Planner Apps for iPhone (2026): Free & Paid Options Compared

In short: start with Apple Calendar + Reminders, which are free and already on your iPhone. If you want a visual day timeline, look at Structured or Tiimo. If your plans are mostly tasks, TickTick or Todoist. If you share calendars, Google Calendar. If you'd rather plan by typing a sentence, Planif.ai, which is free with no in-app purchases.

"Planner app" means different things to different people. For some it's a calendar with a to-do list attached. For others it's a timeline of the day, or a task list with dates. This guide compares seven apps people commonly use to plan on an iPhone, says what each one's free version covers, and lists the prices shown on the US App Store on 13 October 2026.

Planner apps for iPhone at a glance

Prices and features below come from each app's US App Store listing on 13 Oct 2026, plus Google Play and the Mac App Store for the last two columns. "Not listed" means the listing doesn't mention it, not that the feature is missing.

App	Price (US App Store, 13 Oct 2026)	What the free version covers	AI	Visual timeline	Calendar sync	Widgets	Mac app	Android
Apple Calendar + Reminders	Free, preinstalled	Everything	Siri; no chat inside Calendar	Day view	iCloud, Google, Exchange accounts	Yes	Yes	No
Google Calendar	Free (in-app purchases are Google storage and AI plans, from $1.99)	Calendar, shared calendars, tasks	Some features need a paid Google plan	Day view	Shows iCloud and Exchange events next to Google ones	Yes	No (web)	Yes
Planif.ai	Free, no in-app purchases	Everything, including the AI chat	Chat in plain language	No	No sync with Google, Apple or Outlook today	No	No	No
Structured	Free; Pro in-app purchases from $2.99 to $99.99 (lifetime)	Timeline, inbox, focus timer, widgets	Pro only	Yes	Pro only	Yes	Yes	Yes
TickTick	Free; Premium $4.99/month or $49.99/year	Tasks, calendar views, Pomo timer, up to 5 habits	Not listed	Not listed	Calendar subscriptions are Premium	Not listed	Yes	Yes
Tiimo	Free; Pro in-app purchases from $7.00 to $54.00	Basic planner, limited AI chats, 1 profile	AI Co-Planner (limited on free)	Yes	Apple Calendar and Reminders	Yes	No (web version with Pro)	Yes
Todoist	Free; Pro $6.99/month or $59.99/year	Tasks, projects, natural-language Quick Add	Natural-language capture ("Ramble")	Not listed	Not listed	Home screen tasks	Yes	Yes

Paid features are described from the App Store listing, not tested. The listing shows the in-app purchases each developer chose to display, so the exact price you see can depend on the offer.

How we compared them

We looked at what someone planning their day on an iPhone actually touches: how fast you can add something, whether events and tasks sit in one place, what the free version includes, and what you'd pay to unlock the rest.

• Prices come from the US App Store listing of each app on 13 October 2026. Where a developer lists several prices for the same plan (trials, discounts, legacy plans), we give the range.
• Paid features are described "according to the App Store listing on 13 Oct 2026". We don't claim to have tested anything behind a paywall.
• Platforms (Mac and Android) were checked on the Mac App Store and Google Play the same day.
• Order. Apple's built-in apps come first because they're free and already installed. The others follow in alphabetical order, Planif.ai included.

We make Planif.ai, so read its section with that in mind. We've tried to be as specific about its gaps as about anyone else's.

Start with what's free: Apple Calendar + Reminders

Before you install anything, give the built-in apps a fair try. Calendar and Reminders are free, preinstalled, sync through iCloud, and work with Siri, widgets, the lock screen and Apple Watch. You can add Google and Exchange accounts to Calendar, so work and personal events show up together.

The trade-off is that your day lives in two apps. Events are in Calendar, to-dos are in Reminders, and getting a single picture of "what am I doing today" means switching between them. Adding an event by hand also takes several taps. Siri can create events by voice, but there's no back-and-forth chat about your schedule inside Calendar.

