When you’re really trying to get your life in order, you know a planner isn’t just a planner. The right one can make you feel more organized, less stressed—more on top of it all. But with so many out there, ranging from free to triple digits—which agendas are worth buying? Without being too bulky or having too little space to write down what you need? What’s the best planner for you?

I’ve been a planner obsessive since middle school, and over the years, I’ve tried almost everything. They keep me from ruminating over the same things endlessly (while worrying I’ve forgotten something) and help me destress and focus. I’m constantly trying new ones, from traditional agendas, mid-year, academic and productivity planners, to wellness logs and bullet journal-inspired ones—but there are only a handful I keep coming back to and would recommend.

In fact, for this year’s selection of the best planners, I tried seven new styles, and wound up with two new brands in the mix. Here are my favorites I’ve tested, so you can reach your full potential in 2024 and beyond (no matter your goals or organizational style).

One quick note: Right off the bat, I list whether each planner is dated or undated, aka whether the planner comes printed with each day’s date or not. The latter is more evergreen, and great if you want to pick up a planner and get organized whenever—not just on January or in August. But they can be annoying, because you have to manually fill in each day’s date.

The Best Planners & Agendas of 2024 & 2025:

1. Best Planner Overall: LH Agenda Anna Bay Quilted Weekly Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Undated

I’ve never had so many people stop to ask me where I got my planner or simply compliment me on it until I started using the Anna Bay Quilted Weekly Planner by LH Agenda. The Australia-based company’s agendas are every bit as stunning IRL as they look online—the quilted vegan leather is plush and easy to wipe clean, and it can be monogrammed for a custom touch. You can get a closer look at it this video:

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But, what’s even better is how portable and functional it is. It’s about an inch thick, clocking in at about 5.8 inches by 7.8 inches, and inside that small package is an incredibly well-organized approach to planning out your year: Each two-page spread lets you see the week at a glance, with a spot each day to highlight your top three priorities and an overall notes/intentions section for the seven-day span. There are also sections for planning out what you’d like to get out of the year and each month, AND you can buy planner tabs and other accessories to truly make this book your own. I’m obsessed. (If you want to know more, check out our in-depth review.)

• Best Discount: Sign up for their emails (at the bottom of the page) to score 5 percent off your order; free shipping on orders of $90+

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2. Best Customizable Daily Planner: Papier

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Undated

This is the best planner I’ve found for organizing all aspects of your life while still being ultra portable. The Daily Planner includes the week at a glance, with detailed entries for each day, as well as weekly meal planning pages and room for notes. I’ve heard some people complain there isn’t enough space in the daily section, but you’re given a whole page (!), with areas to break down your schedule hour by hour, list your top three tasks to achieve and have room for general to-dos and notes. The book would have to be larger to provide more space for notes, which would make it bulkier (like the Priority Planner, which is nearly the size of a textbook and not so easy to tote around).

Another pro: The customizable covers make it feel extra special, making it a great gift for college-bound students (or anyone who needs to get their lives together).

• Best Discount: 25 percent off your second book
• Another Discount to Try: Score 10 percent off when you sign up to receive emails from Papier.com

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2. Most Budget-Friendly Undated Planner: Brass Monkey Hidden Agenda

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Undated

Meant to start your planner on January 1st…and forgot? You can pick this one up anytime. While Brass Monkey recently changed its layout, the new version makes even better use of each page. It still has the fun facts and playful snark—all packaged in a fun, irreverent-yet-upscale design—but there’s more room to map out each day. It now includes a daily to-do list and notes section, as well as ways to block our your calendar from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (People who work alternative hours may not love that feature as much.) The two-page Month in Review is a fast way to reflect on the past 30ish days before heading into the next stretch, too. Its cloth-wrapped hardcover binding lends a luxe touch, and at 6 inches by 9 inches, it’s easy to stow even in a small purse.

