Plannie vs Skylight: the honest comparison.
Both give your family one shared, colour-coded calendar with chores, meals and an AI that reads school paperwork. Skylight sells you the screen; Plannie uses the ones you own. Here's the honest breakdown.
Feature by feature
| Plannie | Skylight | |
|---|---|---|
| Shared colour-coded family calendar | ✓ | ✓ |
| Two-way Google & Outlook sync | ✓ | ✓ |
| Chores, routines & rewards | ✓ | ✓ |
| Weekly meal planning | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI import of emails, photos & PDFs | Premium | With Calendar Plus |
| Proactive SMS assistant (texts you) | ✗ | Skylight Assistant, $119/yr |
| Wall display | Kiosk mode on any tablet | Dedicated 15″/27″ device |
| Per-member personal mode on own phones | ✓ | Companion app |
| Kids’ device | Not needed - personal mode | Buddy, up to $139.99 each |
| Open API & MCP for your own agents | ✓ | ✗ |
| Hardware to buy | None | $299.99–$629.99 + Buddies |
| Subscription | $99/yr whole household | $79/yr Plus · $119/yr with Assistant |
Skylight prices from myskylight.com and assistant.myskylight.com, checked 5 August 2026. Calendar Plus includes Sidekick, meal planning, rewards and Buddy Plus; the text-message Skylight Assistant is a separate subscription - $119/yr standalone, $40/yr more for Plus subscribers. Fair's fair: Plannie has no SMS channel - its assistant lives in the app, the Family Inbox and Siri.
Choose Skylight if…
You want a dedicated appliance in the box - a purpose-built screen that arrives ready to mount, and a separate Buddy device for a child's room. You're happy paying for hardware to get that.
Choose Plannie if…
You'd rather put the tablet you already own on the wall and spend $99/year total. You want each family member to have a personal view on their own phone under the same plan - and the option to wire in your own AI tools through the open API.
Frequently asked
What is the main difference between Plannie and Skylight?+
Hardware. Skylight is a purpose-built wall display ($299.99 for the 15-inch Calendar 2) with a companion app and a $79/year Calendar Plus subscription. Plannie is software only: the same shared family calendar, chores, meals and AI import running on the tablets and phones you already own, at $99/year for the whole household.
Can Plannie replace a Skylight on the kitchen wall?+
Yes. Switch any tablet running Plannie to kiosk mode and it becomes a shared always-on family display - everyone’s days, everyone’s reminders. The same subscription covers personal mode on each member’s own phone, with their own look and only their own notifications.
Does Plannie have an AI like Skylight’s Sidekick or Skylight Assistant?+
Plannie Assistant covers the same ground as both, in one plan. Like Sidekick, it reads photos and PDFs of schedules and flyers (Magic Import) - and Family Inbox goes further, giving your household its own email address that turns forwarded mail into events. Skylight’s new text-message Assistant is a separate $119/year subscription that proactively texts you reminders; Plannie doesn’t text over SMS - its assistant lives in the app, the inbox and Siri - but it’s included in the $99/year household plan rather than sold on top.
Which is cheaper over three years?+
For a family of four with two kids’ devices: Skylight is roughly $639 in year one (Calendar 2 + two Buddies + Calendar Plus at list prices) then $79/year - about $797 over three years. Plannie is $99/year - $297 over three years, with no hardware to buy or replace.