Baïkal vs Cal.diy
| Tagline | Lightweight CalDAV and CardDAV server based on sabre/dav | Open-source online appointment scheduling built on Cal.com |
| Category | Scheduling & Booking | Scheduling & Booking |
| Replaces | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling |
| GitHub stars | 3.2k | 46k |
| Language | PHP | Nodejs |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 5 days ago | 2 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.
Baïkal
- No web-based calendar or scheduling UI for end users; requires a CalDAV client app
- No public booking page or availability-sharing feature comparable to Calendly
- Development activity has slowed; some sabre/dav edge cases may go unpatched
- HTTPS and reverse-proxy setup is manual and not guided
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.