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The schedule in a spreadsheet works, until two people edit it.
A shared spreadsheet is where most schedules start: free, flexible, and everyone knows how to use it. It stops working in predictable ways, and it is worth knowing which of them you have before moving anything.
At a glance
| A spreadsheet | ManageCal | |
|---|---|---|
| Double bookings | Found by reading the sheet | Refused when the booking is saved |
| Who sees what | Usually the whole sheet or none of it | Nine levels per person, per sub-calendar |
| Repeating entries | Copied row by row | One event with a rule, and exceptions |
| Details on each entry | Any column you like | Nine typed field types you define |
| Totals, formulas and charts | Yes | None |
| Time zones | By hand | Each calendar has its own |
| Cost | Usually free | Free for a small team; paid plans per workspace |
Where it is stronger
Where a spreadsheet is stronger.
- Total flexibility
- A spreadsheet has no opinion about what a schedule is. Any column, any layout, any colour. ManageCal has a shape of its own: calendars, sub-calendars, events and fields.
- Sums, formulas and reports
- Hours worked, covers booked, a chart of the month. A spreadsheet does arithmetic; ManageCal shows and filters values but has no totals, reports or export yet.
- Everyone knows it already
- Nobody needs showing how to add a row. A new tool, however simple, is something to learn.
Where ManageCal is different
Where ManageCal is different.
- A clash is refused, not discovered
- Two people can book the same room in the same hour on a spreadsheet, and nothing stops them. In ManageCal a room, a van or a court can refuse an overlapping booking when it is saved, including a weekly one that clashes months ahead.
- Access that fits the people
- A spreadsheet is usually shared whole, so everyone who can see the rota can see the private bookings on the next tab. ManageCal sets access per person on each sub-calendar, down to seeing that time is taken and nothing else.
- A repeat is one entry
- A weekly meeting in a spreadsheet is fifty rows that all need changing when it moves. In ManageCal it is one event with a rule: change one week or all of them, skip one, or end it on a date.
- Typed details you can filter
- A column accepts anything, so “Yes”, “yes”, “Y” and “paid” all end up meaning the same thing. ManageCal fields have types: a checkbox is yes or no, a choice is one of its options, and the whole calendar filters by them.
- Times that mean the same thing everywhere
- A cell holding 09:00 does not know which 09:00 it means. Each ManageCal calendar has its own time zone, and a repeating event keeps its local time through daylight saving, so a schedule shared between two offices no longer needs a note saying whose time it is.
- Nobody overwrites anybody
- Two people editing the same structure at once cannot silently undo each other: if someone saved first, the second save is refused with a note saying so.
Which to choose
It depends on what you are scheduling.
Choose a spreadsheet if
- The schedule is small, changes rarely and one person owns it.
- You need totals, formulas or reports from it.
- Everyone who uses it may see all of it.
Choose ManageCal if
- Rooms, vehicles or equipment get double-booked.
- Different people should see different parts of the schedule.
- Much of it repeats, with exceptions.
- The details on each booking matter and need to be consistent.
Questions
ManageCal vs a spreadsheet: questions.
Can I import my spreadsheet into ManageCal?
Not yet. There is no importer today, so events are entered in ManageCal. The set-up, sub-calendars and fields, usually mirrors the spreadsheet’s tabs and columns.
Can I export from ManageCal back into a spreadsheet?
Not yet. ManageCal has no export today, which is one reason to keep a spreadsheet for anything you need to total or report on.
Is a shared calendar harder to use than a spreadsheet?
Adding an event is about as quick as adding a row. The difference is that a calendar knows what a time, a clash and a repeat are, so it can refuse the mistakes a spreadsheet lets through.
What does it cost to move?
The Free plan covers a small team, and paid plans are one price per workspace. Prices are indicative while ManageCal is in development, and nothing is charged yet.
Read next
- ManageCal vs TeamupWhere Teamup is stronger, where ManageCal is different, and the prices side by side.
- ManageCal vs Google CalendarA calendar for each person, or one calendar for the whole organisation.
- PermissionsNine access levels per person, per sub-calendar, including “no details”.
- Room bookingRooms, vehicles and equipment that refuse a double booking.
- Custom fieldsNine field types you define, filter by and change without losing values.
- Recurring eventsRepeating events with exceptions, ends, and daylight saving handled.
Get started
Open ManageCalPut your whole organisation on one calendar.
Set up your sub-calendars, decide who sees what, and start scheduling.