18 Best Daily Planner Apps for Boosting Productivity (2024)

Do you feel like you’re constantly juggling tasks — but never actually finishing them on time?

Sounds to me like you could benefit from trying out some good planner apps!

I’ve researched and tested the best apps for daily planning, making sure to include only those that offer either a free trial or a free plan in my list.

Keep reading to discover what I believe are the best daily planner apps for improving your productivity and time management — both at work and in your personal life.

Top 18 best daily planner apps: Key takeaways

#1: Google Calendar — best for work task and event scheduling

Google Calendar is the best app for scheduling your day, especially if you decide to use it for work to keep track of meetings. The tool is also one of the most popular calendar and scheduling apps on the market today.

Pros of using Google Calendar for daily planning

As a Gmail user, you get immediate access to Google Calendar, where you can create events, such as meetings, and tasks, which work wonderfully as reminders of everything you need to do.

There’s also the Google Tasks tab, where you can find your to-do list, add subtasks, designate recurring tasks, etc.

Overall, I found the workspace rather simple and intuitive to use. You can drag events and tasks around until you’re satisfied with your schedule. What’s more, you can color-code events, make them public or private, add guests, set how often they should repeat, and even set up reminders for your phone, desktop, or email.

I also love that I can easily switch from a weekly to a daily, monthly, or yearly planner. There’s also a 4-day view and a schedule view, which gives you a breakdown of all your events and tasks.

Cons of using Google Calendar for daily planning

Google Calendar can quickly become overwhelming if you have multiple events scheduled for a specific time slot — or just have 10+ events each day.

Also, you cannot set task duration. You can only add the start time, but if you have a specific end time, you must create an event instead.

Google Calendar’s best feature

You can subscribe to other people’s calendars, like your teammates’, and compare them side by side to stay in the loop regarding their plans and commitments.

What’s new in Google Calendar?

In October 2023, Google added an appointment scheduling feature to its calendar, allowing users to create and share personal booking pages. Most recently, Google improved the process of scheduling large-scale meetings and made it possible for users to view all their tasks in a single full-screen view when using the Calendar’s web version.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Wear OS

Pricing: Free

#2: Amazing Marvin — best for personal growth & motivation

Amazing Marvin is a personal productivity app that helps you breeze through your daily tasks and fight procrastination.

The app comes with many productivity and motivation features you can switch on and off as you see fit to create a custom workflow.

Pros of using Amazing Marvin for daily planning

To me, Marvin is the best option if you’ve always wanted to properly organize your life — but somehow have trouble sticking with your daily plan once you make it.

Much like most daily planner apps, it has a Today section where it lists all your today’s to-dos. But you can also sort your tasks into different folders, e.g., Work or Household, and add them to your projects too.

Task management is extremely well done in Marvin. For example, you can:

• Set priorities and add labels,
• Set time estimates and start and due dates,
• Create recurring tasks,
• Send tasks to the Backburner,
• Add subtasks,
• Turn on Super Focus to concentrate on one task at a time, and
• Track time.

Workflow customization is one of Marvin’s greatest advantages.

You can browse the workflow library to try out different setups, such as the Eisenhower prioritization technique and the 1-3-5 day planning method. Alternatively, you can mix and match dozens of Marvin strategies to customize your own workflow.

Cons of using Amazing Marvin for daily planning

The biggest con of Amazing Marvin is that it doesn’t offer a free plan. Additionally, while the browser version of this app is superbly done, the mobile version isn’t as easy to navigate and feels a bit clunky.

Amazing Marvin’s best feature

Users can turn on gamification strategies to incentivize task completion and goal achievement.

What’s new in Amazing Marvin?

With version 1.63.0, Marvin introduced 2 new strategies: Text Style, which lets you set the text style for a task or project, and Mood Tracker, which lets you track your everyday mood. You can now also get Habit reminders directly on your phone and use a new type of timer called variable tomato.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#3: Plaky — best for daily project planning

Plaky is a project management tool that helps you organize and plan projects, as well as manage project performance and progress.

