calcurse vs Decsync Calendar Sync
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted calendar & contacts options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | calcurse | Decsync Calendar Sync |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 77 · Good | 15 · At risk |
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Calendar & Contacts |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 16 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,303 | ★ 699 |
| First released | 2004 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Google Calendar | Google Calendar |
What are calcurse and Decsync Calendar Sync?
calcurse
calcurse is a text-based personal organizer with a calendar, an appointments list, and a to-do manager, all in a curses interface. It supports CalDAV synchronization so it can connect to self-hosted calendar servers.
- Text-based calendar and to-do
- CalDAV synchronization
- Very low resource use
Decsync Calendar Sync
Decsync is a method and toolset for synchronizing calendars and contacts via a shared folder rather than a central server. Self-hosters pair it with a file-sync service to keep events consistent across devices.
- Folder-based sync
- No central server
- Calendar and contacts
- Pairs with any file sync
calcurse vs Decsync Calendar Sync: key differences
Calcurse is written in C, while Decsync Calendar Sync is built with Kotlin. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for calcurse versus GPL-3.0 for Decsync Calendar Sync. Calcurse is the lighter option, starting around 16 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Decsync Calendar Sync. Calcurse is the more established project (first released 2004), while Decsync Calendar Sync arrived in 2018.
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 Decsync Calendar Sync if…
- Server-free architecture
- Privacy friendly
Watch out for
- Requires a sync layer
- Setup is non-trivial
Frequently asked questions
Is calcurse or Decsync Calendar Sync better?
calcurse is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Decsync Calendar Sync if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are calcurse and Decsync Calendar Sync free and open-source?
Yes. calcurse is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Decsync Calendar Sync under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run calcurse and Decsync Calendar Sync with Docker?
calcurse: check the project docs for container support. Decsync Calendar Sync: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, calcurse or Decsync Calendar Sync?
calcurse has the smaller minimum footprint at 16 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Decsync Calendar Sync. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.