Plannie vs Microsoft To Do: the full comparison.
Microsoft To Do is free, runs everywhere and shares a list well. Plannie is the household layer To Do leaves out: a colour-per-member calendar, chores with rewards, meals and a kitchen display, for $99 a year.
Feature by feature
| Plannie | Microsoft To Do | |
|---|---|---|
| Shared colour-coded family calendar | ✓ | ✗ To Do has no calendar view. My Day and Planned are date-based lists; the calendar lives in Outlook. |
| Two-way Google & Outlook event sync | ✓ | ✗ Outlook tasks only Tasks sync with Outlook Tasks. To Do does not import Google, Apple or ICS calendars. |
| Chores with tickets & rewards for kids | Premium | ● Assigned recurring tasks Shared lists with assignment and recurring due dates. No rewards, points or kid mode. |
| Weekly meal planning & recipes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared household & private lists | ✓ | ✓ Lists are private until shared by invitation link. Sharing works between personal accounts, or within one workplace or school, never across the two. |
| Sub-tasks, notes & attachments | ✓ | Steps, notes, 25 MB files |
| AI import of emails, photos & PDFs | Premium | ✗ No AI features are documented for To Do itself. Copilot belongs to the Microsoft 365 subscription owner. |
| Wall display / kiosk mode | Kiosk mode on any tablet | Not documented |
| Per-member personal mode | ✓ | ● Separate accounts Each person needs a Microsoft account. Family groups are a Family Safety feature, not a To Do one; list sharing is per invite link. |
| Open API & MCP for your own agents | Premium + MCP | ● Graph API The Microsoft Graph To Do API covers lists, tasks, checklist items and linked resources. MCP is not documented. |
| Hardware to buy | None | None |
| Subscription | $99/yr whole household Plannie Premium covers unlimited members and devices. The free plan has no time limit. | Free No paid To Do tier. Microsoft 365 Family, $129.99/yr for up to six people, is separate and not required. |
| 3-year cost, family of four | $297 (Premium) | $0 |
Microsoft To Do prices and platform details from support.microsoft.com, apps.microsoft.com and learn.microsoft.com, checked 18 September 2026. In fairness, To Do is free with no seat limit, has native Windows and Mac apps where Plannie runs as a web app on the desktop, and its Outlook and Planner task sync is something Plannie doesn't do.
Sources: support.microsoft.com: Share a task list, learn.microsoft.com: To Do API overview, Microsoft To Do — Microsoft Store listing
The differences that matter
To Do is a list, and a good one. It has no calendar view and doesn't import Google, Apple or ICS calendars, so the family schedule stays in Outlook or on the fridge. Plannie starts from the calendar. Everyone's days sit side by side in their own colour, it syncs two-way with Google and Outlook, and Apple Calendar comes in as a subscribed feed, all on the free plan.
Sharing is the awkward part for a family. A To Do list is shared by invitation link, each member needs a Microsoft account, and a personal account can't share with a work or school account. In Plannie the household is the unit. Members join once, every list is shared or private by choice, and each member's phone shows their own view in personal mode.
Then there is what To Do doesn't try to do. There are no chores with rewards, no meal grid, no assistant reading the school newsletter and no kiosk mode for a tablet on the wall. Plannie Premium covers all of that for $99 a year for the whole household. Where To Do wins is the price: it is free for everyone.
Choose Microsoft To Do if…
You want a free, dependable shared list with no seat limit, native apps on Windows and Mac, and tasks that sync with Outlook. You already keep the family calendar somewhere else and don't need chores, meals or an AI inbox.
Choose Plannie if…
You want one app the whole family sees in their own colour, with the calendar, chores and rewards, meals and lists together. You'd like the Family Inbox to turn a forwarded school email into events and the old iPad to become the kitchen display, and $99 a year for the household feels fair for that.
Frequently asked
Can Microsoft To Do share a list with my kids?+
Yes, with a caveat. Each child needs their own Microsoft account (under the statutory age in your region that means adult consent), and you share a list by creating an invitation link. Sharing only works between personal accounts, or between accounts at the same workplace or school, never across the two, so a parent's work account can't share with the family. In Plannie every member belongs to one household from the start, with shared and private lists and no account juggling per list.
Does Microsoft To Do have a calendar view?+
No. To Do has date-based smart lists such as My Day and Planned, and its tasks sync with Outlook, but there is no calendar view and no import of Google, Apple or ICS calendars. The schedule has to live in Outlook. Plannie has day, week, 4-day, month and agenda views with a colour per member, two-way Google and Outlook sync, and Apple Calendar or any ICS feed as a subscribed calendar.
Is Microsoft To Do free?+
Yes, completely. There is no paid To Do tier, no seat limit and no in-app purchases, and it works with a free personal Microsoft account. Microsoft 365 Family ($129.99/year for up to six people) is a separate subscription and isn't needed for To Do. Plannie has a free plan too, and Plannie Premium is $99/year for the whole household, $297 over three years.
Is Microsoft To Do good for families?+
It is a solid free shared list. You get assignment, steps as sub-tasks, notes, 25 MB file attachments, recurring tasks and reminders, with native apps on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web. It has nothing built for kids (no chores, rewards or kid profiles), no meal planning, no AI and no wall display, so it works best as one part of a family setup rather than the whole of it.
Microsoft To Do vs Plannie: which should a family pick?+
Pick To Do if you mostly want a free, reliable list that syncs with Outlook and you are happy keeping the schedule elsewhere. Pick Plannie if you want the calendar, chores, meals and lists in one app the whole family sees in their own colour, with the Family Inbox turning school emails into events.