Time Zone Converter and Call Planner

This free time zone converter shows the time in any city or zone next to yours, live, and converts any time you type. Add your partner's city, set when you each sleep and work, and it shows the hours you are both free, a fair time for a standing call, and the dates when daylight saving time moves that call. No sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.

How does the converter work?

1. Add the places. Type a city, a country, or a zone like EST, CET or IST. The first row starts on your own time zone. You can add up to six places for a group or a meeting.
2. Convert a time. Type a time into any row, or drag across the day bars. Every row shows the same moment in its own local time, and says when it is already the next day.
3. Set your hours. Tap the moon on a row to set sleep and work or class hours, with separate weekday and weekend times. The bars turn dark when someone sleeps and striped when they work.
4. Plan the call. The planner shows the best window, how many hours a week you share, and a standing call with each day in every local time. Add it to your calendar or send the link to your partner.

Planning a work call across time zones instead? Switch the day bars to Work meeting and the planner looks for hours when everyone is at work.

What is a good call time for our time difference?

These are typical windows if you both sleep from 11 pm to 7 am and work from 9 to 5 on weekdays. Use the planner above with your real hours for an exact answer.

• 3 hours (New York and Los Angeles): easy. 5 to 8 pm in the earlier city is 8 to 11 pm in the later one.
• 5 hours (New York and London): 5 to 6 pm in New York is 10 to 11 pm in London. That is about one free hour on a weekday.
• 6 to 8 hours (Chicago and Lisbon, the US East Coast and Berlin, California and London): with standard jobs there is no free weekday overlap. The usual fix is the earlier partner's lunch break or early evening, which is late evening for the other, or an early morning call for the later partner. Take turns.
• 9 to 10 hours (California and Berlin, London and Sydney in some months): one partner's evening meets the other's early morning. A short call at 10 pm and 7 am works for many couples.
• 12 hours (New York and Manila in winter): your 7 am is their 7 pm. A wake-up call for one is a wind-down call for the other.
• More than 12 hours wraps around: a 14 hour gap behaves like a 10 hour gap with a date change, so check which day it is on their side.

Weekends are often easier, because work hours drop out. The planner shows weekday and weekend hours separately.

Why do our call times change twice a year?

Countries change their clocks on different dates, and many do not change them at all. In the US, daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. In the EU and the UK it runs from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. So for a few weeks each spring and autumn, the gap between New York and London is 4 hours instead of 5. Countries like the Philippines, India and Japan do not use daylight saving time at all, so their gap to the US or Europe moves by an hour twice a year.

The planner lists every date in the next 12 months when your gap changes and what your call time becomes on that date. The calendar file keeps the call on your local time, so check the list when a change is coming up.

How do couples in different time zones stay close?

• Keep one fixed call slot. A short call at the same time every day is easier to protect than a long call that happens when you are both free. See our video call ideas to keep it fresh.
• Share the sleep cost. If one of you has to stay up late, alternate the days. The sleep balance in the planner shows if one person always gives more.
• Fill the gaps with things to answer later. Voice notes, photos and a question waiting in the morning. Our guide to apps for couples in different time zones compares the options.
• Count down to the next visit. The countdown until I see you works in both time zones. To see how far apart you are and where to meet halfway, use how far apart are we.
• Play something together. A game on the call takes the pressure off talking. Try these games to play on FaceTime or our long distance tips.

What are the limits?

• The city list has about 5,500 cities. If yours is missing, pick a bigger city nearby or type the zone, such as CST or AEST.
• Time zone rules come from your browser. If a country changes its rules at short notice, an older browser may be wrong until it updates.
• The calendar file uses your time zone by name. Google Calendar and Apple Calendar read it; some older calendar apps may show the call in UTC.
• Weekends are Saturday and Sunday. If your weekend falls on other days, set your weekday hours to match your week.
• The planner does not know about holidays or travel. Change the date at the top to plan a specific day.