TL;DR
Aftertone: £20/mo or £100 lifetime. macOS productivity system — tasks, time blocking, Focus Screen, behavioural AI, weekly reports.
Ellie Planner: Free tier or ~$5–$7/mo. Lightweight weekly planner with Kanban boards, drag-and-drop scheduling, and calendar integration. Web and iOS.
Key difference: Ellie helps you plan your week visually. Aftertone helps you execute your plan and learn from it.
Ellie Planner sits between a to-do list and a full daily planner. A Kanban board doubles as a weekly view — drag tasks across days, timebox them into your calendar, and flip between task and calendar views. It's clean, lightweight, and intentionally simple.
For people who want structured planning without the complexity of Sunsama or the rigidity of a calendar app, Ellie fills that gap. But it stops at planning. No focus mode, no behavioural AI, no weekly reports. You organise your week, then you're on your own.
Aftertone goes further — time blocks, Focus Screen, AI pattern recognition, and automated weekly reports. More opinionated, more depth.
Side-by-Side
Feature | Aftertone | Ellie Planner |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | £20/mo or £100 lifetime | Free tier. Pro: ~$5–$7/mo. |
Platform | macOS (iOS/Android coming) | Web, iOS |
Core identity | Productivity system: plan, execute, evaluate, optimise | Lightweight weekly planner with Kanban and calendar |
Task management | Native — keyboard shortcut capture, project tags | Kanban-style with drag-and-drop, timeboxing |
Time blocking | Visual time blocks with daily structure | Drag tasks into calendar slots |
AI | Silent behavioural AI — weekly insight reports | None |
Focus mode | Focus Screen — context-aware, 1-2-3 shortcuts | None |
Weekly reports | Automated, AI-generated, personalised | None |
Calendar sync | Google Calendar, two-way | Google Calendar |
Where Aftertone pulls ahead
The Focus Screen
Ellie has no execution mode. Aftertone's Focus Screen shows your current task, flags overdue items, and offers 1-2-3 shortcuts for what's next.
Behavioural AI and weekly reports
Ellie doesn't track patterns or generate insights. Aftertone watches your week and tells you what to change.
Execution depth
Ellie covers planning. Aftertone covers planning, execution, evaluation, and improvement — a full cycle.
Where Ellie is the better fit
Ellie's Kanban-style weekly view is genuinely elegant for visual planners. Instead of a time-blocked calendar, you see tasks distributed across day columns — drag left or right to reschedule, drag up and down to reprioritise. For people who think in terms of 'this is a Wednesday task' rather than 'this happens at 2pm', that framing is more natural than Aftertone's approach.
The interface is intentionally light. There's no system to learn, no methodology to adopt, no configuration required. You open it and start planning. For students, freelancers with flexible schedules, or anyone who finds structured productivity apps oppressive, that simplicity is a feature.
Ellie runs on web and iOS. If you need to plan on your phone — capturing tasks during commutes, checking your week while away from your Mac — Ellie covers that. Aftertone is macOS-only.
The free tier and low price point make it accessible without commitment. If you're unsure whether you need a structured system or just a cleaner way to see your week, Ellie is the lower-cost way to find out.
3-year cost comparison
Aftertone costs £100 once. Ellie Planner costs approximately $84 per year — that's $252 over three years. By the end of year one, Ellie Planner already costs more than Aftertone's lifetime price. Over three years, you'd spend 2.5× more on Ellie Planner. Both are independently built tools. Only one lets you stop paying.
Who should choose Ellie Planner
If you need cross-platform support beyond macOS, Ellie Planner may be the better fit today. If you rely heavily on integrations with other tools in your stack, check whether Ellie Planner connects to what you use daily. And if Ellie Planner's specific approach — its unique features and design philosophy — matches how you prefer to work, it's worth trying.
But if you want a productivity system that goes beyond planning into execution, evaluation, and optimisation — with behavioral AI that learns your patterns and a Focus Screen that protects your attention — Aftertone goes deeper. And it costs less to own forever than most competitors charge per year.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ellie Planner better than Aftertone?
It depends on what you need. Ellie Planner has its own strengths — particularly if you need broader platform support or specific integrations. Aftertone is stronger on execution: its Focus Screen, behavioral AI, and weekly reports create a four-phase productivity system (plan, execute, evaluate, optimise) that most competitors don't attempt.
Does Aftertone work on Windows or Linux?
Not yet. Aftertone is currently macOS-only, built as a native Mac app for performance and deep OS integration. iOS and Android apps are in development. If you need Windows or Linux support today, Ellie Planner may be a better short-term choice.
Can I use Aftertone with Google Calendar?
Yes. Aftertone syncs with Google Calendar via two-way sync. Your time blocks, events, and schedule changes appear in both apps. Aftertone adds the productivity layer — tasks, Focus Screen, AI insights — on top of your existing calendar.
Is Aftertone's lifetime plan really one payment?
Yes. £100 once, then it's yours. No annual renewals, no price increases, no feature gates behind higher tiers. Every feature — behavioral AI, Focus Screen, weekly reports, unlimited projects — is included.
What if I'm switching from Ellie Planner to Aftertone?
Aftertone syncs with Google Calendar, so any events you have there will appear automatically. For tasks, you'll need to recreate them in Aftertone — but the keyboard shortcut capture makes this fast. Most users are fully set up within a day.
Related reading
For more context on how Aftertone compares in the broader productivity landscape, see Best Mac Calendar Apps for Time Blocking (2026) and Productivity Methods Compared.
Bottom line
Ellie Planner is a clean, low-friction weekly organiser. Aftertone is the system you move to when planning isn't the problem — when you need focus protection, AI that learns your patterns, and weekly reports that compound into improvement. Try Aftertone free at aftertone.io.
