Does your daily schedule get so hectic that you don’t know what to do first? Do you feel that your schedule or tasks are always unorganized? Are you looking for ways to keep yourself organized but don’t have the time to sit down and use pen and paper? If you answered “yes” to at least one of these questions, a digital planner might be the perfect solution. 

What Is a Digital Planner, and What Are the Benefits of Using One?

A digital planner is simply a digital version of a paper planner. Instead of using pens, papers, and notebooks to manually write down every activity you have for the day or week, digital planners allow you to organize your to-dos digitally, which is an easier and less time-consuming process. Digital planners are also convenient as you can use them anytime, anywhere. 

Recently, digital planners have become a trend as more and more people are starting to focus on organizing their work schedules, everyday routine, and other activities. Planning activities and staying organized benefits business owners and entrepreneurs in many ways, like finishing work on time, keeping up with deadlines, and reducing the risk of forgetting tasks. 

Transitioning from pen and paper to digital planners might take some getting used to but making the switch is definitely worth it. Once you ditch traditional planners and use digital planners instead, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• Versatile and practical: Instead of being stuck with piles of paper and sticky notes on your desk, digital planners allow you to sort and organize your workweek with a few clicks and buttons. 

Digital planners also offer different organizing options — whether you want to sort tasks based on priority or date — and guarantee a user-friendly experience. 

• Saves money: Buying journals and stationery will cost your business a lot. You’ll likely have to buy brand-new supplies consistently.

Using digital planners helps you save money as you’re only going to pay for it once. Or, if your budget is really tight, you can use free digital planners!

• Longer lasting and easily transferable: Regardless of the time and effort you spend on making your paper journal, it’ll eventually get ruined. Pages are torn, soiled, or even lost. You can always transfer the information from your paper journal to a brand-new one, but that will definitely require time and effort. You won’t worry about these problems when you have a digital planner. 

Everything you store in your digital planner is protected. Want to transfer the data to another device? Log in to the account you’ve used in signing up, and you’ll have all your data accessible to a brand-new device. 

The 10 Best Digital Planners For 2023 (And Beyond)

Do you think digital planners are perfect for your lifestyle? If so, here are some options to help you get started:

Asana

Asana is one of the most popular productivity apps today. It’s a highly flexible project management tool built to enhance team collaboration. It offers countless integration options, too. 

Pros	Cons
Provides an overview of the workload assigned to each team member	Clunky offline mode
Several users can update tasks	The steep learning curve when used for complex projects
Allows you to attach files to tasks	Cluttered email notifications

Price: Asana has three plans: basic, premium, and business. Learn more about these plans by visiting their site. 

ClickUp

ClickUp is a project management tool that offers users a wide range of task management tools. Its intuitive features are designed to manage projects, collaborate with teams, and stay on pace. It also has different templates for different projects, so you can start and track projects easily. 

Pros	Cons
Integrates with over 1,000 work tools	Too many notifications
Allows you to schedule events and appointments	Too complex for first-time users
It comes with a notepad where you can write down ideas

Price: ClickUp has five plans: free, unlimited, business, business plus, and enterprise. Find out which plans best fit your needs by visiting their site. 

Fantastical

Just like its name, Fantastical is a fantastic productivity app known for its smooth and beautiful navigation. It won the 2020 Mac App of the Year because it helps users get more done in less time and effort

Pros	Cons
Seamless user interface	Some key features are locked behind paid subscriptions
Create and customize different calendars for different aspects of your life (interest calendars)
Offers daily, weekly, and quarterly overview

Price: Fantastical offers several plans, ranging from $6.99 to $89.99. Find out more here. 

Lunatask

Lunatask is an encrypted and productivity app designed with ADHD users in mind. This app is a hidden gem as it has a simple user interface and comes with several project management features, like Pomodoro, Kanban boards, and Eisenhower Matrix. 

Pros	Cons
End-to-end encryption, meaning you’re the only person who can access your data	You can’t attach files and embed images
Has a habit tracker	No keyboard shortcuts
Offers ready-made workflows for grouping tasks	Doesn’t have a time-tracking feature

Price: Choose between two of Lunatask’s plans, which are free and premium, to maximize all of its features.

