calcurse vs DAViCal
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
calcurse
Text-based calendar and scheduling application
VS
DAViCal
Server for sharing calendars and address books via DAV
| Feature | calcurse | DAViCal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Groupware |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 16 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,301 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2004 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Google Calendar | Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange |
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
Choose DAViCal if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is calcurse or DAViCal better?
calcurse is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider DAViCal if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are calcurse and DAViCal free and open-source?
Yes. calcurse is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and DAViCal under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run calcurse and DAViCal with Docker?
calcurse: check the project docs for container support. DAViCal: yes.