PolyPlan vs Routine
We give PolyPlan and Routine the same GPA: 3.6 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
PolyPlan
Visual timeline day planner that pulls in calendars and task apps
Routine
Planner combining tasks, calendar and notes, with an AI assistant
How we grade them
| 3.6GPAPolyPlanExcellent | 3.6GPARoutineExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APremium is $34.99 a year, about $2.92 a month, when the typical planner starts near $8. One subscription covers iPhone, Android and the web. Monthly is $5.99, and twelve of those come to $71.88, so pay yearly if you're staying. | APersonal is $5 a month billed yearly, and that's the plan that adds time blocking and 10 integrations. Typical planners start near $8. Professional, with AI meeting notes and time tracking, is $10, which is still only a touch above the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree forever, with unlimited tasks and sync across your devices. But repeating tasks, integrations, automation and day templates are all Premium, and those are most of the reason to pick it. The annual plan has a 7-day trial. | BFree forever, with tasks, calendars, notes, the AI assistant and offline mode. That's a proper app. But it's capped at 3 integrations, 3 custom databases and 250 AI credits, and time blocking starts on Personal. |
| Features | AOne timeline for tasks and events, fed by Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Todoist, TickTick, Things 3 and more. Day templates and automations take care of routines, and the Horizon board holds goals for the day, week, month or year. | AA planner view for the day, a universal inbox, notes and custom databases, a hotkey dashboard for quick capture, and an AI assistant on every plan. Pay for Professional and it records meetings without a bot and writes the summary. That's the job and then some. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. The idea is simple enough: one timeline with everything on it. On iPhone, Live Activities show the task you're on without opening the app. | BNo App Store rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. A desktop hotkey lets you add a task without switching apps. One thing to know: Routine's own download page says the web app is 30% slower than the desktop apps and lacks some functionality. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android, and it connects to eight calendar and task apps. The downloads page has no Linux app, which is about the only gap. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. It connects to Google Calendar, Outlook, Gmail, Slack, Notion, Linear and Asana, and MCP hooks it up to assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude. |
| Best for | seeing tasks and events on one timeline | tasks, calendar and notes in one app |
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: PolyPlan and Routine. How we grade
Where they differ
- PolyPlan starts at $34.99 per year (about $2.92 per month), or $5.99 billed monthly. Routine starts at $5 per month, billed yearly.
- Only Routine lists a Linux app.
- PolyPlan also covers templates and kanban boards.
- Routine also covers meeting notes and notes.
At a glance
| PolyPlan | Routine | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $34.99 per year (about $2.92 per month), or $5.99 billed monthly | $5 per month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | Unlimited tasks and cross-platform sync. Recurring tasks, automation, integrations with other apps and day templates are marked as not included. | Tasks, calendars and notes, AI assistant and voice commands, offline mode, 3 integrations, 3 custom databases and 250 AI credits. |
| Free trial | 7-day trial on the annual plan, per the price data the pricing page loads; none is listed for monthly billing. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Unstatic Co., Ltd. | Routine International Inc. |
| Price read from | polyplan.app | routine.co |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Who each one suits
PolyPlan
- People who keep tasks in Todoist, TickTick or Things and events elsewhere
- Seeing a whole day of tasks and events on one timeline
- Repeating routines built from saved day templates
Routine
- People who want tasks, calendar and notes in a single app
- Capturing tasks quickly from the keyboard on desktop
- Trying a planner on a free plan before paying
Worth knowing
PolyPlan
- The Free plan covers unlimited tasks and sync only; recurring tasks, automation, integrations and day templates need Premium.
- The lower annual rate means paying $34.99 for a year up front; month-to-month billing is $5.99.
- The downloads page lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps but no Linux app.
Routine
- The Free plan is capped at 3 integrations, 3 custom databases and 250 AI credits.
- Time blocking and time boxing are not part of the Free plan; they start with Personal.
- AI meeting notes, AI agents, automations and time tracking require Professional or higher.
- Routine's download page says the web app is 30% slower than the desktop apps and lacks some functionality.
Key features
PolyPlan
- Visual day timeline
- Tasks and calendar events sit together on one timeline of the day. On iPhone, Live Activities show the active task or event without opening the app.
- Calendar and task-app integrations
- Connects Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, Apple Reminders, Todoist, TickTick, Things 3 and Microsoft To Do, so their items appear on the timeline. Integrations need Premium.
- Day templates
- A day's structure can be saved as a template and applied to other days to build repeatable routines. Day templates are a Premium feature.
- Automation
- Automations handle routine upkeep such as moving completed tasks and applying templates. Automation is a Premium feature.
- Horizon view
- A kanban-style board for planning beyond today, with goals for the day, week, month or year and custom groups in a Someday section.
- Apps across platforms
- Runs as a web app and as apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. A Premium subscription bought on one platform works on the others.
Routine
- Planner and calendar
- Plan the day in a view that combines tasks with events from connected calendars such as Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. Time blocking starts on the Personal plan.
- Dashboard hotkey
- A desktop hotkey opens a dashboard for creating tasks quickly and adding context to them without switching apps.
- Universal inbox
- Imports tasks, messages and notifications from connected apps and services into one inbox.
- Notes and custom databases
- Notes, a journal and pages sit alongside tasks. Custom databases model your own object types: 3 on Free, 10 on Personal and unlimited from Professional.
- AI meeting notes
- Records meetings without a meeting bot and generates a summary with the transcript and original audio. Requires the Professional plan.
- AI assistant, agents and MCP
- An AI assistant and voice commands are in every plan. AI agents and automations need Professional, and MCP connects Routine to assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude.
Plans
PolyPlan
Free$0
Unlimited tasks and cross-platform sync. Recurring tasks, automation, integrations and day templates are not included.
Premium (Annual)$34.99
per year, billed annually (about $2.92 per month)
Adds recurring tasks, automation, integrations with other apps and day templates. One subscription covers iOS, Android and the web.
Premium (Monthly)$5.99
per month, billed monthly
The same Premium features billed month to month.
Routine
Free$0
Tasks, calendars and notes, AI assistant, voice commands, offline mode, 3 integrations, 3 custom databases and 250 AI credits.
Personal$5
per month, billed yearly
Adds time blocking, time boxing, event coloring, exporting, unlimited file uploads, 10 integrations, 10 custom databases and 500 AI credits.
Professional$10
per month, billed yearly
Adds AI meeting notes, AI agents and automations, time tracking, a menu bar widget, unlimited integrations and databases, and 7,000 AI credits.
Business$15
per seat / month, billed yearly
Adds an organization with workspaces, access control, versioning, consolidated billing, priority support and 10,000 AI credits per seat.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds unlimited history, compliance, audit logs, analytics, user provisioning and a success manager.
Ways to pay less
PolyPlan
- Annual discount
About 51% less with annual billing
Premium costs $34.99 a year when billed annually, against $71.88 for twelve monthly payments of $5.99.
Routine
- Annual discount
Up to 38% off on yearly plans
Routine's pricing page marks its yearly prices as 38% off for Personal and 17% off for Professional and Business.
- Startups
Startup program: Business plan free for a year
Startups with under $2 million in funding and fewer than 20 employees can apply for the Business plan free for one year, worth up to $2,500.
