Finalist vs Pocket Informant

Finalist

• People who rely on Apple Calendar and Reminders and want one page per day
• Paper-planner users who want a journal and habit tracker beside their tasks
• Obsidian users who want dated tasks in Markdown files to show up in a planner

Pocket Informant

• People who want calendar, tasks, projects and notes in a single app
• Task management in the GTD or Franklin Covey style
• Users who move between iPhone, Android, Mac and a web browser

Finalist

• Apple platforms only: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. The site lists no web, Windows or Android version.
• The App Store listing says full functionality needs a subscription or the lifetime purchase, and does not say what works without one.
• The Apple Watch app requires watchOS 26, and the 4.1 release notes say Siri and Plan My Day need iOS 27.
• Prices are the US App Store in-app purchase amounts; the vendor's own site does not publish a price list.

Pocket Informant

• The free version is a calendar only. Tasks, projects, contacts, sync services and customization need the subscription.
• The Mac app is a separate $49.99 purchase, and the web app works through an Informant Sync account.
• There is no Windows app. Windows is covered by a $29.99 Outlook add-in that also needs an Informant Sync subscription.
• Trial length is stated differently by source: 14 days on the vendor's site and 7 days on the App Store listing.

Finalist

Daily page

Tasks, calendar events, reminders, habits, weather and journal entries share one page per day, in two designs with a layout editor and saved presets.

Timeline time blocking

Drag untimed tasks onto an hourly grid as tentative blocks, resize or move them, then tap Accept to write the times into the tasks. Free time collapses into bands.

Apple Calendar and Reminders

Events and reminders appear in the day and can be managed from either app. A task can be converted into a reminder or an event and back.

Notes and Markdown folders

A Notes tab has notebooks, tags and search. A folder of Markdown files, including an Obsidian vault, becomes a notebook, and tasks in those files become Finalist tasks.

Habits and journal

Habits repeat automatically with streaks and a yearly heatmap. The journal takes photos and daily goals and reads activity data from Apple Health.

Capture and Plan My Day

Capture turns a photo, screenshot or pasted text into dated tasks, and Plan My Day drafts a schedule on the timeline. Both run on Apple's on-device models.

Pocket Informant

Calendar and tasks in one view

Day, stacked-week and month views show events and tasks together. The month view prints each event's name and time in small text instead of a dot.

Projects and task modes

Tasks can be grouped into projects with sub-tasks and checklists, and the task system can be set to Simple, GTD or Franklin Covey style.

Works with existing calendars

Reads the device's native calendars and reminders, so iCloud, Exchange, Microsoft 365 and Google accounts appear without a new account. Direct Google and Toodledo sync needs the subscription.

Natural-language entry

Type or speak a phrase such as a task with a day and time and the entry is filled in. Templates and triggers create frequently used events and tasks.

TravelAssist and geofences

Trips set the time zone for events created during travel, and geofenced locations can filter the calendar or task list and raise arrival and departure alerts.

Informant Sync

A paid sync service that keeps iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and the web app in step, and connects to Outlook on Windows through a separate add-in.

Finalist

• Finalist Pro Weekly$2.99

  per week

  Full functionality billed weekly, as listed among the in-app purchases on the US App Store.

• Finalist Pro Monthly$4.99

  per month

  Full functionality on a monthly subscription. The vendor says one subscription covers iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

• Finalist Pro Yearly$29.99

  per year

  The same subscription billed once a year, as listed on the US App Store.

• Finalist Pro Lifetime$59.99

  one-time purchase

  A single in-app purchase for lifetime access instead of a subscription.

Pocket Informant

• Free$0

  Basic calendar on iOS and Android. Tasks, projects, contacts, sync services and customization are not included.

• Premium Month$3.99

  per month

  Full feature access billed monthly through the App Store. The account reverts to the free version when the subscription ends.

• Premium 3 month$9.99

  per 3 months

  The same full feature access billed every 90 days, as listed on the US App Store.

• Premium Yearly$29.99

  per year

  All calendar views, tasks, projects, contacts, email integration, weather and Informant Sync on iOS and Android.

• Informant for macOS$49.99

  one-time purchase

  The Mac app, bought separately with a 30-day free trial. Syncing Informant-only data may also need a sync subscription.

• Informant Sync for Outlook$29.99

  one-time purchase

  Outlook add-in for Windows PCs that syncs calendars, tasks and notes. It requires an active Informant Sync subscription.

Finalist

• Annual discount

  About 50% less on the yearly plan

  The US App Store lists Finalist Pro Monthly at $4.99 and Finalist Pro Yearly at $29.99. Twelve monthly payments come to $59.88, so the yearly plan costs about 50% less.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime access for $59.99

  Finalist Pro Lifetime is a one-time in-app purchase listed at $59.99 on the US App Store. The vendor says one license covers iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

• Other savings

  Apple Family Sharing supported

  The App Store listing states that Finalist supports Apple Family Sharing.

Pocket Informant

• Annual discount

  About 37% less on the yearly subscription

  The subscription is $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Twelve monthly payments come to $47.88, so the yearly option costs about 37% less.