Good for: people who mostly need appointments and reminders, share calendars with family through iCloud, or use a Mac. Not for: people who want tasks and events on one screen, or a timeline-style view of the whole day.

See Planif.ai vs Apple Calendar for a feature-by-feature table.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is free and very good at shared calendars: family, friends and colleagues can view, add or edit events. Its listing says it can show iCloud and Exchange events next to your Google ones, adds reservations from Gmail automatically, and lets you create tasks alongside events. Its in-app purchases are Google storage and AI plans (from $1.99 on the US App Store), not a planner upgrade.

Good for: anyone whose work or family already runs on Google accounts, and people who switch between iPhone, Android and a computer. Not for: people who want a calm, phone-first day planner. Google Calendar is a calendar first, and some features in its listing need a Google Workspace or paid Google plan.

More detail: Planif.ai vs Google Calendar.

Planif.ai

Planif.ai is our app. You plan by typing (or dictating) a sentence like "dentist Tuesday 3pm, prep slides Monday night" into a chat. It pre-fills editable events and tasks, and nothing is saved until you confirm. Calendar and to-do list share one view, with day, week and month layouts, color-coded entries, a focus timer and a productivity analytics dashboard. It runs on iPhone and iPad, works in eight languages, and you can start without an account.

It's free, with no in-app purchases (App Store, checked 13 Oct 2026). The AI chat needs an internet connection; the calendar and tasks work offline.

Good for: people who think in sentences rather than forms, and who want events and tasks in one place on their phone. Not for: anyone who needs a Mac app, Android, widgets, a visual timeline or shared family calendars. More on that below.

If you want to try it, Planif.ai is on the App Store. Type one real sentence from your week and see what it does with it.

Structured

Structured lays your day out as a visual timeline: every task, event and routine in order, which you drag around to rearrange. According to its App Store listing on 13 Oct 2026, the free version includes the timeline, an inbox for quick capture, subtasks, a Pomodoro focus timer, Live Activities and interactive widgets, and it syncs across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. Connecting your calendars and Reminders, recurring tasks and AI day planning are part of Structured Pro, sold monthly, yearly or as a lifetime purchase ($2.99 to $99.99 in the listing).

Good for: visual planners, time-blockers and many people with ADHD who like seeing the day as a line. Not for: people who mainly want to plan by typing, or who need calendar import without paying.

Compare: Planif.ai vs Structured.

TickTick

TickTick is a task manager with calendar views. Its listing on 13 Oct 2026 mentions recurring tasks, checklists, shared lists, a Pomo timer, habit goals and Siri support, with sync across devices. TickTick says it's "always free"; Premium ($4.99/month or $49.99/year on the US App Store) adds more lists and reminders, calendar subscriptions, the calendar grid view and more than five habits.

Good for: people whose day is mostly a to-do list, and who want habits and a focus timer in the same app. Not for: people who think calendar-first, or who want to plan by chatting.

Compare: Planif.ai vs TickTick.

Tiimo

Tiimo describes itself as a planner designed with ADHD and autism experts. Its listing on 13 Oct 2026 mentions a visual, color-coded daily schedule, a calm focus timer, an AI Co-Planner, sync with Apple Calendar and Reminders, home and lock screen widgets, and family sharing for up to five profiles. The free version includes a basic planner, limited AI chats and one profile; Tiimo Pro is listed between $7.00 and $54.00 on the US App Store, with a 7-day trial on the yearly plan.

Good for: neurodivergent adults and teens who want visual routines, timers and widgets. Not for: people who don't want to pay for the full feature set, or who just want a plain calendar.

Todoist

Todoist is a mature to-do app. Its Quick Add understands phrases like "Submit report every Friday at 4pm #Work", and its listing describes "Ramble", where you talk and Todoist turns it into tasks with due dates. Projects can be viewed as a list, a board or a calendar, and it syncs across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and the web. Todoist Pro is $6.99/month or $59.99/year on the US App Store.

Good for: people who run their life from a task list and want it everywhere, including on a computer and with a team. Not for: people who want their calendar and tasks in a single daily view. In Todoist the calendar serves the tasks.