Ideal for teams and organizations, Plaky also lets you effectively manage your and your team’s tasks and collaborate on projects with your teammates in real time.

Pros of using Plaky for daily planning

Plaky’s intuitive design makes daily project planning pretty straightforward.

My team uses Plaky to manage our content projects on a daily basis, but I also use it as a work task planner to keep track of everything I need to do when writing an article.

For example, I set up a new Plaky board each month and assign an item group for each workday. Then, I populate each group with all the items (tasks) I want to go through that day.

You can make a dedicated board either from scratch or by using one of Plaky’s pre-made templates from its project templates center.

Once you make the board, you can customize it, adding custom fields to display key information about your tasks, such as status and due date, or add more details or checklists using the Rich Text field.

The Files tab also comes in handy pretty often for sharing documents, visuals, and similar project-related files with my teammates. I also use that tab to keep all the screenshots I want to include in my articles in one place.

Cons of using Plaky for daily planning

As of right now, Plaky has limited board views and lacks integrations with popular apps, like Google Calendar. However, you can integrate it with Clockify if you want to be able to track time.

Plaky’s best feature

The Timeline field shows both the start and end dates, as well as how far you’ve come with a task at a glance, allowing you to visually track each task’s progress.

What’s new in Plaky?

In early 2024, Plaky released Gantt view exclusively for Pro and Enterprise users. Through the Gantt view, users can get a better sense of how tasks fit into the project timeline and when they overlap for better team coordination.

Available for: web, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#4: Notion — best for full planner customization

Notion is a productivity and note-taking app where users can use various content blocks to build versatile pages and structure all kinds of information.

Pros of using Notion for daily planning

The key advantage of using Notion is that it allows you to tailor-make a daily planner. You can use various content blocks to build versatile pages and tailor-make a tool that works specifically for your needs.

The app is feature-rich, so the planner you build can be as detailed as you want. You can create pages upon pages of everything relevant to your day-to-day activities, populating them with various content blocks, such as images, headings, videos, quotes, reminders, etc.

I went the classic route and used Notion as a daily task planner, displaying all my tasks in a table. But you can also view your tasks in board view or as a timeline, calendar, list, or gallery.

You can build your planner from a template or do it all from scratch, customizing it to your heart’s desire. For example, you can structure your planner with different types of columns to provide more information about your tasks, such as:

• Priority,
• Dependencies,
• Subtasks, and more.

I also got a chance to test the Notion Calendar, which integrates with Google Calendar and offers similar functionalities.

You can view your Notion meetings and tasks in the calendar, as well as add new events and different details about them, e.g., participants, location, docs and links, etc.

What’s more, you can share your availability with others and send them a scheduling link so that they can easily book a meeting with you when you’re free.

Cons of using Notion for daily planning

The biggest disadvantage of Notion is that it comes with a steep learning curve due to its use of Markdown and the vast range of features it offers. Also, Notion’s free plan offers only 7 days’ worth of page history and file uploads of up to 5 MB, which could make it inconvenient for long-term individual use.

Notion’s best feature

You get an unlimited number of pages and blocks on the free plan, so you will never run out of customization options.

What’s new in Notion?

In 2023, Notion introduced a Q&A feature for its AI, which can be used to get quick updates about tasks and projects, information about different departments and teams, etc. Most recently, Notion introduced the Notion Calendar, which works as a built-in scheduling tool and is fully integrated with the Notion workspace.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#5: Clockify — best for daily time tracking

Clockify is a time-tracking tool used by individuals looking to improve their time management and productivity.

The app is also a versatile resource management tool that organizations can use to manage their employees and expenses.

Pros of using Clockify for daily planning

Within Clockify, you can time-block your entire schedule by picking a project, adding tasks and descriptions, and inputting the start and end times.

While there, you can add all sorts of tags to make it easier to find tasks later on and filter them according to some specific criteria.

To reshuffle the schedule, simply go to the Calendar section and drag and drop or expand tasks until you’re satisfied with how everything looks.