If you prefer the older, full week-at-a-glance style, you can still buy it for $16 on Amazon, though it looks like quantities are limited.

• Best Discount: 10 percent off through the brand’s site if you sign up for emails, but you only score free shipping on orders of $30+. Score free shipping on the planner if you order through Amazon and are a Prime member.

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4. Best Undated Planner for Students: Notcoy Daily Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Undated

If you appreciate aesthetics, and your style skews more whimsical, this is the planner for you. This spiral-bound book is undated, so you can start whenever, and each day is divided into sections so you can easily note meetings, to-do’s, your top priorities and reflections at the end of the day. There’s a week in review, too, and it comes with fun stickers to help you highlight important moments—or just imbue a little more joy into your day. There’s enough room in the planner to last you six months, so you can test it out for a semester and see how it works for you. (Oh, and if you need more convincing, check out the full Notcoy review.)

• Best Discount: 10 percent off when you sign up for their newsletter

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5. Honorable Mention: Slimmest Planner for Students: Blue Sky 8.5″x11″ Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Dated, runs January through December

Despite all of the bells and whistles my other planners have, I find that outside of Papier, this is the planner I used the most day-to-day when I was in college. Why? Every three days is a full page, giving you plenty of time to jot down the day’s meetings and tasks, yet the planner itself is very slim, like toting a magazine. It slips easily into a laptop sleeve with my MacBook, making it easy to take on the go.

• Best Discount: 79 percent off on Amazon, plus one-day shipping is available via Amazon Prime

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6. Best Planner for Work/Entrepreneurs: At-a-Glance Foundation Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Undated

Previously, the My PA Planner got my vote for this category, but I couldn’t get over just how bulky it was—and how the business-planning features felt so specifically tailored that they seemed to appeal to a nice audience. This is where the Foundation planner excels. It features a mind mapping and goal setting section in the front to help you focus, then it delves into a two-page monthly calendar, before offering a two-page spread per week.

It’s all packaged in a slim, hardcover book with a magnetic closure, so Post-Its and loose notes aren’t as easy to spill out. It looks professional and sleek, and it gets the job done well, while being easy to tote from meeting to meeting. See my in-depth review here.

• Best Discount: N/A

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7. Best Wellness Planner: Silk & Sonder Annual Subscription

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Dated, each one spans one month

Calling Silk & Sonder’s spiral-bound book a planner is an understatement. Yes, you can use it to track your to-do’s and manage your calendar, but each planner lasts for a month and includes meal, habits and mood trackers. If you subscribe to their service, you can also access workshops and guided audio reflections for getting your thoughts out on the page. Check out our full review here.

• Best Discount: Use code FREEMONTH to score one month free on an annual subscription.

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8. Best Tiny Planner: The Home Edit 5″x8″ Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Dated

Leave it to decluttering gurus The Home Edit to come up with a sleek, streamlined planner in a tidy, tiny package. This flexible little datebook still has fairly spacious spots for each day’s tasks, yet it’s small enough to fit in a purse. Plus, it includes a section to list your goals and brainstorm what you want to get out of the year ahead.

• Best Discount: 10 percent off your first order when you sign up for their newsletter, plus free shipping on orders over $100

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9. Best Planner for Teachers: The Happy Planner Daily, 12-Month Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Dated, runs January through December

This planner lasts the longest of the bunch and is the most customizable (there are all kinds of dividers, pockets and stickers you can buy to trick out your Happy Planner). It’s great for crafty types, who like to bullet journal or vision board just as much as they like tracking their to-do’s. Or for anyone who needs a bit more space, say if you need to brainstorm a few lesson plan ideas or jot down notes between classes, which is why I recommend it for teachers and other creative-yet-organized types. It is a bit bulky though, and I found I rarely decorated its pages, even though I aspire to that level of *aesthetics.*

• Best Discount: Free shipping on Amazon for Prime members; currently $10 off (normally $35, now $25)

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10. Most Innovative Planner: Laurel Denise Mini Vertical Weekly Planner

• Is This Planner Dated or Undated? Dated, runs July through June

You’ll need a fine-point pen to really make use of this planner’s narrow columns for each day, but I found I really liked the Laurel Denise layout. The planner itself is incredibly slim, with each week featuring half-width pages, so you can see the week and the full month at the same time. It’s great for people who tend to plan ahead, or if you need to cross-reference appointments and other deadlines.

