Is there a free calendar I can add to my website?
By Zyff
Short answer
Yes — two kinds, both free. Google Calendar lets you embed any calendar you own as a month, week or agenda view: open its settings on a computer, choose Integrate calendar, and copy the embed code, after making the calendar public so visitors can see its events. An events widget instead lists what is coming up, one entry per event, with past events dropping off by themselves.
Embed Google Calendar if your schedule already lives there and changes often. Use an events list if you want a page that reads like a programme rather than a grid. Either one pastes into Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or plain HTML.
Embedding a Google Calendar
Google's own steps are short. On a computer — the embed code is not available in the Calendar app — open Google Calendar's settings, pick the calendar on the left, choose Integrate calendar, then Customize under Embed code to set the view, colours and size, and copy the code into your page.
Two things trip people up. The calendar must be made public, or visitors see an empty grid. And the embed is a frame Google asks you to size at least 500 pixels wide and tall, so on a narrow phone it is a box to scroll around rather than a list; the agenda view reads better on small screens than the month grid.
On Wix, paste the code into an Embed HTML element; on Squarespace, a Code block; on WordPress, a Custom HTML block. Any builder that accepts pasted HTML will take it, though some — WordPress.com among them — only allow embedded code on their paid plans.
An events list instead of a grid
A month grid is good at showing when things happen and bad at saying what they are. A business listing workshops, gigs or classes usually wants the opposite: the next few events, each with its date, time, place, a line of description and a link.
That is what an events widget does. Zyff's lists upcoming events soonest first, hides each one once its date has passed, and gives every entry an add-to-calendar link — a plain Google Calendar URL, so visitors need no account and you connect nothing. Building and previewing it are free with no account; the embed code needs a free sign-in, and the free plan includes 1 saved widget and 200 views a month, reset on the 1st (UTC).
Which one to use
Choose by what your visitors are trying to find out.
- Your schedule already lives in Google Calendar and changes often: embed the calendar, so one edit there updates the site.
- You want a readable programme of what is coming up, with a description and a link per event: use an events list.
- You need people to book a time slot: that is a booking or scheduling tool. Neither of these takes bookings.
Event Calendar Widget
Upcoming events, with past ones hidden automatically.
Also asked
- Can I integrate Google Calendar in my website?
- Can I add a calendar to my Wix website?
All of these have the same answer, so they share this page rather than each getting a near-identical one of their own.