If you’re comparing Motion and Fantastical, you’re likely looking for the best scheduling app and daily planner for your calendar management.
Both apps shine at task management and scheduling, but which one is the best productivity app for you?
Motion offers AI to automate scheduling, project management, and team collaboration, while Fantastical is a manual and intuitive daily calendar app.
In this detailed comparison of Motion vs Fantastical, we’ll break down their unique features, pros and cons, and pricing and compare their key features like task management, auto-scheduling, time blocking, and more to help you decide which daily planner app suits you best.
Overview of Motion and Fantastical
What is Motion?
Motion is an AI-powered calendar assistant that automatically schedules your tasks and events based on priorities, deadlines, and your existing calendar.
The best thing about Motion is that this auto-scheduling app not only schedules tasks for you on your calendar but also automatically reschedules them once changes occur.
You can add tasks and events and set priorities and deadlines, and Motion will automatically find the perfect time slot to assign time blocks.
Motion also offers project management, meeting scheduling, and team collaboration features, making it an all-in-one productivity app. It syncs your work calendar with your team members’ calendars to ensure there are no scheduling conflicts.
When changes occur, such as task deadlines shifting or a team member falling behind, Motion automatically rearranges everyone’s calendars.
The app integrates with tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, and Trello to provide a comprehensive scheduling solution.
What is Fantastical?
Fantastical is a highly intuitive calendar scheduling, task management, and daily planner app for Apple users.
It’s a user-friendly calendar management app for users who don’t want all the complexity and overwhelming features of more advanced project management tools.
Fantastical offers features like natural language input for quick event creation, time zone support, and beautiful calendar views to make scheduling easier.
Via: Fantastical websiteFantastical makes it easy to manage your schedule manually. While it doesn’t use AI-driven automation like Motion, Fantastical’s straightforward approach to calendar management, combined with advanced recurring task features and integration with Apple reminders, makes it an excellent daily planner for ADHD.
It’s also a great calendar management app for users who prefer a more hands-on approach to scheduling.
Pros and Cons of Motion and Fantastical
Pros of Using Motion
- Motion uses AI to automatically prioritize tasks, schedule events, and optimize your day based on changing deadlines and priorities.
- Unlike other Motion alternatives, Motion is highly dynamic in terms of adjusting your schedule in real time as changes occur.
- Motion combines task management, Project management, meeting scheduling, and team collaboration all under one platform.
- This scheduling app offers AI task prioritization to help you prioritize tasks based on deadlines and your work habits.
- The more you use Motion, the more powerful Motion AI gets in learning your work habits.
- Unlike Fantastical, which is limited to the Apple ecosystem, Motion offers cross-platform support.
- Motion is ideal for teams, with shared calendars and cross-project task management that sync in real-time, customizable shared workspaces, booking links, and many more.
Cons of Using Motion
- Compared to Fantastical, Motion has a complex user interface with an overwhelming amount of features.
- Motion heavily relies on automation, so if you prefer more control over scheduling and task management, Motion is not the right choice. (Check out this comparison on Flowsavvy vs. Motion, for that matter.)
- Motion is expensive, with pricing starting at $19/month, especially for individual users or small teams looking for budget-friendly options.
- Motion’s advanced features require an internet connection, limiting its offline usability.
However, if you want a more personalized task management and time-blocking experience, check out SkedPal vs Motion.
Pros of Using Fantastical
- Fantastical’s user interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate.
- Fantastical offers more advanced natural language processing capabilities than Motion does. You can create events and tasks quickly with human-like phrases like “Schedule meeting at 3 pm.”
- This daily planner app offers multiple calendar views (daily, weekly, or monthly views.)
- Fantastical is better at creating recurring tasks; you can set up recurring events and tasks with ease using NLP (similar to Todoist.)
- Fantastical is much more affordable than Motion, starting at $4.99/month,
Cons of Using Fantastical
- Fantastical does not offer real-time, automated adjustments to your calendar as Motion does.
- While you can share calendars, Fantastical doesn’t offer advanced team features such as task dependencies or team-wide updates.
- Although it integrates with Google Calendar and Apple Calendar, Fantastical doesn’t have as many integrations as Motion.
- Fantastical is strictly limited to the Apple ecosystem, offering support only on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS devices.
