nocal vs NotePlan

nocal

• People who plan the week in notes and want them next to their calendar
• Google Calendar and Outlook users who work on a Mac or Windows PC
• Developers who want AI agents to read and update their notes over MCP
• Students with a .edu address, who the vendor says can use it free

NotePlan

• Apple users who plan their day in notes next to calendar and reminders
• People who time-block tasks around their meetings
• Markdown fans who want plain-text files they control

nocal

• Works only with Google Calendar and Outlook or Microsoft 365 accounts. Apple iCloud is not supported; the downloads page offers a waitlist.
• The free plan is desktop only. Mobile apps and sync need Everywhere at $4.99 per month; extra calendar accounts, calendar groups and widgets need Full Access.
• The pricing page shows monthly prices only. The App Store also lists $49.99 and $99.99 purchases without a billing period.
• No web or Linux version is listed, and the App Store listing is for iPhone only, requiring iOS 26.2 or later.

NotePlan

• There is no free plan: once a trial or subscription ends, notes become read-only.
• Native apps exist only for Mac, iPhone and iPad; Windows and other systems use the web version.
• Sync runs mainly through Apple's CloudKit and is tied to an Apple ID, which the web version also signs in with.
• The monthly plan's free trial lasts 3 days, compared with 7 days on the annual plan.

nocal

Weekly note beside the calendar

Each week has a note written in Markdown that can hold bullet and numbered lists, task lists, tables, collapsible sections and code blocks, so a weekly plan sits next to the schedule.

Notes attached to events

Notes and action items can be written on a calendar event, and notes can nest inside or link to one another, so meetings and notes reference each other.

Unified Google and Outlook calendar

Google and Microsoft or Outlook accounts are merged on one timeline, with an inbox for answering invites. Connecting additional accounts requires the Full Access subscription.

Calendar Ideas

nocal reviews upcoming weekdays and suggests adding a focus block, moving a meeting or declining one. Nothing changes until you accept an idea, and the feature can be turned off.

Built-in MCP server

Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code can connect through the Model Context Protocol to search and read notes and write their output back into them.

Natural-language scheduling and widgets

Events can be typed as a phrase such as "Lunch with Alex tomorrow at noon". The phone apps add a home screen widget that shows what is next and the shape of the day.

NotePlan

Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly notes

Every day gets its own note for tasks and meeting notes, and each week, month and year has one too, for targets, reviews and goals.

Apple Calendar and Reminders

Calendar events and reminders appear beside the daily note. Checking off a reminder in NotePlan also checks it off in Apple Reminders.

Time blocking

Drag a task onto the timeline to turn it into a time block next to your meetings, so you can see what fits in the day.

Project notes and kanban

Project notes hold briefs, decisions and next steps, link to daily work in both directions, and can be grouped into columns as a kanban board.

Plain Markdown files

Notes are plain Markdown files on your device that work offline and can be taken out as one folder. Sync uses your own iCloud account.

Spaces

Shared workspaces for teams or families with shared daily and weekly notes, folders and kanban boards, usable in the apps or in a browser.

nocal

• Free$0

  Desktop app for Mac and Windows with full Google Calendar and Outlook management, unlimited note taking and one space.

• Everywhere$4.99

  per month

  Everything in Free, plus the iOS and Android apps, sync across all devices and unlimited spaces.

• Full Access$9.99

  per month

  Everything in Everywhere, plus unlimited Google and Outlook connections, calendar groups, the tray app and widgets, and high visibility notifications.

NotePlan

• Individual$8.33

  per month, billed annually ($99); $12 billed monthly

  Full access on Mac, iPad, iPhone and the web, with calendar and reminders, iCloud sync, Spaces, plugins, themes and templates.

• Small Team$19.99

  per month, for up to 5 members

  One shared subscription and a single invoice for up to 5 members. Guests invited to a Space are not billed.

• Business Team$69.99

  per month, for up to 25 members

  The same shared subscription and single invoice for up to 25 members.

nocal

• Education

  Free for students with a .edu address

  nocal's students page says the app is free when you sign up with a .edu address and calls it free for students, forever. The page does not say which paid tier this covers.

NotePlan

• Annual discount

  Save 31% with annual billing

  The annual plan is $99 a year, which works out to $8.33 a month against $12 on the monthly plan. NotePlan labels this a 31% saving.

• Other savings

  Team subscriptions for 5 or 25 members

  A shared subscription covers up to 5 members for $19.99 a month or up to 25 for $69.99, which NotePlan says is cheaper than separate individual subscriptions.