The best apps to plan with friends, ranked by what your friends see

The best apps to plan with friends show your friends your answer, not your calendar. For most groups that’s Partiful (core features free, iPhone, Android and web): guests see who’s going and the votes on a date poll, and nothing from your week. Use Rallly (free, no sign-up) when you only need to pick a day, and know what its free plan shows: everyone with the link sees who voted for what. Hiding names and votes takes Rallly Pro at $10 a month, and Doodle charges $15 a month for the same thing.

AI answers don’t tell you any of this. We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity four questions each on October 10, 2026, and the word “default” doesn’t appear in any of the 12 answers. ChatGPT recommended Doodle for “coordinating busy schedules and bigger groups” without saying that on Doodle’s free plan the whole group sees how you voted. So we ranked these apps on the question the answers skip: what does a friend see about you the day you connect?

We read the help pages of 14 apps and quoted each one’s own words on what friends or group members see by default, and how to change it. Ten state their default outright. Four don’t say it in plain words, and the table marks which. The table is below, with a link to every source.

Camp makes a private group-planning app in the “ask” model. It isn’t in the App Store yet, so it isn’t ranked here. Every other app’s details are from its own help, pricing and App Store pages, checked October 10, 2026.

The short answer

#	App	What friends see by default	Best for	Price
1	Partiful	Who’s going and who’s a maybe, and your date-poll votes	Parties, dinners and one-off plans	Core features free
2	Rallly	Your name and your votes on one poll	Picking a date with any group, on any phone	Free; Pro $10/mo
3	Timeful	The availability you enter, never your calendar	Finding an hour that works	Free
4	WhatsApp polls	Who voted for what, unless the creator hides names	Groups that already live in one WhatsApp chat	Built into WhatsApp
5	iMessage polls	How each person voted	All-iPhone groups on iOS 26	Built into iPhone
6	Doodle	Your name and votes; hiding them is a paid feature	Groups that already use it at work	Limited free plan; Pro $15/mo
7	TimeTree	Everything on the calendar you share with them, nothing else	A couple or family keeping one calendar	Free with ads; Premium $4.49/mo
8	Apple shared calendars	Everything on the shared calendar	An all-iPhone household	Built into iPhone
9	GroupCal	All event details on the shared calendar	Clubs and teams with an admin	Free; busy-only view from $50/mo
10	Cozi	Everything, and everyone can edit it	One family’s shared organizer	Free with ads; Gold $39/yr
11	SoKal	Your outings and travel; everything else shows as busy	Friends who want to see who’s out and about	Free on the App Store
12	OurCal	Your busy times from all your calendars, in every group	Small groups that want busy times without details	Free trial, then a subscription per group

The ranking puts apps that show only your answers first, then apps that share a calendar the group builds together, then apps that show your own calendar. Within each group, we ranked on how much of a plan the app handles. Google Calendar is in the full table below but not ranked, because Google doesn’t say which sharing level its dialog starts on.

What each app shows your friends by default

App	What a friend or group member sees by default	Stated or implied	How to change it
Partiful	“Guests can only see the “Going” and “Maybe” lists.” Guests also see each other’s poll votes	Stated	The host can anonymize the guest list or hide the guest count
Flaky	“Only invitees ever see them”	Stated	n/a
Rallly	Everyone with the link sees each name and vote	Implied: the free plan can’t hide them	“hide participant names, and hide votes” is a Pro setting
Timeful	“All other users will be able to see is the availability that you enter for an event”	Stated	An option to show responses only to the event’s creator
WhatsApp polls	Who voted for what, under View votes	Implied	The creator turns on “Hide voter names”
iMessage polls	“You can see how people voted or who hasn’t voted yet.”	Stated, with no hide option	None documented
Doodle	Participants’ names and votes	Implied	“creating a hidden poll is limited to Doodle Professional”
TimeTree	“Events are shared only among members who are participating in the same calendar.”	Stated	Per calendar only. We found no private-event option in its help center
Apple shared calendars	“When you share a calendar, others can see it”	Stated	Allow Editing on or off, or stop sharing
GroupCal	“By default, all members of a shared calendar can view all event information.”	Stated	An admin turns on “See only free/busy,” on the Team plan and up
Cozi	Everyone in the account has “full access to view/add/edit/delete any data”	Stated	“Cozi does not offer a restricted access option”
Google Calendar	Nothing until you share. Then the level you pick, from “See only free/busy (hide details)” to full control	Not stated	Change the permission per person; a Private event shows as “Busy”
SoKal	“Outings and travel are shared by default and everything else shows as busy.”	Stated	Change the detail level for everyone, per person or per event
OurCal	“Availability sharing is switched on by default when you create or join a group.” Only busy times are shared, with no details	Stated	Turn it off per group in Settings, Availability Sharing

