It’s planning season!
All the stores stocked their shelves with the latest and greatest planners for the coming year.
The options for your new planner are endless. Simple monthly planners showcase your month at a glance, while daily planners offer plenty of space for each day’s essential activities. You’ll find weekly planners helping you stay on track, and all-in-one planners to ensure you never miss a deadline.
Some planners focus on specific goals, like self-care, while others offer inspirational tips as you journey through the year.
With all the options, finding the best planner for you seems overwhelming, but we can help.
Hey folks! Transparency Disclosure- Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means I’ll receive a small commission if you decide to click on it and buy something. Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost you anything extra!
The Best Planners of 2026
I spent hours reviewing planners to develop a list of the best planners for 2026 (and to choose my own personal planner!).
A few companies sent me planners to review, while I looked at others in retail stores like Michaels, Staples, and Barnes & Noble. Some are niche planners only available online.
Here are the best planners for 2026 for all your planning needs.
My Favorite Planners
First, I’m going to start with my top four favorite planners for 2026. These reviews are a little more in-depth because these are planners I’ve actually used and loved over the years.
Blue Sky Life Note It Weekly & Monthly Planning Calendar
If you want a simple, inexpensive weekly planner, you can’t go wrong with Bluesky’s Life Note It Weekly & Monthly planning calendar.
I love this planner because it’s low-cost, simple, and elegant. Each week has a two-page spread, one which lists the days vertically (so you write your daily tasks horizontally) while the other features a weekly to-do list and space to record your top goals.
Each month also has a lined monthly spread calendar, with a bit of extra space for note-taking.
Extras
The Life Note Weekly & Monthly Planning Calendar has some great extras to round out your planning needs. It features fifty pages of tabbed note space, a list of US holidays, and a tab for important dates. It also has a list of state capitals for some reason.
Pros and Cons
Bluesky’s Life Note Planner has ample space for weekly to-do lists, but I don’t think it has enough room for daily tasks, as it jams all seven days onto a single page.
I also don’t understand why it wasted precious ink on state capitals – I guess someone out there has a need for that in their planner, but I sure don’t.
The biggest pro is the low price. If you want a great planner and don’t want to pay a lot, Bluesky is your best friend.
Blue Sky Livewell 2026 Weekly and Monthly Planner Calendar
Bluesky’s Livewell Calendar is my second favorite option for a cheap weekly planner. The only reason I prefer the Life Note Planner is that I like my days to be laid out horizontally rather than vertically.
I love that the Livewell comes with planning stickers and bursts with color, though. Although the Life Note is a little more elegant, I can’t help but enjoy the whimsical colors of the Livewell.
Another key difference is that the Livewell has fewer lines. Where the monthly spread on the Life Note has lines for writing, the Livewell has blank white spaces for the days (but extra lines in the note-taking space on the side). The weekly spread has a little more versatility as well, with blank space at the top and lines at the bottom, in addition to lined space and a small grid for extra notes or a habit tracker.
Extras
The stickers are my favorite extra, but the Livewell 2026 Weekly and Monthly Planner Calendar also features a yearly goals sheet, a future planning sheet, a contacts page, a dates page, and a holiday list.
The colorful tabs make each month stand out.
Pros and Cons
The biggest con, in my opinion, is the vertical layout. I just can’t use a weekly planner with a vertical layout.
I also don’t love that Saturday and Sunday are smaller than the weekdays. Not everyone has a nine-to-five, and some of us need more space, not less, on the weekends.
The pros are the low price, the sturdy build, and the three cover options (Plain pink, floral, and a sort of rainbow color), which give more people the opportunity to grab a low-cost planner they love.
More Great Blue Sky Planners:
Clever Fox Planners
I opted for Clever Fox for my 2025 planner, and I really enjoyed all the extras in the weekly spread.
I chose the dated Pro Premium edition, which features a monthly calendar spread, two two-page weekly spreads, monthly budget and expense trackers, and plenty of space for note-taking.
Although this planner places seven days horizontally like the Life Note It, it didn’t feel smushed. I like that there’s room to write essential tasks and extra space on the side for the top goals & priorities.
The other side of the weekly spread has so much cool stuff for productivity. You can record your main goals & priorities at the top, highlight your work and personal to-do list, track habits, and even complete a weekly review.
Extras
I went with Clever Fox for all its extras. The premium came with six sheets of stickers (I love stickers!) and everything you need for a productive year. But I also chose the premium because of all the financial planning tools, which include space for a monthly budget and expense tracker.
