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Routine
- Free forever plan
- All-in-one work platform
- macOS and iOS app
- Easy to use software
- Limited integrations
- Designed more for individuals
Routine is a daily planner and productivity software meant for time blocking and task management. It enables busy professionals to take notes, plan meetings, expedite the recording of ideas, and rapidly check their calendars to see when their next appointment is scheduled.
In this review, we will learn in detail about the features, pros and cons, pricing, and alternatives of the software to help you make an informed decision if you’re considering employing this app for your tasks.
SMB Guide’s Verdict for Routine
SMB Guide’s overall rating for Routine is 7.7 out of 10. Routine allows you to collect and organize information by connecting calendars, tasks, notes, and contacts to a time frame.
This app could be the right choice if you’re looking for an aesthetically pleasing planner that revolutionizes note-taking and task-tracking.
However, it’s an app still in progress that is always improving its functionality. Here are the SMB Guide’s ratings for all the evaluated parameters of Routine:
In this review of Routine, I’ve followed SMB Guide’s detailed criteria for evaluating the appointment scheduling software.
Pricing & Plans
Routine offers a free lifetime plan called “Starter” and a monthly subscription plan called “Believe.” This software is still undergoing development and is set to offer three more pricing plans in the near future.
The Starter plan currently offered by Routine is a great option for people who want to track their productivity, and manage tasks and their overall schedule.
Let’s understand the plans currently offered by Routine.
Starter
The Starter plan has all the essential tools for task management, tracking, and increasing productivity.
Price
- Free
Features
- Calendars, tasks, contacts & notes
- Time blocking
- Natural language
- Integrations: Notion, Zapier etc.
- Device synchronization
- Available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
Who it’s for: Individuals and students looking to increase their productivity.
Believe
This plan includes the same features as the free plan but with priority support and access to download all apps.
Price
- $10 per month (billed monthly)
- $8.33 per month (billed annually)
Features
- Calendars, tasks, contacts & notes
- Time blocking
- Natural language
- Integrations: Notion, Zapier etc.
- Device synchronization
- Available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
- Exclusive early access to premium features
- Skipping the waiting line
- Early discount
- Priority support
Who it’s for: Individuals who want to make the best out of the software and want to try their premium features.
Additionally, Routine has three more plans in the works that are aimed at helping organizations and professionals monitor and control their productivity.
Routine’s upcoming pricing plans are:
Professional
This plan is designed to be a productivity tool for professionals and will feature advanced integrations and priority support.
Price
- $12 per month
Features
- Calendars, tasks, contacts & notes
- Time blocking
- Natural language
- Integrations: Notion, Zapier etc.
- Device synchronization
- Available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
- Offline & Undo
- Contextual capture
- Filtered views & layouts
- Automations
- Availability sharing
- Smart planning
- 30-day versioning
- Advanced integrations: Zoom, ClickUp, Asana etc.
- Priority support
Who it’s for: For managers, freelancers, and executives
Business
This plan will serve as a suite of tools to increase productivity for teams and organizations and will have advanced features such as access control and real time editing.
Price
- $15 per month
Features
- Calendars, tasks, contacts & notes
- Time blocking
- Natural language
- Integrations: Notion, Zapier etc.
- Device synchronization
- Available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
- Offline & Undo
- Contextual capture
- Filtered views & layouts
- Automations
- Availability sharing
- Smart planning
- 90-day versioning
- Advanced integrations: Zoom, ClickUp, Asana etc.
- Priority support
- Workspaces
- Custom domain
- Access control
- Real-time editing
- Comments
Who it’s for: Teams looking for collaborative task management
Enterprise
The plan will focus on increasing control and security across entire companies.
Price
- Not mentioned
Features
- Calendars, tasks, contacts & notes
- Time blocking
- Natural language
- Integrations: Notion, Zapier etc.