The Calendar has a weekly and a daily view, and you can also integrate it with Outlook or Google Calendar.

The Dashboard is also pretty handy when you want to see how much time you’ve spent on specific projects, and whether you should try to cut or increase the duration of some tasks.

Cons of using Clockify for daily planning

Though Clockify is a fine tool for personal growth and freelancers, you may not be able to harness its full potential as an individual because it’s more geared toward team and resource management.

Clockify’s best feature

Reports inform you about how you spend your time, what your top projects are, and how your time estimates compare against the actual time you tracked.

What’s new in Clockify?

Clockify now lets you track breaks, helping you keep a close eye on productivity. Recently, Clockify also made it possible for users to assign currencies to clients, reset estimates on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis, and export invoices.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#6: Apple Reminders — best for everyday reminders

Apple Reminders is a task management app for creating simple everyday to-do lists and reminders. The tool is also one of the best reminder and daily planning apps for Apple users as it is incredibly easy to use and seamlessly syncs across your Apple gadgets.

Pros of using Apple Reminders for daily planning

With Apple Reminders, you can make 2 different types of lists — standard and smart.

I personally favor Smart lists, as they’re great for organizing reminders and keeping track of them based on a single parameter, such as location or date (e.g., all tasks you should do today, including any overdue tasks).

When making your reminders, you can add images to them, in case there’s something you must reference before completing them. Also, you can add different tags for easier filtering and sorting, as well as flag tasks as priorities.

Adding subtasks is also the easiest thing ever — just drag and drop your subtasks onto the parent task for more granular daily planning.

Cons of using Apple Reminders for daily planning

Apple Reminders has a limited set of features.. There aren’t any bells or whistles, so don’t expect it to show you how far you’ve come with a task, how long you have to complete it, and what’s making you delay it.

Apple Reminders’ best feature

Customize how you get your reminders — on a specific day, at a specific time, when you reach a specific location, or when you’re messaging a specific person.

What’s new in Apple Reminders?

Apple’s iOS 17 update made it possible for users to add categories to their Reminder lists, view sections as columns, and get interactive widgets for the lock and Home screen. Most notably, the app introduced early reminders for setting reminders for events or tasks days, weeks, or even months ahead of time.

Available for: macOS, iOS, Apple Watch

Pricing: Free

#7: Todoist — best for project to-do lists

Todoist is a well-known task management app that allows users to create to-do lists and effectively plan each day.

Todoist is often used by individuals to bring some structure to their everyday lives, but you can also use it for team projects.

Pros of using Todoist for daily planning

The simplicity of Todoist is one of its main fortes. The interface is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. Using the app boils down to making to-do lists for anything you want — work, personal errands, shopping, goals, etc.

When you make a list, you can organize it further by dragging and dropping the tasks until you’re satisfied with their order. In the task card, you can add additional information about a task, such as:

• The due date,
• Priority,
• Labels, and
• Subtasks.

The Today section lists the tasks you should deal with on a specific day — once you’re done with one, you can check it off and it’ll disappear.

For daily planning and scheduling, though, use the Upcoming section to view your entire schedule.

And when you want to see how efficient you’ve been, just go to the Productivity view. This feature shows you all the tasks you’ve completed in a day or in a week, your overall progress, and your Karma level (Todoist’s productivity points system).

Cons of using Todoist for daily planning

Todoist’s free plan is lackluster as far as productivity and time management features go. Functionalities like time and location-based reminders, task duration, and the calendar layout only come with paid plans. Plus, you can only have 5 active projects at a time.

Todoist’s best feature

The activity log shows you recently added, updated, completed, uncompleted, and deleted tasks, as well as any added comments.

What’s new in Todoist?

Toward the end of 2023, Todoist made micro-improvements to task loading and scrolling with list “virtualization,” simplified the layout across all devices, and added a manual sort option. Most recently, the app came out with a project calendar layout.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Apple Watch, Android, Wear OS

*billed annually

#8: Any.do — best for daily task prioritization

Any.do is a to-do list and calendar app for managing daily tasks and schedules.