The front of the planner features space to draw your vision board and record your major yearly goals (broken down into different areas, like health, family, and finance). Each month has space for a monthly review, and at the end of each quarter, you’ll find room for 3-month goals.
The last few pages feature blank, bullet space for you to use the planner like a bullet journal.
Pros and Cons
I didn’t like that the budgeting stuff was completely separate from each month. In my ideal world, there would be the monthly calendar, then the monthly budget, then the weekly planner pages. This journal had all the monthly budgets at the end.
There’s also a lot going on with the premium planner. I started the year using the goals and review space, but fell off after a few months. I thought it was cool, but I guess I didn’t really need it. But I still loved them, so I wouldn’t exactly call it a con, and I know a lot of people cherish that space. The main takeaway is to know what you want and need from a planner.
I also love- it’s one of the few planners that’s bound like a book rather than with spirals, which I think gives it an elegant feel. I also still love all the add-ons, even if I didn’t use them that much.
Another major pro for Clever Fox is the abundance of options. If you don’t need a budget section, save money and go with the Pro edition rather than the Premium. The company also has a wide range of planners for any of your needs, including weekly, daily, and even hourly editions.
Plum Paper Customizable
In 2026, I opted for Plum Paper’s customizable planner.
Finally, a planning company realized that not everyone wants the same thing out of a planner. Plum Paper provides the solution.
You get to choose everything from the size and layout, cover, and binding. Want holidays? Cool, you can add that, but if you don’t want them, that’s fine too. You can even add your own special holidays if you want.
The customization options are endless – you can add your own sayings, get it lined, add bonus pages and stickers, and basically design the planner that’s right for you.
Extras
Since you’re designing your own planner, you can get any extras you want. I opted for the budget sheets (because, finance nerd here!), but you choose all sorts of things, like blank note pages, lifestyle pages, hobby pages, and more.
Each planner also comes with monthly highlights, contacts pages, password pages, monthly calendars, and more.
Pros and Cons
Getting to design your own planner is the best thing ever, but there are some notable downsides.
First, it’s a little overwhelming. You start with your standard base, and Plum Paper has tons of options. If you want to customize your sections, there’s even more to decide. However, I think that’s all totally worth it to build a planner that meets your specific needs.
The biggest downside is the cost. After shipping and everything, I paid about $80 for my planner. That’s a lot of money, especially when you can get something from Bluesky on Amazon for a quarter of the price.
But it’s only a little more expensive than Clever Planner, and the customization, in my opinion, makes it worth every penny.
More Great Planners for 2026
Wako Megumi via Shutterstock.com.
If none of those planners work for you, consider one of these nine options. Although none of them work for my specific planning needs, they still rank as the best planners for 2026, and may be the exact planner you were looking for!
Ivory Paper Co. All-in-One
Ivory Paper Co excels in planner options, and the best of the best is its All-in-One. The All-in-One Planner is aptly named as it features all the planning sections you need for a perfect year: monthly, weekly, and daily.
The weekly and daily are two-page spreads featuring little boxes representing each day like a typical calendar. The margins allow you to jot down critical notes, track your habits, outline your weekly goals, and set reminders for the week ahead.
The Ivory Paper Co’s All-in-One excels in the daily planning section, with an entire page dedicated to each day. It has a section for your schedule and to-do list, a box for gratitude, and space to keep a food journal.
Pros and Cons
I love the password keeper, reading list, and address book on the front pages of the planner. The daily section also has ample room to record even the most minor tasks on your to-do list.
This planner is perfect for someone who needs a detailed daily planner with at-a-glance weekly and monthly sections.
The daily section is a bit too detailed for my tastes. While many people love the space to write everything down, I only use my planner for the essential tasks, so I don’t need a separate page for each day. The week on a two-page spread is usually enough for me.
I also don’t like the 6 and 8-month options. I need a planner that will last the full year.
At-A-Glance My Week 2026
The At-A-Glance My Week 2026 Planner offers everything you need in a planner, from your two-page monthly spread to your entire week at a glance. It’s a traditional style of planner, perfect for those who have lots of appointments and need to keep track of them.
The planner also features some cool pages you won’t find elsewhere, like an expense tracker, a page to record your pursuits and passions, and a three-year calendar.
While the At-A-Glance My Week Planner is perfect for those who simply want to record their appointments, I need a planner with more space to write.
The list format for each weekly spread is excellent for those with set schedules and important deadlines, but it doesn’t work for my specific needs.
