calcurse vs Claper

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted calendar & contacts options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturecalcurseClaper
CategoryCalendar & ContactsCalendar & Contacts
LicenseBSD-2-ClauseGPL-3.0
LanguageCElixir
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM16 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 1,301★ 773
First released20042026
ReplacesGoogle Calendar

Why pick each one

Choose calcurse if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
calcurse details

Choose Claper if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Elixir
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Claper details

Frequently asked questions

Is calcurse or Claper better?

calcurse is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Claper if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are calcurse and Claper free and open-source?

Yes. calcurse is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Claper under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run calcurse and Claper with Docker?

calcurse: check the project docs for container support. Claper: yes.

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