I’ll begin with a confession: I’m a wee bit obsessed with productivity and planning apps. I’m always looking for the best, most effective, and delightful-to-use apps to plan my day and do my work.
This means I’ve tried dozens of options, from the most comprehensive project management tools like ClickUp to straightforward pen and paper.
Based on my experience and the testing done by the ClickUp team, I’ve put together a list of the best daily planner apps for any need or want.
Before we get into each of them, a primer of what I was looking for.
What is a Daily Planner App?
A daily planner app is a productivity tool that enables you to organize the tasks, meetings, and communication activities you need to complete each day.
Unlike project management tools that focus on delivering work within the timeline and resources, most daily planner apps help individuals and teams agree on what can and will be done each day.
Why Do You Need a Daily Planner App?
Daily planner apps are powerful tools to organize and take control of your day. It helps individuals and teams in the following ways.
Clarity: By going through various tools like email, Slack, project management, etc., you can plan, prioritize, and do the work that matters.
Focus: Daily planner apps force you to think about how much can be reasonably done in a day. This way, you’ll focus on the important things.
Management: Depending on your job role, you might have half a dozen meetings and a hundred emails to process. Daily planner apps keep you on track with these activities.
Predictability: Using a daily planner app, you can break down large projects into small tasks, bringing predictability into your workday.
Productivity: Daily planner apps eliminate information overload. It prevents you from getting overwhelmed by Slack notifications or demanding email inboxes and focus on work on that’s scheduled.
What Should You Look for In Daily Planner Apps?
My day is a little haphazard, with several events/meetings pre-scheduled, tasks with clear deadlines, and some urgent work coming my way. So, I needed a daily planner app with the following features to keep me ahead of my work.
Date view: Tagging a date or assigning a deadline to each task and view them by day/week/month. This means, if I have a deadline for something a week later, I can assign that and be reminded on that future date.
Scheduling: Ability to create tasks and meetings on a daily schedule, ideally integrated into a calendar. My colleagues send invites on Google Calendar. My daily planner app needs to automatically incorporate that into my schedule.
Task management: Keeping track of tasks with additional descriptions, comments, checklists, and more. Each task comes with a list of requirements and acceptance criteria that need to be in the daily planner app.
Time blocking: Blocking off time for each task based on estimates and comparing tracked time against it. Imagine having five one-hour meetings and four 90-min tasks all packed into one day! To avoid that, I need a time blocking feature.
Reporting: Ability to automatically generate timesheets, measure KPIs, and track progress. Anything that reduces admin work and creates visibility is a huge bonus.
Compatibility: Integrate and work with various popular enterprise tools, so I can collaborate with colleagues and customers in the platform of their choice.
Accessibility: Have web, mobile and desktop apps for 24×7 access.
This is just the foundation. To support project management and personal productivity, digital planner apps will also do well to include features for automation, AI, integrations, and more.
On these parameters, let’s see how the 15 best paid and free daily planner apps fare.
Daily Planner Apps at Glance
Daily planner App | Best for | Best feature | Limitation |
---|---|---|---|
ClickUp | AI-powered daily planner | /href/https://clickup.com/aiClickUp Brain/%href/, connecting tasks, docs, people, and all of your company’s knowledge with AI | Steep learning curve |
Google Calendar | Time blocking | Ability to see multiple calendars (personal, work, school, etc.) in one view for error-free scheduling | Project management and reporting features are highly limited |
Notion | Knowledge management-based daily planningK | Notion AI to brainstorm ideas | Hard for people to build their own systems within Notion |
Clockify | Freelancers and small teams billing for time | Simple and powerful time-tracking features | Time management features overpower its daily planning capabilities. As a result, users are pushed to use scheduling features for planning as well |
Todoist | On-the-go planning | 80+ integrations | Features for teams are limited |
Any.do | Integrating personal and professional plans in one tool | Ready-made task list templates for several use cases | Not suitable for specific task management frameworks like GTD |
Sunsama | Single-window daily planning | Daily goals with time estimates | Unifying data from multiple sources might become overwhelming |
Plaky | Small business and nonprofit organizations | Unlimited projects, tasks, and users | Limiting for enterprise-grade projects that need complex customizations. |
TickTick | Organizing and completing daily tasks on a schedule | Ability to create tasks from voice commands, emails, Siri, and widgets | Alert tones and annoying alerts might sometimes exacerbate notification anxiety |
Structured | Those with tons of tasks and appointments | Minimal options for clutter-free task management | Doesn’t have complex project management features to take care of the big picture |
Things 3 | Comprehensive daily planning | Guided daily planning and wind down rituals | Limited to the Apple ecosystem |
Trello | Teams executing well-defined tasks | No code automation for repetitive processes and recurring tasks | Works only on cards, lists, and boards format |
Microsoft Outlook | Teams on the Microsoft stack | Combining email, tasks, events, contacts, and notes in one single app | Outlook isn’t the most intuitive email management tool |
nTask | Software development teams | Reporting with custom KPIs | Users find the interface chaotic and difficult to use |
Evernote | Personal productivity and work management | Connecting meetings (schedule) to meeting notes (documentation and action items) | Daily planning is still manual, without guided workflows or templates |
Daily planner apps at a glance
The 15 Best Daily Planner Apps to Use in 2024
In no particular order, here are the best daily planner apps you can use in 2024. To make it simpler and easier for you, I’ve compared features, identified who each app is best for, and included prices as well.
