryan Cichy-Parker

One feature makes this amazing

I used Apple's calendar for years and saw ads for other calendar programs and wondered how much better could they really be?--they're calendars! I have to say, though, that fantastical has one feature that makes it amazing for me: the ability to propose meeting times that are sent out to individuals or groups to get consensus. Doodle was my go-to for several years, but once they started charging for the basic features I used, I needed an alternative. Fantastical fills that need and gives me more flexibility to do what I want with my calendar instead of doing only what the calendar allowed me to do. Calendar sets are another feature that I use a lot as I'm in charge of scheduling classes for my university program for multiple cohorts. I don't need them all on my screen all the time and each cohort doesn't need to see all the others' meeting times. I have a calendar set for 'normal' and one for 'scheduling classes' and I always see just what and all that I want to see with one click.

4 years ago, FoxZia38

An awsome calendar

I have been searching for a good calendar on my old Samsung and now IOS devices. I belive this is it. I have been using it for probably a year or so. I used it daily mostly on Mac. I have been using Google Calendar for years and loved it but my trust in Google has been waning. So, I completely un-sync Google Calendar with Fantastical but still have Apple Calendar synced with. I hate Apple Calendar but need it as a back up. There is only one small con. In the dark mode, the line between two months is hard to see. I know seeing the dates (the 30th or 31st and the 1st) should be very helpful to see two months. But my concern is for color blind people. I have one eye blind and it is still hard to see the line. The lines should be very easy to see for color blind people. The other option is to move a month below the month and have extra spaces as a quick note If any space is available just like paper calendars. There are many blank spaces and people use those spaces as notes. If you don't like Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, try the Fantastical!

6 years ago, Sasha2199

Really good calendar

I bought this quite a while ago and don’t write too many reviews unless I really like an app. I tend to be willing to try knew things, but ultimately I’d say 90% of the time I drop an app. I have a nice long list of app purchases that simply don’t provide any value at all. This is not one of those apps. How do I know this? Well, I just bought a new MacBook and thought I would pass on installing this. And within 2 days I was running back to my app library to click the install button. It is simply a much better calendar. I like the list on the side. I like the way I can easily enter a new entry. I find it a MUST HAVE on the iPhone. And now without even realizing it, I find it a must have on the Mac as well. You know an app is good when you keep coming back to it. For that to happen it has to provide some kind of value that you will miss if you stop using it. This does that. Let me say one more thing. I’m not someone who is married to the calendar and log every thing to it. And I still find this so much better.

4 years ago, drewsign

Worth Paying For

I wish there was a way to filter App Store reviews by whether the reviewer actually paid for a subscription. I suspect Fantastical would then have a much more glowing rating. I dislike subscriptions as much as anyone else, but I have found Fantastical to be well worth the annual subscription cost. My favorite new feature is their Zoom "Join" button that opens the meeting directly instead of opening up my browser. I've also gotten a lot of use out of their "Propose a Meeting" feature to try and find a time when several people can meet, because no one ever fully updates their Exchange calendar. I hope they'll continue to develop this service to compete with the likes of Calendly for meeting scheduling. The main reason I chose to pay for Fantastical, however, is for privacy concerns. I wanted to see all my calendars in the same place without giving Google or Microsoft access to any of my other calendars. Privacy is unfortunately rarely free in tech.

5 years ago, SixthSamurai

Very good replacement for Mac Calendar; iOS version is tired and confusing

After several years of resisting, I finally paid to switch to Fantastical 2 from the standard Mac calendar. After using for 2 months, I'm not sure I should have. Pros: cleaner interface, ability to show two timezones concurrently, ability to show reminders in side panel, quick add widget. Cons: natural language parsing often gets it wrong and I have to spend time correcting/finding an entry to redirect it, the price is high for not a whole lot more functionality. Other calendars have improved greatly at much less cost. Bottom line: I like the Mac version a lot and is probably worth the upgrade if you are a heavy calendar user. The iOS version is awful and needs a complete redesign. The "dots" approach versus showing a time-based day is confusing...this really needs to be redesigned. Entering new appointments on the iOS version is also inefficient. Google's iOS calendar is so much better....Fantastical needs to take a look and "flatter them" by redesigning. Maybe best to stay with the basic iOS calendar or use Google's free version other then the lack of uniformity in your workflow.