Apart from helping you stay in the loop regarding your obligations, Any.do also enables easier task prioritization by suggesting which tasks to tackle each day.

Pros of using Any.do for daily planning

Any.do reminds me of a lot of other to-do list apps, like Todoist. You can connect Any.do with your Google Calendar, for instance, and then keep adding tasks until you’re satisfied with the results.

The calendar itself looks almost exactly the same as Google’s, and you can click on any event or task to add more details about them. You can also choose one of the 3 available views: daily, weekly, and monthly.

Any.do has also made task management easy and intuitive. In the All My Tasks tab, you can add tasks and then drag and drop them into different lists, e.g., Tomorrow, Upcoming, or Someday.

In the task card, you can add additional information about a specific task, such as:

• Reminders,
• Lists,
• Tags,
• Notes,
• Subtasks, and
• Attachments.

Cons of using Any. do for daily planning

I found Any.do a bit slow to load, with events failing to appear on the calendar as soon as I made them. The free plan also lacks some basic features, like recurring tasks, which make daily planning a lot easier overall, and there’s not much workspace customization either.

Any.do’s best feature

Smart suggestions make it easier to tackle each day by suggesting tasks you should prioritize based on urgency, due dates, etc.

What’s new in Any.do?

In January 2024, Any.do began its phased rollout of Any.do for Families, which offers a shared space for families to keep track of their activities, tasks, and projects.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Apple Watch, Android, Wear OS, Huawei

*billed annually

#9: Trello — best for Kanban-style daily planning

Trello is a Kanban-style project management tool that helps you visualize your project workflow by organizing projects into boards and using lists and cards for task management.

Pros of using Trello for daily planning

After using Trello in college, I was already familiar with the concept.

The premise of Trello is simple: make a Kanban board for your project, create lists to build a custom workflow, and add cards to display all the tasks you have to work on.

The board is easy to organize using a drag-and-drop function, so all you have to do is keep moving the cards through the lists as you work.

You choose which lists you want to have. For example, I found that for daily planning, it’s best to keep a task backlog where you can add new tasks as they come along.

You can then drag and drop tasks from the backlog into the to-do list when planning your day.

In Trello, you can customize your boards and task cards in various ways — change the background, add a cover, color-code your tasks, etc. Within the task card, though, there’s even more customization.

You can add additional information about each task, e.g.:

• Description,
• Checklist,
• Start and end dates,
• Labels, and
• File attachments.

When setting the due date, you can also set when you want to be reminded about it, e.g., 1 day or 5 minutes before.

With a paid plan, you can also add custom fields, like task priority and status.

Cons of using Trello for daily planning

Since Trello is geared toward Kanban enthusiasts, other board views come with paid plans only.

Trello’s best feature

Every Trello plan comes with built-in, no-code automations for building more efficient workflows and achieving goals faster (and with less effort involved).

What’s new in Trello?

In 2023, Trello came out with its dark mode theme. Toward the end of the year, the platform introduced automatic seat management for Enterprise admins, which should enable more efficient seat management and new user setups.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#10: ClickUp — best for goal tracking

ClickUp is a project management tool mostly designed for teams looking for detailed task management and daily workload organization.

As a daily planner app, ClickUp lets you create detailed project task lists, track how much time you spend on them, and keep a close eye on your goals and progress.

Pros of using ClickUp for daily planning

In ClickUp, you can make your own daily planner by creating a list and populating it with your tasks.

Each task card comes with added components, such as subtasks and action items. There’s also space to add a description, and you can also view all assigned comments.

The level of detail you want your daily planner to have is up to you. For example, you can add:

• A Money column if you want to track task expenses,
• A Status column to reflect the task’s progress, or
• A Files column to store all task-related documents.

You can also view your tasks in a few different ways — as a Gantt chart, calendar, timeline, and even as a mind map. And with the Time Tracking ClickApp, you can keep track of how long it takes you to complete a task.

