6 Best Daily Planner Apps in 2026 (Tested and Compared)

A daily planner app is not a to-do list. A to-do list tells you what needs doing. A daily planner helps you decide when to do it. The difference sounds small. It's not. Research on time management and productivity consistently shows that people who schedule tasks into specific time slots complete more work, report lower stress, and maintain better work-life balance than people who work from unstructured lists.

We tested over a dozen daily planner apps and narrowed it to six that do scheduling right. Each one takes a different approach. Some prioritize visual timelines. Others focus on natural language input or calendar integration. One combines planning with habit tracking and a focus timer. No app paid to be on this list, and there are no affiliate links. Habi is our app. We gave every app the same honest treatment.

Quick Comparison

How We Evaluated These Apps

We installed each app, used it for daily planning over a full work week, and scored it on six criteria:

1. Daily planning workflow. How easily can you build a plan for your day? Does the app prompt you, or do you assemble everything manually?
2. Calendar integration. Can you see appointments and tasks in one view? Does it sync reliably with your existing calendar?
3. Scheduling and time-blocking. Can you assign tasks to specific times? Drag them around? See gaps in your schedule?
4. Free tier value. How much can you accomplish without paying? Are critical planning features locked behind a paywall?
5. Reliability. Does it sync across devices? Does it crash? Do updates break things?
6. Unique angle. What does this app do that others cannot?

No affiliate links. No app paid to be included. We're transparent that Habi is our own product.

The 6 Best Daily Planner Apps

1. Habi - Best for Planning + Habits + Focus

Most planner apps stop at scheduling. You plan your day, check things off, and that's it. But planning and execution are two different problems. You can schedule "work on report from 2-4pm" perfectly, then spend those two hours scrolling Instagram instead.

Habi connects the plan to the action. Schedule your tasks and habits into your day, then start a focus session with ambient sounds and app blocking that prevents distractions during the time you've planned. Screen time limits keep you honest when willpower fades. It's the only planner on this list where your schedule actively protects your attention.

What it does well:

• Unified daily view. Habits, tasks, projects, focus timer, and countdown events all live in one place. No toggling between three apps to see your full day.
• Focus timer with teeth. A Pomodoro timer that plays ambient soundscapes and blocks distracting apps while you work. Your planned focus time is actually focused.
• Screen time controls. Set limits on specific apps. When your Instagram allowance runs out, it's out. Most planners help you schedule your day. Habi also helps you defend it.
• Privacy by design. All data stored on-device and synced through your personal iCloud. No account required. No data collected by the developer.

Where it falls short:

• Apple ecosystem only. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. No Android or web version.
• Young app. Launched early 2026 with a 5.0 rating, but the review count is still growing. The core is polished, but it lacks the decade-long track record of Todoist or Things 3.

Pricing: Free. The free tier includes unlimited habits, tasks, focus timer, screen time blocking, calendar features, widgets, and shared projects. Pro unlocks advanced themes and extras starting at $1.99.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple Silicon), Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro

Bottom line: If your daily planner needs to include habit tracking and distraction blocking alongside task scheduling, Habi does what would otherwise require three separate apps.

2. Structured - Best for Visual Time-Blocking

Most task apps show you a list. Structured shows you a timeline. Every task occupies a colored block on a vertical schedule that mirrors how time actually passes. Gaps in your day are visible. Overloaded afternoons are obvious at a glance. This approach makes abstract "time management" feel concrete.

The app has earned 154,000+ ratings at 4.8 stars, and over 25 App Store reviews specifically mention how well it works for ADHD. As one reviewer put it: "No mental friction, structure not imprisonment."

What it does well:

• Time-blocking as the core interaction. Every task gets a start time and duration. Drag to reschedule. The timeline updates instantly.
• AI quick planning (Pro). Feed it a rough list of tasks and it drafts a schedule, placing items into time slots based on your existing calendar events.
• Energy tracking. Tag each task with an energy level (high, medium, low) so you can balance intense work with lighter tasks throughout the day.
• Multi-view flexibility. Daily, weekly, multi-day, and monthly views. See your next hour or your next month.

Where it falls short:

• Recurring tasks require Pro. This is the number one complaint across hundreds of reviews. Repeating daily tasks is arguably a basic planning feature, and it's paywalled.
• No collaboration. Purely a personal planner. Cannot share tasks, timelines, or projects with anyone.

