A WordPress calendar plugin can help you display event calendars and other calendars on your site in a great, user friendly way.
Many of the plugins on our list share some features, but some of them really stand out with how they look and function.
Take a look at our list of calendar plugins for WordPress to find the one that’ll work for your unique site.
In This Article:
What Are WordPress Calendar Plugins?
WordPress calendar plugins are tools that add calendar and event management functionality to your WordPress website. These plugins allow you to create, display, and manage calendars that show upcoming events, appointments, bookings, or important dates directly on your site.
Unlike basic calendar widgets that simply show the current month, WordPress calendar plugins offer sophisticated features like event creation, recurring events, booking systems, ticketing, and multiple calendar views. They integrate seamlessly with your WordPress site, allowing visitors to browse events, register for activities, or book appointments without leaving your website.
Calendar plugins come in many varieties depending on your needs. Some focus on event promotion and management for conferences, concerts, or community gatherings. Others specialize in booking and appointment scheduling for businesses like salons, hotels, or consulting services. The best plugins combine attractive design with practical functionality, making it easy for both you and your visitors to manage time-based information.
Why Use a WordPress Calendar Plugin?
Adding a calendar plugin to your WordPress site offers powerful benefits for organizing events, managing bookings, and keeping your audience informed:
- Improves User Experience and Navigation. Visitors can easily see what’s happening and when, without digging through blog posts or pages to find event information. A well-designed calendar gives users an instant visual overview of your schedule, making it simple to find events that interest them and plan accordingly.
- Centralizes Event Management. Instead of manually updating multiple pages or posts whenever event details change, you manage everything from one centralized calendar system. Update an event once and the changes appear everywhere the calendar is displayed, saving time and preventing inconsistent information across your site.
- Increases Event Attendance and Bookings. When people can clearly see your availability and easily register or book directly from your calendar, conversion rates improve. The simpler you make the booking process, the more likely visitors are to follow through and attend your events or schedule appointments.
- Automates Repetitive Tasks. Calendar plugins handle recurring events automatically, send reminder emails, process bookings, and manage attendee lists without manual intervention. This automation frees you from administrative work and reduces the risk of human error in scheduling and communications.
- Enhances Professional Credibility. A polished, functional calendar makes your organization look professional and well-organized. Whether you’re running a business, community organization, or educational institution, a quality calendar system shows that you value your audience’s time and take your events seriously.
- Integrates with External Calendars. Most calendar plugins allow visitors to export events to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook with a single click. This integration makes it easy for people to add your events to their personal calendars, increasing the likelihood they’ll remember and attend.
8 Best WordPress Calendar Plugins to Manage Events & Bookings
1. Sugar Calendar
Sugar Calendar is our top favorite plugin for setting up a WordPress calendar. It’s so simple and easy to use, but looks great and has all the major features most people need in an event calendar plugin.
Setting up events is done in a flash, with just the most basic fields to fill out. Even though the plugin is simple, it has all the key features you need, plus some really cool add-ons.
Key features:
- Simple admin interface
- Custom date formatting and translation-ready
- Specify a time zone for each event or calendar, or use automatic time zone conversion
- Repeating/recurring events
- Works with Gutenberg blocks or without
- Four different event widgets with different layouts
- Go pro for add-ons like calendar sync, event tickets, user-submitted events, and more
If you’d like, you can try out the free version first.
Get started with Sugar Calendar today!
2. The Events Calendar
The Events Calendar is another popular calendar plugin choice. It works for both in-person or virtual events. This calendar is more full-featured for those wanting a plugin with more customization options, more layouts, and more features.
The Events Calendar works out of the box. Just configure a few settings and start creating events in minutes. Or, you have tons of options for customization, too.
Key features:
- Saved venues & organizers
- Event list and day views
- Google Maps
- Event categories and tags
- Google Calendar and iCal exporting
- Internationalized & translated
Get started with The Events Calendar today!
3. All-in-One Events Calendar
All-in-One Events Calendar is the most advanced website calendar system available for WordPress. It has a lot of features and a modern design. It’s also 100% mobile responsive and accessible.
Of all the plugins on our list, this one probably has the most features for free.
Key features:
- Several themes to choose from, and you can customize colors, fonts and more
- Get week, month, or agenda views, plus more as add-ons
- Single day, multiple days, all day, never end events, and recurring events
- Search box
- Filtering events by categories, tags, organizers and venues
- Easy importing and sharing with Google Calendar, Apple iCal, MS Outlook
- Social share buttons
Get started with All-in-One Events Calendar today!
