SHSelfHostIndex

EteSync 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?
EteSync End-to-end encrypted sync for contacts and calendars VS GN GNOME Calendar Simple desktop calendar with CalDAV support
FeatureEteSyncGNOME Calendar
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupRead-the-docs project
CategoryCalendar & ContactsCalendar & Contacts
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonC
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,770★ 300
First released20172015
ReplacesGoogle Calendar, iCloudGoogle Calendar

What are EteSync and GNOME Calendar?

EteSync

EteSync is a secure, end-to-end encrypted, and journaled solution for syncing contacts, calendars, and tasks. Data is encrypted on the client so the server never sees plaintext.

  • End-to-end encryption
  • Journaled change history
  • Android and iOS apps

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

EteSync vs GNOME Calendar: key differences

EteSync is written in Python, while GNOME Calendar is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for EteSync versus GPL-3.0 for GNOME Calendar. GNOME Calendar is the more established project (first released 2015), while EteSync arrived in 2017. EteSync has the considerably larger community, at 1,770 GitHub stars versus 300. EteSync lists first-class Docker deployment; GNOME Calendar does not.

Why pick each one

Choose EteSync if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
EteSync 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 EteSync or GNOME Calendar better?

Neither is universally better. EteSync 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 EteSync and GNOME Calendar free and open-source?

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

Can I run EteSync and GNOME Calendar with Docker?

EteSync: yes. GNOME Calendar: check the project docs for container support.

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