Best Planner Apps Free in 2026: 9 Apps Compared

Todoist is our pick for most people because capture is so fast. Typing a task such as a meeting note due next Thursday at 3pm creates the task with the right date, without opening a date picker. The Today view then shows what matters now, with priorities and recurring tasks alongside. The free plan covers five projects, which is enough if you organize by life area rather than by client.

The limits arrive when you want more structure. Reminders, labels, filters, and activity history need Pro, at $4 per month billed annually. For a solo planner, the free plan often lasts a long time. For a power user with many projects, Pro is a small price for the speed it preserves.

TickTick gives you the most features without paying. The free plan covers nine lists, 99 tasks per list, calendar views, and five habits, plus a Pomodoro timer for focused work. That combination suits students and solo workers who want tasks, habits, and a calendar in one app rather than three.

The interface is busier than Todoist, with extra sidebars for its many tools, and it can take a few days to settle into a routine. Premium, at $49.99 per year, removes the main caps and adds themes and more habits. If you want the most free features per dollar, TickTick is the strongest choice here.

Microsoft To Do is the obvious free planner if you already use Outlook, Teams, or Windows. It is free with a Microsoft account, with no paid tier needed for core lists, due dates, reminders, and the My Day view that helps you plan each morning. Sync with Outlook tasks means a work list can follow you across devices.

It is simpler than Todoist or TickTick. Recurring tasks and natural-language entry are weaker, and there is no built-in habit tracker or full calendar. For a user who wants a clean, free daily list inside Microsoft, that simplicity is enough. For a user who wants a full planning system, pair it with Outlook Calendar rather than expecting To Do to do everything.

Google Calendar is a planner in the time-blocking sense: you plan your day by putting tasks on a calendar, not just on a list. It is free with a Google account, supports shared calendars for family or work, and sends reminders across phone and computer. For people who think in time slots rather than task lists, it is often the only planner they need.

As a task manager, it is basic. Google Tasks adds lists, but it lacks the priorities, filters, and project views of Todoist. The best free setup for many users is Google Calendar for time and Todoist or TickTick for tasks, with the two synced where possible. Used alone, Google Calendar still beats a paper diary for most daily planning.

Notion suits planners whose tasks live inside notes, projects, and reference material. You can build a daily planner page, a habit tracker, a project database, and a meeting notes archive in one workspace, and link them together. The free plan for individuals covers unlimited pages and blocks, with limits on file uploads and team features.

That flexibility is also the risk. A simple daily list can turn into a system that takes longer to maintain than to use, and Notion can feel slower than a dedicated task app. If your planning is inseparable from your notes, Notion is worth the setup. If you only need a fast list, Todoist will serve you better.

ClickUp offers the most generous free plan for teams. Unlimited tasks and members, plus list, board, calendar, and timeline views, make it a real project planner at no cost, not just a personal list. That makes it a good free choice for a small team, a club, or a family project with many moving parts.

The downside is complexity. ClickUp has so many features that a new user can spend days configuring it before planning anything. Free storage is also limited, so large files should live elsewhere. For a solo user who wants a simple day plan, ClickUp is overkill. For a team that needs structure without paying, it is strong value.

Trello plans by board, not by list. You move cards from To Do to Doing to Done, which suits visual thinkers and project tracking better than a long task list. The free plan covers unlimited cards and members on boards, with limits on some Power-Ups and views, and paid plans start at $5 per user per month.

For daily planning with due dates and recurring tasks, Trello is weaker than Todoist unless you add Power-Ups. For a project with stages, such as a move, a launch, or a course, the board view makes progress obvious at a glance. Choose Trello when you think in stages, and Todoist when you think in dates.

Any.do keeps planning simple. Lists, a calendar view, and reminders cover the daily essentials, and shared lists work well for households and small teams. The mobile app is clean and fast, which matters when you capture tasks on the go. A free plan covers core use, with Premium adding advanced reminders, themes, and more.

Power users will miss the filters, project views, and automation of Todoist, TickTick, or ClickUp. Any.do is best for a user who wants a tidy list and a reminder, without learning a system. If you find yourself needing projects and priorities, move to Todoist rather than forcing Any.do to stretch.

Asana is a project planner first and a personal planner second. Its free plan covers unlimited tasks and projects, with list, board, and calendar views, which makes it useful for a solo user with many projects or a very small team. Paid plans start at $10.99 per user per month billed annually and add timelines, reporting, and automation.

For a single daily list, Asana can feel heavy, and its free team limits vary, so check the current plan page. For a freelancer juggling several client projects, or a small team that needs a shared plan without paying, Asana gives structure that a simple list app cannot match.