4 years ago, red_dye4

Free Version is Essentially Useless

I just downloaded this to try out; I'm a Google Calendar user who is looking for a little more cohesiveness and functionality. The editorial writeup in the app store and the great reviews piqued my interest. I figured I'd eventually pay for the premium service if I found this calendar useful enough and I knew some features wouldn't be available in the free version. However, the number of features that are locked down in the free version make this app essentially useless! ALL of the calendar views are premium features. That blows my mind! That renders the free version an overly-complicated task list and nothing more. I can't even really see if I am interested in the app at all. Rendering the free version useless is such a weird and manipulative way to try to get people to buy the premium app. Why offer a free version at all if it isn't going to be functional? While they do offer a 7 day free trial of the premium version which, again, I would have eventually signed up for, 7 days isn't really enough time to see if this app will work in the ways I need it to. I was hoping to be able to play around a little with the free version and then try out the premium features. As it is, I'm pretty disgusted with the app and the company.

5 years ago, Ted65

I was happy till it started eating appointments

Fantastical is a great calendar program don't get me wrong. However, and its a big however lately I have needed to get into the standard calendar app and I have noticed that appointments that are in Fantastical are not in the calendar app. These are google calendar appoinments that my wife utilizes (sorry I can't get here out of that) and the appointments show up on the web version of the calendar and in Fantastical but do not show up on the Calendar app. These aren't brand new, just made them, these are one and two day old appointments that are coming due. No the password is fine I check that first. I have force sync'd, I even uninstalled and reinstalled. Support wasn't much help at all. Since the only really thing was the ability to have reminders in my calender (not much of a big deal) and natural language entry with the standard calendar app can do sorta its not worth the time to play with this any longer. If you just need a calendar app, stick with the Calendar app that comes with macOS and with the changes coming in macOS Catalina there should be some interesting things with Reminders.

1 year ago, iamblued

I'm out.

I have been a Fantastical user for more than 12 years and I am done. I wasn't excited for the switch to a subscription service when it was announced but stuck with it assuming this model would mean significant improvements were coming. None came in years. The product truly has not improved in any way meaningful to a user who doesn't work in a team and despite the over $300 I've put into this app with purchases and subscriptions, I am going to walk away. This is an app past its prime that is resting solely on it's spectacular v2 GUI design from 2014 and has failed to improve in ways meaningful to most users. Maybe the changes are enough for teams that would justify the cost? But language processing is still terrible (you can't even tell it what calendar to create and event under!), time zone support clunky, lack of integration with Things and other GTD apps, along with zero customization with Apple Watch widgets is just really disappointing. I wish you the best Flexibits. But it feels like you honestly were bought out by a soulless Corporate husk extracting as much money as humanly possible from your customers with little more than momentum to keep them hooked.

4 years ago, Indy500guy

I wanna go back...

The latest update is a money hungry app— apparently they are not making enough, so they're offering a "Premium" package versiion for more bucks—just so you can run it on your Apple Watch! ll I get now is the day's date! When I tap on it says I'd need to not only install it on my iPhone (which I have) but also subscribe to a Flexbits account— more $$$ for their pockets! Also, although the added weather app sounds nice... AccuWeather has NOT worked well in my area of Minneapolis (I've tried quite a few weather apps). Too bad a person can't choose their OWN preferred weather app that works best for them— fortunately they made a way to turn that off! (they must have a nice business deal going with AccuWeather °_* Just wish I could go back to the simpler-better version, as I am NOT a happy camper! —one the verge of canceling to go back to Apple's Calendar that 1. doesn't cost anything— nor 2. any extra charges to get the "Premium" version just to work on the watch! Arrrrrghhh!

4 years ago, SupermanMikail

The best calendar app I've used...

I have been using this app for about a year now. I've tried a lot of different calendar apps over the years, and Fantastical is the one I still use. I was reluctant to purchase at first, given the price tag, but I'm happy that I did. The app was one of the top-ranked productivity apps, so I felt the risk was limited. I did experience a bit of a learning curve at the beginning, part of which is fully exploring, discovering, and experiencing the full functionality that the app offers. I'm still learning things as I go. Things I like: -full consolidation of all my email accounts, yet easily customizable to see what you want when you want, how you want -full integration across platforms such as my desktop, laptop, iPad, and phone -user interface has improved a lot over the year, again lots of customization is available; I like a clean, minimal, coordinated look Things I didn't like: -it took me a couple of tries to connect my iCloud account because I had never done that before (AppleID password generation), but once you know, you won't forget, and you'll probably need to delete and re-add accounts every blue moon -sometimes one of my devices would be out of sync with the others, usually require deleting and re-adding the account or generating a new password -flexibits - I still don't exactly know what it is, what it does, but you have to use it for everything to work 😬

