Cal.com vs Radicale
| Tagline | Scheduling infrastructure for everyone, the open-source Calendly alternative | Lightweight CalDAV and CardDAV server with minimal configuration |
| Category | Scheduling & Booking | Scheduling & Booking |
| Replaces | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling |
| GitHub stars | 46k | 4.8k |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | One-Click Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 2 days ago | today |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Cal.com
- Some enterprise features (e.g. SAML SSO, advanced admin/insights, certain platform features) are gated behind a commercial/EE license even when self-hosting.
- Self-hosting requires PostgreSQL plus configuring numerous environment variables and OAuth credentials for calendar integrations.
- The core code is AGPL-3.0, which imposes copyleft obligations on modified network deployments.
- Upgrades between major versions occasionally require manual database migration work.
Radicale
- No web-based calendar UI; clients must use a CalDAV-compatible app (Thunderbird, Apple Calendar, etc.)
- Not a booking/scheduling tool; no public booking pages or availability sharing like Calendly
- Scaling beyond a handful of users is not a design goal
- Lacks push notifications; relies on client polling
Bottom line
Choose Radicale if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Cal.com for the larger community and ecosystem. Radicale has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Cal.com
Scheduling infrastructure for everyone, the open-source Calendly alternative