TidyCal is famous for its one-time lifetime price. Tymeslot is open-source and free to self-host forever - with first-class CalDAV, EU hosting, deeper integrations and booking pages without third-party trackers.
Updated September 15, 2026
TidyCal (by the AppSumo team) won users with a one-time lifetime price - pay $29 once instead of subscribing. It's a capable, no-frills booking tool with a usable free tier and built-in paid bookings. Its trade-offs are a smaller integration set, no mobile app, a single CalDAV path (iCloud only), and a US-based service with no EU hosting option or self-hosting. Tymeslot answers the lifetime-price appeal differently: self-hosting is free forever and open-source, so there's no subscription and no vendor to depend on - plus first-class CalDAV, EU hosting, automation and booking pages without third-party trackers.
The differences that tend to matter when you're choosing between them.
Tested on September 15, 2026: we loaded TidyCal's own demo booking page and a Tymeslot booking page in a fresh browser, without accepting any cookies, and recorded every host contacted. The TidyCal demo page
Sources: TidyCal pricing Adding calendars to TidyCal TidyCal integrations What is TidyCal? TidyCal privacy policy
TidyCal's pitch is paying once instead of subscribing. Tymeslot goes further: self-hosting is free forever and the core is open-source, so there's no fee at all and no single vendor to depend on for the product's future.
Tymeslot syncs two-way with any CalDAV server as a first-class provider. TidyCal's only CalDAV path is iCloud.
Tymeslot ships Slack, Telegram and signed webhooks (n8n, Zapier, Make) plus generic CalDAV. TidyCal's integration catalogue is comparatively small.
Tymeslot is built and hosted in the EU, or self-host it anywhere. TidyCal is a US-based service with no EU hosting option and no self-hosting.
Tymeslot booking pages load no advertising pixels or third-party analytics: visits are counted by our own self-hosted, cookieless analytics, and connected calendars only ever expose busy/free.
Tymeslot's free plan connects unlimited calendars. TidyCal's free tier limits you to a single calendar connection - multiple calendars need a paid or lifetime plan.
TidyCal's appeal is simple and real: pay $29 once and you're done, with a usable free tier and built-in paid bookings. For a solo freelancer who wants the cheapest possible booking link, that's a good deal.
The limits show up as you grow. The free tier connects only one calendar, there's no native mobile app, and the integration catalogue is small. CalDAV support is iCloud-only, it's a US-based service with no EU hosting option, and as closed SaaS riding on a lifetime-deal model, you're betting on one vendor's long-term funding.
Tymeslot answers the same 'don't make me subscribe forever' instinct from the other direction: the core is open-source and free to self-host forever, so there's no subscription and no single point of failure - plus first-class CalDAV, EU hosting, real automation and booking pages without third-party trackers. Prefer zero maintenance? The managed cloud's free plan already beats TidyCal's free tier on calendar connections, and Pro stays a flat €9/month.
No tool wins for everyone. Here's how they split.
Choose Tymeslot if…
Choose TidyCal if…
TidyCal pricing in USD. The $29/$79 lifetime deals were still on sale; Free and lifetime plans add a 1% platform fee to paid bookings. Prices checked on September 15, 2026. Tymeslot prices in EUR; VAT may apply. See TidyCal's current pricing
TidyCal's lifetime deal ($29 one-time) is a low one-off cost. Tymeslot self-hosting is free forever and open-source, so there's no purchase at all beyond your own hosting. If you'd rather not run a server, Tymeslot's managed cloud has a free plan (with unlimited calendar connections, unlike TidyCal's free tier) and a flat €9/month Pro plan.
Neither relies on a native mobile app - Tymeslot is fully responsive and works on any device's browser, and TidyCal currently has no native mobile app either. For booking management on the go, both are used via the web.
Tymeslot offers generic CalDAV (Nextcloud, Radicale, Baïkal, Zimbra, mailbox.org) alongside Google and Outlook, plus Slack, Telegram and signed webhooks. TidyCal supports Google and Outlook and uses CalDAV only for iCloud, with a comparatively small integration set.
Yes - Tymeslot is built by an EU company in Estonia and hosted in Germany, and you can self-host it anywhere you like. TidyCal is a US-based service with no EU hosting option.
Yes. Connect Stripe and any event type can require a fixed fee before the slot is confirmed. On Tymeslot's managed cloud this is a Pro feature; when self-hosting it's included free. TidyCal includes Stripe and PayPal payments across its tiers, adding a 1% platform fee on every plan below Pro.
I put out the first version of Tymeslot two days ago. I built it because the scheduling tools I tried were either dated or too heavy to run myself.
Luka Breitig
January 04, 2026 · 3 min read
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