4 years ago, zbeckman

Gone back to Apple Calendar :(

I had and used Fantastical 1 and 2 for years, and loved it. While Fantastical didn't do THAT much more than Apple Calendar, it did a little bit more, and very elegantly. It was worth the purchase price. Unfortunately the new money-grab tactics just aren't worth it. The features that make Fantastical 3 a nice to have over Calendar are, now, going to cost $40/year in subscription fees. It's just not worth it. Plus the annoying ads, and the lack of flexible day/week/month/task viewing. As a paid app it's now a crippled app; as a subscription app, it's just not worth the extra $40/year. And my company won't let me expense it since there really isn't anything here that you can't get done with Calendar. I deleted Fantastical 3 a couple months ago, saying I'd live with Calendar for a while and see how life was. Frankly, I don't miss Fantastical anymore. So there's my update: After the money grab I went back to Calendar, and I'm happy. Does what I need for both my personal and my work Google calendaring needs. Too bad, because I did enjoy Fantastical, and honestly I'd probably pay $10 a year for the convenience, but I've got enough subscriptions nickle and diming me to death already...

6 years ago, FlareLight

Looking forward to it

Just purchased Fantastical 2 and dumped Busy Cal for a couple of reasons. Both apps are competitive and offer great features, but Fantastical 2 has touchbar support on my MacBook Pro. The two times I’ve reached out to Busy Cal about the touchbar support, each time their respons was “it’s on our wishlist”. Come on, it’s been a year and a half and still no touchbar support from them? The 2nd reason, and the one that sold me, is that I come here to the app store and look at the reviews and the Fantastical 2 team has responded to most every post here. Can’t say that with the other app. Looks like the Fantastical team is just more active and connects with their customers better. I expect that type of support from a $50 app because Apple Calendar is free so I didn’t have to spend cash on a calendar app. Didn’t feel that type of appreciation from the other guys. Anyway looking forward to getting to know this app and having fun.

4 years ago, ManWithClue

Excellent tool for serious calendaring

As someone who coordinates with multiple organizations, I have found the latest versions of Fantastical to be ... well, Fantastic! For starters, it's rock solid and will driectly interact with server-based calendars like Exchange and Google (just in case you don't want to pollute your macOS and iOS calendars directly with those). Here are two awesome features that I'm not sure everyone is aware of: - Event deduplication: Do you ever need to have an event on your work calendar, but alert your family or another group to the event? Or vice-versa? With the macOS calendar, you'd be stuck with 2 events. With Fantastical, the program will notice 2 identically-named events (at the same time and place) and will make a single entry visible. When you open or edit the event, it shows as 2 events and you can edit them independently (so, for example, you can mark personal events private on your work calendar but still have them block out time, etc.) - The new support for videoconference URLs is excellent. Initially, I just noticed the new icon that shows up in the calendar and is clickable, and that's great. But, the other day I also noticed that your upcoming videoconferences show up in the menu bar next to the calendar icon; super useful! Can't say enough good things about this app (or CardHop for that matter).

1 year ago, Nicola918

Excellent App!

I will start off by saying that I’ve been a long time Fantastical user and when the developers initially moved to the subscription model, I was disappointed and went back to the Apple stock calendar. I found myself missing the seamless integration between my Apple and work (Gmail, Teams, Zoom) calendars. No other app comes close to Fantastical in this regard. I also love the integration with Cardhop. My only wish is that they offered another tier in their pricing model. I do not utilize the Openings or Scheduling features. It would be great if they had a mid tier without these options as the current price point is a bit high for the features I use but I do love this app. I would also like to point out that their support team is quick to respond to any issues I’ve had (and I haven’t had many.) Keep up the excellent work!

6 years ago, T. Pours

Excellent calendar and reminders!

I'd heard good things about Fantastical for a long time, but held back because of price and my worry about integration compared to the Apple apps (Calendar and Reminders). Turns out, Fantastical does a great job integrating. And the GUI for both this Mac app and the iPhone app (I purchased both at once, 3 weeks before writing this review) is really nice. It has helped quite a bit with my family calendar, which is crowded. I was having trouble staying on top of it all with Calendar. And I used Reminders occasionally, but it being a separate app was a barrier. Now, using Fantastical, I'm finding things easier and even more fun. I like using Siri to set reminders and then I can see them on my Fantastical calendar. I find the navigation much nicer on a calendar with many items. I hope this app has a long life. I’m a complete convert and wouldn’t want to do without it.