- Device synchronization
- Available on Web, macOS, Windows, iOS
- Offline & Undo
- Contextual capture
- Filtered views & layouts
- Automations
- Availability sharing
- Smart planning
- Unlimited versioning
- Advanced integrations: Zoom, ClickUp, Asana etc.
- Dedicated support
- Workspaces
- Custom domain
- Advanced access control
- Real-time editing
- Comments
- Success manager
- Unit provisioning
Who it’s for: Organizations looking for task management with advanced control
Routine is the next-generation platform for professionals and teams to get things done faster!
Appointment Workflow Automation
Whether it’s a schedule of events or a list of things to watch, routine keeps your ideas accessible and well-organized.
With its timeline-style task agenda, calendar view, meeting note creation, and note-taking feature for both Windows and macOS, Routine offers assistance with weekly organization.
While it isn’t a full-featured note-taking tool, this platform does have some basic note-taking capabilities and is a great way to build quick lists and even add tasks to duties.
Routine also allows you to connect your Google Calendar, enabling you to better see appointments and events and schedule tasks directly into your routine.
You can also block time for important tasks and events. Routine creates an event connected with a task, also known as an allocation or time block, based on the date, time, and duration specified.
The interface also allows you to schedule meetings by entering the characteristics of an event (day, time, and duration) as well as the participants using the keyword after which you can enter the name of one of your contacts or their email addresses.
One of Routine’s best features is the agenda, which allows users to not only click into meetings but also collect tasks and automatically give a particular time to complete them.
You can also postpone and reschedule assignments there. When you add a task, Routine also lets you set a specific week to reevaluate that task to track your productivity.
Routine’s Timeline Agenda view allows you to organize your day using timestamps, a popular method for visualizing plans.
Routine also enhances planning experience with its revolutionary Pages function. This program allows you to not only write notes and checklists, but also date-stamp them.
Finally, you can take advantage of natural language processing within Routine. The console allows you to create a variety of Routine objects, including recurring tasks and events.
The console also enables you to simply specify a task’s due date and request moving a task to a later week for reconsideration.
Repeating tasks and events can also be created by setting a frequency as well as optional start and end dates.
Customization Options
Routine allows users to set and customize their display preferences as per their liking. You can choose between a light or dark mode to view the entire software.
This software allows you to set your starting day of the week and working hours on your calendar and make a schedule only for those hours.
Additionally, you can change the time display to a 24-hour or AM/PM format. With the Believe plan, you can also adjust the timezone for your calendar.
The Notes tool allows you to jot down any critical information you may require. You can either type directly into it or use one of the predefined templates to create your notes.
Routine allows you to take many types of notes, such as grocery lists, packing lists, travel itineraries, movie watch lists, and even goals and travel destinations.
Aside from that, you can use the notes feature as a journal to write down your thoughts or other critical information you need to remember.
Routine is also set to soon rule out custom type features where users can create their types of tasks such as projects, movies, books, and more and associate properties to them.
Calendar Management Features
Routine is a hybrid of a calendar and a task management tool, also known as a daily planner app, but the calendar experience integrates with Google Calendar to plan and coordinate your week ahead of time with activities and meetings.
Routine’s main feature is the seamless integration of task management and calendar capabilities. The Planner feature simplifies task creation by allowing you to assign particular dates with a simple drag-and-drop.
Routine’s interface with Google Calendar adds to its strength as a calendar blocking tool. The calendar in Routine gives a great view of the entire schedule.
You can plan ahead using Routine’s new 5-day, week, and month views, which allow you to plan tasks for a week or a specific day.
This feature is great for projects that are not defined yet.
Automated Reminders and Notifications
Routine sends automated reminders to ensure that you don’t miss your meeting. You get event notifications before the event is supposed to start so you can be prepared for it.
For meetings, you can join the call with a keyboard shortcut. Routine has another feature in the pipeline that you can use in meetings to let people know you’re running late.
With a simple button, users will be able to alert the other participants that they are running late using a default message or even create a customized message.
