The Best Calendar Stores

Wednesday, June 7th

2023 Calendar Store Reviews

Calendars

• Cost: Starting from $7.99

If you're looking for the world's best selection of calendars at the most competitive prices, your first visit should be to Calendars. For over 20 years, this online store has been the go-to source of wall calendars, desk calendars, 18-month calendars and planners, including the well-loved Lang brand. This retailer also offers an assortment of games and puzzles, in case you need a little something extra for fun at home.

Wide range of calendars

The Calendars site makes it incredibly easy to find exactly what you want, whether you choose to shop by type of calendar, category, or by typing your preferred theme into the search bar. To give you an idea of just how many options are available with this store, take a look at some of the categories:

• Art/Artists
• Cars/Motorcycles
• Flowers/Gardens
• Food/Drink
• Humor/Comics
• Models/Pinups
• Movies/TV/Music
• Moms/Babies
• Organization
• Pets/Animals
• Pop Culture/Fashion
• Religion/Inspirational
• Science/History
• Sports
• Travel/Scenic
• Weird/Interesting (our personal favorite!)
• Women's Interest

Even more sub-categories

Within each of those categories, you'll find even more specific subcategories to pique your interest. For instance, there are calendars in the Science/History category just for Astronomy or Military, and you can narrow down the Flowers/Gardens group by Flower Art, Roses, Insects and more.

Matching products

Many of the design options come with coordinating products. If you're buying a calendar for someone who really loves butterflies, why not include a matching mug, notepad, or hardcover notebook?

Competitive pricing

Prices at Calendars are competitive, with mini wall calendars typically starting at $7.99 and traditional wall calendars at $14.99. There are regular sales and promotions with this retailer; at the time of our most recent visit, there was a free shipping offer with any purchase of $40+, as well as discounts of 20% on all calendars for the following year and up to 75% off on current-year calendars. Otherwise, expect shipping fees of $6 or $8 for the first item (calendars vs. games/toys/puzzles/gifts), and $0.99 for each additional item.

Generous return policy

This company extends a generous return policy of 30 days. They request that you return your calendar in its original shrink wrap, but exceptions can be made if the calendar doesn't show signs of use - writing, creases, and so on. You can exchange your returned items for anything of equal or lesser value, or you can request a full refund minus the original shipping charges.

Happy customers

Calendars enjoys a positive reputation with its customers. Over nearly 60,000 customer reviews, this retailer had an average of 8.8 out of 10. Many people commented on how they always get their calendars on time and that this online store consistently has the best selection. Others said that they appreciate that Calendars offers puzzles and games that are often in short supply at local brick-and-mortar stores, or that shoppers can get current-year calendars even halfway into the year.

Trustworthy

The few complaints we found centered mostly around the Calendars website, describing coupon codes that didn't work or calendars being out of stock. We didn't encounter any of those issues with the site, and most of the "out of stock" items we found were for the current year (you can imagine that they're probably not printing new current-year calendars after a certain point!). Plus, the BBB gives an "A+" rating and accreditation to Calendars - further evidence that this is an excellent store to trust with your calendar order.

Highest rating

Shopping for a new calendar should be easy, fun, and not expensive. Calendars offers all of that and more, with a terrific selection for all calendar styles and themes, a customer-friendly return policy, and gift-giving options to go along with your purchase. This store earns our highest recommendation for ready-made calendars.

Mixbook

• Cost: Starting from $24.99

Creating a personalized calendar doesn't have to be a hassle - if you make yours with Mixbook. It shouldn't be surprising that a company focused on telling stories with photos has put a lot of thought into their platform for designing calendars - and photo albums, greeting cards, and more. Since 2006, this retailer has printed more than 55 million products for over five million customers!

Easy to design

When using Mixbook to make a calendar, you can put as much or as little effort into the design as you like. If you're not the creative type or you just want something that's quick and easy, start by browsing themes. At the time of this review, there were over 100 customizable, ready-made design options, all of which could be filtered according to the number of photos, size, color palette, or style. You can also browse the theme images and see which ones catch your eye - but unfortunately there's no way to mark favorites or save them to a list for later.

Gorgeous calendar styles

The calendar styles are gorgeous, professionally laid out, even inspiring. One of our favorites is the Full Photo Travel Calendar, letting you revisit some of your favorite destinations - or envision yourself in new ones! When you've decided on a theme you like, just be sure to select the starting month before you click on the "Start Calendar" button. You'll be asked to create an account (or sign in) on the next screen.