3 years ago, Aidyn's X

Couldn't Live Without It

If I don't create a reminder or calendar event for something, it will not get done. This app makes it incredibly easy to add a reminder or calendar event by allow a unique keystroke combination to bring up the FantistiCal Helper app in the menu bar. After a bit of intuitive typing, the reminder or calendar event is made in 10-20 seconds. The best part is, I don't have to move away from what I am working on or lift my hands off the keyboard. All events sync perfectly, to my iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch so I always know what is coming up next in my day. The only thing I wish the app did that the built in calendar app does do is autofill from previous events. I work in education and use the same event titles from year to year. It would be nice if the previous years' event information autofilled based on the title of the event and I could tweak from there.

3 years ago, xjkanex

ADHD Supertool

Fantastical has been a saving grace for my productivity while having ADHD. It functions as my working memory and helps alleviate consistant ADHD issues with task switching and executive function. I have my work calendar, personal calendar, Todoist account, and Reminders app all linked into Fantastical so it makes it easy to see what I should be doing at any given time of the day and gives me an easy visual represntation on my day so I can fit task into the empty slots to ensure to keep productive momentum. The addition of the Apple Watch app basically adds an assistant that is always with me. Feeling the buzz on my wrist to let me know what's up next versus where I currently am helps keep my time blindness in check to get the most out of each day. Simply put glasses help your eyes see better and Fantasical helps your brain see better.

6 years ago, Weevil54

Overall, great

I love Fantastical and use it on all my Apple devices. The natural language-based entry system in particular is a life saver when I'm trying to enter an appointment quickly on my phone in a situation where my attention is divided. Just a few spoken words and voila! I have my calendar entry. The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that it can be slow to sync across devices. In particular, it sometimes seems as though I have to have the calendar actually open on my iOS devices, sometimes for a full minute or more, for it to fully sync. I haven't been able to fully diagnose the conditions in which the sync problems occur. They aren't bad enough that they've caused me to miss meetings, but I have occasionally had to open my calendar and wait for the sync before I can, for example, get the number I need to dial into a call. If they can improve the sync problem, then this app will be perfect for my needs.

2 years ago, pl_oakland

Terrific app and the bst support as well

I have used Fantastical for since it was fist released (or shortly thereafter) - and it is the best app ever for managing, and syncing, all of the calendars that I use or my colleagues use - google, iCal, OUtlook, etc. What I especially like is that it is accessible from the top menu bar (and the lower menu bar on my phone) where it is always accessible regardless of what other applications I am using. And I can add new items using plan language - the app translate any form I use to say what I am adding, and the time to add it, and instantly translates what I need in the form of an event. Recently I ran into a problem and contacted Flexibits - they were terrific - totally patient as they helped me fix the issue (which I created - it was not a problem with the app). I cannot recimmend this app highly enough!

9 months ago, JN7777

Still use, but...

This calendar app is incredible. For Zoom integration, bridging international time zones and travel, locations and travel time, attachments, schedule polling, and weather - it all works like it should. Best calendar app I've ever used, hands down. I was excited to use Cardhop with some of the additional contact features - family relationships, notes, etc. - but it doubled all my contacts and added fields like ICQ of all things (isn't that from the late 90's?). Very strange, and a real nightmare to manually resolve every single contact. But when the subscription increase was announced this past year, I just couldn't see paying that annually for a calendar software subscription - the previous subscription fee was already high enough. In my opinion, Fantastical would do good to offer one-time upgrade opportunities for additional features added. This subscription model has just gotten out of hand. In comparison, for just a few dollars more you can get a Personal Microsoft 365 subscription that includes 9 different powerful softwares. Flexibits, if you're listening, I want to give you my money again... I just don't want to give you all of it. I hope you're able to find a solution to this pricing model dilemma. I really do hope to become a paying customer again and enjoy utilizing the full value and feature-set of an awesome software!

2 years ago, Jason Mark

*Almost* great

The menu bar is great, and the ability to share calendar sets across platforms is a VERY welcome addition. Weather is a very nice touch too. That being said the text parsing is hit or miss. more than half the time when I get an invite in my email and copy-paste it in then I end up with a event in 1949 or something. In addition there are many subtle nuances. if you say "remind me" it works the same as "alert" sometimes, but other times it gives different results. It also sends an email to attendees for EVERY change. There's no option to avoid that, which is frusterating if you tweak the notes in an event to add an agend or a zoom call. Lastly, it uses your entire address book with no intelligent type-ahead, so if you have a lot of contacts you're going to basically have to type most of the person's name to even see that person on your list. That being said, much more stable than earlier version (which had many bugs), and the developers are responsive when I send in specific parsing that's not working right. The reason I say it's "almost great" is my wife really struggles with her calendaring and I've tried to get her to use Fantastical, but these issues are cumbersome enough that she refuses to try it again for a year. The "bad" outweighs the "good" if you're not someone willing to invest in working around these things.

