Daily Planner Apps: I Tested 15+ Day Planners. Here's My Top 6 | Motion

Planning your day effectively can be a huge unlock for your productivity, expectation setting, and work-life balance.

Though it may seem surprising, only 1 in 8 of us ever feel in control of our work, and a meager 18% of us use any kind of time management strategy.

But with so many different daily planner apps on the market, and each promising to streamline your schedule to boost your efficiency, choosing the right one can be daunting.

I've spent countless hours testing (actually testing) what I think are the best daily planner apps to help you feel completely equipped to understand each application and which one might be best for you.

Ready to dive in? You can jump directly into the reviews below.

The best daily planner apps

A quick look at the best daily planner apps

Day Planner Best Features Pricing
.svg)Motion AI task scheduling, team collaboration, time-blocking $19/month
Any.do Task management, calendar integration, reminders Free, Premium: $2.99/month
Sunsama Task management, time-blocking, daily review $20/month
Akiflow Centralized task management, custom workflows $19/month
Routine Habit tracking, time-blocking, personal routines Free, Premium: $12/month
Notion Calendar Calendar integration, note-taking Free

What makes the best daily planner app?

To test each daily planner, I signed up for a trial/free account, tried to plan my day using each, and tested each tool for about a week (some of the tools I've already used, so I had some familiarity there.)

My evaluation criteria included:

The 6 best daily planner apps

Motion for AI-driven daily planning and task management

Standout features

Motion is more than just a daily planner app—it's a comprehensive productivity suite that helps you manage your time, tasks, and team seamlessly.

Getting started is refreshingly straightforward—connect your calendar(s), set up workspaces, and start adding tasks!

Once set up, Motion's true power shines through its auto-scheduling capabilities.
Instead of manually blocking time for tasks, you can simply enter the task details, and Motion's AI will intelligently schedule it on your calendar based on priority, deadlines, and availability.

This seamless integration with your personal and work calendars ensures that your schedule accounts for meetings, appointments, and other time commitments, providing a realistic view of your workload.

Where Motion excels is in team collaboration (Motion isn't just for teams, we have over 100K individuals using and getting value from Motion) and capacity planning.

You can assign tasks to team members, and they'll automatically appear on their calendars, eliminating the need for constant check-ins and status updates.

Motion also considers team members' availability and workloads, allowing you to plan projects realistically and identify potential bottlenecks proactively.

👉 Motion was also rated the best daily planner app by Efficient App among dozens of evaluated tools.

What I liked

I was blown away by how seamlessly Motion integrated with my calendar.
Having my tasks automatically scheduled and adjusted based on my real availability was a massive timesaver and reduced the cognitive overhead of planning my days.

The ability to simply mark a high-priority task and have Motion intelligently reshuffle my schedule felt like having an AI assistant.

What I disliked

While Motion is an exceptional platform, there are a few areas where it could improve.
The learning curve for some of the more advanced features, such as custom fields, can be a bit steep initially.
Compared to some of Motion's competitors, the pricing structure can be perceived as slightly higher, especially for smaller teams or individuals.

However, the value proposition of Motion's features often outweighs the cost for teams that prioritize productivity and effective daily planning.

Motion pricing

What other users have to say about Motion

So many of our users have reported significant productivity boosts and a sense of accomplishment after transitioning to Motion!
But don’t just take our word for it 👇

It has been the most helpful - and I'm not exaggerating - thing that ever happened to me in my creative career regarding project management and work-life balance.
It has balanced and planned my days and weeks so perfectly that it is truly unbelievable.
I use it every day, constantly.
It was easy to set up.
Also, customer support was fast to respond.
It gives me ultimate work-life balance.”
Dolphin, G

Motion actually helps me be reasonable with my time. Before Motion, I was just go-go-go.
Now, I realize how much I am putting on my plate, and how unreasonable I'm being. Motion helps be prioritize my tasks and keep me on track. I use it every day, open a screen next to my working screen to keep me focused.
Charlotte O

Intelligently plan your day with Motion.

Any.do for seamless task and calendar integration

Standout features

Any.do started as a mobile-first application that primarily helped with personal tasks, and has quickly evolved to enhance their features and functionality.

