Calendar subscription vs import vs sync: what’s the difference?
Short answer
An import copies a calendar once: later changes don’t follow. A subscription follows a calendar through its link, one way, as often as the receiving app checks (from minutes to more than a day). A sync connects two calendars through their own interfaces, so changes go both ways within minutes. Use an import for a one-off, a subscription for calendars you only read, and a sync for dates that move.
Why the words get mixed up
Calendar apps call all three “adding a calendar”, and the result looks the same on the day you do it: the events are there. The difference shows a week later, when a date moves at the source and nothing happens, or happens hours late, or only one way.
Side by side
| Import | Subscription | Sync | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What moves | A file, once | A link, read again and again | Each change, through the calendar’s interface |
| Direction | Into the calendar | One way | Both ways |
| Later changes | Never arrive | Arrive at the next check: minutes to more than a day | Arrive within minutes |
| Can you edit there? | Yes, it’s now a separate copy | No, it’s read-only | Yes, on either side |
| Typical use | Moving a schedule over, once | Holidays, a venue’s or a team’s calendar to read | Dates your team changes |
Refresh times for subscriptions are set by the app reading them: how often each app checks.
Which one in Kapcal
Import: Static
Tools → Calendar syncing → Static brings in an iCal (.ics), a spreadsheet (CSV) or a Kapcal board file (JSON), once. Use it to move a schedule over. Importing a spreadsheet.
Subscription: Subscribe
Subscribe → Subscribed calendars follows another calendar by its link, one way, read every 15 minutes. Subscribe → Calendar link goes the other way: your board in Outlook, Google or Apple Calendar. Calendar links for everyone.
Sync: Synchronize
Synchronize connects one Google calendar, one Outlook calendar and Asana projects both ways, on the Pro plan. Changes made there reach the board within about a minute while it’s open, and changes made on the board are sent at once.
Good to know
Imports add
Importing the same file twice adds everything twice. For revised documents, an AI assistant updates what it added before: how.
Subscriptions are read-only
Their events can be filed and linked on the board, but their title, dates and notes belong to the calendar they come from.
Syncs need permission
Signing in to Google or Microsoft lets Kapcal read and write the calendar you pick; Disconnect stops it and keeps the items as ordinary ones.
Questions
Is “subscribe from URL” the same as “sync”?
No. Subscribing reads a calendar’s file now and then, one way. Syncing connects through the calendar’s own interface and works both ways.
Which is fastest?
A sync: changes arrive within minutes. Subscriptions wait for the reading app’s next check.
Which plan do I need?
Import and export are on every plan. Free includes one subscribed calendar and one calendar link for the organization; two-way sync comes with Pro. See Pricing.