5 years ago, The GoodScout

Has been my calendar of choice for years now

I started out with the original Fantastical when I found that Apple's Calendar app, while good, didn't give me the flexibility I needed. Upgrading to Fantastical2 gave me even more bells and whistles and tools that I use often. I often find that the mark of a great program is that it even has some tools that are more powerful than I need. It lets me know the developers are working hard to explore every customer need. The user interface makes my month and week easy to read, and with so many different commitments I find the color-coded Calendars setting useful for letting me know which events are tied to which activity. The ability to attach notes, URLs and attachments to appointments also is tremendous. Being able to sync via iCloud is a must, and makes everything completely portable.

3 years ago, Niknak92748

Great app, missing some customization options

Been using Fantastical on iOS and Mac for a few months now. It's really great, especially if a lot of your meetings are virtual (will be true for a lot of us in COVID times), since you can just click on a "location" link and boom! You're there. I do wish this app had a few more customization features. Namely, I wish you could change the "add event" sound (I find the WHOOSH to be very grating and not my typical usecase—I'm not often sending calendar invites to other people because my organization hasn't standardized its calendar service). Relatedly, I wish that I could add a guest without necessarily sending a calendar invite to them. Also, I like the calendar sets feature, but I wish it was clearer how to stop getting notifications for a certain calendar. I had to hunt around a lot for this feature, because there's like 3-4 possible places that it could be set.

6 years ago, ringmasterow

Showing Wear

Generally, I love Fantastical. It’s the best 3rd-party calendar app I’ve found. But over the years, it’s developed some holes. With reasonable frequency, Fantastical’s main window, when dismissed, will stay on top of the screen, but invisible, such that when you think you’re clicking something you see, you’re actually clicking the Fantastical calendar. This is particularly problematic when dragging. The only way I’ve found to address it is to close the app entirely and restart it. I now end up needing to do this several times a week. Fantastical periodically gets stuck trying to update my calendars. It tries, but never completes updating. At the beginning of last week, I missed two meetings because Fantastical never pulled updated meeting times that were rescheduled from the week before. Informing me of what’s going on in my calendar is Fantastical’s core competency — It should be *flawless*. It is not.

4 years ago, bexy48

indispensable calendar app

I've used Fantastical for many years and have yet to find an app with as many capabilities. I would be seriously lost without it. Currently mine is seamlessly syncing 2 Outlook Exchange accounts, an Office365 account, a Google account, an iCloud account with family sharing, a Zoom account, and ToDoist with a total of 12 calendars. Syncs perfectly with my iPhone and iPad. The customizable colors and calendar sets are a lifesaver with working two jobs, teaching, and taking college classes. The developers are quick to respond and address any issues. Many apps are switching to a subscription model, and paying per year would not be worth it if this were just a basic calendar app, but paying $40 a year for as many features as this has is worth every penny.

4 years ago, guigrl

Zoom button. That's enough for $5/mo

First, Fantastical is good. It works well, integrates with all the big players, including my work's outlook calendar. It also integrates with Todoist and others to include a task list. It works a lot like Apple Calendar and if you don't need all the extra stuff (I do), then it's even free. Here's the big reason I use and pay for Fantastical... A ZOOM BUTTON! OMG, it's wonderful. I can see a meeting and there's a zoom button right there on the event. Click and viola, Zoom app opens and I'm in. No stupid browser window, Allow? Yes, then finally getting to Zoom. Oh and don't forget to close the 42 Zoom windows. Ugh. But removing those annoying steps with one glorious Zoom button isn't all. I can also see my calendar in my Mac's status/menu bar at the top. It tells me my next meeting and how long until it occurs. I can click on it and see upcoming meetings. But... drumroll I can join a Zoom meeting from there too! I don't even have to go find the Fantastical window to click on the fantastic Zoom button. They're replicated that lovely button in the menu bar! Happy dance. Thank you Fantastical! You seriously have improved my mood and saved me probably 20 mins a day not having to go thru all the stupid hoops to open up a Zoom meeting. You're awesome.

3 years ago, TazerGlen

Fantastic but...

