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Hand-rolled links and .ics files review
Hand-rolled links and .ics files is free. Building Google Calendar, Outlook.com, Office 365 and Yahoo "add event" URLs by hand and offering a downloadable .ics (RFC 5545) file for Apple Calendar, Outlook desktop and other clients. No cost or account, but no updates after adding, no RSVP and no analytics unless you build them.
Prices last verified . Checked weekly.
Prices, limits and features come from Hand-rolled links and .ics files's own published pages (linked under Evidence). Functional check not done yet.
Building Google Calendar, Outlook.com, Office 365 and Yahoo "add event" URLs by hand and offering a downloadable .ics (RFC 5545) file for Apple Calendar, Outlook desktop and other clients. No cost or account, but no updates after adding, no RSVP and no analytics unless you build them.
Visit Hand-rolled links and .ics filesHand-rolled links and .ics files pricing and limits
| Plan | Free |
|---|---|
| Billed monthly | Free |
| Billed yearly | Free |
Limits as worded by Hand-rolled links and .ics files
- Free: No usage limits. Practical limits are URL length (browsers, proxies and email clients) and what each calendar's URL parameters support.
Free trial: No. Not applicable.
What it is
The baseline: build each calendar’s “add event” URL yourself and offer an .ics file (RFC 5545) for everything else. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo don’t publish official docs for these URLs. The formats below come from the community reference by the Interaction Design Foundation, last re-checked on 2026-08-19.
Google Calendar
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/render?action=TEMPLATE&text=Title&dates=20261231T193000Z/20261231T223000Z&details=Text&location=Place
All-day: dates=20261231/20270101 (the end date is exclusive). Optional parameters: ctz=Europe/Berlin (time zone) and recur=RRULE:FREQ=WEEKLY.
Outlook.com / Office 365
https://outlook.live.com/calendar/deeplink/compose?path=/calendar/action/compose&rru=addevent&subject=Title&startdt=2026-12-31T19:30:00Z&enddt=2026-12-31T22:30:00Z&body=Text&location=Place
For Office 365, use outlook.office.com instead. Add allday=true for all-day events. The reference lists no recurrence parameter.
Yahoo
https://calendar.yahoo.com/?v=60&TITLE=Title&ST=20261231T193000&ET=20261231T223000&DESC=Text&in_loc=Place
Yahoo has no time zone parameter and ignores a trailing Z, so times are read as the user’s local time.
.ics file: a text/calendar file with a VEVENT, served for download.
Pricing in plain words
It’s free, with no account and no limits. The cost is your time to build and maintain it.
Things to watch
- Apple Calendar and Outlook desktop have no web URL. They need the .ics file.
- The URL formats are undocumented and can change without notice.
- Updates don’t reach people: once someone adds the event, later changes won’t show unless you send a new file or run a subscription feed.
- There are no analytics or RSVPs unless you add your own tracking redirect and form.
- Time zones differ by service. Use UTC for Google and Outlook, and Yahoo can’t take a time zone at all.
- Long descriptions run into URL length limits in email clients and browsers, so keep URLs under about 2,000 characters.
Questions about Hand-rolled links and .ics files
Does Hand-rolled links and .ics files have a free plan?
Yes, Hand-rolled links and .ics files has a free plan.
What happens when you hit the Hand-rolled links and .ics files limit?
Not documented by the vendor.
Evidence
- iCalendar (.ics) specification, RFC 5545, checked · archived copy
- Community reference for Google, Outlook web and Yahoo URL parameters; files state last check 2026-08-19, checked · archived copy
- Google: calendar.google.com/calendar/render?action=TEMPLATE; params text, dates, ctz, details, location, recur, add, checked
- Outlook.com / Office 365 deeplink compose URL; 'There is no official documentation'; ~31,000 char server URL ceiling measured 2026-08-19, checked
- Yahoo: calendar.yahoo.com/?v=60; no timezone parameter; trailing Z not honoured; 'There is no official documentation', checked