Now Any.do helps its users simplify both their work and personal lives on the web, iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
Any.do offers checklist management, task organization, and calendar integration (Google or Outlook.).
It can function similarly to Trello, as it includes board views, as well as kanban, table, and calendar views. The calendar view, however, is not perfect, as it’s shown separately from tasks, and is harder to merge together.

It is also currently experimenting with AI, by offering suggested tasks to its users. It can break down projects for you into smaller tasks, and suggest tasks for you based on previous preferences.

What I liked

I appreciated the simplicity and intuitive design of Any.do. The ability to view my calendar events and tasks in one place was incredibly convenient, as it eliminated the need to switch between multiple apps.

The "Suggestions" panel was also a nice touch, allowing me to quickly add relevant tasks to my daily plan without having to search through different project lists.

What I disliked

While Any.do offers a range of features, there were a few areas where I felt it fell short.
The application felt slightly cluttered in certain areas, with too many options and views crammed into the interface.
Additionally, while the calendar and task views were helpful to see in one place, I just wished I could merge the two as I can in Motion.

I think the AI functionality is helpful, but I’d prefer to see it restructure my day as fires arise, and things are shifted.

Any.do pricing

Sunsama for mindful daily planning

Standout features

Sunsama is a daily planner app that acts as the central hub for all your tasks and to-dos from various apps and tools.

The onboarding process was straightforward—I connected my Gmail, Notion, and Slack accounts, and Sunsama pulled in relevant tasks and action items from those apps.

The interface is clean and easy to navigate. Sunsama does not have project management capabilities like Motion and Any.do, as it pulls the tasks from other tools.

However, it could be a great solution for anyone who works at a large company that is already well-engrained in a project management tool.
This way, the user could still have the benefits of integrating tasks and calendars, while working within the applications they already use.

Integrations are a key part of Sunsama's value proposition.

In addition to the major productivity apps, it can connect to project management tools like Asana, ClickUp, Trello, and more.
This allows you to consolidate tasks from all your work apps into one place.

What I liked

One aspect I really enjoyed about Sunsama was the weekly calendar view for planning out my schedule. It provides a nice high-level look at your week, and you can drag and drop tasks onto specific days and timeslots.

I was also a fan of Sunsama's aesthetically pleasing design. The interface is modern and uncluttered, with a calming color scheme.

This created a nice environment for planning out my days without visual overwhelm.

I also liked their weekly review, which allowed me to see how I spent my time that week.

What I disliked

While Sunsama's integrations are certainly useful for pulling in tasks, I found the process of manually dragging each task onto my calendar to be tedious at times, especially on busy days.

As someone who juggles dozens of tasks across multiple projects, I would have liked an option for more automated scheduling based on due dates, priorities, and estimated times as Motion does for me.

Another area where Sunsama fell a bit short for me was in their collaboration and team features. Sunsama felt geared more toward personal task management.

Sunsama pricing

Akiflow for robust custom integrations

Standout features

Akiflow is quite similar to Sunsama, which made it challenging for me to initially determine the differences.

Like Sunsama—it pulls your tasks from other tools, so it does not have project management capabilities.

However, Akiflow is centered around its robust API and deep integrations with over 50 apps and services. This allows users to build custom workflows to streamline their processes.

For example, you could set up a workflow so that when a new lead is added to your CRM, Akiflow automatically creates a follow-up task and schedules it on your calendar. Or if you get an email from an important client, it triggers a notification and task in Akiflow.

The possibilities for automation are extensive.

In addition to the workflow engine, Akiflow has all the standard features you'd expect in a daily planner—a clean kanban board interface, calendar and scheduling views, notes and file uploads, and more. It integrates natively with Google Calendar to sync your Akiflow schedule.

What I liked

I was really impressed by the power and flexibility of Akiflow's automation engine.
Being able to build custom workflows tailored to my team's unique processes is a huge advantage over more rigid task managers.

I also appreciated the level of customization Akiflow offers. Everything from the interface colors and layout to the specific data fields and views can be adjusted to fit your needs.

This degree of control fosters a sense of the tool working for you, rather than the other way around.