It's a great app don't get me wrong, the convenience of being able to write on my calendar on any device and be updated on them all is amazing but there are a few things lacking. The largest one being the calendar organization and the way its made, it's very complicated and to someone new is very intimidating. Some simplifying and maybe even an explanation somewhere obvious as to how it all works and functions would help imensely. The other huge thing is that the customization is not impressive. I would really apreciate a lot more customization as to how things are laid how, the way they're displayed and the different colors you want on your screen. Right now its pretty basic. I hope you guys read this review and can maybe improve some of these things. But really amazing app that helps sort my schedule and keeps me organized!!

4 years ago, KIrkDouglasSD

Still using it, still loving it!

I am pretty sure that i've been using Fantastical since it came out years ago. I use it on my Mac, iPad and iPhone and it works great as a replacement for the Mac and iOS options if you're an iCloud user. The setup process is slightly more complicated in recent years due to 2-factor and Apple's limitations on 3-rd party app syncing access but once you get it set up it is perfect for a single user. To be clear, i'm not someone with many shared calendars and i'm not using this for my whole family. I'm using it as a single guy who has one full-time job and a side hussle in videography and it flawlessly helps me juggle my personal and business commitments without issue. Very satisfied user and frankly, not so sure what much of the complaints are about. One of my favorite apps of all time remains king in my opinion!

6 years ago, Greazyfrog

Perfect name for a Calendar app

I needed help. My work uses Office 365 where we also have three conference rooms (each having their own calendar). I also work heavily with a university who uses Google - so I have my own email account for that as well as various calendars for groups and individuals. On top of THIS, my wife and I have our own calendar on iCloud where we manage our own family events and things. Talk about the perfect storm of different services, right? Well for a while I tried pulling some calendars into one app vs another, into Mail, etc - there was always something that didn’t quite work or was very very very combersome. And frankly, I was missing out on some important family events as I was usually just looking in my work calendar - and I’m a stickler for keeping work with work, and personal with personal. Then I found Fantastical. No it’s not free or cheap - but it’s worth it. I keep learning new things now and again while using it, but overall it does everything I need it to do, it looks awesome and most importantly I’m no longer missing out on family functions…unless I have a very good excuse. So if you are like me and you’re trying to juggle various different types of calendars, give this a try. It might even save your marriage.

3 years ago, Mike.Chamberlain

Seriously???? Yes, the answer is Y-E-S

I'm leaving my initial review so my change of mind is clear. I was wrong. Though retired, I was recently callled back to do a few months of problem solving and leadership. All of a sudden life was not simple any more. Enter Fantastical. Yes it is an expense for something it seems you can get for free but you get much more than you think. The ability to have multiple location specific calendars and the quick entry and clear graphic presentation make this a game changer in a work environment. For the cost of a few cups of coffee, Fantastiacal offers a year's worth of confidence that my schedule and planning vision are under control. I wouldn't be without it. And don't discount the excellent sync functions with the included ios apps. Beautiful, functional, comfortable. Count me converted! Original Review: I think Fantastical is a solid attactive calendar program. I agree with other users that it is the best calendar app on the mac platform... BUT... Seriously??? $40/yr for a calendar program? You've got to be kidding! I didn't mind paying for ver 1 and 2 but a calendar app on my desktop that won't show me a week or month view (SERIOUSLY?) unless I pay $40/yr is not a program I'm interested in.

1 year ago, Tryonk the Magnificent

Is it time to say good-bye?

Fantastical is a great app, and I really like the ability to switch between calendar sets—between work, family members, and organizations, I have a *lot* of calendars. However, I don't use many of the other advanced features, since I have to use Outlook for work—I work in hospital IT, and data security / HIPAA compliance are critical. I'd love to be able to approve all the requests we get for Fantastical integrations, but that just isn't going to happen. That said, I had a hard time swallowing the old subscription price, and the recent price bump is just too much on a yearly basis. I'd be happy to pay $20-$30/year for calendar sets and sync, but I can't justify $60ish/year for just those. Maybe Fantastical can offer a middle tier for people like me who use calendar sets but don't need all the other features. That, or they can teach Microsoft how to write a decent calendar program.

2 years ago, NapMan

Great integration with Zoom, Meet etc

I replaced Apple Calendar when my company switched to GSuite. I switched as I was looking for better integration and more flexiblity. Fantastical gives me that flexiblity and integreation I was looking for. I found that I love the integration with Meet, Zoom and other conferencing tools. It's very easy to join a meeting directly from the menu bar app. Click on the icon and select "join meeting" and I'm in. I'm a big fan of how easy it is to set up calendar events. Clicking on a date, adding the info above the month, and adding details. All the fields I need are easily accessible from the quick entry. gCal never seems to get this right with only a few items available and the natural language stuff getting entries wrong most of the time.

