AddEvent alternatives for subscription calendars

The short answer

AddEvent makes “Add to calendar” buttons and RSVP forms for single events, and it hosts subscription calendars for whole schedules. A subscription reaches each person when their calendar app next checks it, and AddEvent's own FAQ puts Google Calendar's checks at every 12 to 24 hours. Add to Calendar PRO and a public Google Calendar give you calendars to subscribe to as well. When a change can't wait that long, ECAL and TheyCal (which we make) ask each person's permission and write events straight into their Google calendar.

What does AddEvent do?

AddEvent makes tools for getting events into calendars. Its “Add to calendar” button goes on websites and in emails and gives someone a copy of one event. Turn on RSVP for an event and AddEvent hosts a landing page where people register, asking for whatever you choose to collect. AddEvent's help center shows how to set a seat limit and a timer that closes RSVPs before the event begins.

For a whole schedule there are subscription calendars. People subscribe from a button or link you share, picking their calendar service from its menu, and you decide whether they fill in a name and email first. The embeddable calendar puts your events on your own website with a Subscribe button. AddEvent also points out that subscribing to a calendar doesn't register anyone for its events, and it sends you to RSVP forms when people need to sign up for one.

How long do AddEvent's subscription calendars take to update?

Each subscriber's calendar app checks the feed on its own schedule, and AddEvent's FAQ says you “cannot push an instant update to all subscribers”. The same FAQ puts those checks at “typically every few hours for Apple and Outlook; every 12-24 hours for Google Calendar.” AddEvent's help center gives other figures, with Google at “approximately every 8-9 hours” and Outlook.com every 3 hours.

The wait comes from the subscriber's app, so it applies to every subscription link, the calendar links we hand out at TheyCal included. For a last-minute change, AddEvent's advice is to “notify attendees directly rather than relying only on a subscription update to arrive in time.” Our guide on why a subscribed calendar isn't updating goes through the delays app by app.

If someone saved a single event with a button and you edit it afterwards, AddEvent says the update “will not” appear in their calendar. People who add the event after your edit get the new version.

What are the alternatives?

We checked each of these against the company's own pages.

	How people add your events	How a change reaches them	Built for
AddEvent	A subscribe button or link, or one event at a time with a button	When their app next checks: every 12 to 24 hours in Google, by AddEvent's FAQ	One-off events with RSVPs, and calendars people subscribe to
Public Google Calendar	Subscribe in Google Calendar, or in another app with its public iCal address	Apps using the iCal address pick it up when they next check	A calendar anyone can see
Add to Calendar PRO	A button or link that subscribes them to a calendar kept in PRO or elsewhere	When their calendar service next refreshes	Buttons, RSVP forms and event pages
ECAL	Sync a brand's calendar once; on Google, by granting ECAL access	ECAL updates the calendar it created in their Google account	Sports, ticketing and media brands, with plans for community groups
TheyCal (ours)	Follow once, then connect Google or Microsoft, or use a private calendar link	Connected calendars within moments; calendar links when their app next checks	Businesses with a local following

A public Google Calendar

If your events already live in Google Calendar, you can make that calendar public and share its “Public address in iCal format” for other apps to subscribe to. Google also lets you put the calendar on your website, where visitors click Add to Google Calendar to subscribe. Google points out that people can find a public calendar on a website, and when the site is searchable it can turn up in search results. Our guide on using a public Google Calendar for your business covers when that's enough.

Add to Calendar PRO

Add to Calendar PRO calls itself “the fair Event Marketing Suite”, with buttons, RSVP forms, calendar files and event landing pages. An event group in it can work as a calendar subscription, built from the events in that group or from another calendar's feed. Its manual says the receiving calendar service decides when to refresh, and republishing again and again won't force one.

ECAL

ECAL's pricing page names sports leagues, entertainment venues, media publishers and ticketing platforms among the businesses it suits, and there's a Community product for community groups too. On Google Calendar, ECAL asks for access and then creates the brand calendar the fan picked and updates its event times when they change. ECAL says it can't read the fan's existing appointments. Our guide to ECAL alternatives has more on how it works.

Which one fits your events?

One-off events with a guest list, like a webinar or a launch night. AddEvent's buttons and RSVP forms were made for these.
A schedule that rarely changes from a business that's happy for it to be public, where a public Google Calendar does the job.
A league or a ticketing brand. ECAL's plans run from community groups up to managed plans for audiences in the tens of thousands.
Events that move at short notice, such as a tee time pushed back by rain. AddEvent tells you to notify people directly about changes like that, and a connection to each person's calendar carries the new time within moments. Our guide on “Add to calendar” buttons and subscriptions lays out the trade-offs.

A business's TheyCal join page, offering Google, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Calendar and others — On a TheyCal join page, people pick the calendar they use.

Where TheyCal fits

We make TheyCal. People follow a business once, from its join page or by scanning its QR code. When they're on Google or Microsoft, they connect that calendar, and we create the business's events in it and update or remove them whenever the business changes something. Everyone else gets a private calendar link of their own, and each link asks their app to refresh hourly. Followers choose which kinds of events they get. TheyCal has no RSVP forms or one-off buttons, so a business with ticketed or capped events can keep AddEvent for those.

Common questions

Does AddEvent update events in Google Calendar automatically?

For subscription calendars it does, on Google's schedule, which AddEvent's FAQ puts at every 12 to 24 hours. Events someone saved one at a time with a button keep their old details.

Can I use AddEvent alongside a connected calendar?

Yes. You can keep AddEvent's buttons for one-off ticketed events and put your regular schedule in people's calendars another way. Keep each event in one place, or people who use both end up with two copies.