The API for Google Calendar is a detailed, effective tool for managing the integration of one of the web’s key calendar services. In addition to being a toolkit for Google Calendar events, it also provides the means for integrating objects like access controls.
However, as great as it is, Google’s API also has some significant limitations...
Calendar integration is fundamentally a synchronization problem.You have two representations of an event existing in two application domains, both of which can be updated independently. In order to avoid conflit deadlocks and infinite update loops you have to carefully manage ownership and state transitions.
Unlike the Google Calendar API, the Cronofy API is built to resolve these synchronization challenges. Events upserts and deletes are idempotent. We also differentiate between events sourced from your application (‘Managed’) and events already in the user’s calendars (‘Unmanaged’) to ensure you have a reliable integration out of the box.
The Google Calendar API only provides binary access to calendar data. You can read everything or nothing. So if you want to provide rich calendar integration you have to face up to the challenges of managing that personal data in a safe and secure way.
It’s overly painful to integrate with more calendar services, e.g. iCloud or Exchange. This means all end users must be forced to use Google Calendar regardless of their preferences or needs, or that several calendar APIs need to be managed independently of each other - a costly, time-consuming, unreliable and demanding approach.
Even if you’re not planning integrations with other calendar services right now, it’s good to have that ability on hand in case it’s needed as businesses and projects change direction. Maintaining multiple calendar integrations manually is a headache, but just using one of those APIs is risky.
Happily, these Google Calendar API problems can be solved easily: with Cronofy.
Appointedd@appointeddOur customers' calendars would be a messy place without @Cronofy! Thank you :)
Cronofy is a single, managed API for all calendar services. Using Cronofy, you continue to reap all the benefits and native features of the Google Calendar API without any of the limitations.
Focus on what you do best without worrying about API updates, user privacy and legal requirements, and multi-service integration. We handle all that for you.
Best of all, it’s just as easy to use as the Google Calendar API, and it works whether you’re creating a home project or a system with millions of users.
Cronofy gives you all of the Google Calendar API’s features plus...
It's free to get started!
All you need for Cronofy is our documentation and an access token. For specific step-by-step instructions, our Getting Started guide takes you through the process in less than ten minutes.
With Cronofy, you only need one API key to integrate with all the calendar services. In addition to Google Calendar, you also have access to Outlook.com, Microsoft Exchange, iCloud, and Office365 calendar APIs if you need them. Create an account to get your universal calendar API key – it’s free.
We support all versions of the Google Calendar API, and will continue to do so moving forward.
Everything you need is in our quickstart guide: Getting started with the Cronofy Calendar API. It’s a single ten minute tutorial designed for all calendar services, including the Google Calendar API.
The Cronofy authorization process manages the Google Calendar API OAuth process on your behalf. You just receive one Cronofy token for the user that gives you access to all of their calendar services.
Check out our Sample Apps to see how Cronofy works in practice.
Absolutely. You can use Cronofy instead of the API for Google Calendar, iCloud, Exchange, Office365, Outlook.com, and/or any combination of those services.
Nope, it’s still the same courtesy one million queries per day, which is far higher than almost anyone will ever need.
You can use any language you like with the Cronofy API: everything from Python to C# is supported. If you use a common language such as Ruby, PHP, or .NET, take a look at our code libraries to get started straight away.
Cronofy has simple, super low pricing. It’s free if you’re just creating events, and free for the first 20 users. Beyond that, take a look at our cost-effective pricing plans.
Yes! We love seeing (and sharing) your creations, so please tweet us @cronofy or email hello@cronofy.com with all the details.
Sure, get in touch with us at support@cronofy.com or fill out the form below and we’ll do our best to help.
“The Cronofy API is a first class implementation and makes calendar integration super simple.”
Once you've signed up, our ten minute quickstart guide is all you need.