ClickUp also has Docs, which are ideal for note-taking. You can also use Whiteboards to draw all sorts of visuals.

My favorite feature in ClickUp, though, is that I can create goals, set measurable targets in the form of tasks, and track them in real time.

For example, I can use the Goals feature to track all the project management courses I want to complete. After making each target a specific course module, I can mark each one as completed once I go over it and see my overall progress at the top of the page.

Cons of using ClickUp for daily planning

Overall, ClickUp feels a bit overwhelming for individual use and may be more suitable for teams and professional use. Plus, in comparison to some other platforms on this list that offer similar (if not better) features, ClickUp’s pricing plans aren’t that affordable.

ClickUp’s best feature

ClickUp dashboards give you and your team an overview of your entire workspace’s activity and can be customized to your liking to display the exact data you want.

What’s new in ClickUp?

The end of 2023 at ClickUp was marked by the introduction of new features, such as custom Task Types, Item Hubs, and Universal Search. Users can now also add tasks to their Personal List and share private tasks directly from their inbox.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#11: Sunsama — best for beginners

Sunsama is a digital daily planner that aims to help users plan their days better, stay productive, and focus on their priorities.

The app stands out as a great tool for total beginners who need a bit of guidance when planning their everyday tasks.

Pros of using Sunsama for daily planning

Sunsama gives you the best of both worlds, as it’s both a calendar and a to-do list app.

In the web version, when you’re in the Tasks tab, the calendar appears on your right-hand side, allowing you to see your schedule at a glance. Similarly, in the Calendar view, you get a breakdown of your tasks on your right.

There’s also the sidebar, where you can easily access your weekly objectives, the task backlog, and the task archive.

In Sunsama, users can categorize all their tasks, objectives, and events in channels for easier time and workload management. When making tasks, you can also add all sorts of details, such as:

• Start and due dates,
• Subtasks,
• How often tasks should be repeated, and
• Estimated and actual time to complete them.

You can also use the built-in timer when doing a task. You have 2 options there — use the Focus mode, which acts as a stopwatch, or rely on the Pomodoro timer.

Cons of using Sunsama for daily planning

My biggest complaint about Sunsama is that it doesn’t have a free plan. Therefore, using it can get quite expensive.

Sunsama’s best feature

Sunsama Rituals guide you through the daily and weekly planning process, while the weekly review and daily shutdown let you reflect on your accomplishments and make adjustments as needed.

What’s new in Sunsama?

Toward the end of 2023, Sunsama simplified its meeting notes so that users can add notes at meetings just like they’d do with tasks. More recently, the app made it possible to automatically update your Microsoft Teams’ status from Sunsama to reduce distractions.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

#12: TickTick — best for habit tracking

TickTick is a simple organization app for note-taking and task management that you can use to keep track of your daily work or personal tasks.

TickTick can also help you build some good habits with its habit-tracking system, as well as improve your time management by enabling you to time-track your tasks.

Pros of using TickTick for daily planning

In TickTick, the Today and Next 7 Days sections show you tasks you should focus on today or in the following week. The Inbox, however, is where you can brainstorm tasks and then schedule them later.

The amount of details you can add to the tasks is pretty good. You can add subtasks, tags, and attachments to each task, and even save your tasks as templates.

With the mobile app, you can also use voice input to add new tasks.

If you struggle with prioritization, you can turn on the Eisenhower Matrix feature to figure out what you should focus on.

An even better feature in my opinion is the Habit tracker.

When setting up a habit, you get to set how often you should do something, how many days you want to do it, and when the app should remind you about it. Better yet, you can choose to have the habits show up as tasks in the Today and Next 7 Days sections.

Cons of using TickTick for daily planning

Unfortunately, many useful daily planning features aren’t available with the free plan, such as a fully functional calendar and task duration.

There are also many limitations as to the number of lists and tasks you can add. Plus, you can only upload 1 attachment per day.

TickTick’s best feature

The built-in Pomodoro and stopwatch let you track how long you take to complete each task, thus helping you see how efficient you are.