Client Management and Communication
Routine provides a basic set of functionalities, but it lacks sophisticated client management and communication capabilities. You can plan meetings with your clients and keep a record of their contact details for correspondence in the future.
You can also add notes to further personalize a contact by adding more personal details to contact profiles. These notes can help you recall details about someone that might come in handy in a future meeting.
The notes can also be used to schedule activities related to that contact. You can set up a recurring task in a contact’s notes to remind you to schedule a meeting with them after certain time intervals.
Routine allows easy access to previous meeting notes by checking the past meetings with a client. You can also quickly review and take action on any outstanding tasks from previous sessions by selecting them from the list.
The Routine team is also coming up with a new client communication feature that will allow users to notify clients via pre-written notes if they’re running behind schedule for a meeting.
User Interface and User Experience
With many features still under development, Routine has a fairly simple and easy-to-navigate user interface.
Routine is still a free software with a waitlist. The onboarding is pretty simple. All you need to do is select your calendar provider and choose your platform.
It then directly takes you to the Agenda page where you can start adding your tasks. Routine’s smart, user-friendly UI is certainly eye-catching.
This intuitive, graphically appealing application works across various platforms, delivering a planning experience that is both artistic and functional.
It is one of the most elegantly designed task management productivity solutions on the market. The user experience, however, can be somewhat limited because many of its features are still in development.
While the platform provides practically all of the necessary capabilities for task and productivity management, it has yet to introduce many sophisticated features to make things easier.
Integrations, Compatibility, & Supported Platforms
Routine currently only integrates with Google Workspace and Notion. You can import tasks from email, Notion, or manually type them into the app.
According to Routine’s website, Slack, Asana, and ClickUp connections will be available soon. Despite these integrations, the tool does not appear to be developing an API in the near future, making it difficult to create workflows with Routine.
The integrations currently offered by Routine include:
- Google Calendar
- Google Contacts
- Google Workspace Directory
- Gmail
- Notion
- Zapier
- Siri
The integrations coming soon to Routine include:
- Slack
- ClickUp
- Asana
- Trello
Routine’s integration with Notion and Slack certainly helps enhance productivity. Even in its beta stage, Routine synchronizes work and events across different platforms, potentially making it a crucial component in productive business environments.
Routine currently only has an iOS app, which is relatively new and an Android version is on the way. This software can be used as your primary calendar app on your phone and it is far more visually appealing than the others on the market.
Routine is supported by desktop operating systems, including Microsoft Windows and Apple’s macOS. An online application and mobile routine is also available for iPhone users.
Android, Apple Watch, and iPad (Apple) versions may be released soon. Do keep in mind that Routine has its limitations.
Given that it is still in development, users, particularly Mac users, might experience small glitches. The pricing point may also be slightly higher than other applications on the market.
Customer Support
Routine offers customer support via email, chat and app. You can directly send them an email for any queries or chat with them by joining their community Slack or Discord channels.
If you use the Routine app, you can directly submit feedback or query through the Help menu on the app.
Other than direct support, Routine also has a huge knowledge base where you can find guides and explanations for all the features offered by the platform, including guides on getting started and understanding basics and settings.
You can also listen to the Routine podcast and check out tips and frequently asked questions to get answers to some common queries.
Lastly, Routine has a social media presence on YouTube, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and Angel List to help you keep up with the latest updates on the software.
Routine — Unique Features
Routine offers help uniquely, through a podcast that can help you not only understand how the tool can help you but also get tips on how to increase your productivity.
Routine’s podcast, “The Productive Minute,” explores productivity tips, hacks, and approaches. This podcast can be accessed on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castro, Castbox, RSS, Transistor.fm and a few more.
What the Experts Say About Routine
Since Routine is still under development, it does not have sufficient reviews of G2.Routine has a 4.8 rating on Product Hunt with 49 reviews. It is praised for its capabilities for task management and productivity enhancement.
