Ellie Planner vs Microsoft To Do: Comprehensive Comparison
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Overview
In today's fast-paced world, choosing the right productivity tool can make all the difference. This comprehensive comparison between Ellie Planner and Microsoft To Do will help you understand which tool best fits your workflow and productivity needs.
⚡ Quick Summary
Aspect | Ellie Planner | Microsoft To Do |
|---|---|---|
Best For | A minimalist daily planner app focused on time-blocking with drag-and-drop task scheduling and calendar integration. | Microsoft To Do is a free task management app integrated with Microsoft 365. It helps organize daily tasks, set reminders, and sync across devices. Ideal for personal use and light collaboration, it features "My Day" planning and seamless Outlook integration. |
Pricing | Free Plan available. Pro: $9.99/month, $99.99/year, or $299.99 lifetime. | Free |
Platforms | Web, iOS, Mac, Windows | Web, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac |
What is Ellie Planner?
Ellie Planner is a minimalist daily planner and time-blocking app that combines tasks and calendar events to help users plan and visualize their day. It features drag-and-drop task scheduling, a brain dump area for quick capture, and built-in time tracking with analytics. The app includes AI assistant capabilities for task organization and scheduling optimization.
🌟 Key Features of Ellie Planner
✦Time Blocking with Drag-and-Drop: Core feature allowing users to drag tasks from a Kanban-style list directly into their calendar view for visual time blocking and day planning.
✦Brain Dump & Task Management: Quick capture inbox area combined with comprehensive task management including lists, priorities, due dates, labels, subtasks, and recurring tasks.
✦Built-in Timer and Analytics: Time tracking capabilities with analytics on how you spend your time, providing insights into productivity patterns and time allocation.
✦AI Assistant: AI-powered features for bulk task creation, smart organization, time estimation, automated scheduling, finding free time, and priority guidance (Pro feature).
✦Calendar Integration: Syncs with Google, Apple, and Outlook calendars to provide a unified view of appointments and tasks in one interface.
✦Cross-Platform Access: Available on web, iOS, Mac, and Windows with native apps and browser-based access for flexible planning anywhere.
What is Microsoft To Do?
Microsoft To Do is a simple, intelligent to-do list app that helps users manage tasks in one place, with features like daily planning via "My Day" and integration across Microsoft apps. It's designed primarily for individual task management with basic collaboration features through shared lists. The app is completely free and works best for users already in the Microsoft 365/Outlook ecosystem.
🌟 Key Features of Microsoft To Do
✦My Day Planning: Daily task focus with intelligent suggestions from your lists.
✦Task Details: Add due dates, reminders, subtasks (Steps), file attachments up to 25MB, and notes.
✦Task Prioritization: Star tasks for importance and organize with hashtags/categories.
✦List Sharing and Collaboration: Share lists with others and assign tasks with "Assigned to me" view.
✦Microsoft Ecosystem Integration: Seamlessly works with Outlook, Teams, Planner, and flagged emails.
✦Cross-Device Sync: Available on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac with reliable synchronization.
📊 Feature Comparison
Feature | Ellie Planner | Microsoft To Do |
|---|---|---|
📅 Calendar Integration | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
✅ Task Management | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
⏰ Time Blocking | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
🗣️ Natural Language Processing | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
🔔 Notifications | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
🌍 Time Zones Support | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
📆 Scheduler | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
📈 Analytics | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
🔗 Integrations
Ellie Planner
Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Slack, Notion, Zapier
Microsoft To Do
Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Planner, Cortana, Outlook flagged emails, third-party apps via Zapier and Power Automate (Google Calendar, Slack, Notion, Todoist)
💰 Pricing Comparison
Ellie Planner
Free Plan available. Pro: $9.99/month, $99.99/year, or $299.99 lifetime.
Free Plan: $0 with unlimited tasks and braindump. Ellie Pro: $9.99/month, $99.99/year, or $299.99 one-time lifetime purchase.
Microsoft To Do
Free
Free
💡 Things to Consider
When Choosing Ellie Planner
→You Value Visual Time-Blocking: Ellie Planner excels at drag-and-drop task scheduling into calendar views, making it ideal if you prefer visual daily planning over text-based task lists.
→You're Willing to Pay for Core Features: The free plan is quite limited, so you'll need Pro ($9.99/month) for time-blocking, calendar integration, and most useful features - consider if this fits your budget.
→You Use iOS/Web/Desktop: Best experience is on iOS and web platforms. Skip if you need Android support or prefer fully native desktop applications over web-based interfaces.
When Choosing Microsoft To Do
→You're in the Microsoft Ecosystem: Excellent integration with Office 365, Outlook, Teams, and Planner, but limited native integrations outside Microsoft services.
→You Value Simplicity Over Advanced Features: Perfect for basic task lists and personal productivity, but lacks project management, custom fields, advanced views, and extensive customization options.
→You Need Basic Task Management: Completely free with solid core features, but may feel limiting if you need advanced collaboration, time tracking, detailed reporting, or complex project workflows.
⭐ User Reviews
Ellie Planner
"Ellie Planner is praised for its intuitive, minimalist interface and effective time-blocking capabilities with drag-and-drop functionality. Users appreciate the brain dump feature, calendar integration, and responsive indie developer support. However, the free plan is quite limited, pricing is considered high compared to alternatives, there's no Android app, and it offers fewer advanced features than comprehensive tools like Sunsama. Best suited for individual users who prioritize visual time-blocking and simplicity over complex workflows."
Microsoft To Do
"Microsoft To Do is a simple, free task management app that works best within the Microsoft ecosystem. Users appreciate its clean interface, reliable cross-device sync, tight Outlook integration, and features like "My Day" planning. However, it lacks advanced customization, project management capabilities, and has limitations like no undo function, basic recurring task options (minimum 1-day intervals), and limited team collaboration features compared to competitors."
🎯 Conclusion
Both Ellie Planner and Microsoft To Do are excellent productivity tools with their own strengths.
Ellie Planner excels in Time Blocking with Drag-and-Drop: Core feature allowing users to drag tasks from a Kanban-style list directly into their calendar view for visual time blocking and day planning., while Microsoft To Do shines with My Day Planning: Daily task focus with intelligent suggestions from your lists.. The best choice depends on your specific needs, workflow preferences, and budget.
We recommend trying both tools to see which one fits better with your productivity style.
