NotePlan combines notes, tasks, and calendar in markdown. Funtasking focuses on one thing: helping you plan a balanced life. Sometimes less is more.
Try Funtasking Free →| Feature | NotePlan | Funtasking |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Notes + Tasks + Calendar unified | Daily planner with life balance |
| Note-Taking | ✓ Full markdown system | ✗ Not the focus |
| Task Management | ✓ Markdown checkboxes | ✓ Purpose-categorized tasks |
| Life Balance Tracking | ✗ Not built-in | ✓ Purpose Wheel (8 life areas) |
| Calendar Integration | ✓ Deeply integrated | ✓ Google Calendar sync |
| Gamification | ✗ None | ✓ XP, levels, achievements |
| Backlinks & PKM | ✓ Full knowledge graph | ✗ Not a notes app |
| Daily Notes | ✓ Core feature | ✓ Daily task planning |
| Price | $12.99/month or $129/year | Free |
| Best For | Knowledge workers, note enthusiasts | People who want focused life balance |
NotePlan is built around an elegant idea: your notes, tasks, and calendar should all live in the same markdown files. Daily notes become your daily plan. Tasks link to projects. Everything is interconnected.
It's a great idea for certain people. Knowledge workers who think in writing. People who love the plaintext flexibility of markdown. Folks who want a personal knowledge management system.
But here's the catch: combining everything means managing everything. And sometimes you don't want a knowledge graph - you just want to see if you're ignoring your health.
All your data is in plaintext markdown files. You own it, you can backup anywhere, you're never locked in. That's genuinely valuable.
Link notes to each other, create a knowledge graph, see what connects. Great for building a "second brain" or Zettelkasten system.
Your calendar events appear inline with your daily notes. See meetings and tasks together. Unified view of your day.
Fast entry for tasks and notes. Natural language parsing. Keyboard shortcuts for power users. Built for speed.
Create project notes, link tasks to projects, see everything related. Good for managing complex work with many moving parts.
Mac, iPhone, iPad with CloudKit sync. Widgets, shortcuts, deep system integration. Feels at home on Apple devices.
If you're a writer, researcher, or knowledge worker who wants notes and tasks in one system, NotePlan is excellent. The markdown foundation is solid. The linking is powerful.
Funtasking doesn't try to be your note-taking system or knowledge graph. It does one thing: helps you plan days that don't neglect important life areas.
Every task connects to Career, Health, Family, Friends, Personal Growth, Fun, Finance, or Love. See instantly if your plan is balanced or lopsided.
The wheel shows empty sections. If Health is gray for three days, you notice. NotePlan would just show you empty checkboxes with no context.
Earn XP for completing tasks, but the real game is balancing your wheel. It's not about productivity points - it's about living well.
See weekly/monthly views of which life areas got attention. "You completed 20 Career tasks and 0 Health tasks" is information markdown checkboxes don't give you.
No $129/year subscription. Purpose Wheel, gamification, all features - free. Because life balance shouldn't be a premium feature.
NotePlan costs $12.99/month or $129/year. That's expensive for a task manager, but reasonable if you're getting notes + tasks + calendar + knowledge management all in one.
The question is: do you need all of that?
If you're building a second brain, writing lots of interconnected notes, managing complex projects with many sub-tasks - maybe NotePlan is worth it.
But if your main problem is "I keep neglecting my health/relationships/growth because I'm too focused on work tasks," NotePlan won't help. It'll give you more powerful ways to organize those work tasks, but it won't tell you they're unbalanced.
NotePlan's power comes from its flexibility. You can customize markdown templates, create complex linking structures, build your ideal system.
But flexibility requires decisions. You need to decide: How will I organize projects? What linking structure makes sense? Which tags should I use? How often should I review?
Some people love this. It's their jam. They enjoy building systems.
Funtasking makes different trade-offs: less flexibility, more focus. The 8 life areas are fixed. The Purpose Wheel is a specific visualization. You can't customize the structure because the structure IS the insight.
It's opinionated. But that opinion - "you need to track balance across these 8 areas" - is the whole point.
Month 1 with NotePlan:
Month 1 with Funtasking:
NotePlan rewards system-building. Funtasking rewards life-balancing. Different values.
NotePlan is genuinely better if you:
Funtasking is better if you:
Honest take: NotePlan and Funtasking aren't really competing. One is a knowledge management system, one is a life balance daily planner. Pick based on what problem you're actually solving.
Try Funtasking free and see your daily planner with life purpose built in.
Start Planning with Purpose →