DayCaptain vs Sunsama
We give DayCaptain a 2.8 GPA and Sunsama a 3.0, out of 4.0. DayCaptain grades higher on value for money. Sunsama grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
DayCaptain
Keyboard-driven day planner with a task list beside the calendar
Sunsama
Daily planner with guided planning routines and calendar timeboxing
How we grade them
| 2.8GPADayCaptainGood | 3.0GPASunsamaVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BYou choose what to pay, with a floor of $12 a month (€10), and every feature comes with it. That's a bit above the typical planner at about $8, but short of the dear end. The listing shows no yearly option. | C$17 a user a month if you pay $204 for the year, or $22 month to month. That's the dear end for a planner, where the typical one is about $8. You do get everything on the one plan, with nothing held back for a higher tier. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. You get 14 days with all features when you first sign up, and the listing doesn't say whether a card is needed. After that it's a subscription or nothing. | CNo free plan. You get 14 days with every feature and no card asked for, which is fair. After that the workspace stops unless you subscribe. |
| Features | BA task list next to the calendar for every day, time slots for tasks, guided daily and weekly planning, backlogs and a REST API. Solid. But Google and Outlook events only come in: the slots you plan here aren't sent back to your calendar. | AA guided daily plan, timeboxing onto Google, Outlook or iCloud calendars, tasks pulled in from Asana, Trello, Jira, Notion, Gmail and Slack, a focus timer with Pomodoro, and a weekly review. That's the whole job, from the start of the day to the end of the week. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is as high as we go. It runs in the browser with nothing to install, and every action has a key on the home row, like T for the task list. | B4.5 from about 500 App Store ratings. The daily routine goes step by step, so you always know what's next: review yesterday, add today's tasks, check the workload, set the order. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app with one-way import from Google and Outlook calendars and a REST API. There's no native mobile app, so on a phone it's the browser, and DayCaptain itself recommends planning at a computer with a keyboard. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. It syncs with Google, Outlook and Apple calendars and pulls from Asana, Todoist, Notion, Slack and Gmail, with Zapier and MCP on top. |
| Best for | planning your day without touching the mouse | a guided planning routine every workday |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: DayCaptain and Sunsama. How we grade
Where they differ
- DayCaptain starts at $12 per month minimum (€10); the subscriber picks the amount. Sunsama starts at $17 per user / month, billed yearly ($204).
- Only Sunsama lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Sunsama also covers auto-scheduling, Pomodoro timer and goals.
At a glance
| DayCaptain | Sunsama | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $12 per month minimum (€10); the subscriber picks the amount | $17 per user / month, billed yearly ($204) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with all features after first sign-up | 14-day free trial with access to all features, no credit card required. |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | DayCaptain | Summay, Inc. |
| Price read from | daycaptain.com | sunsama.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Who each one suits
DayCaptain
- Keyboard-oriented people who time-box their tasks each day
- Developers who want a REST API for their tasks and schedule
- Planning at a desk, then checking the plan from a phone browser
Sunsama
- Professionals who want a fixed routine for planning each workday
- Pulling tasks from several work tools into one daily list
- Linux users: desktop apps cover macOS, Windows and Linux
Worth knowing
DayCaptain
- There is no native mobile app; phones and tablets use the browser, and the vendor recommends planning on a computer with a keyboard.
- There is no free plan: after the 14-day trial a subscription of at least €10 / $12 per month is required.
- Google and Outlook calendars are imported one way, so time slots planned in DayCaptain are not sent back to them.
Sunsama
- There is no free plan. Workspace access stops when the 14-day trial ends unless you subscribe.
- The $17 rate requires paying $204 per user for the year; monthly billing is $22 per user.
- SSO, SAML, SCIM and audit logs are limited to the Enterprise plan, which has no public price.
- Workspace data is permanently deleted 30 days after a cancelled subscription ends.
Key features
DayCaptain
- Keyboard usability concept
- Every action can be triggered from the keyboard with mnemonic keys on the home row; pressing T, for example, focuses the task list.
- Task list and calendar side by side
- Each day has its own task list, ordered by importance, and tasks are assigned time slots on the calendar shown next to it.
- Guided day and week planning
- Step-by-step planning processes lead through setting up the day and reviewing the coming week, after which the plan acts as a guide through the day.
- Backlogs
- Tasks, to-dos and ideas that are not yet scheduled are kept in backlog lists, with filters to narrow what a view shows.
- Google and Outlook calendar import
- Events created in Google or Outlook calendars are imported automatically. Data flows into DayCaptain only, not back to the calendar.
- REST API
- A REST API lets developers build their own tools and extensions for managing tasks and time in DayCaptain.
Sunsama
- Guided daily planning
- A step-by-step routine: review yesterday, add today's tasks, check the predicted workload and set the order. Sunsama can prompt you to start at a set time.
- Timeboxing
- Drag a task to a time slot, or press X to auto-schedule it. The block shows up in Google, Outlook or iCloud calendar, or on Sunsama's internal calendar.
- Tasks from other tools
- Bring in work from Asana, Trello, Jira, Linear, Notion, Todoist, Gmail, Slack and others, and plan it alongside tasks created in Sunsama.
- Focus mode and Pomodoro
- Work on one task at a time with a timer, Pomodoro intervals, break reminders and the option to mute other apps.
- Weekly planning and review
- A weekly prompt to review where time went and what got done, then set objectives for the week ahead.
- AI estimates and channels
- Suggests a time estimate and a channel for each new task, based on work you have previously added to Sunsama.
Plans
DayCaptain
Monthly subscriptionFrom $12 (€10)
per month; you choose the amount above the minimum
One subscription with every feature. The vendor suggests paying the equivalent of one hour at your hourly rate.
Sunsama
Pro$17
per user / month, billed yearly ($204)
The one self-serve plan: unlimited usage and integrations, AI, MCP and Zapier. $22 per user / month when billed monthly.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds SSO and SAML, SCIM, audit logs and custom privacy and data requirements.
Ways to pay less
DayCaptain
No public discounts listed.
Sunsama
- Annual discount
Save $60 per user with yearly billing
Sunsama charges $204 per user once a year ($17 per month) on the yearly plan, against $22 per user each month ($264 a year) on monthly billing.
- Education
Student discount on request
Actively enrolled college students can email support from a student address to get a discount. It lasts until graduation or four years, whichever comes first.
- Nonprofit
Non-profit pricing on request
Sunsama's billing guide says it offers non-profit plans. Organizations apply by sending proof of non-profit status to support.
