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WordPress Calendar Plugins (Oct 2025)

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WordPress Calendar Plugins (Oct 2025)

Note: this is a deep research done by ChatGPT and should be taken as such.

We evaluated leading WordPress calendar/event plugins against the requirements. Key candidates include The Events Calendar, Events Manager, Event Organiser, My Calendar, WP Event Manager, and EventPrime. Below we discuss each, citing their documentation on recurrence, exceptions, views, multi-user controls, ICS feeds, and (where relevant) ActivityPub support.

The Events Calendar (StellarWP)

Figure: The Events Calendar recurrence rule UI. The Events Calendar (free) is extremely popular (700K+ installs) and fully WP.com–compatible. Its Pro version adds advanced recurring events (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) with an intuitive rule-builder. For example, you can set “every 2nd Thursday” or “every 3 days”theeventscalendar.com. Once recurrence is enabled, an Add Exception option appears: you can exclude specific days or dates (pattern-based or single dates) so that, e.g. a weekly class skips a holiday weektheeventscalendar.com. (Only one pattern-based exception is allowed per event, but you can add unlimited one-off exclusionstheeventscalendar.com.)

By default TEC provides a Month calendar view with tooltips (clean, responsive UI) plus list/day viewswordpress.org. It supports Google Maps, organizers, categories, and a built-in shortcode. ICS/Google Calendar export is included: every event has “Add to Calendar” links and an iCal feed of all eventswordpress.org. Multisite works (and the plugin supports network activation). Permissions use standard WordPress roles (Admins can assign “Event Author” roles), though you may need an additional plugin to fully restrict each user to only their events. Recent updates and active support mean it’s well-maintainedwordpress.org.

Finally, for Fediverse integration, The Events Calendar is fully supported by the Event Bridge for ActivityPub plugin (which auto?publishes events to ActivityPub)wordpress.com.

Events Manager (Marcus Sykes / Pixelite)

A free, open-source events plugin (70K+ installs, updated daily) with built-in recurrence and exceptions. It provides very flexible recurrence rules, including multi-day events and exclusions (called “Exclusion/Blackout Dates”) so you can skip any date in a series. While not as slick UI-wise as TEC, Events Manager’s admin recurrence metabox lets you define complex patterns. It also supports individual instance editing (you can remove a single occurrence) and has calendars/widgets.

Events Manager’s Month calendar view is responsive and can be color-coded by category. Crucially, it has advanced permissions – you can restrict which user roles can add or edit events, so in practice each organizer can be limited to managing their own eventswordpress.org. It also generates both single-event and full iCal feeds (as well as Google Calendar buttons) automaticallywordpress.org. Active development (last updated Oct 2025) and extensive docs/forum support make it reliable. (Note: Events Manager’s premium add-on adds bookings/tickets, but basic recurrence/exceptions are free.)

Event Organiser (Stephen Harris)

A well-established, open-source plugin (20K installs). Event Organiser treats events as a custom post type and offers “calendar” and “agenda” shortcodes/widgets. It supports complex recurrence out of the box: you can recur by any pattern (e.g. “third Tuesday of every fourth month” or “16th of each month”wordpress.org). It also lets you add or remove individual dates in a series, effectively allowing exceptions to be managed per-occurrencewordpress.orgwordpress.org.

Its default Month view is clean (uses jQuery UI calendar), and it provides List and Agenda views. Importantly, Event Organiser lets you create custom user permissions: you can specify exactly which user roles may create/edit events or venueswordpress.org. It also includes built-in iCal/Google Calendar support – visitors can subscribe to full event feeds by category/venue, and you can import/export .ics fileswordpress.org. The plugin is stable (last major update ~2024) and has solid developer documentation. ActivityPub integration is available via Event Bridge (basic support) if neededwordpress.com.