What’s new in TickTick?

TickTick 6.0 introduced custom backgrounds, a new UI, and rich text, allowing users to customize their TickTick accounts to their needs. A key feature brought out with the new version is the ability to pin tasks to the top of a list.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Apple Watch, Android

*billed annually

#13: Evernote — best for DIY daily planners

Evernote is primarily a note-taking app that you can use to keep and organize your written content.

Though it doesn’t come with a premade daily planner, you can easily create one in Evernote or use the app’s task management features to organize your daily tasks.

Pros of using Evernote for daily planning

Making notes in Evernote is pretty intuitive because the features are similar to those you can find in Google Docs. You can use the Notes feature to create a daily planner entirely from scratch that fits your needs exactly. Alternatively, you can use a template too.

Apart from notes, Evernote also has a decent task management system. You get a default task note where you can keep track of all you have to do and when you have to do it.

When making tasks, it’s possible to:

• Add a custom due date,
• Set up recurring tasks,
• Set up alerts,
• Flag tasks as priorities, and
• Assign people to tasks (in case you’re using Evernote as a team).

My favorite Evernote feature, though, is the audio recording.

You can record and play audio directly in Evernote, making it easy to recall the details of the various meetings and lectures you attend — or just for brainstorming your daily to-do list and schedule. And like the sketchpad, that feature comes with the free plan too.

Cons of using Evernote for daily planning

Unfortunately, you have to upgrade to a paid plan to get some basic task management features, such as due dates, reminders, and priorities.

Evernote’s best feature

Use the sketchpad to create handwritten notes and drawings, quickly jot down ideas, draw diagrams, and more.

What’s new in Evernote?

Recently, Evernote improved the speed of its web downsync by updating the web version’s storage system. In December 2023, the app also revealed new limits for free users, providing both new and existing ones with 1 notebook and 50 notes max per account.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

*billed annually

#14: Actions — best for minimalists

Actions is a task management app for creating your daily schedule and keeping track of completed and upcoming tasks.

The app was created by the brains behind Moleskine notebooks, so it’s as minimalistic as the notebooks and meant for simple task management and scheduling.

Pros of using Actions for daily planning

Arguably the most impressive part of Actions is the app’s design. If every other app out there seems too cluttered to you, the sleekness and simplicity of Actions are sure to win you over.

The app has only 2 themes (black or white), but you can customize the list colors, choosing from a mono, vivid, or pastel color palette.

Using the app is rather intuitive, which is to be expected as there aren’t so many features. You can create actions (tasks) and drag and drop them to specific lists to keep the planner organized.

When creating actions, you can set reminders and deadlines, as well as add any notes you have about the task in question.

Within the task card, you can also list subtasks and set the priority by choosing either the fire or the ice icon.

The schedule in Actions is scrollable, so you can easily find a specific task. And when you want to see all the completed tasks, find them in the Logbook.

Cons of using Actions for daily planning

Actions may be too simple of an app for the average user, especially if they want to use it for work-related tasks. However, the app can be used in tandem with the equally stylish Moleskine’s Timepage (a calendar app) and Flow (a notes app).

Actions’ best feature

The Someday list acts as a brainstorming list and a backlog of unscheduled tasks that you want to keep top of mind but don’t have time to deal with just yet.

What’s new in Actions?

After its biggest update in 2022, Actions continued with smaller improvements, such as adding a new way to browse colors in the app and allowing users to sort subtasks. The latest version of the app (3.1.5) only included some major bug fixes.

Available for: web, iOS, Apple Watch, Android

#15: Routine — best for advanced calendar management

Routine is a daily planner app that promises to help you centralize all your tasks, plan your work, and improve your efficiency.

The app is a great option for individuals looking for advanced calendar management and note-taking.

Pros of using Routine for daily planning

A great perk of Routine is that even the free plan comes with a full suite of various planning features.

You have your agenda, which helps you focus only on the tasks you should get around to doing on a specific day. The app automatically shows the current date when you log in, but you can also go back to see a breakdown of tasks for previous days.