Additionally, Akiflow provides in-depth analytics on your time management, including metrics around your productive hours, schedule density, and how closely you adhered to your planned calendar.

What I disliked

While Akiflow's technical capabilities are impressive, I did find the learning curve to be quite steep, especially for building out more complex automation using their API and scripting tools.

The app caters more to technical users comfortable with coding and scripting.

The interface, while highly customizable, can also feel a bit cluttered and overwhelming at times with all the options and features packed into it.

Akiflow pricing

Routine for personal habit tracking and routine planning

Standout features

Routine is the newest entrant to the daily planner app space, and it shows in its fresh, modern approach to task and schedule management.

While Routine has the usual features of adding tasks and scheduling time blocks, it sets itself apart with thoughtful lifestyle features like habit tracking, journaling, and mindfulness exercises.

The onboarding process walks you through setting daily "routines" for things like morning and evening rituals.

You can track habits like meditation, reading, or exercise. In terms of integrations, Routine currently connects with the core Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, and Keep.
They also have plans to add Slack, Notion, and project management integrations down the line.

What I liked

The minimalist aesthetic is clean and calming.
I'm a big believer in building positive habits alongside productivity habits. So I loved how Routine baked habit tracking and journaling into the core experience.

It encourages a more holistic approach to time management.

The free pricing tier is another big plus for Routine.
It's generous for a personal plan, so you can try out the app's core features without a commitment. This lowered the barrier for me to give it a shot.

What I disliked

While Routine nails the lifestyle and personal productivity use cases, it does fall short when it comes to more robust work management needs.

During my testing, I found it lacking in areas like, assigning tasks and delegation, tracking team priorities and workloads, reporting, and visibility into project status.

Routine feels optimized for individual use rather than collaborative scenarios.

Additionally, Routine's calendar seemed better suited for time-blocking self-contained tasks versus larger project work.

Routine pricing

Notion Calendar for integrated note-taking and scheduling

Standout features

The new Notion Calendar app is turning heads with standout capabilities like:

Notion Calendar is part of the broader Notion platform, offering customizable workflows and project management features.

Notion's flexibility makes it a favorite among users who require a highly customizable tool.

If you already have tasks, projects, notes, etc., in Notion, this calendar could be particularly helpful for you.

Now, instead of having your to-do’s, knowledge base, and meeting notes in your project management tool, and your time blocking, scheduling, and appointments in your calendar—you can access them all in one place.

Notion Calendar stands out for its versatility and ability to integrate various elements into a cohesive workflow.

However, it lacks the dynamic scheduling and AI-powered features that Motion offers.

It’s also still fairly new and users have reported that there are many changes they’d like to see—specifically, adding Outlook and iCloud integrations.

What I liked

Of course, the seamless integration between the Notion Calendar and the Notion workspace is impressive.
The ability to view and manage my tasks, projects, and timelines directly within the calendar app was perfect and eliminated the need to constantly switch between multiple applications.

Additionally, the ability to create and share meeting notes, resources, and documents directly within calendar events was a valuable addition, streamlining collaboration and reducing the need for multiple email threads or file attachments.

What I disliked

While Notion Calendar is powerful, there were a few areas where I felt it could be improved.

One of the primary shortcomings was the lack of full Google Calendar sync, particularly when it came to recurring events.

Also, Notion only works with Google Calendar, not Outlook or iCloud, and is unusable on a tablet.

Finally, Notion Calendar requires quite a bit of time to set up and customize workflows.

Notion Calendar pricing

Notion Calendar is included in the standard Notion Suite, even the free version.

What is the best daily planner app?

Based on our deep dive, Motion clearly emerges as the best daily planning app for scheduling your day.
Its AI-powered auto-scheduling, comprehensive task management, calendar link, and seamless integration with multiple calendars make it a standout choice.

Additionally, the ability to dynamically adjust tasks based on priorities and deadlines sets it apart from other apps.

And furthermore, its team capabilities and time-tracking features, allow for optimal team understanding and performance.

What if I'm looking for a free option?

We've got you covered! While we love Motion, if you're looking for a free option, you can't go wrong with the Notion calendar.