The 14 Best Online Planners to Get Organized in 2024 — For Free

Some people live by their paper planner. They find comfort in putting pen-to-paper, writing down each note, task and meeting for the week or month ahead. But if you have stacks of agendas and planners in your closet, half-filled, covering a range of years and sad, empty pages — this probably means it’s time for you to try another method.

Traditional paper planners aren’t for everyone. Especially with more people working remotely or following a hybrid work schedule, the ability to check your upcoming tasks while on the move is more important than ever. Most of us need a tool that is as flexible and adaptable as our daily schedules — and that’s why an online planner is the way to go. And getting one for free? Now that’s the way to go.

The benefits of a free online planner include:

1. Accessible from anywhere – If you have an internet connection, you should be able to access and update your planner from any device. This is ideal for busy people who are constantly on the go.

2. Shareable and collaborative – With an online calendar, you can easily share your schedule with others (like your spouse or family) and work on projects together by assigning tasks and setting deadlines.

3. Easy to use – Most online planners have drag-and-drop features that make moving around events and tasks easy. You can also set up recurring events so you don’t have to keep repeatedly inputting the same information.

So if you’re looking for a solution to help you to stay on track — without having to carry along a paper planner wherever you go — follow along for some of our favorite free online planner tools.

1. Hive

Hive is a leading task and project management app that functions as your all-in-one online planner. With Hive, you can create tasks, assign them to yourself (or others), and give them a due date to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. Tasks can be organized into projects, or can be grouped by custom labels for specific categories. You can use the built-in Hive Notes feature to jot down reminders or thoughts, which can then be turned into Action items themselves.

With Hive, simply check your My Actions view to get a quick snapshot of all upcoming tasks, whether they are due now, overdue, or due in a few days. To get a view of what’s going on in a given week week, you can easily toggle My Actions to be shown in Calendar View as well. Hive is an excellent tool to use on your desktop when working at home or in the office, and via the Hive mobile app when you need to check tasks from your cellphone while on-the-go.

Hive is a great way to track not only your work, but also your personal tasks as well. And the best part is that Hive is free for individuals and teams of 2 — making it a no-brainer solution if you’re looking for your next free online planner. Get started for free today!

2. Trello

Trello is both simple and easy to use, making it a perfect free online planner for busy people who want to get organized without all the bells and whistles. With Trello, you can create lists of tasks and set due dates and reminders. You can also share your lists with others so they can help you stay on track. And if you need more than just a basic task to-do list and want to jump into more of their Trello Powerups, you can upgrade and pay a monthly fee.

Trello is a fantastic first-timer online planner because it is straightforward and has a very intuitive drag and drop layout. It’s a great option if you’re not looking for anything fancy — just a place to dump ideas and tasks, set a few reminders, and be done with it. And if you ever need to access lists on the go, you can easily pull them up on your phone or tablet.

To continue researching, check out this list of top Trello alternatives on the market.

3. Google Calendar

Google and Gmail run the modern day workplace. (You can even set up notifications from Hive to be sent via Gmail!) What is so great about the Google Calendar is that almost everyone uses it these days. Most people have a Gmail account, and most people are familiar with working in Google.

This makes it easy to share Google Calendars and tasks with your spouse, in-laws, friends, and even coworkers. Google Calendar can cross over the Android/iPhone platforms and connect everyone through reminders and tasks. And because Google has become the gold standard, it’s likely you won’t even have to explain to them how to use the platform or where to get it.

While Google Calendar might not be everyone’s go-to for daily tasks and reminders, it is something that is easily accessible to everyone and technology that seems to have stood the test of time. So if you want a personal online planner that is simple to use, easy to access for everyone, and pretty much widely accepted, check out scheduling your life in the cloud through Google.

4. Cozi Family Calendar

The Cozi Family Calendar is the digital version of the nirvana most people expect to obtain with their paper planners. It is like one of those gold-lined paper planners that you hold in the palm of your hand that has a line and a dreamy picture for everything — but it exists in the cloud. And it exists for free!