Compare: Planif.ai vs Todoist.

Which planner apps are free with no subscription?

All seven are free to download, and all seven can be used without paying. The difference is what you give up:

• Apple Calendar + Reminders: fully free, nothing to unlock.
• Planif.ai: free, with no in-app purchases at all (App Store, checked 13 Oct 2026). The AI chat is included.
• Google Calendar: free; paid Google plans unlock some extra features and storage.
• TickTick, Todoist, Structured and Tiimo: free tiers with a paid subscription (or, for Structured, a lifetime purchase) that unlocks the rest. The AI features in Structured and the full AI in Tiimo are on the paid side.

If "no subscription" is the deciding factor, Apple's apps and Planif.ai are the two where nothing is held back today. Prices change, so check the listing before you decide.

Daily planner app or calendar app: which do you need?

A calendar app answers "where do I need to be, and when?" It's built for appointments, shared events and invitations. A daily planner app answers "what am I doing today, in what order?" It mixes appointments with tasks, routines and breaks.

If your days are mostly meetings and appointments, a calendar (Apple or Google) is enough. If your days are mostly self-directed (studying, freelancing, running a home), a planner helps more: Structured and Tiimo for a timeline, TickTick and Todoist for a list, Planif.ai if you'd like to describe the day in a sentence and confirm what it sets up. If you're specifically looking at apps with AI built in, our guide to AI calendar apps for iPhone goes deeper.

Planner apps for ADHD on iPhone

For many people with ADHD, the hard part isn't knowing what to do, it's getting it out of their head and into a plan before it's gone. Two approaches tend to help: seeing time (Structured's and Tiimo's timelines, timers and widgets) and capturing fast (one sentence into Planif.ai, or Quick Add in Todoist). It's worth trying one of each for a week. We wrote more about this on Planif.ai for ADHD.

Who shouldn't use Planif.ai

We'd rather you pick the right app than install ours and delete it. Planif.ai is not a good fit if you need:

• A Mac app. Planif.ai runs on iPhone and iPad only.
• Android. There's no Android version and no web app.
• Widgets on your home or lock screen.
• A visual timeline of the day. Planif.ai shows day, week and month views, not a draggable timeline like Structured or Tiimo.
• Family sharing or shared calendars. It's single-user.
• Your other calendars inside the app. Planif.ai doesn't sync with Google, Apple or Outlook calendars today, so it sits next to them.
• Auto-scheduling. Planif.ai proposes what you describe and waits for you to confirm; it doesn't move your day around on its own.

If any of those matter more than planning by chat, one of the other apps above will serve you better.

FAQ

Is there a free planner app for iPhone with no subscription?

Yes. Apple Calendar + Reminders are free and preinstalled. Planif.ai is free with no in-app purchases, AI chat included (App Store, checked 13 Oct 2026). Google Calendar, TickTick, Todoist, Structured and Tiimo are free to use too, but each sells a paid plan for some features.

What's the best planner app for iPhone?

It depends on how you plan. If you mostly have appointments, Apple Calendar or Google Calendar. If you want to see your day as a timeline, Structured or Tiimo. If your day is a task list, TickTick or Todoist. If you'd rather type a sentence and confirm what it sets up, Planif.ai.

Do I need a separate to-do app?

Not necessarily. Apple splits events and to-dos between Calendar and Reminders, but Google Calendar, TickTick, Todoist, Structured, Tiimo and Planif.ai all let you keep tasks and events in the same app. A separate to-do app makes sense if you manage large projects or work in a team.

Is there a planner/organiser app for iPhone and iPad?

Yes. All seven apps in this comparison run on both iPhone and iPad, including Planif.ai. If you also want the same organiser on a Mac, Apple Calendar, Structured, TickTick and Todoist have Mac apps; Planif.ai doesn't.

Try one for a week

Whichever you pick, give it a real week before judging it. Planner apps only work if they fit how you already think about your day. If planning by chat sounds like you, download Planif.ai on the App Store. It's free, and nothing is saved until you confirm it.