Check out this comparison of two other Fantastical alternatives, “Todoist vs TickTick.”
Summary of the Comparison Between Motion and Fantastical
| Feature | Motion | Fantastical |
|---|
| AI Scheduling | Yes, fully automated, AI-driven scheduling | No, manual scheduling with natural language input |
| Dynamic Rescheduling | Advanced, adjusts in real-time | No, limited to manual adjustments |
| Recurring Tasks | Limited, basic setup | Advanced, customizable with NLP |
| Natural Language Input | Limited | Yes, for event creation |
| Time Blocking | Built-in and AI-powered | Available but not as flexible |
| Team Collaboration | Extensive, with shared calendars | Basic, lacks team-specific features |
| Integration | Extensive (Google, Slack, Trello, Outlook) | Moderate (Google, Apple, Microsoft) |
| Pricing | Starts at $19/month | Starts at $4.99/month |
| Best For | Teams, task automation, dynamic scheduling | Individual users, simple manual scheduling |
Unique Features of Motion to Fantastical
AI and Automation
Motion’s biggest strength lies in its AI. This AI scheduling app analyzes your calendar, adjusts time blocks, and reschedules events based on shifting priorities and available time without any manual intervention from you.
Motion AI also learns from your habits over time and automatically prioritizes your tasks and events and reschedules them based on your preferences.
This makes Motion perfect for busy individuals looking for an AI calendar assistant. Fantastical, on the other hand, does not offer AI or automation.
Dynamic time blocking and Real-Time Rescheduling
Motion is highly dynamic in terms of rescheduling and time block adjustments. As priorities and deadlines change, Motion adjusts all your time blocks, deadlines, and meetings automatically in real time without requiring manual intervention from you.
The dynamic time blocking makes Motion a better choice than Fantastical for users whose schedule constantly changes.
Project Management
Motion also provides project management features such as customizable workspaces for multiple projects, Gantt charts, project to-dos, and task dependencies.
You can manage multiple clients and complex projects besides personal task management under one platform with Motion.
Unique Features of Fantastical to Motion
Natural Language Processing
Fantastical’s ability to interpret natural language for event creation with an advanced Natural Language Processing algorithm is a game-changer.
You can create tasks like “Lunch with Sarah tomorrow at noon,” and Fantastical will add them to your calendar automatically.
While Motion also offers NLP, Fantastical is way better at this feature. You can also create recurring tasks using phrases like “Team meeting every Sunday 12 pm,” and Fantastical will automatically create a recurring task.
Multiple Calendar Views
Fantastical offers a variety of visual calendar views—day, week, month, and even year view—making it easy to see your entire schedule with a single glance. You can manage multiple different calendar groups with “Calendar Sets.” Fantastical also offers customizable calendar views.
Key Feature Comparison between Motion and Fantastical
Task Management
Motion offers advanced and highly automated task management features. You can enter tasks, and Motion will automatically schedule those tasks in your schedule based on priority, deadlines, and your existing schedule.
Motion AI analyzes all of your calendars, including personal and work calendars, to find the most optimal time to schedule your tasks.
Its AI also suggests optimal times for your tasks and automatically reschedules them based on your availability. Motion also lets you set up task dependencies for complex tasks.
This high level of automation compared to other task management apps like Motion vs. Todoist or Sunsama vs. Motion can be bothersome for users who want manual flexibility.
Fantastical’s task management features are more manual. It’s more of a calendar management app that shows all your tasks visually through multiple calendar views than a full-blown task management app like Motion.
You can manually enter tasks, reschedule as needed, and set reminders. However, Fantastical offers a more efficient way to create tasks than Motion through its Natural Language Processing feature.
You can type something like, “Meeting with John at 2 pm tomorrow” or “Buy groceries at 4 pm Friday,” and Fantastical will automatically recognize and create the task or event with all the correct details.
Time Blocking
Time blocking is where Motion shines. Motion offers extremely dynamic time-blocking features; it automatically assigns tasks and meetings to the best available time slots.
Screenshot taken from Motion demoOnce you add tasks and events, Motion analyzes all your calendars to automatically schedule that task into your time-blocked calendar. When changes occur, such as priorities or deadlines shifting, Motion will dynamically change all your time blocks accordingly.
This automated time-blocking app constantly updates your calendar based on real-time changes.
