GoodPlans / Compare
GoodPlans vs the other planners
Looking at the category rather than at us? The 10 best time blocking apps in 2026 covers the whole field — automatic and manual — including the ones we don't compete with.
The one-screen version
| GoodPlans | Motion | Sunsama | Structured | FlowSavvy | Tiimo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Builds the schedule for you | Yes | Yes | No — guided ritual | No — you drag | Yes | No — you arrange |
| Runs the focus session | Timer + Live Activity | Time tracking (Business) | Time tracking | Pomodoro timer | Not offered | Focus timer |
| Cheapest paid tier | $29.99/yr | ~$12.73/seat/mo annually | $17/mo annually ($204/yr) | ~$29.99/yr, lifetime ~$99.99 | $10/mo annually ($120/yr) | ~$79.99/yr |
| Free tier | 5 active tasks | None | None | Generous | Yes — 2 weeks out | Yes — mobile only |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad | iOS, Android, desktop, web | All desktop, mobile, web | Apple, Android, web | Web, iOS, Android | Apple, Android, web |
| Works without an account | Yes | No | No | Account for sync | No | No |
| Team features | No | Extensive | Yes | No | No | No |
Prices and features checked against each vendor's own site in August 2026. They change — verify before you buy. Approximate figures are marked with a tilde.
The four comparisons
GoodPlans vs Motion
Both genuinely auto-schedule. Motion wraps its scheduler in a team work platform and charges per seat for it; GoodPlans does the one-person version and adds the focus layer Motion doesn't have.
$29.99/yr vs ~$150–230/yr per seat Motion if you're scheduling a team. GoodPlans if you are the team. Read the comparison →GoodPlans vs Sunsama
Sunsama's guided morning ritual is its best feature and, for some people, the exact reason it stops getting opened. GoodPlans removes the ritual instead of improving it.
$29.99/yr vs $204/yr Sunsama if you want to plan better. GoodPlans if you want to stop planning. Read the comparison →GoodPlans vs Structured
The best-looking timeline on iOS — but it's a canvas, and someone still has to fill it. GoodPlans decides the day; Structured shows you the day you decided.
Similar price · very different job Structured if seeing the day is the problem. GoodPlans if building it is. Read the comparison →GoodPlans vs Tiimo
The best-known planner built for neurodivergent brains. It makes the day visible beautifully — but you still arrange it, for about $79.99 a year.
$29.99/yr vs ~$79.99/yr Tiimo if seeing the day is the problem. GoodPlans if deciding it is. Read the comparison →GoodPlans vs FlowSavvy
The closest match here — a real auto-scheduler with web and Android apps and direct Google and Outlook sync. GoodPlans trades that reach for depth on iOS.
$29.99/yr vs $120/yr FlowSavvy if you're not all-Apple. GoodPlans if starting is the hard part. Read the comparison →Thinking of leaving one of them?
If you've already picked a planner and it isn't working, these roundups compare the whole field for that app — including options that aren't GoodPlans.
The 10 best time blocking apps
The whole category, split by the only question that matters: do you block, or does the app?
Read the roundup →Best Motion alternatives
Six apps that auto-schedule without per-seat pricing or metered AI credits.
Read the roundup →Best Sunsama alternatives
Cheaper if it's the price, automatic if it's the daily ritual — they lead to different answers.
Read the roundup →Best Tiimo alternatives
Six options for less than $79.99 a year, from visual timelines to full automation.
Read the roundup →How to choose, in three questions
1. Who should build the schedule? If the answer is "not me," you're down to GoodPlans, Motion or FlowSavvy. Sunsama and Structured are excellent products that both assume you'll do the planning — Sunsama guides it, Structured gives you the canvas. That's a philosophy, not a missing feature, and for a lot of people it's the right one.
2. Is scheduling the problem, or starting? These are different failures with different fixes. If your calendar is fine and you simply don't begin the block when it arrives, a better scheduler won't help — you need the session run for you: a timer with an end, a countdown you can see without unlocking your phone, a way to start by voice. That's the layer GoodPlans is built around and the others largely leave out.
3. What hardware and what work? If you use Android, Windows or a browser, or your tasks arrive from Jira, Asana, Gmail or Todoist, GoodPlans is genuinely the wrong tool — it's iPhone and iPad only, with no integrations and no team features. FlowSavvy covers the cross-platform case; Motion and Sunsama cover the integrations and team cases.
Where GoodPlans consistently wins
- It plans and then it starts. Automatic scheduling plus a focus timer, a lock-screen Live Activity countdown, Siri and Shortcuts. No other app here does both halves.
- Deadlines act early. It reads each task's remaining slack against its remaining work, so Friday's report gets Tuesday and Wednesday sessions before it can turn into a Thursday-night emergency.
- Recovery costs one tap. A day that went sideways is re-blocked from your deadlines, not shunted down a list.
- Price. $29.99 a year, no seats, no credits, no metering — and a free tier that doesn't expire.
- Privacy. No account and no server of ours. Tasks stay on your device; sessions are written to a dedicated GoodPlans calendar in your own iCloud. No ads, ever.
And where it doesn't
- iPhone and iPad only, iOS 18 or later — no Mac app, no Android, no web.
- No cross-device sync of your task list; it lives on the device you added it on.
- No integrations with Notion, Slack, Jira, Gmail or Todoist.
- No teams, sharing or assigning.
- No sub-tasks or tags — a task is a title, a description, a duration, a deadline, a category, an optional ordering rule and an optional recurrence.
- Calendar access is required: GoodPlans creates its own calendar in your iCloud at onboarding and writes every session there.
The fastest way to settle it
Seven days unlimited, no credit card. Add tonight's tasks and see what tomorrow looks like.
Get GoodPlans free on the App Store
Free tier afterwards · $4.99/mo or $29.99/yr · iPhone & iPad