Cozi is a family planner on steroids, and it keeps every part of your life organized and on track. With the Cozi Family Calendar, you can create events and set reminders. You can also share your calendar with others to see your schedule. In addition, it has a to-do list, an agenda, a shopping list, and even a place to store recipes.

It’s like a one-stop-shop for productivity. It can track all of your work tasks, and it also keeps track of soccer practice, doctor’s appointments, and when it’s your turn to volunteer at your kid’s school. Plus, the Cozi Family Calendar is available on both desktop and mobile, so you can access it anywhere, anytime.

5. Any.do

When wrapping up an extra busy day, all we want is a glass of wine, a bowl of popcorn and a favorite TV show. And let’s be honest, these are the moments when we can easily forget to add something to our to-dos for the next day. That’s when Any.do comes to the rescue. The to-do list style task management app includes a free online planner that can be accessed anywhere from multiple devices. 

Any.do has an easy to use single interface with a dark mode feature, which is great for late night planning on the sofa. Every night, a notification feature called ‘Moment’ sends a reminder to quickly review your tasks and figure out how to schedule them. You can also mark anything that you have completed already. Any.do makes it simple to reschedule tasks too — which is especially convenient when anything unexpected comes up.

The software can level up your planning game with customized and managed workflows. Plus, you can share your plans with others, assign tasks, chat in real-time, and even onboard an entire team. From planning projects and appointments to managing my kids’ schedules and coordinating with my partner on how we will stay on top of our responsibilities, Any.do is a great tool for anyone looking to get a little productivity boost.

6. Notion

If you’re someone who loves to stay organized and keep track of your to-dos, Notion is another great choice for a free online planner. Notion offers an all-in-one workspace where users can create and customize pages to manage everything from my personal projects to team collaboration. You can also create templates, which saves a lot of time when setting up an online planner for the first time. You can also choose from various pre-made templates, such as a daily planner or a project management tracker, and customize them to suit your specific needs. 

Notion also offers a calendar view, which provides a bird’s eye view of all upcoming tasks and deadlines. This is especially for staying on track and ensuring you don’t miss any important deadlines. Notion helps you stay organized and on top of your to-dos, while also providing a great platform for collaboration with others. Plus, it’s free to use and accessible from any device, making it a convenient and flexible option for anyone looking to boost their productivity.

Check out these great Notion alternatives to learn about other similar tools on the market.

7. Evernote

Evernote is a note-taking app that can be utilized as a powerful free online planner. It’s a unique and versatile tool offering a variety of features that support planning and organization. Evernote’s structure is based on notebooks and notes, and allows users to create specific sections for different planning areas, such as work, personal life, or special projects. Its checklist and tagging features are helpful when setting up tasks and reminders, and you can also create templates for repetitive tasks.

Evernote also has a robust search functionality which can even find text in attached images or PDFs. It also supports multiple devices, syncing your notes and plans across your smartphone, tablet, and computer, keeping your plans and schedules always accessible no matter where you are. There’s also the ability to clip web content directly into notes, allowing you to store and organize all your resources in one place.

The free version has limitations in terms of monthly upload limit and number of devices, but it still offers a wide range of note-taking capabilities that can aid in effective planning. You can upgrade starting at $10.83/month and you’ll be able to sync unlimited devices as well as receive a substantial increase in your monthly uploads.

Curious how it stacks up against similar tools? Check our choices of the best Evernote alternatives out now.

8. Visme

Visme is an all-in-one content creation platform to help your brand personality shine, and also has online planning capabilities. It offers weekly planner templates that you can customize and make it so eye-catching that you might want to print your online planner schedule. Visme’s table creation tool lets you design your weekly planner within a few clicks, allowing you to set up a column just for appointments, another one focused on your to-do list, and one more for your weekly goals — the possibilities are endless.

Simply explore Visme’s template library, then customize your form with your brand colors, fonts, borders, and background design. Visme also Integrates with popular workplace tools like Airtable, Google Sheets, Salesforce and Hubspot. 

