PlanJour vs Todoist: do you need a to-do app or a calendar journal?
By PlanJour team, Sparklithic Ltd · Published · Updated
Todoist is built for capturing and ticking off tasks; PlanJour is built for planning time and reflecting on the day. Which one you need depends on what is actually going wrong.
If your problem is too many loose tasks and things slipping through the cracks, Todoist is the better tool. If your problem is that your days feel full but you cannot see where the time goes, and you want to reflect on them, PlanJour is the better fit.
They solve different problems, which is why the comparison is worth making carefully. A to-do list answers "what do I need to do?" A calendar journal answers "when will I do it, and how did it go?"
At a glance
| PlanJour | Todoist | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan; Plus £4.99/month or £34.99/year | Free plan; paid tiers available |
| Calendar | Full calendar: day, week, month, year and agenda views | Task lists with due dates; calendar-style views and integrations |
| Journal | Daily page with thoughts, wins, gratitude, photos | None |
| Mood tracking | Mood and weather on each journal entry | None |
| Habits | Daily habit checklist with momentum instead of streaks | Recurring tasks; productivity streaks and karma |
| Sharing | Share events, categories or a view-only calendar | Shared projects with assignees and comments |
| Platforms | Web app (installable), companion iOS app | Web, desktop, iOS, Android, browser extensions |
| Privacy | Optional end-to-end encryption for journal content | Standard cloud storage |
Where Todoist is genuinely better
Todoist is one of the fastest ways to capture a task. Natural-language dates, quick add from almost anywhere, projects, labels, priorities and filters make it excellent for people juggling dozens of small commitments. Its integrations and native apps on every major platform are far broader than PlanJour's.
For shared work, Todoist also does more: assigning tasks to people within a project, commenting on them, and tracking progress across a team. PlanJour lets you claim a shared item so everyone can see who has it, but it is not a project manager.
Where PlanJour is better
A task list has no sense of time. Twenty tasks due on Friday look identical whether they take ten minutes or ten hours. PlanJour puts things on a calendar, so you can see that Friday is already full, and its time-balance insights show how your week splits across work, health, social life and rest.
It also asks how the day went. Each day has a journal page for thoughts, wins, gratitude, mood and up to three photos, and the "did this actually happen?" review lets you mark planned events as done, skipped or moved. Over time that builds an honest record of your life rather than a list of ticked boxes.
Habits work differently too. PlanJour deliberately has no streak counter that resets to zero; it shows a momentum figure that fades gently when you miss a day, which tends to keep people going.
Choose Todoist if…
- You mainly need to capture and finish lots of tasks quickly.
- You work in shared projects where tasks are assigned to others.
- You need native desktop and Android apps or deep integrations.
Choose PlanJour if…
- You want to plan time, not just list things.
- You want to journal about your days alongside the plan.
- Streaks have made you give up on habit tracking before.
- You want to see whether your time matches what you say matters.
Can you use both?
Yes. A common pattern is Todoist as the inbox for small tasks, and PlanJour for the shape of each day and the reflection afterwards. PlanJour does not integrate with Todoist directly; it imports events one way from Google Calendar or iCal feeds only.
FAQ
Does PlanJour have a to-do list?
Events can carry checklists, and the daily habits list covers routines. It is not a full task manager with projects, priorities and filters.
Can PlanJour import my Todoist tasks?
Not directly. If your Todoist tasks appear in a calendar feed, that feed can be imported one way into PlanJour.
Which is better for ADHD?
It depends on the person. Some find a fast capture tool essential; others find a visual calendar with a gentle review at the end of the day more helpful. Both have free plans, so trying each for a week is the honest answer.