Planify vs Zanshin
We give Planify a 3.2 GPA and Zanshin a 3.0, out of 4.0. Planify grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAPlanifyVery good | 3.0GPAZanshinVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AEvery feature is free under the GPL, with no subscriptions, ads or account. It runs on donations through Patreon, PayPal, Liberapay and Ko-fi. | AIt costs nothing. Zanshin is free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license, and there's no paid version at all. KDE takes donations if you fancy saying thanks. |
| Free plan and trial | AAll of it is free, the desktop app and its command-line tool alike. There's no paid tier to hold anything back. | AThe complete desktop app is free, with no paid version to hold anything back. You get it from your Linux distribution's packages or from an app store such as Discover. |
| Features | AProjects and sub-projects with sections, labels, priorities and custom filters, plus a board view and a calendar. Quick Add reads dates in English or Spanish. Tasks take several reminders, a repeat pattern and attachments, and there's a CLI that returns JSON. | BInbox, projects, contexts, due dates, attachments and an overlay that shows the task you're on right now. Solid basics. But recurring tasks follow a simple model, and the email and calendar tricks only work if you use KMail and KOrganizer. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. It installs from Flathub and keeps tasks on your own disk with no account. A global shortcut opens Quick Add from anywhere. | BNo rating is on record to go by, so a B. You install it from Discover or your package manager, then file tasks by drag and drop or a shortcut. It leans on Akonadi and other KDE libraries, so it's most at home on Plasma. |
| Platforms and integrations | DLinux only, from Flathub or built from source. No Windows, Mac, web or phone version. It does sync with Todoist, Nextcloud and other CalDAV servers, so your tasks aren't stuck on the one desktop. | DLinux only. The install page says there's no Mac version and that the team never tested the Windows build. No mobile or web app is listed either. |
| Best for | a full task manager on the Linux desktop | Getting Things Done on the KDE desktop |
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: Planify and Zanshin. How we grade
Where they differ
- Planify is free. Zanshin is free.
- Planify also covers Markdown, natural-language input and kanban boards.
In commonFree planLinuxOpen sourceTasks
At a glance
| Planify | Zanshin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Every feature is free under the GPL-3.0 license, with no subscriptions, ads or account. Development is funded by optional donations through Patreon, PayPal, Liberapay and Ko-fi. | Free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license, with no paid version. It is installed from a Linux distribution's packages or an app store such as Discover. KDE accepts optional donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Alain (alainm23) | KDE |
| Price read from | useplanify.com | apps.kde.org |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Planify
- Linux users who want a native GTK task manager
- Todoist or Nextcloud users who want a desktop client on Linux
- Keeping tasks on the local disk with no account
- Scripting task capture and backups from the terminal
Zanshin
- KDE Plasma users who follow Getting Things Done
- People who already use KMail and KOrganizer
- Adding and filing tasks without leaving the keyboard
Worth knowing
Planify
- Linux only: it is distributed on Flathub or built from source, with no Windows, macOS, web or mobile version.
- It has no sync service of its own, so reaching tasks on a phone means using the Todoist or Nextcloud apps.
- Planify is not created by, affiliated with or supported by Doist, the company behind Todoist.
- Development is funded by donations; the site lists Patreon, PayPal, Liberapay and Ko-fi.
Zanshin
- KDE's app listing offers it for Linux only. The project's install page says there is no Mac version and that the team never tested the Windows build.
- The project pages list no mobile or web app.
- It depends on Akonadi and other KDE libraries, and the KMail, KOrganizer and KRunner features need those KDE applications.
- The project site's last announcement is version 0.5.71 from January 2020; later versions arrive with KDE's regular app releases, most recently 26.08.2 on October 8, 2026.
Key features
Planify
- Todoist, Nextcloud and CalDAV sync
- Syncs with a Todoist account or with Nextcloud and CalDAV servers such as Radicale and Baïkal, with several accounts at once. Nextcloud Deck boards sync two-way as projects.
- Projects, sections, labels and filters
- Tasks are grouped into projects and sub-projects with sections, labels, priorities and custom filters, and each project shows a progress indicator.
- Board view and calendar
- A project can be shown as a board for visual planning, and calendar integration displays scheduled events next to tasks.
- Quick Add with natural-language dates
- A global keyboard shortcut opens Quick Add, which parses dates written in English or Spanish and uses @ for labels, # for projects and ! for priorities.
- Reminders, recurrence and attachments
- A task can carry several reminders, a recurrence pattern, file attachments and links, with Markdown allowed in its title and description.
- Command-line interface
- The bundled CLI adds, lists and updates tasks and exports a JSON backup. Every command returns JSON, so it can be piped into scripts.
Zanshin
- Inbox for collecting tasks
- New tasks land in an inbox so they are written down first and sorted later, which is the collect step of Getting Things Done.
- Projects and contexts
- Tasks are filed into projects and contexts by drag and drop. Focusing on one project or context, such as phone calls, shows only the tasks that belong to it.
- Keyboard control
- The app can be driven entirely from the keyboard, with shortcuts to add tasks, move them to a project or a context, and navigate.
- Due dates and recurring tasks
- A due date makes a task stand out from the rest. Version 0.5.0 added recurring tasks, with a simple recurrence model, and a filter that hides tasks scheduled in the future.
- KMail, KOrganizer and KRunner
- A task can be created from an email in KMail, overdue and upcoming tasks appear in KOrganizer's calendar view, and typing "todo:" in KRunner adds a task even when Zanshin is closed.
- Running task overlay and attachments
- One task can be marked as currently running, which puts an overlay at the top of the screen as a reminder of what to focus on. Tasks can also carry attachments.
Plans
Planify
Free$0
All features of the Linux desktop app and its command-line tool, released as open source under GPL-3.0.
Zanshin
Free$0
The complete desktop app, installed from Linux distribution repositories or AppStream app stores such as Discover.