If you’re looking for a more personalized and flexible alternative to time blocking, check out “Motion vs Trevor AI.”
Fantastical offers an intuitive way to assign time blocks. Fantastical lets you drag and drop tasks and events directly into your calendar to schedule your tasks into your calendar view.
However, compared to other time-blocking apps like Flowsavvy or Motion, it lacks automation and real-time adaptability.
However, Fantastical’s Time blocking is more visual and flexible; you can manually assign time blocks any way you want.
The multiple calendar views and the “Calendar Sets” feature are huge for people with different kinds of schedules. You can keep personal, work, and other calendars separate but still view them together or separately as needed.
Check out Motion vs Reclaim for a more user-friendly automated time-blocking app.
Recurring Tasks
Fantastical excels in recurring task management. You can set up recurring events and tasks with ease, thanks to its natural language processing capabilities.
For example, you can type, “Set up a recurring meeting every Monday at 10 am,” and Fantastical will handle the rest.
Motion also supports recurring tasks, but it’s not as flexible. Recurring task setup is simpler but doesn’t offer the same level of customization or convenience as Fantastical.
Ease of use
Fantastical offers an intuitive interface with easy-to-navigate calendar views, drag-and-drop task management, and natural language input for quickly creating events and tasks.
It’s perfect for users who prefer a visual, manual approach to organizing their schedules, with the flexibility to customize their calendars.
Motion, on the other hand, has a more complex and feature-rich user interface. Motion is packed with features such as task management, project management, meeting scheduling, and team collaboration.
This, blended with a high level of automation, makes it overwhelming for users who need a simple and intuitive calendar management app.
If you want an easy-to-use task and to-do list management app, check out this comparison of Motion vs TickTick.
Project Management and Team Collaboration
For project management, Motion takes the win. Motion offers some advanced project management and team collaboration features such as shared team calendars, project timelines, task dependencies, Gantt charts, multiple workspaces for different projects, and customizable shared workspaces. Any updates to tasks or deadlines automatically reflect in everyone’s calendar.
Check out Motion vs Timehero for a dedicated team collaboration and project management app.
Fantastical, on the other hand, does not offer project management features. You can use Fantastical for personal task scheduling and reminders, but it lacks tools for managing larger projects, assigning tasks, or tracking progress.
Meeting scheduling
For meeting scheduling, both Motion and Fantastical excel in different aspects. Here’s how:
While not as extensive compared to dedicated meeting scheduling apps like Motion vs. Calendly, Motion offers automatic meeting scheduling links and customizable booking pages.
Screenshot taken from Motion demoYou can share your booking pages to show your availability for meetings, and Motion will automatically schedule that meeting for you.
Motion also shines at keeping your external meetings protected. When you have an external meeting, Motion will protect that time slot. It intelligently reschedules tasks and events around these meetings to prevent conflicts.
Fantastical excels when scheduling events or meetings across different time zones, which is necessary for those who frequently work with international teams or clients.
Check out our list of best Reclaim AI alternatives in 2025.
Integration
Motion offers native integrations with Google Calendar, iCloud Calendar, Zoom, and Microsoft 365, along with a broader range of integrations with popular task management tools like Notion and Asana.
Fantastical seamlessly integrates with the Apple ecosystem, making it an ideal choice for users who use iOS and macOS devices. Fantastical also syncs with multiple calendars to display tasks in the calendar view.
Pricing of Motion and Fantastical
Motion: Starts at $19/month for individuals and $12/user/month for teams, billed annually. Its high cost is justified by its advanced AI features and team collaboration tools.
Fantastical: It starts at $4.99/month, making it a much more affordable option for individuals or smaller teams who don’t need as much automation.
Conclusion: Motion or Fantastical?
Choose Motion if you
- Need AI-powered scheduling and task automation that dynamically adjusts as your calendar evolves.
- You are looking for an app that integrates both calendar management and task management in one platform.
- Prefer a solution for teams that offers shared calendars, real-time updates, and project collaboration.
- Don’t mind a steeper learning curve for the convenience of full automation.
Choose Fantastical if you
- Prefer a manual scheduling and time-blocking approach with natural language input for creating events and tasks.
- Need a simple, affordable solution that offers intuitive calendar views and basic recurring task management.
- Want a user-friendly interface with seamless integration into the Apple ecosystem.
