You saw a Skylight on someone's kitchen wall, the whole family's week in color, and thought it would fix the chaos at your house. Then you saw the price and started looking for a Skylight calendar alternative that does the same thing for less, or for nothing.
This post breaks Skylight down into the three jobs people actually buy it for, gives a free way to do each one, and is honest about when the hardware is worth the money. Prices are what Skylight's own site listed on October 29, 2026.
TL;DR
- You can copy most of what a Skylight does for free with a shared Google Calendar and a printed year on the fridge.
- Skylight shows day, week, month and schedule views, so neither the device nor its app gives you a whole year at once.
- The common mistake is buying a screen to fix a habit problem, when nobody in the house is adding events yet.
Who this is for
- Stay-at-home parent: You run the family schedule and want everyone to see it without paying for a device.
- Working parent: You already live in Google Calendar at work and want the same events visible at home.
- Co-parent: You split weeks between two houses and need one schedule both homes can see and print.
- Nanny: You need school breaks, activities and days off in one place the parents also update.
- Teacher: You plan around a school year and want family trips lined up against term dates.
What a Skylight actually costs
Skylight's compare page lists four calendars: a 10 inch model starting at $149.99, a refurbished 15 inch starting at $249.99, the 15 inch Calendar 2 starting at $289.99, and the 27 inch Calendar Max starting at $569.99.
On top of that there is Calendar Plus. The Calendar 2 product page says Plus is $79 a year after a free first month. Plus adds rewards (star points kids earn toward a prize), meal planning, a photo screensaver, Magic Import for pulling events from emails and pictures, and Disney Mode. Three years of Plus alone is $237.
The free side is bigger than people expect. Without Plus you still get syncing with Google, Apple, Outlook and Cozi calendars, the chore chart, custom lists and the mobile app.
Job 1: everyone sees the same schedule
This is the main reason people want a Skylight, and the free version is a shared Google Calendar. Skylight itself syncs from Google Calendar, so the events have to live somewhere like that anyway.
- Make one new Google Calendar called something like Family.
- Share it with every adult who should add events, with permission to make changes.
- Give each person or kid a color by making one calendar each, or by color coding events.
- Put the Google Calendar app on every phone, and on an old tablet if you have one lying around for the kitchen counter.
What you lose is the always-on wall screen. What you keep is the part that does the work: one list of events everyone can edit.
Job 2: chores and rewards for the kids
The chore chart is free on Skylight, but the reward system is part of Plus. A paper chart on the fridge does both jobs for the price of printer ink.
If you want it in a spreadsheet, the CHECK layout in Big Year Premium puts three checkboxes on every date of the year. Give each box a meaning (made the bed, fed the dog, homework done), print a month or the full year, and let the kids tick boxes. Big Year Premium is $10 once for 10 templates, with no yearly plan.
Job 3: seeing the whole year at once
This is where a Skylight doesn't help. Its product page lists day, week, month and schedule views. That covers what's happening Thursday. It doesn't show you that spring break, a cousin's wedding and a work trip all landed in the same three weeks of April.
For that, print a year. Big Year is a free Google Sheet that puts all 12 months of 2027 on one page. You type school breaks, birthdays and trips into the SETTINGS tab and those days highlight on the calendar. Then the DOWNLOAD tab makes a print-ready PDF in Letter, A4, Tabloid (11 x 17 in) or A3. Tabloid is the size I'd pick for the fridge or the wall by the door.
A good setup for a lot of families is both: Google Calendar on every phone for this week, and a printed year on the wall for the big stuff.
When the Skylight is worth buying
The hardware makes sense in a few cases, and it's fair to say so.
- Your kids are too young for phones and need a screen they can tap to see their day.
- A grandparent or caregiver won't use an app but will glance at a wall.
- You want the photo frame anyway, and the calendar is a bonus.
- You'll use meal planning and rewards every week, so the $79 a year for Plus pays for itself in your house.
If none of those fit, try the free setup for a month first. If the family actually keeps the shared calendar up to date, then a screen is a nice upgrade. If they don't, the screen will show an empty week in color. The longer comparison is on the Big Year vs Skylight page.
Common pitfalls
- Buying before testing: Run a shared Google Calendar for four weeks first, so you know the family will add events.
- Forgetting the subscription: Count Calendar Plus at $79 a year if you want rewards or meal planning, not just the device price.
- Only planning a week ahead: Put school breaks and trips on a printed year so clashes show up months early.
- One person doing all the entry: Give every adult edit access on the shared calendar, or it stays one parent's job.
FAQ
Is there a free alternative to Skylight calendar?
Yes. A shared Google Calendar covers the synced schedule, and a printed one-page year like Big Year covers the long view. You give up the wall touchscreen.
Does Skylight require a subscription?
No. Syncing, the chore chart, lists and the app are free. Calendar Plus, listed at $79 a year after a free first month, adds rewards, meal planning, Magic Import and more.
Does Skylight have a year view?
Skylight's Calendar 2 page lists day, week, month and schedule views. For a whole year on one page you'd print a year calendar alongside it.
Can I use an old tablet as a family calendar?
Yes. Sign it in to a Google account that can see the shared family calendar and leave the calendar app open on the counter.
What's the cheapest Skylight calendar?
On October 29, 2026, Skylight's compare page listed the 10 inch Calendar starting at $149.99. Check their site for current pricing.
Planning next year? Get the Big Year, a free 2027 calendar in Google Sheets.
