khal 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 | khal | Xandikos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 69 · Good | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Calendar & Contacts |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,054 | ★ 606 |
| First released | 2013 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Google Calendar | Google Calendar, iCloud |
What are khal and Xandikos?
khal
khal is a standards-based command-line calendar program that reads and writes iCalendar files and works with vdirsyncer to synchronize against self-hosted CalDAV servers. It offers an interactive console interface.
- Command-line CalDAV calendar
- Works with vdirsyncer
- Interactive console interface
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
khal vs Xandikos: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — MIT for khal versus GPL-3.0 for Xandikos. Khal is the more established project (first released 2013), while Xandikos arrived in 2016. Khal has the considerably larger community, at 3,054 GitHub stars versus 606. Xandikos lists first-class Docker deployment; khal does not.
Why pick each one
Choose khal if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
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 khal or Xandikos better?
Neither is universally better. khal has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are khal and Xandikos free and open-source?
Yes. khal is licensed under MIT and Xandikos under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run khal and Xandikos with Docker?
khal: check the project docs for container support. Xandikos: yes.