There are also 2 separate tabs for Notes and Tasks for easier organization. The Tasks tab shows you all your unplanned, recurring, and upcoming tasks. Meanwhile, the Notes tab holds all the pages you create, similar to pages you can make in Notion.

You can use the calendar to not only add new tasks but also get a visual breakdown of your weekly obligations. You can link the app to the calendars you already use, like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

Much like in the Google Calendar, you can create events in Routine and timebox your whole day. Then, you can add a list of tasks to each day and check each one off as you get them done.

Both events and tasks can be rescheduled or postponed, but only events can be made recurring. It’s also possible to add attendees and descriptions to events, as well as a location.

Cons of using Routine for daily planning

Much like with Notion, there’s a slight learning curve to Routine that not all users will be eager to master as events, tasks, and notes are all pages that you build yourself.

I also found the web version a bit laggy, which isn’t ideal for anyone looking to primarily use the tool on their computer.

Routine’s best feature

The universal inbox stores all your tasks in one place, including your emails, chat messages, and tickets from your preferred project management tools.

What’s new in Routine?

In October 2023, Routine came out with its Believe plan, which grants users privileged access to in-development premium features. Toward the end of the year, the app introduced contextual capture, an improved console, 2 new calendar layouts (monthly and 5-day views), and event reminder iOS notifications.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS

*coming soon

#16: Ellie Planner — best for daily timeboxing

Ellie Planner is a simple but efficient planning app that offers both a task planner and a calendar view to its users.

Built by a solo developer, Ellie is a good choice for individuals looking to use timeboxing as their main time management technique — but still want the benefits of having a calendar handy too.

Pros of using Ellie Planner for daily planning

Ellie Planner offers superb timeboxing — just drag and drop your tasks into the schedule and expand them as you see fit.

There’s also the Brain Dump section, where you can add tasks as they come up. Once you’re ready to schedule them, you can drag and drop them into the Tasks or the Calendar view.

In Ellie, you get some pretty standard but useful task management features. For example, you can add:

• The task’s start date,
• Estimated and actual time for each task,
• Labels,
• Notes, and
• Subtasks.

The app comes with a built-in time tracker, so you can track how efficient you are when going through your tasks.

You can also create tasks that repeat at a specific date and time and toggle other power features, such as due dates, task priority, email forwarding, and analytics.

And in case you have a hard time focusing on a single day, there’s Focus mode, which enables you to see only today’s calendar and task column.

Cons of using Ellie Planner for daily planning

Since this app doesn’t have any alerts or reminders, it’s likely you’d have to use another app just for those features.

Also, most of the features I loved, like timeboxing, Google Calendar integration, and recurring tasks, are available with the paid plan only. The free plan essentially offers only unlimited tasks and brain-dump usage.

Ellie Planner’s best feature

The analytics page shows you how you spend your time, your actual vs estimated time, tasks completed in a certain number of days, and even how long your tasks stay in the brain-dump section.

What’s new in Ellie Planner?

Ellie Planner’s latest updates added a Mac calendar bar at the top right of the screen so that users can easily stay in the loop regarding their upcoming events. Apart from that, the app added a 24-hour mode and improved calendar syncing.

Available for: web, macOS, Windows, iOS

#17: Structured — best for small tasks

Structured is a day planner app that lets you import your calendar and add new tasks to provide you with a visual timeline of your daily workload.

If you’re not looking for any bells or whistles, Structured is the best free daily planner app you can use to keep track of all your small everyday tasks.

Pros of using Structured for daily planning

When you first open Structured, the app prompts you to input when you wake up and when you go to sleep. This setting can be easily changed later on.

A great thing about this app — and something that few other apps on this list provide — is that you can set task duration. With the Pro plan, it’s also possible to create recurring tasks and get the app to alert you about them, either at the start or at the end of a task.

As for task details, the free version gives you the option to add smaller subtasks, which are then nested underneath the parent task on your schedule. When you select a task, you can also view any notes you’ve written about it and other details, such as meeting links, emails, etc.

