What it actually costs
Easycal is a hobby project, built and maintained in spare time. It's free to use and always will be. Here's full transparency on what it costs to keep running.
Monthly running costs
Everything it takes to keep easycal online and working. No hidden fees, no VC funding — just a person and a server.
Server hosting
A small VPS to run the app, database, and queue workers.
Domain name
The easycal.uk domain, renewed annually (£5.99/yr).
SSL certificate
HTTPS encryption via Let's Encrypt.
Calendar API usage
Google Calendar API and CalDAV sync calls for availability.
Backups
Regular database and application backups.
Costs fluctuate slightly depending on traffic and usage. Figures rounded to the nearest pound.
Why it's free
Easycal isn't a startup. There's no investor money, no growth targets, no plans to enshittify the product once enough people depend on it. It's a tool I built because I wanted it to exist.
The running costs are small enough that I'm happy to cover them out of pocket. But if easycal saves you time or you just like that it exists, a small contribution helps keep things running smoothly. It tells me people actually find it useful.
No pressure whatsoever. Use it forever for free. That's genuinely the plan.
Want to help keep easycal running?
Totally optional. A coffee-sized contribution covers hosting for a month and makes my day.
Questions you might have
The core product will always be free. If I ever add premium features down the line, nothing you use today will be taken away or locked behind a paywall.
The app is simple by design, it doesn't need constant attention to keep running. As long as the server bill is paid, easycal works. If I ever need to shut it down, I'll give plenty of notice.
It will offset the costs of running the site first and foremost, any excerise will help me cover the cost of vegan sweet treats.
Just the warm feeling of supporting an indie project. No perks, no tiers, easycal is the same for everyone regardless of whether you donate.
Absolutely. Telling a friend about easycal, reporting bugs, or just using it and letting me know what you think, that's all incredibly valuable.