Tellendar vs Fantastical: which one do you need?

Updated October 8, 2026

Fantastical is a full calendar: it handles events and tasks, brings several accounts together, and runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows. Tellendar is an iPhone-only app: you say an appointment in one sentence, and your iPhone rings like an alarm clock when it is time. Both can make your iPhone ring in silent mode. In Fantastical, that alarm is part of the Premium subscription and is turned on event by event. In Tellendar, every alert is an alarm.

The facts about Fantastical come from the website of Flexibits, the company that makes Fantastical, and from its App Store listing, both checked on October 8, 2026. They may change in later versions.

What Fantastical does, and Tellendar doesn't

According to Flexibits, Fantastical offers:

• Several devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro and Windows. On iPhone, it needs iOS 17.6 or later.
• Several accounts in one view: iCloud, Google, Microsoft 365, Exchange, CalDAV and Todoist.
• Tasks next to your events, with Todoist and Google Tasks support. An overdue task stays on the following days.
• Meeting tools: guests, their replies, free time slots you can share, and video call links (Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, Webex).
• More views and services: day, week, month, quarter and year, the weather in your calendar, and 14 Home Screen widgets.

Tellendar does none of this. The app runs on one iPhone, on iOS 26 or later; there is no version for iPad, Mac or Apple Watch. An event has a title, a date, a duration, a repeat rule and alarms: no location, no notes, no guests, no tasks. The only outside calendar Tellendar connects to is Google Calendar; it doesn't read iCloud, Exchange or Microsoft 365.

Alarms: what each one does

A regular notification plays a sound once and only vibrates in silent mode. Since iOS 26, an app can schedule a real alarm, like the ones in the Clock app, through an Apple tool called AlarmKit. Fantastical and Tellendar both use it.

In Fantastical

Fantastical warns you with notifications. Since version 4.1.11 for iOS, announced in April 2026, it also offers Urgent Alarms. According to Flexibits, they ring even in silent mode and with Do Not Disturb on, and stay on screen until you deal with them. Flexibits' help describes how to set them up and their limits:

• You first turn them on in Fantastical's settings, then turn on the Urgent Alarm for each event or task, in the alerts section.
• The calendar's account must be added in Fantastical. Calendars shown through the option that reuses your iOS calendars can't have one.
• They don't work on all-day events and tasks, or on some Google events: Out of Office, Focus Time, and events created from Gmail.
• Flexibits' pricing page lists them under Premium.

In Tellendar

Tellendar only warns you with alarms. There is nothing to turn on event by event:

• You set the alarm in the sentence: "Dentist Thursday at 3pm, alarm 1h before".
• You can set several on the same appointment, for example the evening before, then an hour before.
• An all-day event can have an alarm too.
• When an alarm rings, the "Snooze 10 min" button makes it ring again later.
• You pick the sound in the settings: the iOS one, or one of the app's seven.

Tellendar's alarms only cover events created in Tellendar and events from Google Calendar. An event in your iCloud or Exchange calendar can't get one.

Typing a sentence

Both apps understand an appointment written in everyday language. According to its App Store listing, Fantastical understands typed text in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese. In Fantastical, you tap "+", type the event or task, then add it. The sentence can include a location, guests, a repeat rule or an alert.

In Tellendar, a sentence is the only way to create an event: there is no form. You type it or dictate it. A Lock Screen widget starts dictation without unlocking the phone. A sentence also changes an event ("move the dentist to Friday") and sets a repeat ("every other Thursday", "the first Monday of the month"). Tellendar understands English and French. The guide Sentences Tellendar understands gives examples.

If your iPhone has Apple Intelligence, the sentence is read on the device. Otherwise, and only if you agreed to it, it is read by Mistral AI, a French AI. The Privacy page explains what is sent.

Price

Fantastical has a free version: calendar views, adding events and tasks, notifications, iCloud, Google and Exchange accounts, and widgets. The Premium subscription adds, among other things, Urgent Alarms, notification sounds, travel time with time-to-leave alerts, Apple Watch support and meeting tools. On the US App Store on October 8, 2026, Premium costs $6.99 a month or $56.99 a year, and $10.49 a month or $89.99 a year for a family. Flexibits offers a 14-day free trial.

Tellendar is a paid subscription. Its price will be shown on the App Store when the app comes out.

Which one to choose

• You also work on a Mac or iPad, you manage tasks, or you have iCloud, Exchange or Microsoft 365 calendars. Fantastical covers all of this. With Premium, its Urgent Alarms make your iPhone ring for the events you pick.
• You mostly want to stop missing appointments on your iPhone. Tellendar puts an alarm on every appointment you tell it, including the evening before or for an all-day event, without a form.
• Your calendar is in Google Calendar. Both apps connect to it. The guide Tellendar vs Google Calendar explains what Tellendar does with it.

Frequently asked questions