Calendar and contacts are the boring part of degoogling, and the part most guides skip. They’re also the data that breaks quietly. A recurring meeting loses its exceptions, or a contact vanishes when you remove your Google account from the phone. This page covers the full move, from export to the moment you switch off Google sync.
Pick Your Path First
- Path A uses one private app (Proton or Tuta). It’s the simplest and most private route. You use the provider’s own calendar app instead of the one built into your phone.
- Path B uses standard sync (CalDAV and CardDAV) through Fastmail, Posteo, mailbox.org or Nextcloud. Your events and contacts appear in your phone’s own apps, in Thunderbird, and in any app that supports these standards. These services aren’t end-to-end encrypted, so you’re trusting the provider (or yourself, with Nextcloud).
Quick Comparison
| Alternative | Best for | Price (Oct 2026) | Encryption | Based in | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton Calendar and Contacts | Proton Mail users | Free (3 calendars); Mail Plus about $4.99/month or $3.99/month yearly | Encrypted event details | Switzerland | Apps, yes |
| Tuta Calendar | Most encryption for the money | Free (1 calendar); Revolutionary about €3/month yearly | End-to-end | Germany | Yes |
| Fastmail | Your phone’s built-in apps | About $6/month, or $5/month yearly | Not end-to-end | Australia | No |
| Nextcloud + DAVx⁵ | Full control, self-hosting | Free software; you run the server | Your own server | You choose (DAVx⁵ is made in the EU) | Yes |
| Posteo / mailbox.org | Cheap European CalDAV and CardDAV | Posteo about €1/month; mailbox.org Standard about €3/month yearly | Posteo has optional encryption | Germany | Partly |
The Alternatives, One by One
Proton Calendar and Contacts
Pairs with Proton Mail for invites and RSVPs, encrypts event details, and can subscribe to external calendar (ICS) links such as holidays or sports schedules. Proton Contacts comes free with every Proton account.
- Pick it because one import moves mail, calendars and contacts together.
- Watch for these deal-breakers. Don’t count on Proton Calendar appearing in your phone’s built-in calendar or in Thunderbird. Easy Switch doesn’t support Google Workspace or custom-domain Gmail accounts, so those need the file import below.
- It’s free for 3 calendars. Mail Plus (25 calendars) is about $4.99/month, or $3.99/month billed yearly.
Tuta Calendar
Tuta, from Germany, encrypts more of your data than any other option here. Its calendar has been a standalone app since October 2024, and a Thunderbird add-on arrived in February 2026.
- Pick it for maximum encryption at a low price.
- Deal-breakers include the lack of CalDAV, so no built-in phone apps. The free plan has only 1 calendar, and free accounts are deleted after 6 months without a login.
- It’s free for 1 calendar, and Revolutionary, with unlimited calendars, is about €3/month billed yearly.
Fastmail
The most convenient choice for Path B. Fastmail calendars show up in the iPhone’s Calendar app, in Thunderbird and in Android apps through DAVx⁵. Contacts work natively on iPhone and Mac. Its built-in importer signs in to Google and copies your calendars and contacts (and mail) for you.
- The deal-breakers are that it’s not end-to-end encrypted and there’s no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
- Individual costs about $6/month, or $5/month billed yearly. Duo (about $10/month) and Family (about $14/month) plans cover more people.
Nextcloud With DAVx⁵, Fossify Calendar or Etar
Nextcloud is free software you run on your own server or a rented one, with calendars and contacts built in. On Android, DAVx⁵ syncs it into the phone (free on F-Droid, a small fee on Google Play). Then any calendar app can show your events. Fossify Calendar is the community favorite, and Etar works too, though it has no sync of its own and relies on DAVx⁵.
- The deal-breaker is that you maintain the server, its updates and its backups.
Posteo and mailbox.org
Two German email providers with standard CalDAV and CardDAV. Posteo costs about €1/month, accepts anonymous payment and offers optional calendar encryption. mailbox.org Standard costs about €3/month billed yearly (€4 monthly) and supports custom domains.
Keeping Contacts on the Phone Only
The most private contacts setup is no sync at all. Store contacts on the phone with an offline app such as Fossify Contacts, or “On My iPhone”, and back up the vCard file yourself every few months.
If contacts are all you’re moving, our Google Contacts alternatives page covers address books on their own, including iCloud Contacts.
Shared Family Calendars
Families are where calendar moves stall. There are three ways through.
- Everyone on one provider. A family plan puts every calendar under one roof. Proton Family is about $29.99/month ($23.99/month billed yearly), and Fastmail Family about $14/month ($11/month billed yearly). With Nextcloud, you create an account for each person. Test sharing during a trial before you move the household.
