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 | 48k | 5k |
| 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 | yesterday | yesterday |
| 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. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Cal.com
Scheduling infrastructure for everyone, the open-source Calendly alternative