Here’s the Deal

Lightning Calendar vs Calendar

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When comparing Lightning Calendar vs Calendar, the Slant community recommends Calendar for most people. In the question“What are the best calendar apps for Linux?” Calendar is ranked 3rd while Lightning Calendar is ranked 5th.

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best calendar apps for Linux?

What are the best calendar apps for Mac OS X?

What are the best open source calendars?

Pros

Pro
Free, Open Source

Lightning Calendar (just as Thunderbird) is completely free and open-source meaning that anyone can use it as well as look through the code or even use the code for their own projects.

Pro
Cross-Platform

Wherever Mozilla Thunderbird can be installed, the Lightning calendar can follow:
Windows
Linux
MacOS

Pro
Easily keep track of tasks

Bundled in with the calendar options is a tasks option that makes for an easy way to keep track of tasks in the same location as ones events.

Pro
GNOME Native integration

Pro
Synchronisation

It has online accounts integration.

Pro
Currently in active development

GNOME Calendar is improved with every release cycle of GNOME.

Pro
Simplicity

Calendar for GNOME aims to find the perfect balance between features and usability.

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Cons

Con
Available only as part of Thunderbird

No standalone version of the calendar app is available. And if you're just interested in Lightning Calendar and not Thunderbird, the app will have additional functionality and interface elements that will get in the way of using the calendar.

Con
Does not always clear old events from the display, even when the event has been deleted

When accessing Google Calendar, every check shows that the event does not exist anymore.

Con
Not for all the versions

You have to downgrade Thunderbird just because Lightning didn't upgrade to the last beta version.

Con
Requires third-party gmail integration

And it's not supported in 60+. Use the old versions if you want anything to work.

Con
No support yet for WebCal

No support yet for WebCal, such as those offered by Facebook events.

A workaround exists. Since this application uses the same background services as Evolution, installing it and adding the WebCal calendars there, also adds them to GNOME Calendar.