TL;DR: Compare the two most popular calendar add-ons for Slack !
When considering calendars options for your Slack workspace, you’re likely to compare the most popular solutions, Eventbot vs. Google Calendar. There’s lots of differences to consider and we want to get all the details before rolling out a calendar for your team.
Which apps?
To start, it’s useful to clarify which apps we are talking about. Eventbot is made by Bevy Inc. (👋 that’s us!), we’re a small company focused on calendars inside Slack. There are two Google Calendar add-ons to choose from: Google Calendar for Team Events and Google Calendar. Yes, the naming is similar but they are actually very different apps. Even more problematic is that both of these Google calendar apps are actually made by Slack (not Google), which means they aren’t updated as often and don’t take advantage of Google’s robust calendar.
Criteria
Let’s take a look at the apps across five major functional areas: Creating events, RSVP’ing to events, Notifications, Viewing upcoming events, and Additional considerations. Users should also review the pricing difference. Both Google Calendar and Google Calendar for Teams are free apps, while Eventbot is free up to 20 users with paid plans for more users and advanced features. Let’s dig in and compare all three of these apps for a full picture of the features across those criteria.
Comparison
| 📆 Importing & Creating events | Eventbot | Google Calendar for Teams | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull shared events from Google Calendar into a Slack Channel | ✅ | ✅ | ⚪ |
| Pull personal schedule from Google Calendar into a DM | ⚪ | ⚪ | ✅ |
| Pull events from any web calendar (Meetup, Outlook, etc.) | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Let users export events to any calendar (Outlook, iCal, Zoho, etc) | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Create, edit and cancel events inside Slack | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
📆 At the core of your team calendars is the ability to create events (either in Slack or outside of it). Both Google calendar apps are limited in that you must create the events in Google itself (switching between Slack and your browser). With Eventbot, on the other hand, you can create events in Slack itself! You can also pull in events from any external calendar source, which is handy for groups using Slack with social, work, and external teams.
Summary: Eventbot lets you do more in Slack.
| 💌 RSVP to events | Eventbot | Google Calendar for Teams | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSVP to events from a public Slack channel | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| RSVP to events from a personal invitation | ✅ | ⚪ | ✅ |
| RSVP “Maybe” to an event | ✅ | ⚪ | ✅ |
| Invite teammates to an event inside Slack | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Allow users to RSVP with guests | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Customize the RSVP buttons | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Collect event RSVPs across multiple channels | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Disable RSVPs for events that don’t need them | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
💌 All good calendar add-ons should have the ability to RSVP to an event. This lets the organizer know who is interested, and makes it easier for your Slack team to stay engaged. The Google Calendar app allows you to personally RSVP to events that are sent through GMail. This is a nice touch, but it doesn’t let anyone else in the workspace RSVP to the event. Eventbot allows every Slack user to RSVP to events directly inside the Slack channel. If the event is shared across multiple channels, Eventbot will keep track of all the RSVPs everywhere in your workspace. You can also customize the RSVP buttons and invite users inside Slack itself.
Summary: Eventbot has more flexible RSVP options.
| 🔔 Notifications | Eventbot | Google Calendar for Teams | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reminds the whole Slack channel before event starts | ✅ | ✅ | ⚪ |
| Reminds you personally via DM before event starts | ✅ | ⚪ | ✅ |
| Notifies channel when a new event is added | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Shows event date/time in users’s local timezone | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sends alert when event is changed or cancelled | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
🔔 We know you’re spending a huge chunk of time in Slack - so notifications inside the app are very important. The good news is that all three apps do a great job notifying you about upcoming events, event changes, and cancellations. There are a few differences between the two Google apps, but together they cover all the basics. Eventbot also has a full spectrum of notifications in Slack.
Summary: Google and Eventbot both will keep your Slack team up-to-date.
| 🗓️ Upcoming events | Eventbot | Google Calendar for Teams | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| List events happening today/tomorrow | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| List events upcoming in the next week, month, year | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Visual calendar for today, tomorrow, week, month | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| One single calendar per Slack channel, with all events | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| See events across entire Slack workspace | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
🗓️ Slack is fast moving, with notifications and updates pouring in from everywhere. It’s easy to miss posts about new events and changes. The Google apps both have the basic ability to send you the list of events upcoming in the next day or so. Eventbot has a much deeper capability, allowing you to see events up to a year in advance. Plus, Eventbot is the only app to show you a visual calendar view inside of your Slack channel! Since Eventbot was built for Slack, there’s a single calendar each channel (or see events across the whole workspace).
Summary: Eventbot had advanced features to see events inside Slack.
| 🤔 Additional considerations | Eventbot | Google Calendar for Teams | Google Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event data is never used for ad targeting | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Doesn’t require permission to read/change your entire calendar data | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| New features every month | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Supports open source software with revenue sharing | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
| Real human customer support for calendar issues | ✅ | ⚪ | ⚪ |
🤔 In addition to calendar functionality, it’s important to consider the company making the app. Using the Google apps requires you give Slack permission to read/change all your calendar data, whereas Eventbot doesn’t. Our entire company is focused on Slack calendars, so we care deeply about your feedback and release new features every month.
Summary: Eventbot is the secure and well supported way to share calendars in Slack.
Conclusion: Eventbot is a more flexible calendar for Slack
The Google Calendar apps both provide the bare basics of delivering event information into Slack. Even with the combined functionality across both Google apps, they don’t allow your team to engage deeply inside Slack. Eventbot is designed for Slack so the features are more robust and specifically tuned for workspaces with lots of channels and users. You can test all three of these apps for free, so it’s recommended you test drive them and see which fits your workflow.
Have questions or feedback about the comparison? Let us know - we’re happy to make improvements! 💌
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