Ellie Planner vs Nozbe: 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 Nozbe will help you understand which tool best fits your workflow and productivity needs.
⚡ Quick Summary
Aspect | Ellie Planner | Nozbe |
|---|---|---|
Best For | A minimalist daily planner app focused on time-blocking with drag-and-drop task scheduling and calendar integration. | Task and project management app with team collaboration features |
Pricing | Free Plan available. Pro: $9.99/month, $99.99/year, or $299.99 lifetime. | Free plan available. Premium from $6/mo per member. |
Platforms | Web, iOS, Mac, Windows | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows |
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 Nozbe?
Nozbe is a task and project management and team collaboration app that helps individuals and teams organize work into projects, tasks, and comments to manage both personal and business workflows in one place. It features shared projects, task assignment, multiple workspaces, and strong collaboration tools for distributed teams.
🌟 Key Features of Nozbe
✦Projects, tasks, comments structure with file attachments and @mentions
✦Team collaboration with shared projects, task assignment, multiple workspaces
✦Priority, Incoming, Calendar, and Inbox views for organizing tasks
✦Advanced recurring tasks with custom repetition patterns
✦Email-to-task and unique project email addresses
✦Filters, tags, favorites, and personalized sidebar
📊 Feature Comparison
Feature | Ellie Planner | Nozbe |
|---|---|---|
📅 Calendar Integration | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
✅ Task Management | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
⏰ Time Blocking | ✓ Yes | ◐ Limited |
🗣️ Natural Language Processing | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
🔔 Notifications | ✓ Yes | — |
🌍 Time Zones Support | ✗ No | — |
📆 Scheduler | ✓ Yes | — |
📈 Analytics | ✓ Yes | ◐ Limited |
🔗 Integrations
Ellie Planner
Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Slack, Notion, Zapier
Nozbe
Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Evernote, Slack, Notion, Todoist, Asana, Dropbox, Gmail, Trello, Google Sheets, ClickUp, Toggl, TimeCamp, plus 8000+ apps via Zapier
💰 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.
Nozbe
Free plan available. Premium from $6/mo per member.
Free: $0 (1 space, 3 projects, 3 members). Premium: from $7.50/member/month (monthly) or $6.00/member/month (yearly) per space. Business: from $11.25/member/month (monthly) or $9.00/member/month (yearly) with unified billing.
💡 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 Nozbe
→Best suited for task management and collaboration rather than complex project management - lacks Gantt charts, dependencies, and advanced workflows
→Pricing may be expensive for larger teams compared to alternatives, with per-space billing that can add up quickly
→Has a learning curve for optimal GTD-style setup and can become overwhelming with many tasks without careful organization
⭐ 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."
Nozbe
"Praised for simplicity, cross-platform task management, and collaboration features, but criticized for limited advanced project management features, pricing concerns, and some usability gaps at scale. Good for small teams and GTD-style workflows but lacks Gantt charts, dependencies, and advanced reporting."
🎯 Conclusion
Both Ellie Planner and Nozbe 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 Nozbe shines with Projects, tasks, comments structure with file attachments and @mentions. 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.

