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Fridge Club vs Google Calendar and Apple Calendar

The short answer: keep them. Google Calendar and Apple Calendar are great for your own week. Fridge Club is for the part the whole family needs to see. Here’s how the two fit together.

By Ronald & Hans, founders of Fridge Club
Updated

Your phone calendar is great for…

  • Your own meetings, lunches and calls
  • Reminders that buzz at exactly the right moment
  • Staying in sync across all your devices, for free

The fridge is great for…

  • The things the whole family needs to know
  • Kids and grandparents who never check a calendar
  • Talking the week through over breakfast

Your calendar is for you

Google Calendar and Apple Calendar are excellent at one thing: keeping track of your own life. The work meetings, the lunch with a friend, the reminder to call about the car insurance. They sync across your devices, they remind you at the right moment, and they’re free.

Both also let you share a calendar with your family. That works, up to a point.

What happens when you share everything

Share your whole calendar and the family sees your whole week: the 9 AM call, the team dinner, the dentist reminder only you needed. None of it is secret. It just isn’t news for a nine-year-old, and the things the family does need, like soccer at 5 or Grandma arriving on Saturday, get harder to spot between everyone else’s plans.

Share a separate family calendar instead, and it’s one more calendar to check on one more screen. That’s fine for the grown-ups. The kids without phones still can’t see it.

What belongs on the fridge

The fridge page is the family’s week, chosen on purpose: practices and lessons, the appointments the kids should know about, who’s on pickup, what’s for dinner, Grandma’s visit. You decide what’s worth everyone’s attention in ten minutes on Sunday.

Here’s a simple test: if it changes someone else’s day, it goes on the fridge. Dad’s late meeting stays in his calendar. “Dad’s working late Thursday” goes on the fridge, because it changes dinner.

Photo: a parent checking their phone calendar, the family’s page on the fridge behind them

Why Fridge Club doesn’t sync with your calendar

It’s a fair question. Pulling in everything from your calendar would bring back exactly the noise the fridge page leaves out. Choosing what goes on the page takes a few minutes on Sunday, and that choice is what keeps the page clear for everyone. So the two don’t sync, on purpose.

What it costs

Google Calendar and Apple Calendar are free, and you should keep using them. Fridge Club is $39 a year, or $5.99 a month, with two Sundays free to try it. You’re not paying to replace your calendar. You’re paying for a page the whole family can read.

So which one should you use?

Both. Keep your calendar for your own week, and put the family’s week on the fridge.

If your household is mostly grown-ups who live in their phones, a shared calendar may be all you need. If you have kids, or anyone who doesn’t check a calendar, the fridge is where the week actually gets seen.

See how Fridge Club works

Side by side

Two different jobs. Most families will want both.

FeatureFridge ClubGoogle or Apple Calendar
What it’s forThe family’s shared weekYour own schedule, plus any calendars you share
Price$39 a year, or $5.99 a monthFree
Who sees itEveryone who walks past the fridgePeople you share it with, on their own devices
Kids without phonesRead it on the fridgeCan’t see it
RemindersNone. It’s a page, not a notificationYes, on your phone
ChangesA pen, or update it and print againSync instantly
Syncs with the otherNo, on purposeNo

Checked October 2026. Google Calendar is a trademark of Google LLC and Apple Calendar is a trademark of Apple Inc. Fridge Club isn’t affiliated with either.

What goes where

If it changes someone else’s day, it goes on the fridge.

Your calendar

  • The 9 AM team check-in
  • Lunch with a friend
  • The dentist reminder only you need
  • Dinner with colleagues after work
  • Calls and deadlines

The fridge

  • Soccer at 5
  • Grandma arriving on Saturday
  • Who’s on pickup
  • Dad working late, because it changes dinner
  • Pizza night

Questions about calendars

Still wondering? Write to us. We’re two real people, and we answer.

Does Fridge Club replace Google Calendar?

No, and it isn’t meant to. Keep Google Calendar or Apple Calendar for your own week. Fridge Club is for the part the whole family needs to see.

Does it sync with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar?

No, on purpose. Syncing would pull in everything from your calendar, including the things nobody else needs. Choosing what goes on the fridge is what keeps the page clear.

Isn’t a shared family calendar enough?

For some families, yes, especially if everyone is a grown-up who checks their phone. If you have kids, or relatives who don’t check calendars, a page on the fridge reaches everyone without a device.

Will I still get reminders?

Keep those in your phone calendar. Fridge Club is a page, not a notification, which is part of the point.

Do the kids need phones?

No. The week is on the fridge, so anyone who can read can see it. Older kids can get their own link to add things if you want them to.

Is it good for cutting down screen time?

That’s what we built it for. You plan on a screen for ten minutes on Sunday, and the rest of the week lives on paper, where nobody needs to unlock anything to see it.

Keep your calendar. Add the fridge.

Two Sundays free. Put the family’s week where everyone can see it.

Try two Sundays freeThen 75¢ a week, billed $39 a year. Cancel anytime.