Pricing: Free tier includes timeline views, task creation, subtasks, color coding, widgets, and energy tracking. Pro costs $2.99/month, $9.99/year, or $29.99 lifetime. Pro adds recurring tasks, calendar import, AI planning, and custom notifications.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android, Web

Bottom line: If you think better when you can see your day as a visual timeline, Structured turns abstract task lists into something tangible. The Pro upgrade is worth it for the recurring tasks alone. (Looking for routine-specific features? See our best daily routine apps comparison.)

3. Todoist - Best for Cross-Platform Task Planning

Todoist has been around since 2007. Over 40 million people use it. The reason is simple: it works everywhere, and entering tasks is nearly frictionless. Type "finish report tomorrow at 3pm p1 #work" and Todoist parses every piece: the task, the due date, the time, the priority, and the project. No dropdowns. No date pickers. Just words.

For daily planning specifically, the Today view pulls every task due today from across all your projects into a single list. Pro users get a calendar layout that lets you drag tasks into time slots. A reviewer on the App Store described it as "genuinely like having an admin assistant."

What it does well:

• Natural language processing. The fastest task entry of any app on this list. Parses dates, times, priorities, projects, and recurrence from plain English.
• Ramble (voice-to-task). Speak scattered thoughts and the AI converts them into structured, clear tasks. New in 2025 and praised as a "game changer" in reviews.
• Available on everything. iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, web, browser extensions, email plugins, Wear OS, and Apple Watch. If it has a screen, Todoist probably runs on it.
• Mature integration ecosystem. 100+ native integrations including Google Calendar, Outlook, Slack, and Zapier. Ten years of third-party tool connections.

Where it falls short:

• Planning features are Pro-only. Calendar view, reminders, and most filters require a $48/year subscription. The free tier is a task list, not a daily planner.
• Time-blocking is secondary. The calendar layout exists but it's barebones compared to Structured or Fantastical. Editorial reviewers consistently note that time-blocking feels like an afterthought.

Pricing: Free (5 active projects, basic views). Pro: $4/month billed annually ($48/year). Business: $6/user/month. Pro unlocks calendar layout, reminders, 300 projects, and AI features.

Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, Apple Watch, Wear OS

Bottom line: If you need a planner that works on every device you own and captures tasks with zero friction, Todoist is hard to beat. Just know that the real daily planning power requires Pro. (For a deeper look at Todoist as a checklist tool, see our best daily checklist apps comparison.)

4. Things 3 - Best Premium Apple Experience

Things 3 won Apple Design Awards for a reason. Every interaction feels intentional. Dragging a task to tomorrow, tapping to add a due date, swiping through your project list. The animations are smooth. The typography is clean. And there is no monthly subscription.

The daily planning workflow centers on the Today view, which shows all tasks scheduled for today alongside your calendar events. A unique "This Evening" section splits your day into two phases: daytime priorities stay at the top, and evening tasks (gym, errands, personal projects) sit below. No other task manager on this list offers this two-phase daily planning structure.

What it does well:

• Today + This Evening planning. Two-phase daily views keep morning priorities clean while evening tasks remain visible but out of the way. Reviewing and rescheduling is frictionless.
• One-time purchase. No subscription. Pay once, use it forever. Over two years, cheaper than any subscription competitor on this list.
• Areas, Projects, and Headings. Organize work into life areas (Home, Health, Work), projects within each area, and headings within projects. Deep structure without visual clutter.
• Rock-solid reliability. Years of daily use without major bugs or data loss, according to hundreds of reviews. "Stupid fast" sync through Things Cloud.

Where it falls short:

• Apple only, no web version. iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro. Cannot access your plan from an Android phone or a Windows PC at work. There's no web fallback.
• No time-blocking. You can set due dates and start dates, but cannot assign duration or drop tasks into time slots. Planning when to start is possible; planning how long is not.

Pricing: iPhone $9.99, iPad $19.99, Mac $49.99, Vision Pro $29.99 (all one-time purchases). Full Apple ecosystem: $109.96 total. No free tier on iPhone (Mac has a 15-day trial).

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro

Bottom line: Things 3 offers the most refined daily planning experience for people who live inside the Apple ecosystem and prefer paying once over subscribing monthly. The "This Evening" split is genuinely useful for structured daily planning.