Shall we begin?
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is a comprehensive project management platform with unique features of daily planning for individuals and teams.
ClickUp combines task management features, scheduling, forms, mind maps, and dozens of customizable views to offer complete daily planning flexibility.
I love ClickUp for its ability to do everything and then some. The hierarchy from workspace > folders > lists > tasks > sub-tasks gives immense granularity. The calendar, timeline, and Gantt chart views ensure I don’t over-schedule and fall behind.
ClickUp Brain is fantastically integrated across various aspects of the tool. Especially as a writer, ClickUp Brain is a great sidekick for generating ideas, summarizing long blog posts, proofreading, etc.
ClickUp: Best AI-powered daily planner app
Among all the daily planner apps available in the market today, ClickUp’s AI capabilities are unparalleled. ClickUp Brain is the world’s first neural network connecting tasks, docs, people, and all of your company’s knowledge with AI.
With ClickUp Brain, you can:
- Generate to-do lists of things and add to ClickUp tasks
- Summarize completed tasks and post updates
- Ask questions to help prioritize, like: What should i work on next? What are the most urgent tasks? which tasks are blocked?
- Turn voice from your meetings and Clips into text transcripts
Auto transcripts with ClickUp Brain
ClickUp best features
- ClickUp Brain as your personal assistant and planning sidekick
- ClickUp Calendar view
to see tasks/events over a day/week/month - Two-way integrations with Google and Outlook calendars for real-time sync
- Time-tracking for calendar blocking and granular daily planning
- Goals and progress reporting
ClickUp also includes dozens of templates for daily planning and project management use cases. Plan your days with ClickUp’s Daily Planner Template . Add and categorize tasks, set due dates and priorities, check them off, and track progress—all in one place. Download This Template
ClickUp limitations
ClickUp is more than just a daily planner. It is a productivity workspace with comprehensive features for project management. This can be overwhelming to new users and cause a steep learning curve.
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $5 per member per month
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 on
- Android
- iOS
- Windows
- MacOS
- Linux
- Web
- Apple Watch
- Soon in the Meta Quest — basically everywhere
2. Google Calendar
Source: Google Calendar
Google Calendar is one of the most popular online calendars available in the market today. Most Gmail/GSuite users automatically use the Google Calendar bundled with their email app.
Like I said before, I schedule a lot of events on Google Calendar. I add my own personal meetings—like lunches, gym time, school pickup, etc.—so no one expects me to be online during those hours.
However, Google Calendar limits the ability to track tasks. I found that I needed another daily planning tool to compensate for Google Calendar’s limitations.
Google Calendar: Best for time blocking
If you’re an advisor, consultant, or coach, Google Calendar is a great way to schedule all events for the day. It helps you make reasonable productivity plans (no over-scheduling) and inform colleagues/customers accordingly.
Google Calendar best features
- In-built features for creating to-do lists, deadlines, and task management
- Ability to see multiple calendars (personal, work, school, etc.) in one view for error-free scheduling
- Working hours and working location for automatic RSVP options
- Team member tasks and events in a single view, making it easier to check their availability and schedule meetings
- Group calendars with team members for recurring tasks like team holidays
- Integrations with practically any other tools you use
Google Calendar limitations
Google Calendar is primarily a calendar with some other capabilities. This means that project management and reporting features are highly limited.
