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HomeHQ vs Skylight

HomeHQ vs Skylight Calendar.

The most asked comparison in this category. Skylight has the hardware, the head start and, by its own count, more than a million families. Skylight also cut its prices, and the entry 10" now works out cheaper than HomeHQ over three years. Here is the comparison with that on the table rather than under it.

Coming soon
iPad · iPhone · Built on Google Calendar · 30-day free trial
Our verdict

Choose Skylight if you want a touchscreen that arrives ready to mount. The 10" at $169.99 plus $79/yr Plus comes to $406.99 over three years, which undercuts us.

Choose HomeHQ if you would rather not buy a screen at all: it runs on the iPhones and iPad already in the house, and the same calendar is in everyone's pocket instead of on one wall.

T
Tej Tandon · Founder, HomeHQ
Building HomeHQ from Vancouver — bootstrapped, no investors. I write these guides from running my own family on the same tools.
Verified September 2026
Side by side

HomeHQ vs Skylight Calendar: the rows that decide it.

The honest comparison — including where Skylight wins. Prices and features verified September 2026.

FeatureHomeHQSkylight Calendar
Up-front cost$0$169.99 (10"), $299.99 (15"), $599.99 (27")
Ongoing cost$12/mo (annual)$79/yr Plus
3-year total$432$406.99 (10") or $536.99 (15")
Scan a paper flyer into the calendarIn-app camera scan, includedMagic Import, on Plus, by forwarding
ChoresFixed, rotating or up for grabs, points and streaksChores and rewards, on Plus
Assistant you type or talk toCasa, includedSkylight Assistant, $119.99/yr
Dedicated touchscreenUse your own iPad✓
See the full comparison (11 more rows)
TypeAppHardware (touchscreen) + app
Works without buying hardware✓Yes — you can use Skylight's apps without a device
Family member limitWhole householdUnlimited
Two-way Google Calendar✓✓
Native Android appComing soon✓
Push-to-talk voiceHold the button and speakSkylight Assistant tier
Home Screen widgetsFour, iPhone and iPad
Email → calendarMagic Import, on Plus
Photo mode when idleAmbient mode rotates the household's dayPhoto frame mode
Try before you commit30-day trial4-month return window
Proven at scaleNew in 2026Calendar launched 2020; Skylight says 1M+ families
The yearly math

What you actually pay over 3 years.

HomeHQ
Hardware$0
Year 1$144
Year 2$144
Year 3$144
3-year total$432
Skylight Calendar
Hardware (15" Calendar 2)$299.99
Year 1 Plus subscription$79
Year 2 Plus subscription$79
Year 3 Plus subscription$79
3-year total$536.99
Decide quickly

When Skylight wins, when HomeHQ wins.

Choose Skylight if…

  • →Money, if you want the 10". At $169.99 plus $79 a year it comes to $406.99 over three years, about $25 under HomeHQ, and you get a screen out of it.
  • →You want a touchscreen that arrives ready to mount in one box, with none of the tablet-mounting faff.
  • →You don't own an iPad, and buying one to run HomeHQ would cost more than the Skylight.
  • →Someone in the house is on Android. Skylight supports them today; our Android app is still coming.
  • →You want to forward a school email straight to the calendar. Magic Import does that and HomeHQ does not.
  • →A 15" or 27" screen in the kitchen matters to you more than what is on your phone.

Choose HomeHQ if…

  • →You already have an iPad, and buying a second screen for the same job is hard to justify.
  • →You would rather not own another device that needs replacing, updating and finding a plug for.
  • →You want the family calendar on everyone's phone and Home Screen, not mainly on one screen in one room.
  • →You want the flyer scanner, chores and the assistant in the base price rather than behind Plus and the Assistant tier.
  • →The calendar underneath should stay a Google calendar you own, so you can walk away with it.
Keep the calendar you have

One calendar. Everyone sees it.

HomeHQ runs on the Google Calendar your family already uses. Connect it once and every change shows up everywhere — the kitchen iPad and every iPhone show the same plan. Nothing to migrate, nobody to convince.

  • ✓Change it on any phone — it's right everywhere, including Google Calendar itself.
  • ✓Color-coded per person, automatically.
  • ✓Add an event on your phone; the kitchen display picks it up within a minute.
  • ✓Or snap a paper flyer — HomeHQ reads it and proposes the events; you tick the ones to add.
  • ✓It's your real Google calendar — your data stays in your own account.
The HomeHQ app runs on iPhone and iPad, with a native Android app coming soon. The calendar itself lives in your own Google account.
One source of truth
Add "Lina — judo, Wed 3:30" once. It's on every iPhone in the house.
Synced via Google Calendar
Kitchen iPad · Mom's iPhone · Dad's iPhone — the same plan on all three
Try HomeHQ free for 30 days — without buying Skylight.
$12/month billed annually after the trial, or $14.99 monthly. Cancel anytime through Apple.
HomeHQ vs Skylight Calendar

What people ask before they pick.

For Apple households, probably the closest one. Same job: shared family calendar, chores, colour-coded per person, an always-on kitchen display. The difference is that we don't sell you a screen. On money it is closer than it used to be — $432 over three years against $406.99 for the 10" or $536.99 for the 15", so the entry Skylight is actually the cheaper of the two.

Yes. An iPad mounted in the kitchen running HomeHQ in wall mode does the same job: colour-coded calendar, chores, everyone's day on one screen, dimming at night. Leave it alone for a few minutes and ambient mode cycles through the family's day, each person, and the evening. What you give up is the ready-to-mount simplicity of a device that arrives built for this.

If you don't already have a spare iPad, it is a reasonable buy and over a million families agree. It arrives ready to hang, it does one thing, and nobody in the house tries to watch YouTube on it. If you do have an iPad, the question is whether a second screen earns its shelf space.

Partly. Skylight's Magic Import, on Plus, turns a forwarded email, a PDF, a screenshot or a photo of a flyer into events. HomeHQ has the camera half and includes it in the base price: photograph the school handout, HomeHQ reads it, and you get a review list to tick off before anything reaches the calendar. Forwarding an email to the calendar is something Skylight does and we do not.

To Google's Gemini, through our server, so it can be read. We downscale it first, we send it with your family's names so it can match "Sam's recital" to the right person, and the photo is not kept afterwards. Working out dates and matching people happens on the device. Nothing lands on the calendar until you tick it in the review list.

If your Skylight syncs two ways with Google Calendar, those events are already in your Google account. Point HomeHQ at that calendar and they show up, coloured by person.

Skylight has a 4-month return window, which is genuinely generous, plus a separate 3-year promise on the hardware. HomeHQ has nothing to return: cancel in your Apple ID settings and you are done. Neither of you gets stuck.

Researching Skylight Calendar? Visit their official site →
Keep reading

Related guides and comparisons.

Digital family calendar guide
Every display and app compared, Skylight included.
Family calendar display
Turn the iPad you own into the kitchen screen.
Best family calendar app
Skip the hardware — the software-only options.
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