TidyCal

Publish simple booking pages connected to one calendar and send confirmations

KINDA · partial replacement
price one-time pricingestimated build time multi-dayreplaced by 0 people

The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For TidyCal, publish simple booking pages connected to one calendar and send confirmations. The hard boundary is lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost, plus calendar integrations and reliability.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost
  • multiple calendar providers
  • team routing and round-robin
  • payments
  • timezone edge-case maturity

Why people still pay

People still pay for TidyCal because people pay because one double booking or missed invite can cost more than years of subscription fees. The recurring cost buys OAuth refresh, webhooks, timezone databases, race conditions, reminders, deliverability, privacy, and uptime, not just the visible interface.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • Google OAuth credentials, a registered HTTPS callback and calendar access granted by the owner. Confirm the provider scopes and publishing requirements before adding guests.
  • Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace. One Google Calendar OAuth adapter, a timezone-aware date library, and an outbox worker for email/ICS delivery.
  • Scope boundary: lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers
01
Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
02
PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
03
One Google Calendar OAuth adapter, a timezone-aware date library, and an outbox worker for email/ICS delivery.
04
Domain model: booking types, host schedule, minimum notice, buffers, guest details and event receipts
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Publish a simple one-host booking page with clear duration and timezone, reserve a valid slot and send an ICS confirmation. Add owner-managed cancellation and a guest reschedule flow. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers

2

Phase 2

Durable model. Model booking types, host schedule, minimum notice, buffers, guest details and event receipts Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Minimum notice applies at reservation time rather than when the page loaded; only confirmed provider events trigger confirmations.

3

Phase 3

Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Store UTC instants plus the intended IANA timezone. Reserve locally in a transaction, recheck provider availability, create with a stable external ID, then reconcile timeouts before retrying.

4

Phase 4

Permissions and integration failure. Encrypt refresh tokens with a separately managed key; expose busy intervals rather than event titles publicly. Hash guest management tokens and bound their lifetime. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.

5

Phase 5

Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.

6

Phase 6

Acceptance scenarios. Leave the booking page open until a slot violates minimum notice and reject it at submit; retrying confirmation delivery does not recreate the event. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
WORKING SLICE
Publish a simple one-host booking page with clear duration and timezone, reserve a valid slot and send an ICS confirmation. Add owner-managed cancellation and a guest reschedule flow.

Build this scoped TidyCal-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states.

Architecture
- Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
- PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
- One Google Calendar OAuth adapter, a timezone-aware date library, and an outbox worker for email/ICS delivery.

Prerequisites and limits
Google OAuth credentials, a registered HTTPS callback and calendar access granted by the owner. Confirm the provider scopes and publishing requirements before adding guests.
Outside this release: lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers

Data model and correctness
booking types, host schedule, minimum notice, buffers, guest details and event receipts
Invariant: Minimum notice applies at reservation time rather than when the page loaded; only confirmed provider events trigger confirmations.
Store UTC instants plus the intended IANA timezone. Reserve locally in a transaction, recheck provider availability, create with a stable external ID, then reconcile timeouts before retrying.

Security and privacy
Encrypt refresh tokens with a separately managed key; expose busy intervals rather than event titles publicly. Hash guest management tokens and bound their lifetime.

Recovery and export
Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching.

Implementation order
1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Publish a simple one-host booking page with clear duration and timezone, reserve a valid slot and send an ICS confirmation. Add owner-managed cancellation and a guest reschedule flow. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers
2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model booking types, host schedule, minimum notice, buffers, guest details and event receipts Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Minimum notice applies at reservation time rather than when the page loaded; only confirmed provider events trigger confirmations.
3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Store UTC instants plus the intended IANA timezone. Reserve locally in a transaction, recheck provider availability, create with a stable external ID, then reconcile timeouts before retrying.
4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Encrypt refresh tokens with a separately managed key; expose busy intervals rather than event titles publicly. Hash guest management tokens and bound their lifetime. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. Leave the booking page open until a slot violates minimum notice and reject it at submit; retrying confirmation delivery does not recreate the event. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

Acceptance
Leave the booking page open until a slot violates minimum notice and reject it at submit; retrying confirmation delivery does not recreate the event.
Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees.

Optional agent guidance
Optional external skill: [gws-calendar](https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli/blob/main/skills/gws-calendar/SKILL.md) — Use Google Calendar calendars, events, recurrence, free/busy queries and integration discovery through the gws CLI. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: booking types, host schedule, minimum notice, buffers, guest details and event receipts
Project rule — preserve this invariant: Minimum notice applies at reservation time rather than when the page loaded; only confirmed provider events trigger confirmations.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: Leave the booking page open until a slot violates minimum notice and reject it at submit; retrying confirmation delivery does not recreate the event.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan

share on X ↗

Alternatives to building your own

Cal.com FreeUnlimited solo event types, calendars and bookings, with payments and notifications; team routing costs money.$0free↗Calendly FreeOne active event type and unlimited bookings; meeting polls survive, workflows and teams do not.$0free↗Google Calendar appointment schedulesOne bare appointment page inside the calendar you already use; reminders, payments and polish are paid.$0free↗

all 6 free alternatives to TidyCal →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

TidyCal pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
free$0$0Unlimited bookings and booking types; 1 readable calendar connection and 1 writable calendar; paid, recurring, and package bookings.
individual lifetime——10 calendar connections; group bookings; AI assistant; custom emails and analytics.$29 one-time AppSumo purchase.
agency lifetime——25 calendar connections; unlimited team members; round-robin and collective meetings; US/Canada SMS reminders.$79 one-time AppSumo purchase.
pro$12$8.2525 calendar connections; no TidyCal branding; custom domain; priority support.Billed $99/year on annual plan.

free tierUnlimited bookings and booking types; 1 readable calendar connection and 1 writable calendar; paid, recurring, and package bookings.

billingFree forever + one-time lifetime licenses + Pro monthly or annual (-31%)

hidden costsPayment processing still costs extra; Agency retains reduced TidyCal branding, while complete branding removal requires Pro.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-14 · pricing source ↗

Questions about TidyCal

Can you build your own TidyCal with AI?

Partly. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For TidyCal, publish simple booking pages connected to one calendar and send confirmations. The hard boundary is lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost, plus calendar integrations and reliability.

What does the TidyCal build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Publish a simple one-host booking page with clear duration and timezone, reserve a valid slot and send an ICS confirmation. Add owner-managed cancellation and a guest reschedule flow. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers; team routing and round-robin. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the TidyCal prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this TidyCal project take?

The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing TidyCal?

lifetime hosted service, calendar integrations, and extremely low maintenance cost; multiple calendar providers; team routing and round-robin; payments; timezone edge-case maturity. People still pay for TidyCal because people pay because one double booking or missed invite can cost more than years of subscription fees. The recurring cost buys OAuth refresh, webhooks, timezone databases, race conditions, reminders, deliverability, privacy, and uptime, not just the visible interface.

What can I use instead of building TidyCal?

Cal.com Free: Unlimited solo event types, calendars and bookings, with payments and notifications; team routing costs money. Calendly Free: One active event type and unlimited bookings; meeting polls survive, workflows and teams do not. Google Calendar appointment schedules: One bare appointment page inside the calendar you already use; reminders, payments and polish are paid. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/tidycal/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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