5. Fantastical - Best for Calendar-First Planning

If your day is structured around meetings and appointments rather than tasks, Fantastical is the strongest planner on this list. It does one thing better than any competitor: it merges Google, Outlook, iCloud, and any other calendar into a single, beautiful interface. Type "lunch with Alex at noon Friday at the cafe" and everything parses instantly: the title, time, date, and location.

Fantastical is a calendar with planning features rather than a planner with a calendar. That distinction matters. The DayTicker view gives you a scrollable daily agenda. Calendar Sets let you switch between "Work" and "Personal" contexts in one tap. Focus Filters automatically show the right calendars based on your Apple Focus Mode.

What it does well:

• Natural language event creation. The best in the category. Create events, set reminders, and invite people using conversational text. No tapping through date pickers.
• Calendar Sets + Focus Filters. Group your calendars by context (Work, Family, Side Project) and let Focus Modes automatically switch between them. Your planner adapts to where you are.
• Scheduling links. Openings and Proposals let others book time on your calendar or vote on meeting times. Built-in Calendly alternative.
• Weather and travel time. 10-day weather forecasts and automatic travel time estimates between events. Small details that make daily planning practical.

Where it falls short:

• Expensive subscription. Premium starts at $56.99/year. The free tier is essentially a read-only calendar. For a calendar app (not a full productivity suite), many users find this steep.
• Widget and stability issues. Over 15 App Store reviews mention widgets breaking after updates. For a daily planner, a broken home screen widget is a broken workflow.

Pricing: Free (basic views and event creation). Premium: $56.99/year or ~$6.99/month. Family: ~$65/year for up to 5 people. Premium unlocks scheduling, templates, weather, Calendar Sets, and widgets.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Windows

Bottom line: If your daily plan revolves around calendar events and meetings, Fantastical organizes them better than anything else. For task-heavy planning, pair it with a dedicated task manager or look at one of the other options on this list.

6. Any.do - Best for Simple Daily Scheduling

Any.do strips daily planning down to the basics. Open the app each morning, and the "Plan Your Day" flow walks you through scheduling today's tasks. Drag items into calendar time slots. The AI suggests which tasks to prioritize. Done. It's one of the few apps that combines task management, a calendar, and daily planning in a single clean interface without overwhelming new users.

With 40 million users and editorial endorsements from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Any.do has proven that simplicity scales. The home screen widget keeps your daily plan visible at all times, and families love the shared grocery list that auto-sorts items by aisle.

What it does well:

• "Plan Your Day" morning workflow. A guided prompt each morning helps you decide what gets done today. Drag tasks from your backlog into specific time slots on your calendar.
• Unified tasks + calendar view. Appointments and to-dos share one screen. See gaps, overlaps, and realistic time estimates at a glance.
• Cross-platform availability. Works on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, Web, and both Apple Watch and Wear OS. One of the few planners with truly universal access.
• Family-friendly features. Shared grocery lists with automatic aisle categorization. Shared task lists for household coordination.

Where it falls short:

• Reliability concerns. Data loss after updates is a recurring theme across years of App Store reviews. For a daily planner that you depend on every morning, trust matters, and this pattern undermines it.
• Free tier is restrictive. No recurring tasks on the free plan. You cannot plan beyond 7 days ahead. For daily planning, recurring tasks are a basic need.

Pricing: Free (basic tasks, daily planner, calendar sync). Premium: $4.99/month billed annually ($59.88/year). Family: $8.33/month for 4 members. Premium adds recurring tasks, location reminders, AI features, and color tags.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, Web, Apple Watch, Wear OS

Bottom line: If you want the simplest possible daily planner that still connects tasks to your calendar, Any.do delivers. Just back up your data regularly and be prepared to pay for recurring tasks.

Which Daily Planner App Should You Pick?

• If you want planning, habit tracking, and focus blocking in one app, pick Habi.
• If you think visually and want to see your day as a timeline, pick Structured.
• If you need one app on every device you own, pick Todoist.
• If you want the most polished experience with no subscription, pick Things 3.
• If your day revolves around calendar events and meetings, pick Fantastical.
• If you want the simplest daily planning workflow, pick Any.do.

None of these apps is universally "best." The right daily planner depends on whether you need visual time-blocking, cross-platform access, habit tracking, or calendar management. Start with the one that matches your primary planning pain point, use it for a full week, and see if it sticks.

For more planning and productivity comparisons, see our guides to the best daily routine apps, best daily checklist apps, and the 80/20 rule for time management.