My Calendar (Joe Dolson)

Figure: My Calendar plugin showing a month grid view. My Calendar is a lightweight, accessibility-focused event manager (20K installs, updated recently). It provides month, multi-month, week, day, and list views by shortcode or widgetwordpress.org. Recurrence is well supported: you can set daily/weekly/monthly repeats, and the UI lets you “Edit or add single dates” in a serieswordpress.org. There’s even a “Skip on holidays” feature (setting certain dates as “holidays” so recurring events auto-skip them).

My Calendar also has a robust permissions system: events are WP posts, and the plugin lets you “limit views by author” and assign which roles can manage eventswordpress.org. By default, users only edit events they own (especially on a Multisite setup). It supports Multisite natively (“multisite-friendly” in its description). The plugin auto-generates iCal and Google Calendar feeds for event listswordpress.org. The settings have many options (which can be complex), but for non-technical users the basics (add event, choose recurrence, publish) are fairly straightforward. Community reviews highlight its ease of use once set up.

WP Event Manager (WP Event Manager team)

A modular event-listing plugin (20K installs) often used with add-ons. The free core provides a month calendar view and frontend event submissions. However, advanced recurrence and ICS require paid add-ons. The Recurring Events add-on (premium) lets you set daily/weekly/monthly/yearly repeats via a duplicate/recurrence dashboardwp-eventmanager.com, and even adjust individual occurrences without affecting otherswp-eventmanager.com. A separate iCal Add-on enables .ics feeds. Without these, core WP Event Manager has only one-off events. It does support multi-user front-end submissions out of the box (users submit their own events) and has an “Organizer” role. Multisite compatibility is basic (can be network-activated) but requires manual page setup.

In summary: WP Event Manager can meet all criteria, but requires premium extensions for detailed recurrence and ICS. It has a modern UI and active support but at higher cost. ActivityPub: basic support via Event Bridge is availablewordpress.com.

EventPrime (Metagauss)

A newer all-in-one events plugin (7K installs, updated Oct 2025) with a modern, user-friendly interface. EventPrime supports multi-day and recurring events nativelywordpress.org. In the event editor there’s a “Repeat” tab where you choose daily/weekly/monthly/yearly patternswordpress.org. You can also add “additional dates” or exceptions via its UI. The plugin offers a beautiful month/week/day calendar view frontend (plus agenda, grid, etc.)wordpress.org and drag/drop scheduling.

It has built-in multi-user support: roles can submit events from the front end, and a front-end user dashboard lets each organizer view/manage only their eventswordpress.org. It also provides .ics export for single events. While the free version includes all needed features, it also has many premium extensions for tickets, etc. EventPrime is actively maintained and even includes some Fediverse readiness (feeds can be bridged via Event Bridgewordpress.com).

Other Options

  • All-in-One Events Calendar (Time.ly) – Free version offers recurring events, but its exception handling is limited, and updates have lagged in recent years. (They offer a paid “Editor” version for more control.) Available on WP.com, but less developer activity.
  • Eventin (Themewinter) – A newer free plugin on WordPress.com. It supports various recurrence options (daily/weekly/monthly), but lacks a clear exception manager and multi-user workflow. Basic ICS export exists. ActivityPub: supported by Event Bridge (basic)wordpress.com.

Summary of Ease, Updates & Support

All the above plugins have active development as of 2025. The Events Calendar and Events Manager are very mature (well-documented, large communities) with frequent updateswordpress.orgwordpress.org. My Calendar and Event Organiser also see regular updates and have strong developer/user forums. EventPrime is newer but under active development (updated Oct ’25) and offers responsive email support. For non-technical users, My Calendar and WP Event Manager have simpler setups, while The Events Calendar and Events Manager offer more power (with a steeper learning curve). All plugins above (except those requiring add-ons) are free/open-source; where premium is needed (TEC Pro, WP EM add-ons), it’s clearly noted.

Each meets the core criteria: powerful recurrence with exceptions, clean month views, per-user event control (via roles or front-end submissions), and iCal feeds. (As a bonus, most integrate with ActivityPub via Event Bridgewordpress.comwordpress.com if you wish to federate event data.)

Citations

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