Five online advent calendar makers, compared
What each one costs, whether it needs an account, where the calendar is kept and what fits behind a door, read off each maker’s own site on the date above. We make one of the five, so the first column is ours and the rest are quoted, not scored.
Side by side
| Feature | Advent Center | MyAdvent | AdventMyFriend | Advent Calendar Maker | Türchen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free for personal use | Yes, all of it | Yes; Pro tier for extras | Yes | 1 calendar; $199/yr for more | Yes, with ads; €5 and €30 tiers |
| Account needed | No | — | No | Yes | — |
| Where the calendar is kept | Inside the link | On their site | On their site | On their site | On their site |
| Doors | 1 to 31, any start date | Custom start and end | 24 | 24 | Custom period |
| Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Photos | Upload or by address | Yes | Yes | Paid tier | Yes |
| Video | YouTube, Vimeo | YouTube; own files on Pro | YouTube | YouTube, Vimeo; uploads paid | Yes |
| Music | Spotify | Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer on Pro | — | — | — |
| Voice messages | No | Yes | — | — | — |
| Links | Yes | Pro | Yes | Paid tier | Embeds |
| Games | No | — | — | — | Quiz, memo, puzzle |
| Themes | 3 | — | 6 backgrounds | 100+ | Several |
| Phone apps | No, browser only | iOS and Android | — | — | — |
| Ads | None | None for personal use | — | — | On the free tier |
| Password protection | No; the link is the key | Pro | — | Enterprise tier | — |
| For teams and clients | Same tool, free | Separate product | Mentioned | $199 and $1,299 per year | Separate business section |
| Languages | English | English, German | English, German, French | English, German, Danish | English, German |
Which one, for whom
Advent Center
Everything is free, the calendar is encoded into the link itself so nothing is stored anywhere, and the length is whatever you say from one door to thirty-one. The trade is that there are three themes, no games, no voice messages and no app: what goes behind a door is a note, a photo, a video, a song or a page.
MyAdvent
The only one of the five with iOS and Android apps, and the only one where a door can hold a recorded voice message. Personal use is free and without ads; uploading your own video files, embedding music and password protection are on the Pro tier.
AdventMyFriend
No registration, six backgrounds, and text, images, YouTube videos, GIFs and links behind the doors. Twenty-four doors, no more and no fewer.
Advent Calendar Maker
More than a hundred designs and the most complete business tier: analytics, custom branding, custom domains and team accounts. The free tier is one calendar with text and YouTube or Vimeo embeds, and it needs an account; images, links and uploads start at $199 a year.
Türchen
Quiz, memo and puzzle doors alongside text, photos and videos, with a custom calendar period. The free tier carries ads and 50 MB of storage; €5 removes the ads and €30 buys the Pro features for six months.
The one with nothing to sign up for.
Fill the doors, copy the link, send it. Free, no account, and the calendar travels inside the link.
Frequently asked questions
Which online advent calendar maker is completely free?
Advent Center's is free in full: every kind of door, any length, as many calendars as you like, no watermark. AdventMyFriend is free with a fixed 24 doors. MyAdvent is free for personal use, with uploads, music and passwords on a paid Pro tier. Advent Calendar Maker's free tier is one calendar with text and YouTube or Vimeo embeds. Türchen's free tier carries ads and 50 MB of storage.
Start buildingWhich makers need no account?
Advent Center and AdventMyFriend both say no registration is required. Advent Calendar Maker asks for a free account before you build. MyAdvent and Türchen do not say on the pages checked.
Which one stores the calendar nowhere?
Only Advent Center's. The whole calendar is packed into the link, in the part of a URL a browser never sends to a server, so there is no copy on any site, no account and nothing to delete. The others host the calendar on their own site and give you a link to it.
Which has a phone app?
MyAdvent, on iOS and Android. The other four, Advent Center included, run in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install for the person who receives the calendar.
Which lets me choose how many doors?
Advent Center takes any length from 1 to 31 doors and any start date. MyAdvent and Türchen let you set a custom period. AdventMyFriend and Advent Calendar Maker are 24 doors.