3 years ago, promedserv

Long Time User: No More

I really don't believe there is a better calendar app, both because of the feature set and how the integration with all Apple devices is very "Mac" like. But I will be ending my use of this program because of the Premium subscription. Being forced to buy based on the month, not the version is very good for the company, but doesn't offer options to the user, and as a developer since the 80's, just forces most of the things I use off the table. No complaints on the feature set, just the huge gap between subscription and free, which I believe is most users. It's not like it's expensive, but when you use a lot of tools to make your business thrive, sometimes one becomes the screen door on your submarine. I'll be back if this company supports user feedback with a wider range, good luck.

7 years ago, Applelights

Great Improvements

This app has made major improvements and highly recommend it. Time to Leave is now available which is awesome. Since it’s not available on iOS yet, it’s not too practical, but imagine that will be available quite soon. Currently it does not support push for iCloud, and iCloud is required for syncing your reminders. This maybe a limitation of Apple however, not sure. Attachments are now possible which is awesome, however not available for Google Calendars meaning the power users who want attachments the most won’t be able to use them, but imagine this maybe a Google limitation. Even though this is not a dedicated Reminder app, it’s accurate human parsing and menu bar app, and Alfred integration make it my desired choice for Calendar and Reminder entries which I think go hand and hand. Apps like Things and Todoist blow Fantastical away in regards to features for reminders, but that is primarily because it’s limited by the features of Apple Reminders which hasn’t seen new features in years. Most notably no sub tasks, tags, etc. Looks like it maybe another year at least until Apple gives Reminders some love or longer so Fantastical can add those features. So all in all, the app is very good, and the things holding it back are limitations from third parties in my opinion.

1 year ago, Mmmmaxxxx

Indespensible, but buggy

This is a great app and an indespensible part of my workflow. However, it is also quite buggy. - It has a useless feature called "proposals" or something like that and, if it decides you're trying to make one, there is no way to "escape" back to a normal event. This is phenomenally irritating. - There is a bug where if you enter an event into the applet on the top bar, it asks for your location, and when you grant it, it then hangs with the spinny wheel of death for a few minutes before it works. This is on an M1 Mac with the latest Mac OS. - New events often don't show up at first, and then show up some time later after I created them. - The iOS version will randomly scroll on me when I am not touching it making it really hard to look at what I want to look at. This is so annoying that it drives me to use Fantastical only for input and a second calendar app for reading my calendar. - Command-Z rarely ever works for undoing stuff. - If I make a mistake it is very hard to work out what I did, i.e., there is no visible log of my actions. As a software developer I really appreciate having some kind fo log (e.g. git log) and would like to either have working command-z, or a log of some sort, here as well. (Or both, ideally. ....)

4 years ago, Juggghbfd

Give us 2 year Supscription Options

I like it. Apple Charges a 30% APP store transaction fee So I Understand why you guys have Switched to a subscription Model. I have the 1 year subscription. My only complaint is that I think you guys should Add a 2 year subscription at maybe $60 And then a 3 year at maybe $75 or whatever. Maybe a permanent 1 at $150 or $200. I dislike that the longest subscription Time is only 1 year Out. I don't know how much money i'll have In my bank account a year from now. I don't know what I'll eat for lunch tomorrow. I'd much rather pay Off 2-3 years all at Once And save some money while i'm at it then have to remember anually for my next billing Cycle. If I happen to be Poor a year Out from now [In ThEsE TrOuBlInG TiMeS] and my Fantastical subscription is about to End then it's probably the First Thing i'll have to Cut because I have to eat food.

4 years ago, MD, PhD

Used to be great, now it's not.

Fantastical used to be great, but then the developers moved to a subscription model and removed features which were previously "free" - though, I had previously paid $40 for the desktop app and $5 for the mobile app. There’s no consistency between the Mac and the iOS apps now. For example, on Mac, I can change the color of an event (which is a new feature). On iOS, I cannot (you need a subscription). The same applies to Travel Time - I can use it on a Mac, but not on iOS. The developers forced version 3 on us (replacing version 2 for which I personally paid $40). The app used to have a 5-star rating in the app store, now it has 3 stars. Obviously I am not the only one who didn't like this move to a subscription-based model. There is another app with the same features and it’s a once-off payment. I will be switching to Apple Calendar or another app as Fantastical does not offer any more value anymore and is just frustrating to use. And I can feel the bad aftertaste in my mouth every time I see it.