Customization-wise, Structured doesn’t disappoint, as you can color-code your tasks with the multi-color picker tool.

Cons of using Structured for daily planning

In general, Structured isn’t as rich in features as other apps on this list, and it also hides the most useful features behind a paywall.

Structured’s best feature

The Inbox serves as a task backlog where you can add any task you’d like and schedule it later.

What’s new in Structured?

After the latest update, users are able to create their own shortcuts and automations to improve their productivity further, as well as get reminders about their subscriptions. A few bug fixes and performance enhancements were also implemented.

Available for: macOS, iOS, Apple Watch, Android

#18: Memorigi — best for everyday to-do lists

Memorigi is a to-do list app that lets you create structured to-do lists and easily keep track of your daily, upcoming, and completed tasks.

Simple and intuitive, Memorigi has a colorful, easy-to-navigate interface and a range of task management features geared toward individuals.

Pros of using Memorigi for daily planning

Thanks to Memorigi’s hierarchy, it’s possible to break down all your projects into tiny, more manageable chunks and make your daily schedule more efficient.

All your tasks in Memorigi can be categorized in various lists under different headings. At the same time, those lists can be sorted into different groups to ensure better organization across the app.

When creating a task, you can add a Do date — the date when you’ll do the task. Also, you can make a task repeat itself daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or after completion.

While planning your day, you can immediately decide to schedule a task for Today, or you can schedule it for some time in the future. In that case, the task appears in the Upcoming tab, which offers a schedule view. If you want a daily view of your tasks, you need to download the mobile app.

Once you’re done with a task, you can check it off, and it’ll disappear. All your completed tasks end up in the Logbook.

When creating your lists and tasks, you can also customize them to better reflect what they are about. There’s a large library of icons and colors you can use for this.

Cons of using Memorigi for daily planning

Some of its most useful features in Memorigi only come with a paid plan. So, if you want to add subtasks, tags, and attachments to your tasks, set an important deadline, or view productivity stats — you have to upgrade.

Memorigi also has a rather limited device availability. This makes it an unsuitable option for a large number of users.

Memorigi’s best feature

Memorigi’s hierarchy lets you break down projects into smaller chunks, allowing you to stay organized and efficient.

What’s new in Memorigi?

The latest version of Memorigi (7.2.4) fixed crashes that kept occurring on some devices, added new icons, and made significant performance and UI improvements. The app also added support for the Android 14 predictive back gesture.

Available for: web, Android, Samsung Galaxy

What to consider when looking for a daily planner app

While searching for the best daily planner apps out there, it was important for me to take the needs of an average user — like you and me — into consideration.

So, along with thorough testing and research, I assessed various apps by posing the following questions:

• Is the app only useful for work, or can you simultaneously use it for personal stuff too?
• Does the app have specific features that improve productivity and overall make it easier to stay on track with your tasks?
• Is the app easy to set up and navigate?
• How’s the app’s visual design?
• How compatible is the app with other devices?
• Can you integrate the app with other tools you rely on on a regular basis?
• Is the app budget-friendly or at least worth paying for a specific plan or subscription?

Every app on this list excels in some areas and perhaps disappoints slightly in others. So here’s a quick reference table you can use when choosing a specific app based on your needs and wants:

Find a daily planner app that matches your needs

Each day, new tasks await, both in our personal lives and at work. With the right daily planner app, all those tasks can be not only carefully planned out but also efficiently handled, one at a time.

After testing 18 fabulous apps, I can say for sure there’s something for everyone out there — no matter if you’re looking for convenience above all else or want to get granular with your task management.

Remember, though, that we all have different preferences. So test a few apps before finalizing your choice to ensure it completely matches your needs.

While some daily planner apps mainly act as detailed calendars, others are geared toward people who prefer to-do lists and note-taking. Plaky is the ideal option for anyone looking for an easy-to-navigate daily planner app that lets them streamline their daily routine and seamlessly manage both work-related and personal tasks. Sign up for a free Plaky account now.