First off, huge improvements to app functionality from a few months ago. Ya love to see it. There’s still room for improvements. Reminders and icloud calendar integration would be amazing. Theres seems to be a bug in which when quickly adding tasks in the agenda or calendar view, a “such and such task has been created” prompt will come up, but then the task cannon be found anywhere else in the app. It just disappears. I haven’t checked the desktop app to see if it is visible there. But still, big improvements!
Review from Apple store user
This app is awesome. They are doing something very interesting and I’m a big fan. I think this app has a lot of room to grow, but you won’t regret picking it up today and using it right away. I really like the task managing aspect of this app and how easy it is to schedule things. One thing that would be nice that they didn’t have last I tried is the ability to make tasks reoccurring.
Review from Apple store user
Routine Alternatives
Although Routine has outstanding task management skills, it may not be the best choice for everyone. People may prefer more developed alternatives for a variety of reasons, including cost, specific expertise, and feature preferences.
Here are the top Routine alternatives that may be more suitable for your needs.
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4.0
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4.0
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4.5
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$12/mo - $19/mo
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Free - $20/mo
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Free - $8/user/mo
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Motion
Motion functions more as a time management app than a task management program. It integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar, Microsoft Calendar, and even Apple Calendar, allowing you to set up project and task management for yourself and your team members.
All of these tasks are automatically organized by priority on your calendar (and your team’s) to guarantee that the most critical (and blocking) items are completed.
You can start with a 7-day free trial or an individual plan for $34 per month.
Motion, with its focus on practicality, caters to users with multiple jobs and frequently changing schedules, while Routine works well as a daily planner for individual use and habit building.
Sunsama
Sunsama is a daily planner designed for executives. With the help of the program, users can organize all of their daily responsibilities—tasks, meetings, emails, etc.—into a convenient, centralized place.
It enables users to focus their work on a daily basis by establishing realistic goals for what they want to accomplish. It provides a 14-day free trial and a premium plan for $20 per month.
Sunsama comes with its own iOS and Android apps and can be installed on both Windows and macOS. It is also a superior choice if you require a productivity app for your business.
Todoist
Todoist is an effective task organizer that allows users to manage their projects, tasks, and goals from a single, easy-to-use interface.
The program syncs across all of the user’s devices and connects seamlessly with the most popular platforms. This software provides users with a comprehensive perspective, allowing them to conveniently track their actions.
Recurring due dates help users develop routines and recall deadlines. Users can keep all of their projects organized while highlighting the most important activities for the day.
Todoist has a free forever plan and a premium plan beginning at $4 per month. While Routine is currently used by individuals, Todoist can assist large businesses with task management.
Get Started with Routine
Routine is more than just another productivity app. It’s a powerful tool that helps close the gap between planning and doing.
With Routine, you can arrange work from third-party services (email, chat, project management, etc.) next to your calendar for more efficient prioritization, organization, and tracking.
It is a flexible tool that can fit into a variety of processes with its set of essential features.
FAQs
Is the app Routine calendar free?
While some features are free, Routine is keeping the best on a waitlist. Premium features are unlocked with various plan subscriptions.
Which calendar services is Routine compatible with?
At the moment, Google Calendar is the only calendar supplier that is supported. However, there will be support for both Apple iCloud Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar in the future.
Which platforms is Routine compatible with?
The majority of desktop operating systems, including Windows (Microsoft) and macOS (Apple), support Routine. However, Linux is not currently supported.
A web application is also accessible despite a few limitations including restrictions to use Notion integration and dashboard on the app.
A mobile app for Routine is also available for iPhone users and the Android, Apple Watch, and iPad (Apple) may be developed shortly.
Routine is the next-generation platform for professionals and teams to get things done faster!
Routine
Routine is the next-generation platform for professionals and teams to get things done faster.
Product Brand: Routine
3.8
Beatrice is a seasoned productivity writer with a knack for uncovering game-changing productivity hacks that simplify life routines. Armed with a triple major in Commerce, Accounting, and Insurance, she also runs her own digital consulting firm. You'll usually find her immersed in crafting captivating literary novels and traveling the world.