Notion

Besides being an excellent knowledge and project management tool, Notion is a creative place to note your thoughts and collaborate with teams. It works seamlessly across all platforms, namely iOS, Mac, Android, and Mac. 

Pros	Cons
It’s highly flexible. It’s known as a hybrid between Todoist, Excel, Dropbox, and Google Docs	Slows down at times
Offers a large template collection	Difficult to comment when set on a table view
Has a Notion Academy where first-time and non-tech-savvy users are taught how to maximize the platform	Can be clunky when used for complex projects

Price: Notion has four plans, with one being free. Choose from its plus, business, or enterprise plan to enjoy all the features Notion has to offer. 

Planner Pro

Planner Pro is a daily organizer that syncs your Google Calendar, notes, and tasks. It adapts to any user’s needs: whether you’re highly organized or creative. It’s one of the forerunners in the digital planner space because of its robust note-taking and sketching functionalities.

Pros	Cons
Sketch directly on your notes	Not compatible with Apple Pencil
Tasks are dragged to the next day if they’ve not been completed
Syncs various calendars in one place

Price: Planner Pro’s paid plans range from $2.99 to $39.99. Visit this link to see its complete list of paid plans. 

Structured

Structured is exclusive to iOS and Mac users and emerges to-do lists with your calendars. It works as a daily planner, making it easier to organize your personal and professional life. It can set customized reminders, visualize your daily routine into a timeline, and plan recurring tasks.

Pros	Cons
Great look and feel	Requires a paid subscription to integrate calendars
Usable across different iOS devices, like iPads, iPhones, and Macs	Lacks time tracking integration
Uses color coding for different activities	Doesn’t offer monthly overview

Price: Structured offers different plans with prices ranging from $2.99 to $29.99. Check this link to learn more about Structured’s pricing plans. 

TickTick

TickTick is one of the most popular to-do list apps out there. It’s an excellent option for freelancers because it offers a clean and quick overview of various tasks. TickTick is basically an all-in-one tool for freelancers: it has a calendar, a timer, and an intuitive user interface.

Pros	Cons
You can add files and pictures to your tasks	Lacks integration capabilities
Supports timeline and calendar views	Doesn’t support two-way sync with calendars
Integrated with Pomodoro timer

Price: TickTick’s Premium Plan costs $27.99 annually. 

TimeTune

TimeTune functions as a daily planner and time-blocking app. It’s also the perfect tool to practice timeboxing — a time management technique that limits a task to a realistic and fixed timeline. With TimeTune, you’ll have access to statistics about the activities you’ve accomplished within a certain period to have a better overview of your time. 

Pros	Cons
Set customized reminders and choose from different sounds and vibrations	Its interface can be clunky for some
Easy-to-digest stats and insights	Doesn’t allow collaborative work (one account is only for one user)
Supports the timeboxing technique	No option to tick off items in your daily planner

Price: TimeTune is free!

Trello

G2 named Trello the number one planner for Windows and the best alternative to the Microsoft Planner. It offers various productivity and collaboration tools, making it easier for you to manage remote employees. Users love its minimal and simple user interface. 

Pros	Cons
File sharing features	Limited when it comes to managing large, complex projects that require several users
Plenty of features, even in the freemium version	Limited insights
Easy to use	Doesn’t have any time-tracking feature

Price: Trello has four plans: free, standard, premium, and enterprise. Its priced plans range from $5 to $17.50. 

Pick The Best Digital Planner 

Digital planners enable you to become more organized. Your efficiency and productivity will also increase, allowing you to achieve entrepreneurial success faster and become a better business owner. But remember that you’ll only experience these if you pick the best digital planner suitable for your needs. 

To narrow down your options, think about the features you’re looking for and the outcomes you want to achieve. This way, you can pick a digital planner that brings out the best of you — not cause (more) stress!  

Note: All information, including prices and features, is accurate as of May 2023.