The planner comes with two adjustable bookmarks, which are much better than ribbons for holding your place. Plus, there are ample notes pages, formatted bullet journal-style, so you can organize stray thoughts or key points during a meeting without having to carry a separate notebook (or tap away at your laptop).

• Best Discount: Sign up for email alerts to snag 10 percent off

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How I Chose the Best 2024-2025 Planners:

I’ve been reviewing planners for the past 10+ years. Here’s how I go about testing them:

1. Research the top planners on the market, both in terms of reviews and general buzz. Include any new/under-the-radar brands that seem worth a closer look.
2. Buy or receive samples of said planners, making no guarantees that any will be featured (or included favorably—I only share what I truly like). Use them for at least one month, noting the pros/cons and who the planner would be best for, since what works for me may not work for someone else.
3. The best planners are: roomy enough to maintain basic to-dos and meeting notes without being so bloated/bulky that you can’t carry them around. They offer additional tools—like weekly or monthly reviews—but don’t have so many ‘inspirational’ pages that you feel too overwhelmed to use them (or worse, they’re so detailed they really only apply to very few people). Other important factors are paper/cover quality, durability, aesthetics and value.

What’s the Best Planner for Me?

Ask yourself 3 questions:

1. What do you need the most help organizing and tracking? Is it your to-do list? Do you prefer an hour-by-hour breakdown of the day ahead, because you’re in a ton of meetings or appointments?
2. How much space do you need for a day’s tasks? (And how much writing do you actually like to do?)
3. How portable do you want your planner to be? Do you want something slim and bendy, like a folder? Something small that can stash in a purse? Something big enough that you can jot down every stray thought—and bulk doesn’t really matter, because you’ll be keeping it in one place for the most part?

The Main Types of Daily Planners:

• Annual or Yearly Planners span one calendar year (January through December). They often pop up in stores around November or December, with pages pre-printed with the dates for the year ahead. They’re helpful for keeping track of dates at a glance, and they’re often clearanced out of stores by mid-February.
• Academic or Mid-Year Planners usually start at the end of summer and run through the school year. Some can be 18 months long, allowing for more long-term planning.
• Multi-Year Planners are often intended for goal setting, as they span multiple years and let you track your progress over time. They’re a rare find.
• Undated Planners are great for starting fresh at any time of the year, because you write in each day’s date. That can make them a little annoying for long-term planning, unless you take the time to jot every date of the year in ’em in advance, but they’re also nice if you stop using it for a few weeks then pick things back up—no pages wasted.

Is a Paper Planner Worth It?

It really depends on your organizational style. I love them for the ability to brain dump everything that’s on your mind (especially since a University of Tokyo study found that you’re more likely to remember things when you physically write them down), and I use a digital calendar to alert me to meetings, so I don’t miss them. It’s that one-two punch that helps me stay on top of things.

What Daily Planner Is in That Top Image?

So glad you asked! That’s the Anna Bay Quilted Planner by LH Agenda, which appears in the third spot on this list.

Why Trust My Planner Recommendations?

While I’ve tried a few other big name brands, I didn’t include them on this list simply because many felt too bulky, or overly simplistic, or straight-up pricey (for what you get) to include. If there’s a brand you love that I didn’t include, I’d love to hear it. DM me @lifebetweenweekends.

A previous version of this story included Rachel Hollis’s Start Today Priority Planner. Since the planner itself has sold out and has been discontinued (and it’s rare to find on eBay), we’ve removed it from this list.