- A mixed household. Calendars that others share with you aren’t in your export. Ask your partner to share the calendar with your new address, or to send you its subscription (ICS) link. Proton Calendar can subscribe to ICS links, as can most calendar apps. Subscriptions are usually read-only.
- Leave the shared calendar on Google for now. Partial is fine. Move your own calendar and come back to the family one when everyone is ready.
How to Switch From Google Calendar and Contacts
Keep these points in mind before you start.
- Create your new account first and sign in to it on a computer.
- Do the exports on a computer. Google’s phone apps can’t export calendars.
- Have every phone and tablet that syncs your Google calendar at hand. You’ll change settings on each one.
- Pick a quiet week, not the day before a trip or a big deadline.
Start by Exporting Your Calendars
- On a computer, open Google Calendar, click the gear icon and choose Settings.
- In the left menu click Import & export, then Export. You get a zip file with one .ics file for each calendar you own.
- For a single calendar, open its Settings and sharing page and click Export calendar.
- Unzip the file and check that you have one .ics file per calendar.
This only works on a computer, not in the phone app. If you’re already making a Takeout archive, its Calendar entry gives you the same .ics files (see our Google Takeout guide).
Then Export Your Contacts
- Open contacts.google.com.
- Select everyone with Selection Actions → All.
- Click More actions → Export, choose vCard, and click Export.
Google keeps Other contacts (people Gmail saved automatically) in a separate list. Export those too if you want them. The Google CSV format is only useful for re-importing into Google, so pick vCard.
Import Both Into the New Service
- For Proton, open Settings → Import via Easy Switch in Proton Mail, choose More import options, then Google, sign in, and tick Select all permissions. Tick Contacts and Calendars (and Emails if you’re moving mail too). Calendars land in a new calendar by default, or you can choose Merge with calendar, and contacts come across with their groups. Our Gmail to Proton Mail guide covers the email side.
- For Proton from files, go to Settings → Import in Proton Calendar and choose your .ics file. In Proton Contacts, use Import and choose the .vcf file.
- In Fastmail, open Settings → Migration → Import, choose Gmail, sign in with Google, and select calendars and contacts. Don’t run two imports at once, or you’ll get duplicates.
- In Tuta, Nextcloud, Posteo and mailbox.org, use the import option in the calendar and contacts settings, one .ics file per calendar and the .vcf file for contacts.
Then re-subscribe to holiday, sports and school calendars using their public ICS links, and spot-check a few recurring events, reminders and all-day events.
Sync the New Account to Your Android Phone
Proton and Tuta users just install the provider’s app. For Fastmail, Posteo, mailbox.org or Nextcloud, follow these steps.
- Install DAVx⁵ from F-Droid (free) or Google Play.
- If your provider uses app passwords for third-party apps, create one for DAVx⁵ in its security settings.
- In DAVx⁵, add an account and sign in with the server address from your provider’s help pages, your user name and the password.
- Tick the calendars and address books you want on the phone.
- Open Fossify Calendar, turn on CalDAV sync in its settings, and choose the new calendars. Etar and most other calendar apps simply show them.
- In your contacts app, make the new account the default for new contacts.
Sync the New Account to Your iPhone
iPhone supports CalDAV and CardDAV natively. Apple moves these menus between iOS versions, so the path below is for iOS 18 and later.
- Open Settings → Apps → Calendar → Calendar Accounts → Add Account → Other, then choose Add CalDAV Account.
- Enter the server address, your user name and your password (or app password).
- For contacts, do the same under Settings → Apps → Contacts, choosing Add CardDAV Account.
- In the Calendar and Contacts settings, set the new account as the default.
Turn off Google Sync as the Very Last Step
- On Android, open Settings → Passwords & accounts (also called Users & accounts or Manage accounts), tap your Google account, then Account sync, and turn off Calendar and Contacts.
- On iPhone, open Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts, tap your Gmail account, and switch off Contacts and Calendars. On iOS 17 and earlier, go to Settings → Mail → Accounts.
- Merge any duplicate contacts.
- Tell people who invite you to use your new address. Once you’ve checked everything moved, empty or delete your Google calendars, or invites will keep going to Gmail.
- Delete your contacts from Google.
Troubleshooting
- Everything shows up twice. You probably imported twice (for example through Easy Switch and from a file), or Google sync is still on. Turn off Google sync, then merge the duplicates.
- Some events are an hour off. Check the time zone setting in your new calendar, and look for all-day events that moved to a different day.
- Contacts don’t appear on Android. Open your contacts app’s settings, check which accounts it displays, and make sure the DAVx⁵ account is included.
- Android sync stops after a day or two. Let DAVx⁵ run in the background by excluding it from battery optimization.
- A shared calendar is missing. It wasn’t yours to export. Ask the owner to share it with your new address.