calcurse vs Xandikos
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted calendar & contacts options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | calcurse | Xandikos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 77 · Good | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Calendar & Contacts |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 16 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,303 | ★ 606 |
| First released | 2004 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Google Calendar | Google Calendar, iCloud |
What are calcurse and Xandikos?
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
Xandikos
Xandikos is a lightweight CalDAV and CardDAV server that stores all data in a Git repository. This gives version history for every calendar and contact change with minimal infrastructure.
- Git-backed storage with history
- No database required
- Lightweight footprint
calcurse vs Xandikos: key differences
Calcurse is written in C, while Xandikos is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for calcurse versus GPL-3.0 for Xandikos. Calcurse is the lighter option, starting around 16 MB of RAM against 64 MB for Xandikos. Calcurse is the more established project (first released 2004), while Xandikos arrived in 2016. Calcurse has the considerably larger community, at 1,303 GitHub stars versus 606. Xandikos lists first-class Docker deployment; calcurse does not.
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 Xandikos if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is calcurse or Xandikos better?
calcurse is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Xandikos if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are calcurse and Xandikos free and open-source?
Yes. calcurse is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Xandikos under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run calcurse and Xandikos with Docker?
calcurse: check the project docs for container support. Xandikos: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, calcurse or Xandikos?
calcurse has the smaller minimum footprint at 16 MB of RAM, compared to about 64 MB for Xandikos. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.