Availability calendar
An availability calendar is a visual, month-by-month display of which dates a rental is open or booked, usually embedded directly on the host's own website. It's typically synced from one or more iCal feeds so it also shows bookings made on other platforms, such as Airbnb or Vrbo.
A basic availability calendar just shows open and closed dates. More capable versions add color-coded statuses, custom labels for blocked ranges (owner stays, maintenance), light and dark theme matching, and multiple languages, so the widget looks native to the site it's embedded on rather than like a third-party plugin.
An availability calendar on its own doesn't take a reservation: it's a display, not a booking form. Pairing it with a booking widget is what turns "here's what's open" into an actual request or reservation.
Why it matters for hosts
RentalBeam's Availability Calendar Widget is free to start: one calendar, one iCal source, and a multi-month view with an embed code, available on every plan. Plus adds custom colors, a custom background, managed dates with labels, your rate under each open day, and iCal export; branding stays visible until it's removed on a paid plan.
Further reading More detail on how this works with RentalBeam.
Related terms Other glossary terms that come up alongside this one.
See this in the product.
See the availability calendar widget