Adding photos is a breeze

From there, you upload photos to your Mixbook account. The intro screen refers to making photo books, so don't panic when it describes a process that will be a little different for making a calendar. Adding photos with this service is a breeze: upload from your desktop, add from your phone, or import from Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos or Smugmug. Then, drop them into your calendar wherever you like - even into the dates themselves. Mixbook also has a wide range of stickers, backgrounds and text options. You should also check out the Manage Events button, where you can type in any special days like anniversaries and select the holidays you want to include on your calendar.

Invite others to assist

Need some help or want to invite others to contribute? Click on the "invite collaborators" button at the top of the page. That might be a fun way to create a group calendar that everyone will love: assign each of your siblings a couple of months, make a "best of the besties" calendar with silly memories, you get the idea.

DIY option

All of those steps apply to the DIY version of creating calendars at Mixbook too, except that everything is in your hands. You've got layouts and backgrounds, stickers and custom events, you name it. Scroll down on the main Calendars page until you spot the blue "Start Your Calendar" button, and then the blue "Start A Blank Calendar" button that's just above the themes list. The rest of the process is exactly as described previously, just 100% customizable to your heart's content.

Reasonable pricing

Generally speaking, Mixbook's calendars start at $29.99 for a square 12"x12" size or $24.99 for a landscape-oriented 11"x8.5" size. This company has regular sales and promotions, so chances are good that you won't pay that price when you buy your calendar. For example, we got a pop-up - with an automatically-applied coupon, no need to sign up for an email newsletter or jump through any other hoops - giving us 50% off our first order.

Transparent shipping costs

How about shipping? Unlike some of their rivals, Mixbook is completely transparent with their delivery costs. When you click on the Shipping link at the bottom of the site, you can either enter your items and use the shipping estimator, or browse their pricing chart. You can expect to pay around $5.99 for Budget speed, $8.99 for Standard, $12.99 for Priority and $24.99 for Express for one small calendar. If you're ordering more than one at a time, you'll pay an extra $1.49 each. Those costs go up slightly as you choose calendars in larger sizes.

100% Happiness Guarantee

This company offers a "100% Happiness Guarantee": if you aren't completely thrilled with your calendar, they'll do everything they can to fix it, including a credit towards a future order or a full refund. They don't specify a time limit to that request, but we assume it would be something reasonable yet generous (not two days or two years).

Thousands of customer compliments

And, chances are good that you'll never need to take Mixbook up on that guarantee. If their nearly 9,000 5-star reviews from happy customers are any indication, your calendar is going to turn out exactly as you've designed and imagined it. From "responsive customer service" to "perfect print work", compliments about this online store abound. And, the BBB agrees, giving Mixbook a perfect "A+" rating as well.

Best for custom calendars

If you're looking for a user-friendly platform for making your next customized calendar, Mixbook should be your first choice. With more than 100 templates to choose from, and endless possibilities with your own photos and ideas, combined with an excellent satisfaction guarantee and reputation for quality, Mixbook earns our highest recommendation for personalized calendars.

Zazzle

• Cost: Starting from $12.99

Zazzle is one of the first DIY print shops to hit the market, way back in 2005. They feature the work of independent Designers and Makers, while still giving you the chance to create your own projects from scratch.

Overwhelming options

Zazzle offers a somewhat overwhelming blend of create-your-own and pre-made calendars from artists and photographers. The downside is that you might have a hard time sorting through all of your options - but the obvious upside is that you can get a truly unique calendar that you won't find on other retailers' sites.

Filters are your friend

However, aside from just browsing until you stumble across something you like, you'll probably have a hard time finding a ready-made calendar by subject or theme. You can filter the options by format, size, officially licensed, events and occasions, and a few other criteria - and that's where you might get some specifics that make sense to choose from, like Disney or "For Kids".

Odd search results

But even those results felt a little off. Should random people be allowed to buy a calendar featuring someone else's kids? And why would anyone want to buy a calendar that was more than four years old? It felt like we were looking at calendars people made for their own families and listed them hoping to make a little money for themselves. Most of these calendars are priced at $22 and up, which is on the expensive side compared to most commercially-produced designs.

Confusing customization process

How does Zazzle do with make-your-own calendar options? We found ourselves almost equally confused there. Zazzle doesn't have a dedicated page just for "Create Your Own" calendar designs. They're lumped in with all of the other calendars in their inventory, so you have to work your way through and figure out if the ones that catch your eye are templates you can use.

Start with a blank page

The first result in the calendar listings is a customizable option, a basic two-page small calendar design for $18.95 each. You're literally starting with a blank page with this design, adding your own images and selecting the holidays you want featured (US? US + Jewish?), culture (US? Canada? New Zealand?), grid transparency and so on.

