Hearth vs Skylight (2026): Prices, Subscriptions, and Which to Buy
Comparing the two big family-calendar displays? Here's the short version: Skylight is the calendar-first option with a lower entry price and an optional subscription. Hearth is the routines-first option — beloved by families managing ADHD and complex mornings — with a higher price and a required membership. And there's a third path that costs almost nothing, which we'll get to.
Head to head
| Skylight Calendar | Hearth Display | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $299 (15″ Calendar 2) / $629 (27″ Max) | $699 (27″, sometimes $599 on promo) |
| Subscription | Optional Plus, $79/yr | $9/mo after the first month |
| Orientation | Landscape or portrait | Portrait |
| Core strength | Shared calendar, meal planning | Routines, to-dos, visual schedules |
| Chores | Chore chart; rewards need Plus | Routine and task system built in |
| Realistic 3-year cost | $629 + $237 ≈ $866 (Max with Plus) | $699 + ~$324 ≈ $1,023 |
Prices checked July 2026.
Where Skylight wins
Skylight nails the core job: your Google, Apple, or Outlook calendars merged into one big, color-coded family view. The interface is polished, the companion app is solid, and the 15″ model's $299 entry price is the lowest way into a premium dedicated display. Meal planning and its AI-powered "Magic Import" (photograph a school newsletter, get calendar events) are genuinely useful — but note they live behind the $79/year Plus plan. Read more on what Skylight's subscription does and doesn't cover.
Where Hearth wins
Hearth is designed around routines, not just events: visual morning and evening checklists kids work through themselves, to-do assignments, and a portrait layout that reads like a poster. Families managing ADHD consistently praise it — that focus is real differentiation, and the build quality feels premium. The catch: it's the most expensive option in the category, and the $9/month membership isn't optional, which pushes the three-year cost past $1,000.
The honest bottom line
- Pick Skylight if the job is "everyone sees the family calendar" and you want the lower entry price.
- Pick Hearth if the job is "our mornings are chaos and the kids need visual routines," and the price doesn't sting.
The third option: don't buy a screen at all
Both products are, at heart, a screen showing your family's day. If you have an old tablet, a TV, or $100 for a Raspberry Pi, free software gives you the same glanceable calendar — with chore rotations and countdowns — for no subscription at all.
That's what DinkyDash does (free, open source, and with an AI-written daily brief neither Skylight nor Hearth offers). See how to build one in an afternoon, or compare all seven Skylight alternatives.