Compare
How nocal compares to the calendar and notes apps people weigh it against. Each page covers pricing, which calendar accounts work, and the cases where the other app is the better buy.
Amie alternatives
Most people searching for an Amie alternative in 2026 wanted the calendar-and-todo app Amie used to be, before it repositioned around AI meeting notes and stopped listing a free plan. If that's you and your calendars are on Google or Microsoft, nocal is the closest free replacement. If you need iCloud or CalDAV, use Morgen.
Morgen alternatives
Morgen's paid tier is $30/mo, or $15/mo billed yearly. If that is the problem, nocal is free on Mac and Windows for Google and Outlook calendars, and it gives you a full notes app on top. If you need iCloud, CalDAV, or Linux, nothing here matches Morgen and you should stay.
Notion Calendar alternatives
Notion Calendar is free and hard to beat on price, so the reason to leave is almost always that it has no notes or tasks of its own. It is a window onto Notion. nocal is the closest free replacement that adds a full markdown notes app to the calendar, for Google and Outlook accounts.
NotePlan alternatives
NotePlan is the closest thing to nocal in concept: markdown notes, daily and weekly notes, and a calendar in one app. The reason to leave is almost always hardware. NotePlan's native apps are Mac, iPad, and iPhone only, so on Windows or Android you are in a browser. nocal ships native apps on all four platforms, talks to Google and Microsoft 365 directly, and its desktop tier is free.
Obsidian alternatives
Obsidian is free, local-first, on every platform including Linux, and has 6,300+ plugins. Nothing here beats it as a knowledge base, and this page does not try to. What it does not have is a calendar. There is no official Google or Microsoft 365 connection, and the community plugins that add one range from actively maintained to archived. nocal is the option where the calendar is first-party and the notes are still markdown.
Craft alternatives
Craft is one of the best-looking places to write anything, and it has tasks, whiteboards, publishing, and an MCP server. But its calendar runs on Apple Calendar only, and per Craft's own docs it is 'not available for the Windows or Web app', so on Windows or Android you have a Craft app with no calendar in it. nocal connects to Google and Microsoft 365 directly and the calendar works on every platform it ships.
We wrote these, so read them as an interested party. We've tried to be accurate about what the alternatives do well, and every page says plainly when to pick one over nocal. Prices and features move around, so each page carries the date it was last checked.