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Calendar & Time Management · head to head

Fantastical vs Hive

Fantastical logo

Fantastical

Calendar & Time Management

The calendar app you'll love to use

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Hive logo

Hive

Project Management

Project management built for speed

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Fantastical has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Fantastical premium subscription required for advanced features at $56.99/year; Hive the free plan is capped at 200 MB of storage
  • They diverge on capability: Fantastical covers Natural language input, Hive covers Gantt view.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fantastical and Hive actually diverge.

Attributes where Fantastical and Hive differ
AttributeFantasticalHive
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, iOS, iPadOS, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, WindowsWeb, Ios, Android, Desktop
CategoryCalendar & Time ManagementProject Management
Founded20112015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Fantastical

  • Natural language input
  • Calendar sets
  • Weather integration
  • Scheduling
  • Google Calendar
  • Outlook
  • iCloud
  • Exchange

Only in Hive

  • Gantt view
  • Kanban
  • Time tracking
  • Forms
  • Slack
  • Zoom
  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox

Both cover

  • Tasks
  • Ios support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Fantastical

  • Schedulingnot Hive
  • Appointment bookingnot Hive
  • Time trackingnot Hive
  • Resource managementnot Hive
  • Team coordinationnot Hive

Hive

  • Project and task management with multiple project viewsnot Fantastical
  • Coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teamsnot Fantastical

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Fantastical

  • Premium subscription required for advanced features at $56.99/year
  • Primarily designed for Apple ecosystem; Windows version is resource-intensive
  • No native Android app, limiting cross-platform usage
  • No web interface for calendar access
  • Shows events but lacks event management capabilities compared to specialized task tools

Hive

  • The free plan is capped at 200 MB of storage
  • The Starter plan at $5 per user per month is limited to 10 projects
  • Eight capabilities are sold as $5 per user add ons on the Teams plan, including CRM, timesheets, proofing, resourcing, advanced dashboards, external users and SSO
  • Buying SSO plus a few of those add ons therefore costs more than the $12 base seat itself
  • AI credits are metered monthly at 1,000, 3,000 and 5,000 by plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Fantastical

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic calendar views (day, week, month, quarter, year)
    • Natural language event entry
    • 3-day weather forecast
  • Individual Premium$56.99/year
    • All free features
    • Task management with Todoist and Google Tasks
    • Unlimited calendar sets
  • Family Premium$89.99/year
    • All Individual Premium features
    • Up to 5 family members
    • Shared calendars

Hive

On request
  • FreeFree
    • Basic features
    • 10 users
  • Teams$12/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Time tracking
    • Automations

Which should you pick?

Choose Fantastical if

  • You need natural language input.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Windows.
  • You also want calendar sets.
Fantastical review

Choose Hive if

  • You need gantt view.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
  • You also want kanban.
Hive review

Questions people ask

Is Fantastical or Hive better?
Neither clearly leads. Fantastical starts at Free and Hive at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fantastical or Hive?
Fantastical has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fantastical and On request for Hive.
Does Fantastical or Hive run on more platforms?
Fantastical runs on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Windows. Hive runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
Can I use Fantastical for free?
Yes. Fantastical has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hive starts at On request.
What is Fantastical best used for?
Fantastical is most often used for scheduling, appointment booking, time tracking, resource management. Of those, scheduling and appointment booking are not what Hive is typically brought in for.
What can Fantastical do that Hive cannot?
Fantastical covers Natural language input, Calendar sets, Weather integration, Scheduling. Hive covers Gantt view, Kanban, Time tracking, Forms. Both handle Tasks, Ios support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fantastical: Does Fantastical have a free plan?

Yes, Fantastical offers a free tier with basic calendar views (day, week, month, quarter, year), natural language event entry, and 3-day weather forecast. Premium features including task management integrations and family sharing require a paid subscription at $56.99/year or $6.99/month.

Source
Fantastical: Can I create events using natural language?

Yes, Fantastical's signature feature is natural language processing, allowing you to create events by typing or speaking in plain English. You can type things like 'dinner tomorrow at 7 pm with Sarah' and it automatically parses the date, time, and attendees.

Source
Fantastical: What calendar services does Fantastical support?

Fantastical integrates with Google Calendar, iCloud, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Office 365, and Fastmail. It supports multiple account types and syncs changes across all connected services.

Source
Fantastical: What task management apps can I integrate with Fantastical?

Fantastical supports Todoist, Google Tasks, and Microsoft 365 tasks. Tasks sync bidirectionally, and changes made in Fantastical reflect back in your task service.

Source
Fantastical: Does Fantastical work on Windows?

Fantastical for Windows was released in October 2024, though it is resource-heavy compared to the macOS and iOS versions. The app is feature-complete but less polished than the Apple platform versions.

Source
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