6 years ago, CruRyan

Good, but a few bumps lately

This is a great program for combining your reminders and calendars across multiple platforms; however, recently, the app has had trouble syncing iCloud reminders. The latest version was meant to fix this, but I have noticed the error messge still pops up occassionally. When it does, any changes you made to your reminder in the app will revert automatically. This is a large problem if you changed several reminders in a sitting. This version has also had issues with editing the time of repeating events. For some reason, when trying to change the time of a repeating event, it will occassional change the ending day of the event as well. It is then impossible to edit the event and fix the issue in the app. When these bugs are fixed, the app is worth 5 stars. Wait for the next update, and then get this app.

7 years ago, Virginian John

Finally upgraded a few months ago!

I have used Fantastical since I got V1 through MacUpdate a few years ago. It is probably the best app that I have gotten in a MacUpdate bundle. I do not often get the MacUpdate bundles, but when I saw a calendar tool called Fantastical a few years ago, my curisoity was piqued. I have used Fantastical nearly every day since I purchased the bundle. I was disappiointed at the higher price of V2 when it came out, and I delayed upgrading for a while. A few months ago, I finally upgraded, and I am glad that I did. Fantastical works great. It is quite intuitive, and it is easy to work with my calendars. When I upgrade computers or change phones, one of my first steps in preparing the new comuter or phone is to be sure to add Fantastical. It makes calendar organization a breeze.

Description

Fantastical is the multiple award-winning calendar app with powerful features including intuitive natural language text parsing, a full calendar window with day, week, month, quarter and year views, an ultra-quick access mini window, tasks, time zone support, and much, much more. Fantastical's natural language event and task creation, beautiful calendar views, and ultra-smart event list make it the best calendar and tasks app you'll ever use. Just type in that you have "Lunch with John on Friday at 1pm" and Fantastical will schedule it! Or type in "remind me to Buy Milk on Tuesday" and Fantastical will create a task with a due date! TRY FANTASTICAL FOR FREE • Beautiful, clean, and easy to use calendar app allowing you to manage basic events • Use the mini window to quickly check your schedule with customizable keyboard shortcut • Full screen day, week, month, quarter, and year views • Full task support including Todoist and Google Tasks • 3 day weather forecast (powered by AccuWeather) • 14 day free trial for Flexibits Premium UPGRADE TO FLEXIBITS PREMIUM FOR EVEN MORE (requires subscription) • Includes Fantastical on all platforms: Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad • Openings: Schedule events based on your availability • Proposals: Create meeting polls • Add Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and Microsoft Teams calls • Extended 10 day weather forecast with RealFeel and MinuteCast up-to-the-minute weather data (powered by AccuWeather) • Browse and instantly subscribe to interesting calendars, including sports, TV shows, holidays, and much more (powered by SchedJoules) • Calendar sets - quickly toggle multiple calendars on or off with a simple click or automatically when you leave or arrive, based on location • Event and task templates • Sync calendar sets and templates across devices • Apple Watch app with Up Next and Weather (and works over LTE) • Parser autocomplete recommendations for invitees, locations, and calendars/task lists • Propose multiple times to easily ask people when they can meet • Combine duplicate events across multiple calendars • Invitees and availability lookups • Respond to event invitations • Default alerts • Time zone override • Favorite time zones • Push updates for Google and Exchange • Set event travel time and receive time to leave notifications • Custom event colors • Hide events without deleting them • Add attachments to events on iCloud, Google, and Exchange • Priority email support THE EASIEST WAY TO ADD EVENTS AND TASKS • Open Fantastical with a single click or keystroke • Type in your details or use dictation and watch your words magically turn into an actual event or task! • Powerful parser features, including: - Create tasks by starting your sentence with “task” ”reminder", "todo", or "remind me to" - Powerful and expressive repeating events such as third Thursday of every month, every weekend, last weekday of the month, and more - Create alerts with phrases like "remind me tomorrow at 3PM", "alert 1 hour before", or "alarm 3PM" WORKS THE WAY YOU DO • Connects to your favorite calendar services including iCloud, Google, Exchange, Office 365, Todoist, and more • Automatically add alarms to your new events • Fantastical is fully localized in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese • Start typing your event or task in any of these languages and Fantastical will automagically understand! EVEN MORE FANTASTICAL • Lots and lots of macOS Widgets • Share Extension • Handoff support between Fantastical for Mac, iPhone, and iPad • Time zone support including floating time zone support • Dark and light themes • And much, much more!