“Implied” means the app documents a setting to hide something but never says in plain words which way it starts. For Rallly, its pricing page shows the hide settings aren’t on the free plan, and Rallly’s own open-source code sets them off by default. We couldn’t verify When2meet: it has no help page that describes what respondents see, and checking would have meant opening someone’s event.

Four findings stood out:

• Paying to be anonymous. Doodle and Rallly both put hidden voters behind a paid plan: Doodle Professional at $15 a month, Rallly Pro at $10. On their free plans, everyone in the poll sees who voted for what. Timeful’s option to hide responses is free.
• Busy times travel further than you’d think. OurCal shares your busy blocks from every synced calendar with every group you join, with times and no details, until you turn it off per group.
• Busy-only costs $50 a month on GroupCal. Every member sees every event’s details by default. An admin can switch a calendar to “See only free/busy,” but only on the Team plan, $50 a month billed yearly, and up.
• SoKal starts the most private of the calendar apps: only outings and travel show, with titles, and everything else is a busy block.

Do AI answers tell you what your friends will see?

No. They name the apps and leave out the defaults. On October 10, 2026, we asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity four questions each, such as “What’s the best shared calendar app for friends?” Google Calendar was named in 7 of the 12 answers, and Partiful and TimeTree in 5 each. None of the 12 uses the word “default.”

Two of the recommendations show what that leaves out. ChatGPT’s answer to “What are the best apps to plan with friends?” lists Doodle as “Best for: coordinating busy schedules and bigger groups.” On Doodle’s free plan, everyone in the poll sees each name and vote, because a hidden poll “is limited to Doodle Professional.” ChatGPT’s answer to “What’s the best shared calendar app for friends?” opens with TimeTree. In TimeTree, “Events are shared only among members who are participating in the same calendar,” so everyone on a shared calendar sees every event on it, and we found no way in TimeTree’s help center to keep one event on it private. Both are fine choices once you know. Neither answer tells you.

The 12 best apps to plan with friends, ranked

We ranked on what a friend sees by default, from least to most, then on how much of a plan each app handles: picking a date, getting a yes, and keeping track.

1. Partiful: best for parties, dinners and one-off plans

partiful.com

Partiful is the best app for most friend plans because it handles the invite, the date and the RSVPs, and guests see only the plan.

• Friends see: “Guests can only see the “Going” and “Maybe” lists.” Only hosts see who was invited or who can’t go. In a Find a Time poll, “guests will be able to see which options other guests have selected in the poll.”
• Price: “Partiful’s core platform is free to use,” with optional paid extras such as premium invite designs.
• Phones: iPhone, Android and web. 4.95 average from 265,889 US App Store ratings.
• Worth knowing: guests verify a phone number to RSVP. On your profile, “By default, other users see the Shared Events you have in common.”

2. Rallly: best for picking a date with any group

rallly.co

Rallly is the best free date poll for friends because nobody signs up, nobody sees ads, and it works on any phone’s browser.

• Friends see: your name and your Yes, If need be or No for each option. Hiding names and votes is a Pro setting.
• Price: free with no limit on polls or voters; Pro is $10 a month or $72 a year.
• Phones: web only.
• Worth knowing: “Inactive polls are automatically deleted if you do not have a paid subscription.”

3. Timeful: best for finding an hour that works

timeful.app

Timeful, which used to be called Schej, is the best pick when the hour matters as much as the day, because it can read your calendar without showing it.

• Friends see: in Timeful’s FAQ, “All other users will be able to see is the availability that you enter for an event.”
• Price: “It’s free! No login required.”
• Phones: web.
• Worth knowing: the FAQ and settings text come from Timeful’s own app code; it has no separate help center.

