$240/year for a daily planner? Reddit finds alternatives with life balance, calendar sync, and shutdown rituals - for free or much cheaper.
Last updated: January 2025. Based on discussions from r/productivity, r/Sunsama, r/getdisciplined, r/selfimprovement.
"I love Sunsama's philosophy but $20/month for a todo app is insane. I'm literally paying more for my planner than for Netflix. There has to be something similar that doesn't cost as much."
This sentiment appears constantly in productivity communities. Sunsama is excellent - but the price is a real barrier. Here's what Reddit recommends instead.
Plan each day intentionally, not reactively
Tasks and events in one view
Drag tasks to specific time slots
End-of-day review and tomorrow planning
Work on one task at a time
Workload warnings and balance
For comparison: Netflix is ~$15/month. Spotify is ~$11/month. Sunsama costs more than streaming services for a planner. This is a hard sell for many users, especially when free alternatives exist.
| App | Daily Planning | Calendar Sync | Life Balance | Shutdown Ritual | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funtasking | Visual timeline | Coming soon | 8 life areas | Purpose Wheel review | Free / $2.99 |
| Structured | Day blocks | iCloud | No categories | No | Free / $29.99 |
| Notion Calendar | Custom setup | DIY | DIY | Free | |
| Morgen | Scheduler | All calendars | No | No | Free / $9/mo |
| Akiflow | Unified inbox | Full sync | Work-focused | Daily review | $15/month |
| Sunsama | Full featured | Full sync | Burnout warnings | Built-in | $20/month |
Visual timeline like Sunsama. 8 life areas (Work, Body, Mind, Connection, Learning, Impact, Play, Space) for balance tracking. Gamification with coins. Purpose Wheel shows what you're neglecting.
Free / $2.99 one-time Pro
Saves: $237+/year vs Sunsama
Beautiful day view with time blocks. Drag tasks to schedule. Syncs with iCloud Calendar. Simple and focused. One-time purchase on iOS/Mac.
Free / $29.99 lifetime
Saves: $210+/year vs Sunsama
Formerly Cron. Clean calendar app that syncs with Notion databases. Drag tasks to calendar. Works with Google Calendar. Completely free.
Free
Saves: $240/year vs Sunsama
Universal calendar that works with all providers. Scheduling links, time blocking, task integration. More calendar than planner, but very polished.
Free / $9/month Pro
Saves: $132/year vs Sunsama
The trade-off: multiple apps instead of one unified system. But for $240/year savings, many Reddit users find this acceptable.
Depends on what you value. For pure life balance tracking: Funtasking does more (8 areas vs Sunsama's workload tracking). For calendar integration: Morgen or Notion Calendar match it. For the complete integrated experience with guided rituals: nothing fully replicates Sunsama. Pick based on your priorities.
Common pattern. The trial is designed to hook you. Before committing, ask: which specific features do I actually use daily? Can those be replicated cheaper? Often, users pay $240/year for features they could get from a $30 app or free tools.
If you've tried alternatives, keep returning to Sunsama, and use it daily - yes. Good tools are worth paying for. But if you're just starting with daily planning, try free options first. You might find they're sufficient.
For life balance focus: Funtasking (free, 8 life areas, visual timeline, gamification). For pure calendar/time blocking: Notion Calendar (free, clean, Google sync). For task management + timer: TickTick free tier. None are 1:1 Sunsama clones, but each covers core features.
Sunsama warns about workload - "you have too many hours planned." Funtasking shows what you're spending time on: "90% Work, 0% Body, 2% Connection." The Purpose Wheel makes imbalance visible before burnout. Plus: gamification (coins for any task) and personal rewards. Sunsama tracks work hours; Funtasking tracks life balance.
8 life areas, visual timeline, gamification with real rewards. Free to start, $2.99 for Pro. Save $237+ per year vs Sunsama.
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