Scroll down

You might have an easier time if you scroll down to the bottom of that calendar and look at "other designs you might like" - especially if you prefer a customized calendar without so much work on your part! We found one cute template there that included a birthday list and easy personalization options, but all of the layout and design was already done. That calendar was priced at $20.05 and had a rating of 4.8/5 stars from other Zazzle customers who used it as their template.

Why do we have to do that?

Another frustrating aspect of shopping on Zazzle is the fact that you have to create an account just to get a shipping cost estimate for your order. We would definitely prefer to have a calculator in the shopping cart or at least a ballpark estimate in their policies, rather than having to sign up for their site first. In other words, your shipping costs will entirely depend on what you order and you'll have to create a user account to find out.

Stellar satisfaction guarantee

On the other hand, one big advantage to buying a calendar from Zazzle is their stellar satisfaction guarantee. If you get your calendar and don't love it, you can return it for a replacement or refund within 30 days - even if it's a customized product. You'll have to pay for the return shipping costs, but it's still a great policy compared with many other calendar stores'.

Patience is the key

That return policy is one of the most significant factors in our ranking of Zazzle for buying calendars. Even though the site has a less-than-intuitive shopping process, the range of both ready-made and 100% customizable templates gives options to virtually every customer - so even if the outcome isn't what you hope for, you can easily get your money back. If you have the patience to sort through all of the options and to make any desired personalization, you'll probably come out with a calendar you love when buying from Zazzle.

PS Print

• Cost: Starting from $322 for a minimum order of 25 calendars

PsPrint is part of the Deluxe brand family, which may be more familiar to you as a store for ordering bank checks. While you won't find any ready-made calendars at this retailer, it's a fantastic choice if you're looking to design your own and have them printed in bulk.

Minimum order size

For example, maybe your youth sports organization wants to create a cute fundraiser featuring the athletes in action, or you want a funny holiday gift to give out at the office. The sky's the limit with PsPrint, as long as you're willing to order at least 25 calendars at a time. Quantities are incremental, so you'll be ordering 25, 50, 100, 150 or more - there's no option for customizing the amount beyond the ones given in the dropdown box.

Simple design process

To put together your custom calendar, you'll have to specify your preferences in three different areas: Product Options, Design & Proofing, and Delivery Options. PsPrint helpfully describes everything, so if you're not sure about the differences between paper stock weights or what foil stamping looks like, you won't be left in the dark. You'll also want to check out the other tabs for Print Guidelines and Tips & Ideas, especially if this is your first time designing a calendar.

20 point quality checklist

We appreciate that PsPrint puts your order through a 20-point quality checklist before printing off the calendars. This is included at no extra charge, and ensures that any artwork has the right dimensions, the copy won't get cut off, and so on.

Low price guarantee

The company provides even more customer-friendly perks like their low price and customer satisfaction guarantees. With respect to the latter, you have 7 days from the date of delivery to contact PsPrint's customer service team, who will work with you to resolve the issue. The company isn't responsible for any mistakes you made during the process (such as, you decide you don't like the finishing options you chose), and their 20-point checklist should make it less likely that there will be any quality errors that make it to the print stage. As for the low price guarantee, if you find a lower advertised price for calendars with the same options within 7 days of placing your order, PsPrint will give you a refund of the difference.

Solid reputation

PsPrint has a solid reputation with its customers. Over nearly 75,000 reviews, this company has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Many of their 5-star reviews come from loyal clients who have been using PsPrint for their calendars, business cards and other professional printing needs for many years. This is definitely a service you can trust.

Great option for large orders

But, for the average person looking to buy calendars, PsPrint has limited options. They're a great option for an organization or business that wants a customized calendar in bulk quantities, especially with their free quality assurance checklist, but not for someone who just wants a cute design with puppies or a one-off with a year's worth of family photos to display. For that reason, PsPrint earns a 3.5-star rating: they're reputable and offer high-quality calendars, but they're best suited for large-scale orders.

All Calendars

• Cost: Starting from $11.99 to $14.99

All Calendars specializes in wall calendars across a variety of themes. These include Animals, Art & Photography, Nature, Sports & Recreation, and several others. You won't find desk calendars, 365-day calendars, or design-your-own options here.

Calendar themes and categories

If you have a specific calendar theme in mind, you can enter it in the search bar at the top of the site. Otherwise, All Calendars' themes are listed across the top of the page and in a category list on the left side and you can browse whichever type of calendar piques your interest.