4. WhatsApp polls: best when the group already lives in WhatsApp

faq.whatsapp.com

A WhatsApp poll is the best choice for a group that already answers in one WhatsApp chat, because nobody installs anything.

• Friends see: who voted for what, unless the creator turns on Hide voter names, after which “WhatsApp won’t show who voted for what.”
• Options: up to 12, with no “maybe.” WhatsApp Events, a separate feature, take Going, Maybe and Not going.
• Worth knowing: a WhatsApp Event can’t include anyone who isn’t in the chat.

5. iMessage polls: best for all-iPhone groups

support.apple.com

iMessage polls are the best choice for a group where everyone has an iPhone on iOS 26 or later.

• Friends see: “You can see how people voted or who hasn’t voted yet.” Apple documents no way to hide votes.
• Worth knowing: everyone needs iMessage on iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 or later. Anyone else gets only a notice that a poll was sent.

6. Doodle: best for groups that already use it at work

doodle.com

Doodle is a fine pick if your group already knows it from work, but its free plan is the tightest here.

• Friends see: participants’ names and votes. A hidden poll is “limited to Doodle Professional.”
• Price: the free plan lists “One Group Poll” with up to 10 time slots, and free polls show ads. Pro is $15 a month or $132 a year.
• Worth knowing: making a poll “now requires the creation of a free or paid account,” and participants give a name and email.

7. TimeTree: best for a couple or family sharing one calendar

timetreeapp.com

TimeTree is the best shared calendar for a household because privacy is decided by which calendar you put something on.

• Friends see: “Events are shared only among members who are participating in the same calendar.” Your private calendars and linked calendars stay yours.
• Price: free with ads; Premium is $4.49 a month or $44.99 a year and removes ads.
• Phones: iPhone, Android and web. 4.85 average from 92,456 US App Store ratings.
• Worth knowing: we found no option to mark one event private on a shared calendar. TimeTree can share your available days as an image, but it has no date poll.

8. Apple shared calendars: best for an all-iPhone household

support.apple.com

An iCloud shared calendar is the simplest option if everyone has an iPhone and you want one calendar for the house.

• Friends see: “When you share a calendar, others can see it, and you can let them add or change events.” Your other calendars aren’t shared.
• Worth knowing: editors need iCloud. Apple documents no busy-only or private-event setting for a shared calendar.

9. GroupCal: best for clubs and teams with an admin

groupcal.app

GroupCal suits a club or team calendar run by one admin, and less so a friend group.

• Friends see: “By default, all members of a shared calendar can view all event information.”
• Price: free with unlimited calendars; Pro is $15 a month. The “See only free/busy” setting is on the Team plan, $50 a month billed yearly, and up.
• Phones: iPhone, Android and web.

10. Cozi: best for one family’s organizer

cozi.com

Cozi is a family organizer, and it’s built on everyone seeing everything.

• Friends see: everyone in the account has “full access to view/add/edit/delete any data in your account,” and “Cozi does not offer a restricted access option.”
• Price: free with ads; Cozi Gold is $39 a year.
• Worth knowing: up to 12 family members share one account. 4.81 average from 400,657 US App Store ratings.

11. SoKal: best for seeing who’s out and about

sokal.app

SoKal is the best overlay app for privacy because it starts with most of your calendar hidden.

• Friends see: “Outings and travel are shared by default and everything else shows as busy.” Only connections see anything, and events it can’t classify stay private.
• Price: free on the App Store.
• Worth knowing: you can change the level for everyone, per person or per event.

12. OurCal: best for busy times without details

ourcal.com

OurCal suits a small group that wants to see when everyone’s busy without seeing why.

• Friends see: group members see the group’s events, and “Availability sharing is switched on by default when you create or join a group,” with only busy times and no details.
• Price: a free trial when you create a group, then a subscription per group.
• Worth knowing: OurCal’s Lock feature puts an event behind Face ID on your own phone; it doesn’t hide the event from the group.

What we’d do

• A dinner, a party or a weekend away: send a Partiful invite, or a Rallly poll first if the date is open.
• Picking a day with a group that won’t install anything: a free date poll. Rallly works, and so does Camp’s free web Find a date, which asks for no app, account or email.
• A household: TimeTree or an Apple shared calendar, with private plans on a calendar the others aren’t in.
• Close friends who want to see who’s free: SoKal, which starts with only your outings and travel visible. OurCal works if busy times are enough, but it shares them with every group you join, so turn it off in the groups that don’t need them.
• A bigger or looser group: don’t share calendars at all. A date poll finds the day without showing anyone your week, which is the case we make in how to find a time that works for everyone.