9. Toggl 

Toggl’s free online calendar is an ideal planner for project managers. In addition to traditional online calendar functionality, the software lets you create and see task statuses, set deadlines, add subtasks, and define task estimates. With the ability to drag-and-drop in your calendar, Toggl’s user-friendly interface gives you extra flexibility when creating and customizing an event, task, or project. In addition, task tagging capabilities make it easy to filter and classify segments of your calendar.

Toggl is free for solo users. The premium plan costs $8 per user/per month and comes with additional features such as team planning, recurring tasks, and time tracking.

10. Todoist

Todoist is a free online planner with powerful project management features. It lets you create and share to-do lists, tasks with subtasks, set priorities, use labels, and add filters for easy searching. Todoist mobile app keeps your team connected wherever they are, making it easy to collaborate remotely. You can have up to five active projects, 5MB file uploads and 3 filters view on the beginner free plan. The activity history is only available for a week though.There’s a free plan with limited features and paid plans start at $4/month/user.

11. LifeTick

Lifetick is an online goal setting app that helps you organize your to-do list in a simple way. When you set up your account on Lifetick you’ll need to choose your core values in life, then the app will help you to follow the S.M.A.R.T methodology to keep you on track. You will be able to note your experiences in a journal, track your habits, capture dreams and measure your progress in a chart. Lifetick has a free forever plan with limited features. Its paid plan starts at $39 per year. Lifetick paid plan includes financial goals, subtasks, personalized trackers with descriptive, financial, numerical and binary types, plus an advanced reporting feature for tracking your performance.

12. Miro

Miro is a cloud-based whiteboard platform that offers an online planner tool with all the features you need to organize your calendar. You can stipulate steps, describe tasks, set priorities and deadlines, and create workflows. Miro also offers ready-made templates and customize them to your needs, without having design experience. Miro also lets you sync the tools you already use so your processes are not disrupted. The app allows you to make things a bit more fun with stickers and visual elements that you can easily add to your boards. Miro has a free plan with limited capability, a starter plan at $8 per member/month and a business package at $16 per member/month.

13. TickTick

Mostly known for its time tracking ability, TickTick can be a good online planner alternative if you need simple smart lists, a calendar view with an easy overview of your daily to monthly tasks. On the go and want to get something in your online planner? With TickTick, you can use its voice input feature to record a task. You also have the ability to turn an email into a task. 

Its Pomo Timer feature has a built-in white noise generator that helps users to stay focused. Online planners like TickTick offer versatile accessibility across various devices, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and desktops.

TickTick can be used for free, and for $35.99 per year you get extended use of the features within the app such as full calendar functionality and customized filters.

14. PlanWiz

PlanWiz is a schedule planner app designed for iOs users to organize personal and professional tasks effortlessly. It has over 7,000 planner templates to choose from. It also lets you customize templates to match your style and needs, making it uniquely yours. PlanWiz lets you easily create and save PDF documents and links for quick access. With this digital planner app you can make to-do lists, track habits, and even keep lists of books and movies to read or watch. 

The app has task management features and also lets you define goals for yourself. It even reminds you to take breaks, so you can have a balanced day. Although the app is free, you might need a subscription to take advantage of the many features it offers. A one-time purchase pack costs $49, a yearly subscription costs $39.99 and a weekly subscription $3.99.

How to pick your online planner

Now that you know a little bit more about some of the free online planners available, how do you decide which one is right for you?

The best way to pick an online planner is first to assess your needs. Do you need something simple and straightforward, or are you looking for a planner with all the bells and whistles? Do you need to share your calendar with others or manage projects for work? Do you already have one for work, or do you need one just for personal use? Do they work together? Can you get them integrated? Once you have a good idea of what features are important to you, it will be easier to narrow down your choices.

Then, take some time to try out each option on this list. The choices on this list are all free, so you don’t have to worry about any sneaky payments hitting your account after the “free trial ends.” So, pick a planner, and test it out before committing. And if you find one that doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to try another one. With so many free options available, there’s no reason not to find an online planner that will help you boost your productivity and keep your life organized.

What is your favorite free online planner? Are you using one of my choices? Let me know in the comments below.