Sometimes, when you have a rather hectic life, or many responsibilities to keep track of, planning your day is a great way to get organised and stay productive.
However, making a day planner can take too much time, or be too difficult for novices. That’s what day planner apps are for. They give you a set series of options to choose from, which can then be used to make your own day planner.
These apps range from very simplistic, to fairly complex, and also vary in price. So, whether you’re looking for a free plan or have a budget to spend, here’s a few daily planner apps you don’t want to ignore.
Best day planner app – Our 4 top choices
A daily planner app needs to be capable of a few things. You need the ability to create to-do lists, set up recurring tasks and balance your daily schedule. Aside from these key features, you may also want the ability to create collaborative tasks, which is really dependent on the app itself.
We’ll go through 4 of the best day planner apps in this article, keeping in mind their price and range of features.
#4 – Mindlist
Pro Version – £3.49 (one-time payment).
Mindlist is free to download and use, but some features are locked unless you purchase the pro version. It is a one-time payment, and is very cheap, so it’s low investment.


Mindlist is very simplistic day planner app, which allows you to create ‘boxes’ or ‘categories’ that can contain their own tasks. This is a nice and easy way to organise your different tasks.
You can also set dates or deadlines for each task, and filter tasks by deadline day.
The UI is very simplistic and easy to use/navigate. This makes the app easy to pick up, and allows new users to start day planning straight away.
There are no annoying tutorials that you must go through, so you can start day planning straight away.
Overall, the app is quite simple, but works for simple day planning. If you’re looking for a more complex or customisable day planner, this app isn’t for you.
#3 – Calendar
Pro version – £19.49/year or £1.62/month (subscription + 7-day free trial).
Calendar is free to download and use, but has features that are locked unless you purchase the pro version. It is a subscription service, so it’s higher investment, but the price is very cheap. Therefore, the investment or risk is not too high.


The Calendar app is quite simplistic, and has a calendar as its interface. It connects directly to your phone calendar, so you’ll be day planning in accordance with your calendar events. This can help you plan tasks and activities better, as you get a better look at your overall schedule.
You can add or remove tasks, and set reminders and event durations. The UI is familiar to most, and thus easy to navigate.
Overall, the app is a simple day planner based on default calendar apps. It’s a good day planner for scheduling events or occasions, but may not be the best app for making to-do lists. Its interface doesn’t best support having multiple tasks in one place.
#2 – Structured
Pro version: £4.49 (one-time payment).
Structured is free to use and download, but some features are locked unless you pay for the pro version. It is a one-time payment at quite a cheap price, so it’s low investment.


Structured is a more complex day planner app, with an extended version of a calendar as its interface. In addition to the calendar format, the app also has a time-line for each day, where you can add and manage tasks.
You can add tasks, set reminders, set reminder duration, and see all tasks in a day laid out. This means that you can easily see what tasks you have that day, and manage them if need be.
The UI is quite simple to understand and navigate, though it can seem a bit cluttered at times. Each task has its own small icon in the top row, which can make for a messier interface.
However, it does allow you to better view your tasks across different days of the week, and gives you a good picture of the amount of tasks in that week.
Overall, the app is a slightly more complex day planner, with a fairly detailed calendar as its UI. The app is easy to navigate and use due to its UI, and is great for getting an overall view of your tasks.
#1 – Zinnia
Pro version – £9.99/month, or £39.99/year (subscription).
Zinnia is free to download and use, but certain features are locked unless you pay for the pro version. It is a subscription service, and one of the more expensive ones. Therefore, the investment is higher.



Zinnia has one of the best range of customisation options amongst day planner apps. This makes it a very versatile app. Its variety of customisation features also lends itself well to mediums like bullet-journaling.
The app’s customisation features include page orientation, page style, page colour, text font, text size, text format, text arrangement, and more. This allows users a great amount of freedom in regards to their day planner’s appearance.
The app also has a sketch function, which allows users to draw or handwrite tasks or other things.
This lets users further personalise their day planners, and can make the process more fun or soothing. It may also help motivate users to make day planners.
Being able to personalise something to this extent, can make the task seem less mechanical and more design or art-oriented.
There is no built-in feature for adding tasks, but you can manually add them using the text options. The app best mimics the process of making a physical day planner, which can be preferable for some.
Overall, Zinnia is great for those looking for customisable day planners. However, if you’re looking for a more efficient day planner with built-in task features, this app is not for you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, most day planner apps cost money despite being free to download. Some features will be locked for free users, so you can’t use the app to its full extent unless you pay.
Fortunately, most day planner apps are still functional as their free versions. They have all the basic features available, such as adding tasks, and setting reminders. This makes them usable day planners if you’re looking for a simple day planner app.
Day planner apps don’t tend to be too complex, as their function is to allow users an easy method for organising their daily tasks. This means that most day planner apps are easy to learn and use, so you don’t have to worry about any steep learning curves obstructing your day-planning goals.