4. Modern Events Calendar
Modern Events Calendar is another event-focused calendar plugin for WordPress with some fun features. We’ll showcase the free version (Lite) here, but there is a pro version you can check out if you’d like.
Modern Events Calendar really has a lot of options for displaying your calendar, so if you’re looking for a specific layout, this one might be a good choice.
Key features:
- Tons of layout options, and many of them are included in the free version
- Easy to use
- Booking and ticketing features (add-on)
- Integrates with WooCommerce, Facebook, PayPal, and more
- Responsive and mobile-friendly
- Front-end event submission feature
Get started with Modern Events Calendar today!
5. Events Manager
Events manager is a calendar plugin that’s specifically focused on event management. It’s straightforward and easy to use, and comes with some nice features to streamline your event management on WordPress.
Key features:
- Handles recurring and multi-day events
- Bookings management
- Works with physical events and virtual events (Zoom integration)
- Event submissions
- Event categories and custom attributes
- iCal feed
Get started with Events Manager today!
6. EventON
EventON is another pretty full-featured event calendar management plugin. EventON Lite allows you to create unlimited events with unlimited colors and unlimited event type categories, and your calendars can be added with a shortcode anywhere on your site.
Key features:
- Create single or multi-day events
- Repeating events daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or custom
- Virtual event support via various 3rd party platforms
- Unlimited event types/categories
- Set/show related events
- Live event progress bar for live events
Get started with EventOn today!
7. My Calendar
My Calendar is an accessible, simple event calendar plugin. With My Calendar, you can create individual event calendars within WordPress Multisite, multiple calendars displayed by categories, locations or author, or simple lists of upcoming events.
Key features:
- Grid and list views with monthly, weekly and daily layouts
- Mini-calendar for compact displays
- Custom templates for event output
- Recurring event support
- Rich permissions handling to restrict access to parts of My Calendar
- Editable CSS styles and JavaScript behaviors for developers
Get started with My Calendar today!
8. Booking Calendar
Booking Calendar is just what it sounds like: a calendar plugin with booking functionality. Display a calendar of your availability, and allow visitors to book with you. It’s pretty simple but very effective!
Key features:
- Works for a property you run, service you offer, etc.
- Customers can choose days and time slots
- Bookings are stored in your WordPress database
- Sleek and customizable calendar design
- Mobile responsive
- Admin email notifications
- Import Google Calendar events
Get started with Booking Calendar today!
That’s our list! We hope you found the WordPress calendar plugin that works the best for your unique site.
Looking for more helpful WordPress plugins? Check out 45 Best WordPress Plugins (Most are FREE).
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Frequently Asked Questions: WordPress Calendar Plugins
What is the best free calendar plugin for WordPress?
Sugar Calendar offers an excellent free version that provides essential calendar functionality with a simple, clean interface. For users needing more advanced features without cost, All-in-One Events Calendar includes the most free features of any plugin on our list, offering multiple views, recurring events, and social sharing capabilities at no charge.
Do WordPress calendar plugins work with Google Calendar?
Yes, most quality WordPress calendar plugins integrate with Google Calendar. Many allow you to import events from Google Calendar, export your WordPress events to Google Calendar, or enable visitors to add your events to their personal Google Calendars with one click.
Can I create recurring events with WordPress calendar plugins?
Yes, virtually all modern WordPress calendar plugins support recurring events. You can set events to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or create custom recurring patterns. This feature is essential for regular meetings, weekly classes, monthly events, or any activity that happens on a predictable schedule, saving you from manually creating the same event multiple times.
Are WordPress calendar plugins mobile-friendly?
Yes, all the calendar plugins on our list are mobile-responsive, meaning they automatically adjust to look great on smartphones and tablets. This is crucial since many users will access your calendar from mobile devices.
Can I sell event tickets with a WordPress calendar plugin?
Yes, several WordPress calendar plugins offer ticketing functionality, either built-in or through add-ons. Sugar Calendar offers an event tickets add-on, Modern Events Calendar includes booking and ticketing features, and The Events Calendar has ticket sales capabilities. These features allow you to sell tickets directly from your website and manage attendee registrations.
Can I let users submit their own events to my WordPress calendar?
Yes, several calendar plugins support front-end event submission where visitors can submit their own events for your approval. Modern Events Calendar, Events Manager, and Sugar Calendar (via add-on) all offer this community calendar functionality. This feature is valuable for community organizations, directories, or any site that wants to crowdsource event listings while maintaining editorial control.