Plannie vs Mango Display: the full comparison.
Mango Display puts your calendars, chores and meal plan on a TV, tablet or Echo Show for $59.99/year, the cheapest display software here. Plannie runs on the same tablets, but it is the calendar itself: everyone edits it from the wall or their own phone, and the assistant reads school emails for you.
Feature by feature
| Plannie | Mango Display | |
|---|---|---|
| Shared colour-coded family calendar | ✓ | ✓ Pro plan. Colour per calendar source; each chore profile also gets its own colour and avatar. |
| Calendar sync | Two-way Google & Outlook Edits flow both ways. Apple/iCloud and any ICS URL come in as subscribed feeds. | Read-only: Google, Outlook, Apple, Cozi, ICS Changes in the source calendar appear on screen within seconds. Two-way sync is not documented. |
| Add or edit events from the screen or a phone | ✓ | ✗ On a touchscreen you can swipe through dates. Creating or editing events on the display or in the app is not documented. |
| Chores, routines & rewards | Premium | Pro Up to 12 members, points with deductions, routines by time of day, rewards with a gem cost redeemed on the display. Chores are created in the web dashboard. |
| Weekly meal planning | Yes Breakfast, lunch and dinner across the week, a recipe library, paste a recipe link and ingredients go to the grocery list in one click. | ● Displays a weekly meal plan with dish images synced from an external meal planner. Recipes and grocery lists are not documented. |
| Shared and private lists | Shared household lists plus a private list per member | ● To-dos come from Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do or Todoist; Custom Notes pin shopping lists and messages. Native shared or private lists are not documented. |
| AI import of emails, photos & PDFs | Premium Family Inbox turns forwarded emails into events. Magic Import reads photos, PDFs, screenshots and URLs. | ✗ |
| Wall display | Kiosk mode on any tablet | Any TV, tablet, Echo Show or browser Fire TV, Samsung, LG and Android TV, iPad, Android and Fire tablets, Echo Show 15/21, Windows, Raspberry Pi. Three screens on Pro, $2.99/month each beyond that. |
| Per-member personal mode on own phones | ✓ | ● Members are display-side profiles (name, colour, avatar) who can tick chores from a phone browser. Per-member accounts, notifications and calendar views are not documented. |
| Open API & MCP for your own agents | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hardware to buy | None | None |
| Subscription | $99/yr whole household | $59.99/yr Pro $5.99 monthly. The free plan has clock, weather, news and backgrounds but no calendar. Business and Enterprise plans are $199/yr and $499/yr. |
| 3-year cost, family of four | $297 | $179.97 Pro billed annually, 3 × $59.99. Monthly billing: 36 × $5.99 = $215.64. No hardware if you already own a TV or tablet. |
Mango Display prices and platform details from mangodisplay.com and help.mangodisplay.com, checked 18 September 2026. In fairness, Mango Display runs on screens Plannie does not: Fire TV sticks, Samsung and LG TVs, Echo Show 15 and 21 and Windows PCs, and at $59.99/year it is cheaper. Its privacy stance is clear too: data never sold, AWS hosting, SOC 2 Type I. Plannie's kiosk mode runs on the same tablets, and only there.
Sources: mangodisplay.com/pricing, help.mangodisplay.com: Using the Chores widget
Three things that matter on a Tuesday
Showing versus doing. Mango Display is a window onto calendars, lists and meal plans that live somewhere else, and it is a good window: setup in minutes, sources appear within seconds, and it runs on almost any screen including a Fire TV stick and an Echo Show. But the window does not open. Creating or editing an event on the screen is not documented. Plannie's kiosk mode runs on the same tablets, and the tablet is a full calendar: add the school trip there and it is on every phone and in Google or Outlook.
Whose phone it is on. Mango's members are profiles on the display, with a name, a colour and an avatar, and they can tick a chore from a phone browser. There are no member accounts, notifications or personal views documented. Plannie gives every member a login. Personal mode on their phone shows their own view, their own reminders and a private list; the shared tablet shows everyone; one $99/year plan covers all of it.
What is built in. Mango's lists are Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do or Todoist passed through, and its meal widget shows a plan from an external planner. Plannie has its own: shared and private lists that nest, a weekly meal grid with a recipe library and one-click grocery list, and a Family Inbox that turns forwarded school emails, photos and PDFs into events under the right child. Mango costs $39 a year less. That is what the difference buys.
Choose Mango Display if…
You want the cheapest way to get your existing calendars, a chores board and photos onto a TV, a Fire TV stick or an Echo Show, and you are happy editing events in Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar. $59.99/year on screens you already own is hard to argue with.
Choose Plannie if…
You want the wall tablet to be a calendar the whole family edits, with each member's own view and notifications on their phone under the same plan. You want lists, meals and recipes built in, school emails and PDFs imported for you, and an open API and MCP for your own tools.
Frequently asked
Is Mango Display free?+
There is a free plan with two screen licences, but it has no calendar: clock, news, weather, backgrounds and quotes only. Calendars, chores and rewards, meal planning and photos need Pro at $5.99/month or $59.99/year, with three screens included and $2.99/month for each extra one. There is a 30-day trial with no card. Plannie's free plan includes the shared family calendar and two-way Google and Outlook sync; Premium is $99/year for the household.
Can I use Plannie on a Mango Display?+
Mango Display is not a device, it is software you run on a screen you own, so the question is whether Plannie runs on the same screens. On a tablet, yes: Plannie's kiosk mode turns any iPad or Android tablet into an always-on family display, the same tablets Mango Display targets. On a Fire TV stick, a Samsung TV or an Echo Show 15, Mango Display is the one built for it; Plannie is a web app and an iOS app, not a TV app.
Can you edit events on Mango Display?+
Not as far as Mango documents. The calendar widget pulls from Google, Outlook, Apple, Cozi or any ICS feed and shows changes within seconds, and on a touchscreen you can swipe through dates. Creating or editing an event on the screen or from the app is not documented, and neither is two-way sync. In Plannie the wall tablet is a full calendar: add the dentist there and it lands on every phone and, through two-way sync, in your Google or Outlook calendar.
Does Mango Display do chores?+
Yes, on Pro. You set chores up in the web dashboard with a name, points, due date and assignees, for up to 12 members, and kids can mark them done with the TV remote, a touchscreen, a phone or a browser. Rewards have a gem cost and are redeemed on the display by tapping the member's name. Plannie's chores earn tickets and rewards too, and they live on each member's own phone with their own notifications as well as on the shared screen.
Which is cheaper over three years, Mango Display or Plannie?+
Mango Display. Pro billed annually is $59.99/year, $179.97 over three years, or $215.64 on monthly billing; neither needs new hardware if you already have a TV or tablet. Plannie Premium is $99/year, $297 over three years. The extra $39 a year buys a calendar you can edit anywhere, native shared and private lists, a recipe library and grocery list, AI import of emails, photos and PDFs, and a personal view on each phone.