When people search for a shared calendar app, they usually have one of two very different things in mind. The first is a family or household app where everyone can add, edit, and delete events (a shared board for life logistics). The second is a way to publish a schedule so an audience can subscribe to it and follow along. Most search results for "shared calendar app" show you the first kind. This article covers both, honestly, so you can pick the right tool.
Shared family calendar that works on Apple and Google
The fastest test for "is this a good shared family calendar app?" is whether the calendar lands inside Apple Calendar and Google Calendar without anyone installing a new app. That rules out most household-only apps that need a download on every device.
Calfeed builds calendars that work in both. The publisher (one parent, usually) types the schedule in plain text and gets back a single subscribable link. Family members tap the link on iPhone and it opens Apple Calendar. Tap the same link on Android and it opens Google Calendar. Tap it on a laptop and Outlook or the desktop calendar app accepts it.
No accounts. No app installs. No "which app are we using this year?" Each family member subscribes once in whatever calendar they already use, and every future edit shows up automatically.
How Calfeed works as a shared calendar app
Calfeed is a publisher-mode shared calendar app. One person (the coach, the organizer, the parent) creates the calendar by pasting in a schedule. It can be plain text, a CSV, a link to a page, or an image. Calfeed turns it into a structured calendar and hands back a subscription link.
That link is the only thing the publisher ever sends. Subscribers tap it, and it opens directly in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, or Outlook. No app download. No account creation. The calendar appears under "Other Calendars" in whatever app the subscriber already uses.
From that point forward, every edit the publisher makes shows up automatically. Apple Calendar checks for updates about once an hour. Google Calendar checks every 12 to 24 hours. (Full refresh-cadence breakdown.) The publisher edits once; every subscriber's calendar updates on its own. No re-sending the schedule every time a game moves.
The subscription link is stable forever. A sports season with 40 subscribers stays subscribed through every venue change, rainout, and rescheduled date. The URL does not change when the calendar does.
When you want a real all-edit shared calendar instead
Calfeed is not the right answer for every shared calendar job. If you need a family calendar where your spouse can add doctor appointments, you can add date nights, and the kids can see (but not edit) the household schedule, you want a different tool.
Cozi is purpose-built for families. One shared account, color-coded by family member, grocery list bundled in, available on iOS and Android. It is the standard recommendation for two-parent households that want one calendar both adults can edit.
TimeTree is popular for couples and small households. It has a conversation layer alongside the calendar (you can comment on events) that Cozi does not have. Better for households that want to coordinate in the calendar itself rather than switching to iMessage.
Google Calendar's family group (free, built into Google accounts) works well if everyone in the household already has a Google account. One click to share a calendar across the family. Each person can have their own calendars and the family calendar layered on top.
Use Calfeed when the job is publishing: coach publishing team schedule, school publishing events, parent publishing custody calendar, instructor publishing class schedule. Use Cozi, TimeTree, or Google Family when the job is household logistics where multiple people need write access.
Best shared calendar app for each audience
The "best shared calendar app" depends on who is holding the pen.
Families coordinating household life: Cozi. It has the widest adoption for this exact use case, free tier is generous, and the grocery list integration is useful. TimeTree if you want in-calendar conversation. Google Calendar family group if you are already deep in Google Workspace.
Teams in a business context: Google Workspace shared calendars or Microsoft 365 shared calendars. Both are built into tools most teams already pay for. Better for meeting scheduling and room booking than for publishing a schedule to an outside audience.
Coaches, instructors, and organizers broadcasting to a group: Calfeed. The audience does not need to create accounts, join a group, or install an app. They add one link and the season lives in their calendar. Works for club soccer, yoga studio class schedules, school events, neighborhood pools.
Parents sharing kid schedules across households: Calfeed. One parent publishes. The other parent, the grandparent, the babysitter, and the carpool driver all subscribe to the same link. (Family-activities example.) No shared account. No write access disputes. One source of truth that everyone reads in their own calendar app.
Free shared calendar app options
All of the major options have a free tier. Here is the breakdown.
Google Calendar shared calendars are free for any personal Google account. Create a calendar, share the link, and others can subscribe for free. The limitation is that you manage it inside Google Calendar, which is great if you live there but adds friction if the schedule source is text, email, or a coach's PDF.
TimeTree is free with optional paid features (ad removal, some business features). For most families, the free version covers everything.
Calfeed has a pay-as-you-go credit model. The first calendar is one credit. There is no monthly fee unless you publish more than 25 calendars per month (Pro tier). For a coach publishing one season schedule, or a parent managing a few kid calendars, the cost is minimal and the free-to-start entry point means no commitment before you see how it works.
Apps that share calendars across Apple, Google, and Outlook
The interoperability question comes up often: what shareable calendar app works across iPhone and Android? What if some subscribers use Outlook?
The answer is a subscribable calendar link, which is a standard format (sometimes noted as a webcal or subscription URL) that all three major calendar platforms accept. Apple Calendar, Google Calendar on Android, Outlook on desktop, and Outlook on the web all support adding a calendar from a URL.
Any tool that publishes a subscription link (including Calfeed) works across all three platforms. The publisher creates the calendar once. iPhone subscribers add it in Apple Calendar. Android subscribers add it in Google Calendar. Outlook users paste the URL into "Add Calendar from Internet." The same link feeds all three. No platform-specific versions, no duplicate work.
The cross-platform case is where publisher-mode apps like Calfeed have a real advantage over all-edit apps. Cozi has its own app. TimeTree has its own app. If your audience is mixed iPhone/Android/desktop, asking everyone to install a new app creates friction. A subscription link does not.
The practical workflow: publish on Calfeed, send one link, let each subscriber add it in whatever calendar app they already have. Done.