Limited choices

While the range of themes is good, some of the choices within each category are limited. For example, in the Celebrities section, there were only 14 options which included Iron Maiden, Michael Jackson, and Jimi Hendrix. Maybe All Calendars is figuring that the demographic of people buying wall calendars trends to the years when those artists were popular - the only semi-current celebrities were the Obamas and Taylor Swift.

Several niche calendars

On the other hand, it was amusing to see just how specific some of All Calendars' options got. Did you know you can get a calendar featuring nothing but grain elevators? You'll find that under General Interest. How about a year of the steam railways of Great Britain? Yes, you can buy that too, under the Transportation category. We didn't find any calendars that were priced over $14.99.

Website needs updating

We were hoping to see some site updates compared with our last review, but no such luck. The style of the All Calendars website still screams early 2000's, and the copyright date was over a year old at the time of our most recent visit.

Good reputation

Still, All Calendars maintains a decent reputation. Their parent company, Animal Den, has an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau, so you can rest assured that if you buy a calendar from this retailer, it'll be as-described and delivered on time. There were lots of customer testimonials on the site too - but no way of knowing if they were left yesterday or five years ago.

Lackluster return policy

And, while this store's return policy is somewhat lackluster, just 15 days after delivery, your purchase is covered by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can also expect a flat-rate shipping fee of $4.95 for 1-2 calendars, with increases based on the total cost of your order.

Won't be your favorite

All Calendars probably won't be your favorite site to shop for your next calendar. The clunky website design and less-than-robust product selection make it likely you'll have an easier time finding what you need elsewhere. But, this store isn't a horrible place to shop, so if you really want twelve months of Tall Ships photos or statues of the Buddha and can't find your calendar at one of the higher-rated retailers we evaluated, you shouldn't be afraid to make your purchase here.

Mega Calendars

• Cost: Starting from $8.95

Originally started in Orlando as a small brick-and-mortar distributor of calendars more than 20 years ago, MegaCalendars has since relocated to Michigan while still offering the same quality and customer service as before. This family-owned and operated business is committed to serving children and the local community, demonstrated by donations of photos for projects and support of fundraising programs.

Recent customer purchases

MegaCalendars has definitely improved the functionality of their website since the previous time we evaluated the store. You might find it a little distracting to see the pop-ups in the lower left corner of the screen, telling you which calendars were just purchased by another customer and where that shopper lives. On the other hand, maybe it'll give you ideas for your next calendar. While we were visiting, customers bought calendars featuring Bruce Lee, Afghan hounds, and James Dean.

Shopping is a breeze

Shopping by category is a breeze, with options ranging from Animal and Americana to Sports and Travel. This is also one of the only calendar stores in our review that carries Christmas Advent calendars year-round; while you may find many of them marked as "sold out" when it's not the holiday season, you might be able to have a little "Christmas in July" with the ones still in stock.

Limited options

Within each category, however, we were still disappointed to see limited options. For example, under the Science & History theme, there were only three choices: Northern Lights, Spaced Out, and Moon (current year only, and sold out). MegaCalendars' rivals usually had dozens, if not hundreds, in that category alone.

Disappointing gift section

Since our last review, MegaCalendars also added a Gift Ideas section to give you even more options while shopping. All of the available products are pet-themed, like socks with dogs on them or a pet memorial wind chime, and there were only about a dozen items to choose from. That's not exactly the most robust selection they could offer, and we hope to see more options in the future.

Pricing was a bit higher

Prices at this store are slightly higher than average. Most retailers offer wall calendars for $14.99, while the majority of the styles sold by MegaCalendars are $15.99. That's not a huge difference, but it was something we noticed.

Shipping costs vary

Shipping prices are difficult to determine without actually putting items in your shopping cart. For a single calendar shipped via standard USPS First Class, your cost will probably be around $5.40. But, if you sign up for the MegaCalendars email newsletter as a new customer, you can get free shipping on your first order. Just look for the pop-up as you browse the site.

Unforgiving return policy

Not all of the changes to this online calendar store have been positive: MegaCalendars has a less generous return policy than before. You now only have 7 days to send back your items for a refund, and they must be in unopened/new condition to be eligible.

Good reputation

At least the company still has a good reputation overall. The BBB rates MegaCalendars as an "A+" business, and the handful of customer ratings we tracked down were a solid 3 out of 5 stars: not impressive, but not disappointing either.

Areas to improve

We give this company credit for making much-needed improvements to their website, helping customers find the calendars they want more quickly than before. However, to really compete with their rivals, MegaCalendars needs a much bigger selection of calendars, clearer shipping rates, and might want to reconsider their new-and-not-very-improved return policy.