Introduction
The AI calendar and auto-scheduling space has exploded. Tools like Motion, Sunsama, Reclaim, and Clockwise promise to optimize your day, schedule tasks automatically, and help you focus on what matters.
But they're not all the same. Each tool has a different philosophy about productivity, different features, and fits different working styles.
In this guide, we'll compare the leading options to help you find the right fit.
Quick Comparison Table
| App | Best For | Core Philosophy | Price | |-----|----------|-----------------|-------| | SayNo | Executives & managers | Do less, better | $180/year | | Motion | Busy professionals | Schedule everything | $228/year | | Sunsama | Knowledge workers | Mindful daily planning | $240/year | | Reclaim | Team scheduling | Protect focus time | $96-144/year | | Clockwise | Enterprise teams | Optimize team calendars | Free-$264/year |
1. SayNo — Best for Strategic Focus
Philosophy: Not all tasks deserve your time. Identify what matters, delegate the rest.
What Makes It Different: While other tools help you do more tasks, SayNo helps you do fewer, better-chosen tasks. Its Signal/Noise framework classifies every task as either goal-aligned (Signal) or something to delegate (Noise).
Key Features:
- Signal/Noise task classification
- Quarterly goal tracking
- Built-in delegation management
- Voice task capture via Telegram
- Signal Ratio analytics
Best For: Executives, founders, and managers who are overwhelmed by commitments and need to focus on high-leverage work. People who manage others and need to delegate effectively.
Pricing: $15/month or $180/year
Pros:
- Unique goal-alignment approach
- Built-in delegation tracking
- Voice-first task capture
- Most affordable option
Cons:
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- No native mobile app (Telegram-based)
- Newer product, smaller community
2. Motion — Best for Aggressive Scheduling
Philosophy: AI should automatically schedule and reschedule your entire day.
What Makes It Different: Motion's AI is aggressive. It automatically schedules tasks, reschedules when things change, and tries to optimize every hour. You add tasks with deadlines, and Motion figures out when to do them.
Key Features:
- Real-time AI rescheduling
- Project management features
- Team scheduling
- Meeting scheduling links
- iOS and Android apps
Best For: Busy professionals with many tasks and meetings who want their calendar automatically optimized. Teams that need collaborative scheduling.
Pricing: $19/month ($228/year)
Pros:
- Powerful automatic scheduling
- Mature mobile apps
- Team features
- Active development
Cons:
- Can feel overwhelming
- Treats all tasks as equal
- No goal-based prioritization
- Higher price point
3. Sunsama — Best for Mindful Planning
Philosophy: Calm, intentional daily planning leads to sustainable productivity.
What Makes It Different: Sunsama rejects hustle culture. Its guided daily planning ritual helps you set realistic workloads and warns when you're overcommitting. The aesthetic is intentionally calm and zen-like.
Key Features:
- Guided daily planning ritual
- Timeboxing with time estimates
- Workload warnings
- Extensive integrations (Notion, Asana, etc.)
- Weekly reviews
Best For: Knowledge workers who want a calmer approach to productivity. People who struggle with overcommitting and need structure around daily planning.
Pricing: $20/month ($240/year)
Pros:
- Excellent daily planning flow
- Many integrations
- Helps prevent burnout
- Beautiful design
Cons:
- Most expensive option
- No goal-based prioritization
- Less automation
- Daily ritual takes time
4. Reclaim — Best for Protecting Focus Time
Philosophy: Automatically defend your calendar time for what matters.
What Makes It Different: Reclaim focuses on protecting time — focus time, lunch, personal commitments. It automatically adjusts your calendar blocks based on how busy your day gets, helping you maintain boundaries.
Key Features:
- Smart time blocking
- Habits and routines scheduling
- Task auto-scheduling
- Meeting scheduling
- Slack integration
Best For: Professionals whose calendars get overtaken by meetings. People who want to protect recurring time for focus, exercise, or personal commitments.
Pricing: Free tier available, $8-12/month for paid
Pros:
- Strong free tier
- Good at protecting time
- Habits scheduling
- Simple to use
Cons:
- Less powerful task management
- No goal alignment features
- Limited mobile experience
5. Clockwise — Best for Enterprise Teams
Philosophy: Optimize calendars across entire organizations.
What Makes It Different: Clockwise focuses on team calendar optimization at scale. It automatically moves meetings to create focus time blocks, syncs across teams, and provides calendar analytics for managers.
Key Features:
- Automatic meeting optimization
- Focus time protection
- Team-wide calendar analytics
- Flexible meetings
- Enterprise controls
Best For: Large organizations that need calendar coordination. Managers who want analytics on how teams spend time.
Pricing: Free basic tier, $6.75/user/month for Teams
Pros:
- Great for teams
- Calendar analytics
- Meeting optimization
- Enterprise security
Cons:
- Limited task management
- Less useful for individuals
- Complex setup for full value
How to Choose
Choose SayNo if:
- You're overwhelmed by too many commitments
- You manage others and need to delegate
- You think in terms of goals and priorities
- You want to do less, not more
Choose Motion if:
- You have many tasks and need aggressive scheduling
- You want powerful mobile apps
- You work with teams
- You know what you need to do, you just need help scheduling it
Choose Sunsama if:
- You want a calm, ritualized daily planning experience
- You need to pull tasks from many tools (Notion, Asana, etc.)
- You struggle with overcommitting
- Aesthetic and experience matter to you
Choose Reclaim if:
- You mainly need to protect focus time
- You want a strong free option
- Your calendar is mostly meetings, not tasks
- You want to build recurring habits
Choose Clockwise if:
- You're part of a larger organization
- You need team-wide calendar optimization
- You want calendar analytics
- Individual task management isn't your priority
The Deeper Question
These tools all help with scheduling. But they solve different problems:
Motion and Clockwise are about efficiency — doing more, scheduling better, optimizing calendars.
Sunsama and Reclaim are about boundaries — protecting time, preventing burnout, maintaining sanity.
SayNo is about strategy — ensuring you're working on the right things in the first place.
Most productivity problems aren't scheduling problems. They're prioritization problems. You're not failing to fit everything in — you're attempting to do too much that doesn't matter.
The most successful people aren't those who schedule most efficiently. They're those who are ruthlessly clear about what deserves their time at all.
Conclusion
If you struggle with too many tasks and unclear priorities, try SayNo.
If you want aggressive automatic scheduling, try Motion.
If you want calm daily planning rituals, try Sunsama.
If you mainly need to protect focus time, try Reclaim.
If you need team calendar optimization, try Clockwise.
All of these tools offer free trials. Test the ones that match your core challenge, and you'll find the right fit.
Ready to focus on what matters? Start your free SayNo trial and discover your Signal Ratio.
Written by
Nicola Gastaldello
Founder
Helping founders and teams achieve sustainable growth through focus and strategic prioritization.