Google Calendar pricing
- Free
- Business starter: $7.2/month per user
- Business Standard: $14.4/month per user
- Business Plus: $21.6/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- Gemini AI calendar to organize your time effectively and consistently.
3. Notion
Source: Notion
Notion began as a note-taking app, which has now expanded to include a wide range of productivity and daily planning features. With Notion, you can create documents, write company Wikis, manage projects, and plan work for each day.
I used Notion as a documentation app to keep track of ideas I had for articles, feedback from colleagues/stakeholders, quality checklists, etc. I used it extensively to manage style guides, enabling easy access to them whenever I needed.
However, as a daily planner, I found Notion lacking in the ability to track time, create estimates, time blocking, etc., which are fundamental to productivity.
Notion: Best for knowledge management-based daily planning
Notion is a fantastic resource for creative people as well as knowledge workers who bring together disparate data to solve complex problems.
If your work involves more than a handful of simple to-dos—like buy milk or pay salaries—Notion can help consolidate your information for you.
You can create tasks and documents with custom labels, tags, owners, toggles, to-dos and more. You can also use the calendar view to keep track of ongoing work.
Notion best features
- Flexible knowledge management tool with a wide range of customizable features
- Ability to upload images, embed videos, etc. for complete context
- 10,000+ templates for personal, work, and school projects
- Notion AI to brainstorm ideas without a need for a search engine, generate answers, and auto-fill tables, all in real-time
Notion limitations
Notion has the reputation of being difficult for new users to understand. The app’s flexibility can make it harder for people to build their own systems within Notion.
Notion pricing
- Free
- Plus: $10/month per user
- Business: $18/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- Notion AI: Add to any plan for $10/month per user
Notion ratings and reviews
G2: 4.7/5 Microsoft Outlook is one of the oldest surviving email management tools. Primarily, Outlook allows you to send and receive emails through a structured inbox. As an extension of that, it also includes:
- Calendar for scheduling meetings and events
- To-do list app
- Contacts management
- Note-taking and journal logging features
Everyone has a phase in which they used Outlook to manage their email, as did I. My use was primarily in receiving and responding to email, though, I did schedule meetings from there as well. Teams is seamlessly integrated too.
However, because I was not on the Microsoft stack otherwise, integrating third-party tools became a challenge.
Outlook: Best for teams on the Microsoft stack
The Microsoft tech stack is used widely by teams across the globe. For those who already are on Microsoft, Outlook is a great consolidated workspace.
Outlook can serve as the de facto ticket management system, especially if your job role revolves around email, like customer success or software maintenance.
Microsoft Outlook best features
- Multi-functional email management
- Combining email, tasks, events, contacts, and notes in one single app
- Integrations with other Microsoft tools, such as Teams and Office 365
Microsoft Outlook limitations
- Outlook isn’t the most intuitive email management tool
- Restricted to Microsoft stack
Microsoft Outlook pricing
- Standalone price
- $159.99 for 1 PC or Mac
- For home:
- Family: $9.99/month upto 6 users
- Personal: $6.99/month for single user
- For business (Annual pricing):
- MS365 Business Basic: $6/month per user
- MS365 Business Standard: $12.5/month per user
- MS365 Business Premium: $22/month per user
- MS365 Apps for Business: $8.25/month per user
Microsoft Outlook ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 to set yourself up for success.
nTask best features
- Time tracking, automated timesheets, and approval workflows
- Issue tracking with severity and status customizations
- Calendar sync for meetings, agenda, and discussion notes
- Risk management and solutioning frameworks
- Reporting with custom KPIs
nTask limitations
- Users find the interface chaotic and difficult to use
- Compared to other software project management tools, nTask can be limited in features
nTask pricing
- 7 day free trial
- Premium: $4/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
nTask ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 ## Make Better Daily Plans and Execute Them Effectively With ClickUp
Whether you’re sorting potatoes or overseeing the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction, your work must be planned and performed one day at a time. Daily planning apps come feature-packed to help you with exactly that.
Tools like Evernote and Notion can help document organizational knowledge and build work plans from there. TickTick and Structured bring method to the madness that is a modern workday.
Plaky and Trello are better suited for software development teams. And Sunsama unifies the myriad communication and information tools we use today.
Depending on what you’re working on and your personal preferences, any of the above fifteen can be the best daily planner app for you.
Need something comprehensive and flexible to grow with your business and needs? Try ClickUp for free today .