Apple Reminders vs Clockwise: Comprehensive Comparison

Francesco
Francesco
Francesco
Francesco

2

minutes reading
December 22, 2025

Overview

In today's fast-paced world, choosing the right productivity tool can make all the difference. This comprehensive comparison between Apple Reminders and Clockwise will help you understand which tool best fits your workflow and productivity needs.

⚡ Quick Summary

Aspect

Apple Reminders

Clockwise

Best For

Apple Reminders is a free task management app integrated into the Apple ecosystem, offering features like location-based reminders, list sharing, and Siri integration for iOS and macOS users. It's known for its simplicity and ease of use.

AI-powered calendar assistant that optimizes schedules and protects focus time

Pricing

Free

Free, from $6.75/mo

Platforms

Web, iOS, macOS

Web

What is Apple Reminders?

Apple Reminders is a free to-do and reminder app from Apple that lets you create tasks, group them into lists, and get notified at specific times, locations, or contexts, synced via iCloud across your Apple devices. It offers features like subtasks, tags, attachments, and collaboration on shared lists. While excellent for basic task management and Apple ecosystem integration, it has limited third-party integrations and some usability quirks.

Visit Apple Reminders →

🌟 Key Features of Apple Reminders

  • ✦Simple Interface: Apple Reminders offers a clean and intuitive interface, making it easy for users to create and manage tasks.

  • ✦Location-based Reminders: Users can set reminders that are triggered by their location, such as reminding to buy something when near a specific store.

  • ✦Integration with Siri: The app integrates seamlessly with Siri, allowing users to create reminders through voice commands.

  • ✦Shared Lists: It allows sharing of lists with other Apple users, facilitating collaborative task management.

  • ✦Tags and Smart Lists: Users can organize tasks with tags and create smart lists for filtering and organization.

  • ✦Attachments and Subtasks: The app supports adding attachments like photos and creating nested subtasks for better task structure.

What is Clockwise?

Clockwise is an AI-powered calendar assistant that optimizes schedules by automatically finding optimal meeting times, rescheduling conflicts, protecting focus time blocks, and balancing individual and team productivity. It integrates with Google Calendar and Microsoft calendars to provide smart rescheduling, automatic time blocking, and team coordination across time zones.

Visit Clockwise →

🌟 Key Features of Clockwise

  • ✦AI-powered smart rescheduling and predictive scheduling to resolve conflicts

  • ✦Automatic time blocking with flexible holds for tasks and deep work focus time

  • ✦Team coordination via shared calendars and real-time optimization across time zones

  • ✦Analytics for individual and team insights on focus time and meeting load

  • ✦AI assistant (Prism) for scheduling suggestions

  • ✦Preference learning to understand work styles and minimize context switching

📊 Feature Comparison

Feature

Apple Reminders

Clockwise

📅 Calendar Integration

✓ Yes

✓ Yes

✅ Task Management

labels, priority settings, due dates, location-based reminders, subtasks, tags, recurring tasks

◐ Limited

⏰ Time Blocking

◐ Limited

✓ Yes

🗣️ Natural Language Processing

◐ Limited

◐ Limited

🔔 Notifications

✓ Yes

✓ Yes

🌍 Time Zones Support

yes, apple reminders supports different time zones.

✓ Yes

📆 Scheduler

✗ No

✓ Yes

📈 Analytics

✗ No

✓ Yes

🔗 Integrations

Apple Reminders

iCloud, Siri, Apple Calendar, Safari, Notes, Maps, Contacts, Google (via Internet Accounts), Microsoft Exchange, Things

Clockwise

Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Slack, Asana, Zoom

💰 Pricing Comparison

Apple Reminders

Free

Free (uses iCloud storage - 5GB free, additional storage from $0.99/mo for 50GB)

Clockwise

Free, from $6.75/mo

Free plan available, Teams $6.75-$7.75/mo, Business $11.50/mo, Enterprise custom pricing

💡 Things to Consider

When Choosing Apple Reminders

  • →You Value Simplicity: Ideal for those who want a straightforward, easy-to-use task manager without complex features.

  • →Deep Integration with Apple Ecosystem: Perfect for users who are heavily invested in Apple products and enjoy seamless integration with iOS and macOS.

  • →Basic to Moderate Task Management Needs: If your requirements include lists, tags, subtasks, and sharing but don't need advanced project management features, Apple Reminders is sufficient.

When Choosing Clockwise

  • →Best for teams with shared calendars; limited value for solo users or client scheduling

  • →Requires Google Calendar dependency and expect to use alongside Clockwise for detailed edits

  • →Only updates once daily rather than real-time like some competitors

⭐ User Reviews

Apple Reminders

"Apple Reminders is praised for its seamless cross-device syncing via iCloud, deep Apple ecosystem integration including Siri and Calendar, and flexible organization with Smart Lists and tags. However, users report usability frustrations like check-off delays and inability to complete from lock screen banners. It's ideal for Apple ecosystem users with basic to moderate task management needs, but may lack advanced features for power users."

Clockwise

"Mostly positive reviews with users calling it a 'game changer' for productivity and work-life balance. Praised for automatic focus time creation, team coordination, and ease of use. Main criticisms include occasional sync issues with Google Calendar/Slack, limited editing capabilities requiring switching to Google Calendar, and daily rather than real-time rescheduling updates."

🎯 Conclusion

Both Apple Reminders and Clockwise are excellent productivity tools with their own strengths.

Apple Reminders excels in Simple Interface: Apple Reminders offers a clean and intuitive interface, making it easy for users to create and manage tasks., while Clockwise shines with AI-powered smart rescheduling and predictive scheduling to resolve conflicts. 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.

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Try Akiflow now for a 10x productivity boost
7 days free with Aki. Cancel anytime.
Try Akiflow now for a 10x productivity boost
7 days free with Aki. Cancel anytime.