How we checked

• Defaults: each app’s own help, FAQ, privacy or pricing page, read October 10, 2026. Every quote was string-checked against the saved page text. For Rallly and Timeful we also read the vendors’ own published code, and we say so where it matters. No accounts, polls or events were created.
• AI answers: four prompts each to ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, one run per engine, October 10, 2026. “Named” means the app’s name appears in the answer text.
• Prices and ratings: each vendor’s pricing page or US App Store listing, and Apple’s ratings data, October 10, 2026.
• Not ranked: When2meet (no page describes what respondents see), Hangs (no help pages and no stated default), Flaky (in the table; three App Store ratings) and Google Calendar (no stated default).

Where Camp fits

Camp is a private group-planning app for iPhone, coming soon to the App Store (join the waitlist). It works the way the top of this list does: your group sees the plans you make together and your answers to a date poll, never your personal calendar. Until it launches, the same date poll is free on the web: Find a date gives you one link to share in the group chat.

FAQ

What is the best app to plan with friends? For most friend groups, Partiful: its core features are free, it handles the invite, a date poll and RSVPs, and guests see only who’s going and the poll votes. Use Rallly, which is free with no sign-up, if you only need to pick a day; on its free plan, everyone with the link sees each name and vote. For close friends who want to see who’s free, SoKal shows your outings and travel and marks everything else as busy.

What calendar can I share with friends? TimeTree, an Apple iCloud shared calendar and Google Calendar all let you share a calendar with friends. TimeTree and Apple share only the calendar you choose, and everyone on it sees every event. Google lets you pick a level per person, including “See only free/busy (hide details).” SoKal and OurCal show friends part of your own calendar instead: SoKal your outings and travel, OurCal your busy times.

Which apps share my calendar with friends by default? Of the 14 apps we checked, two show friends something from your own calendar as soon as you connect. SoKal shares your outings and travel with your connections and shows everything else as busy. OurCal shares your busy times from every synced calendar with every group you create or join, until you turn it off per group. Shared-calendar apps such as TimeTree, Apple’s and Cozi show only what’s on the calendar you share, and poll and invite apps show only your answers.

Is there an app that shows when friends are busy without showing details? Yes. OurCal shares only busy times by default, from all your synced calendars, with every group you’re in. SoKal shows outings and travel and marks everything else as busy. Google Calendar can share “See only free/busy (hide details)” if you pick that level for a person. GroupCal can hide details too, but an admin turns it on for the whole calendar, and it needs the Team plan, $50 a month billed yearly.

Do people see how I voted in a group poll? In most free polls, yes. On Rallly’s free plan, everyone with the link sees each name and vote; hiding them needs Pro. Doodle’s hidden polls need Doodle Professional. iMessage polls show how each person voted, with no option to hide it. WhatsApp shows votes unless the poll’s creator turns on “Hide voter names.”

What is the difference between a shared calendar and a social calendar? A shared calendar, like TimeTree, Apple’s or Cozi, is one calendar a group builds together, and everyone in it sees what’s on it. A social calendar, like SoKal or OurCal, shows friends something from your own calendar, such as event details, outings or busy times, so you can see who’s free.

Sources

• What each app shows by default, checked October 10, 2026: Partiful, guest list, poll votes, event settings, shared events; Flaky; Rallly pricing and poll schema; Timeful; WhatsApp polls; iMessage polls; Doodle, hidden polls; TimeTree; Apple shared calendars; GroupCal, visibility control and pricing; Cozi FAQ; Google Calendar sharing; SoKal, private sharing and privacy; OurCal, availability sharing, Lock and free trial.
• Prices, from each vendor’s own page, checked October 10, 2026: Partiful, Rallly, Doodle, TimeTree, GroupCal, Cozi.
• App Store ratings: Apple’s lookup API, US store, October 10, 2026.
• AI answers: ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, four prompts each, one run per engine, October 10, 2026. Saved in this post’s research folder.