SHSelfHostIndex

Etar vs GNOME Calendar

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?
ET Etar Open-source Android calendar app that syncs over CalDAV VS GN GNOME Calendar Simple desktop calendar with CalDAV support
FeatureEtarGNOME Calendar
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectRead-the-docs project
CategoryCalendar & ContactsCalendar & Contacts
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageJavaC
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentsourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 2,603★ 300
First released20162015
ReplacesGoogle CalendarGoogle Calendar

What are Etar and GNOME Calendar?

Etar

Etar is an open-source Android calendar app forked from AOSP Calendar. It has no server of its own: pair it with DAVx5 and any self-hosted CalDAV server such as Radicale, Baikal or Nextcloud to keep events under your control.

  • CalDAV support
  • Event API
  • Mobile sync friendly
  • Open data formats

Read the full Etar guide →

GNOME Calendar

GNOME Calendar is a clean and uncluttered desktop calendar application that integrates with GNOME Online Accounts and can connect to self-hosted CalDAV servers for synchronizing events.

  • Clean desktop calendar
  • CalDAV server support
  • GNOME Online Accounts integration

Etar vs GNOME Calendar: key differences

Etar is written in Java, while GNOME Calendar is built with C. Etar has the considerably larger community, at 2,603 GitHub stars versus 300.

Why pick each one

Choose Etar if…

  • Open ecosystem
  • No vendor lock-in

Watch out for

  • Mainly a client project
  • Server piece is minimal
Etar details

Choose GNOME Calendar if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
GNOME Calendar details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etar or GNOME Calendar better?

Neither is universally better. Etar has the larger community, while GNOME Calendar is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Etar and GNOME Calendar free and open-source?

Yes. Etar is licensed under GPL-3.0 and GNOME Calendar under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Etar and GNOME Calendar with Docker?

Etar: check the project docs for container support. GNOME Calendar: check the project docs for container support.

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