Agenda vs Cal.diy
| Tagline | Node.js job scheduling library with persistent MongoDB-backed queue | Open-source online appointment scheduling built on Cal.com |
| Category | Scheduling & Booking | Scheduling & Booking |
| Replaces | Calendly | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling |
| GitHub stars | 9.2k | 46k |
| Language | TypeScript | Nodejs |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual Docker | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 6 months ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Agenda
- Library only — no UI for managing or viewing scheduled jobs without additional tooling
- Requires MongoDB; not suitable for simple SQLite/Postgres-only stacks
- No native support for distributed locking at high scale
Cal.diy
- Self-hosted setup requires configuring PostgreSQL, email/SMTP, and OAuth providers
- Enterprise features (SAML SSO, workflows at scale, analytics) are cloud-only or require an enterprise license
- Payment collection integrations need additional third-party setup
- Admin UI for multi-tenant management is less polished than Calendly's hosted offering
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Cal.diy for the larger community and ecosystem. Cal.diy has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.