Plannie vs Outlook Calendar: keep Outlook, add the household.
Outlook gives any Microsoft family group a free shared calendar, and Microsoft 365 Family bundles Office and 1 TB each for six people. Plannie syncs two-way with Outlook, so you keep it for work and mail and put the household on top: a colour per person, chores, meals and a kitchen display.
Feature by feature
| Plannie | Outlook Calendar | |
|---|---|---|
| Shared family calendar, colour per member | ✓ | ● A family group calendar is created automatically when you add members to a Microsoft family group. Colour per member is not documented, and events you create there are not automatically sent to family members. |
| Two-way sync with Outlook & Microsoft 365 | ✓ Edits flow both ways, and events created in Plannie can sync back to your default Outlook calendar. Google Calendar syncs two-way as well; iCloud and any ICS feed come in as subscribed calendars. | Native Connecting Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or ICS feeds to Outlook is not covered on the pages checked. |
| Family calendar on the desktop | Web app in any browser The same family view on a laptop, tablet or phone, installable as a PWA. | ✗ The family group calendar only appears in Outlook.com and Outlook mobile, not in classic Outlook or other desktop applications. Items moved with classic Outlook cannot be edited or deleted. |
| Chores, routines & rewards | Premium | ✗ Microsoft Family Safety covers screen time, content filters and activity summaries. No chores, routines or rewards. |
| Weekly meal planning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared and private lists | ✓ | Not documented The Outlook family calendar pages do not describe household lists; Microsoft To Do was not part of this check. |
| AI import of emails, photos & PDFs | Premium | ✗ Copilot, owner only Copilot in Outlook helps the subscription owner with scheduling. Nothing on Microsoft’s pages describes turning a forwarded school email, photo or PDF into family events. |
| Wall display | Kiosk mode on any tablet | Not documented |
| Per-member personal mode | ✓ | Own Microsoft account each Members join the family group as Organiser or Member with their own mailbox. Child accounts are managed through Family Safety. |
| Open API & MCP for your own agents | ✓ | Not covered here Microsoft’s developer APIs were outside this check; the Outlook family calendar pages describe none. |
| Hardware to buy | None | None |
| Subscription | $99/yr whole household The free plan has no ads and no time limit. | Free with ads · M365 Family $129.99/yr Ads appear every time you use the free version of Outlook. Microsoft 365 Family is $12.99/month or $129.99/year for one to six people, each on up to five devices, with 1 TB of storage each, the Office desktop apps and ad-free Outlook for members with Outlook.com mailboxes. |
| 3-year cost, family of four | $297 Premium | $0 with ads · $389.97 ad-free Microsoft 365 Family at $129.99 × 3 years, or $467.64 billed monthly. That also buys Office and up to 6 TB of storage, which Plannie does not offer. |
Outlook and Microsoft 365 prices and platform details from microsoft.com and support.microsoft.com, checked 18 September 2026. In fairness, Microsoft 365 Family buys Office, 1 TB per person and Family Safety screen-time controls, none of which Plannie has.
Sources: support.microsoft.com: Use shared family calendars in Outlook.com, microsoft.com: Microsoft 365 Family
Three things that matter on a Tuesday
Where the family calendar lives. Outlook’s family group calendar is free and appears the moment you add someone to your Microsoft family group. It is also a calendar inside a mail app: it shows in Outlook.com and Outlook mobile, not in desktop Outlook, and events you add are not automatically sent to the rest of the family. Colour per member is not documented. Plannie puts the household first. Everyone’s days sit side by side in their own colour on the phone, the laptop and the tablet by the fridge.
What sits around the calendar. Outlook stops at events. Family Safety handles screen time and content filters; Copilot helps the subscription owner find a meeting slot. There is no chore chart or meal grid, and no way to hand a school PDF to anyone. In Plannie chores pay out in tickets, the week’s dinners sit in one grid with a recipe library, and the Family Inbox gives your household its own email address, so the swimming club’s schedule becomes events under the right child, each one marked so you can check it.
Why you don’t have to choose. Plannie syncs two-way with Outlook and Microsoft 365, and events created in Plannie sync back to your default Outlook calendar. The parent who lives in Outlook at work keeps living there. The household gets kiosk mode on a tablet and personal mode on each phone under one $99/year plan, with no ads or tracking SDKs, data hosted in the EU, and an open API and MCP for your own agents. Microsoft 365 Family at $129.99/year is still a fair buy if you want Office; it just is not a family hub.
Choose Outlook Calendar if…
Your household already lives in Microsoft 365, you want Office and 1 TB each for six people in one bill, and a shared list of events on phones and Outlook.com is all the coordination you need. The family calendar costs nothing on top.
Choose Plannie if…
There are kids, chores, dinners and school paperwork in the picture, and you want them in one colour-coded view on every screen, including the desktop. Plannie syncs two-way with Outlook, so nothing you do there changes; the household layer arrives on top for $99/year.
Frequently asked
Does Outlook have a family calendar?+
Yes. When you add members to a Microsoft family group, Outlook.com automatically creates a shared family group calendar that anyone in the family can put events on. It is free with any Microsoft account. It only appears in Outlook.com and Outlook mobile, not in classic desktop Outlook, and events you create there are not automatically sent to family members unless you invite them.
Does Plannie sync with Outlook?+
Two-way. Connect your Outlook or Microsoft 365 account and edits flow in both directions, so a dentist appointment typed into the kitchen tablet lands in your Outlook calendar, and the work trip you add in Outlook shows up in the family view. Events created in Plannie can sync back to your default Outlook calendar. You keep Outlook exactly as it is.
Is Microsoft 365 Family worth it for a family calendar?+
For the calendar alone, no, because the family group calendar is free. Microsoft 365 Family is $12.99/month or $129.99/year for one to six people, and what it buys is Office desktop apps, 1 TB of storage each, Defender and ad-free Outlook for everyone with an Outlook.com mailbox. Copilot in Outlook is for the subscription owner only. Plannie Premium is $99/year for the whole household and covers the family layer instead.
Why can’t I see the family calendar in desktop Outlook?+
Because Microsoft’s own support page says the family group calendar only appears in Outlook.com and Outlook mobile, not in classic Outlook or other desktop applications, and items moved with classic Outlook cannot be edited or deleted afterwards. Plannie’s web app runs in any browser on a laptop, tablet or phone, with the same family view everywhere.
What does Plannie add that Outlook doesn’t have?+
A colour for every member across every view, chores and routines with tickets and rewards, a weekly meal grid with recipes and a grocery list, shared and private lists, kiosk mode that turns a tablet into an always-on family display, a Family Inbox that turns forwarded school emails and PDFs into events under the right child, and an open API and MCP for your own agents. Outlook stays in sync underneath.