Calendar Combine and MergeCal both solve the same problem: you have events scattered across several iCal/ICS feeds — sports leagues, school portals, shared team calendars — and you want one link you can subscribe to once. Here's how the two compare on price, limits, and refresh speed, based on each service's current public pricing page.
| Calendar Combine | MergeCal | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes — free forever | No — 14-day free trial only |
| Cheapest paid plan | $12/year flat (Pro) | $2/month (Personal Tier) |
| Billing | Annual only | Monthly (yearly also offered) |
| Combined calendars | 1 (Free) / 10 (Pro) | 2 (Personal) / 5 (Business) / unlimited (Supporter, $20/mo) |
| Source feeds per calendar | 3 (Free) / 20 (Pro) | 3 (Personal) / 5 (Business) / unlimited (Supporter) |
| Refresh interval | 60 min (Free) / 15 min (Pro) | 12 hours (Personal) / real-time, custom frequency (Business+) |
| Subscriber link | Standard webcal:// / https:// feed — no account needed to subscribe | Standard webcal:// / https:// feed — no account needed to subscribe |
| Account to create a feed | Google sign-in or email magic link | Email sign-up |
Calendar Combine's free plan has no time limit and no credit card required — it's meant to be usable indefinitely for a single calendar with up to 3 source feeds. Pro is one flat annual price: $12/year, billed once. MergeCal doesn't have a permanent free tier; new users get a 14-day trial, and every ongoing plan is billed monthly, from $2/month for the entry-level Personal Tier up to $20/month for the Supporter Tier.
On the free/entry tier, the two are close: Calendar Combine's Free plan allows 1 combined calendar with 3 source feeds; MergeCal's cheapest paid tier (Personal, $2/mo) allows 2 calendars with 3 feeds each. Calendar Combine's Pro plan ($12/year) allows 10 calendars with 20 source feeds each. MergeCal's top Supporter tier ($20/month, $240/year) removes the calendar and feed caps entirely.
This is where the plans diverge most. Calendar Combine refreshes every 60 minutes on Free and every 15 minutes on Pro. MergeCal's Personal Tier refreshes every 12 hours; real-time updates and a custom refresh frequency are Business-tier features and up ($10/month or more).
If you want a single family or team calendar and don't need it updated more than every 15–60 minutes, Calendar Combine's free plan or $12/year Pro plan covers most use cases without a recurring monthly charge. If you need real-time updates, unlimited calendars, or extras like website iframe embedding, MergeCal's higher tiers offer those at a higher monthly price point. Both are legitimate tools built around the same open iCal/ICS standard — the right choice comes down to how many calendars you're merging and how fast you need updates to show up.
Pricing and limits above reflect each service's public pricing page as of August 2026 and are subject to change — check mergecal.org/pricing for MergeCal's current numbers.
1 combined calendar, 3 source feeds, forever free. No credit card required.
Create your combined calendar →