At-A-Glance Simplified Planner
The Simplified Planner from At-A-Glance is more my style. It’s colorful and has room to write for each day, along with a premade list with little circles you can check off. The colorful tabs make it easy to find the month you need, while the two-page calendar spread offers ample space to write the most essential things of the month.
As someone who runs their own business, I don’t get weekends off, and my biggest complaint about the Simplified Planner is the smaller space for Saturdays and Sundays.
While the checklist feature for the weekdays is fantastic, I prefer space to write what I need without a plan. I need a checklist on some Mondays, but I may just want to jot down quick reminders on others.
Explore At-A-Glance Planners at Staples:
Day Designer
Day Designer offers two different-sized planners to meet your needs: the traditional-sized and the mini. Though the mini is too small for me, it’s perfect for those who need to keep their lives on track on the go.
Day Designer, as its name implies, is primarily a daily planner. Each page features a spread layout of everything you need for the day ahead, from your schedule and to-do list to the day’s top priorities. There’s also room to express gratitude and jot down important notes.
I prefer weekly planners, so the entire day’s details were a bit too much for me, but it’s perfect for those needing more room each day.
The Happy Planner
The Happy Planner is a planner/bullet journal all in one. It’s perfect for people who need a planner but also want to express their creativity.
The company offers tons of options for all your planning needs, from simple monthly layouts to dashboard layouts with weekly planning sections. They provide both dated and undated options so you can get into planning any time of the year.
The dashboard planner is the most similar to the other 2026 yearly planners reviewed. It has monthly spreads with a full calendar and weekly spread pages with seven days on one page with space to record essential tasks and events of the week.
My only concern with the Happy Planner is that it offers too much freedom. Some planners offer a lot of freedom of expression, while others give absolutely no space to express your creativity. Happy Planner leans to the freedom side, while I need a more balanced planner.
People who need ample room for self-expression will love Happy Planner, though.
Russell & Hazel
Professionals who need a sleek planner to manage their entire lives should choose Russell & Hazel.
The 2026 weekly planner provides monthly spreads, including a full calendar, room to record notes and goals, and a weekly layout perfect for schedules and appointments.
The weekly spread has seven days in a list from left to right. Each day has space for your top priorities, schedule, and small notes. It also has a wellness tracker, letting you track your sleep, water intake, and daily steps.
Russell & Hazel is the perfect planner for a busy professional who needs to keep track of their schedule and top priorities.
It’s a little too well-planned for me, as I prefer a little less structure in my daily planner.
Papier 2026 Planner
Simple, elegant, and easy to use, Papier’s Demi softcover weekly spiral jams a lot into a low-cost planner.
If I hadn’t chosen to customize my own planner via Plum Paper this year, I probably would have chosen Papier’s planner, as it offers everything I want.
There’s the simple monthly calendar, which I always use for budgeting and to record essential dates, a two-page spread for each month’s goals and priorities, and a two-page spread for each week, with the days listed horizontally across both pages (which offers enough room to write everything I need).
The only drawback (and the main reason I opted against it) is that the website makes it look like the calendars, monthly spreads, and weekly spreads are all grouped together, rather than having everything grouped by month.
Because this planner is only available online, I didn’t have the chance to touch it to know for sure, but I think it would bother me (and I just had to build my own planner!).
RoteRunner Purpose Planner
If you want a bullet journal with some planner aspects built in, RoteRunner is the tool for you. It is mostly a bullet journal, but it comes with some monthly labels and a few boxes to help you get started.
Fellers Photography via Shutterstock.com.
Although I love the concept of bullet journaling, I’m not creative or artistic enough to make my own planner, even with a few starting points. But this planner is perfect for those who are.
Shop Planners
None of these planners work? Check out these other great options at Staples:
Tarot Planner 2026
I love tarot planners. I know this one won’t top most people’s list of best planners for 2026, but I can’t help but include it.
But I don’t really use it for planning my day. It’s more like a bonus planner that helps me learn the tarot deck and lean into my spirituality.
Productivity Planners
OlgaPS via Shutterstock.com.
Planning isn’t just about the day, week, or month. Sometimes we need more.
Discover the best productivity planners on the internet to help you slay your day – whether you start at the beginning of the year or not!
Planner Accessories
When choosing your daily planner, don’t forget your accessories!
You can use all the same supplies you use in your bullet journal for planning, but you can’t forget the top planner accessory: Happy Planner stickers.
Happy Planner offers a wide range of stickers for all your planning needs. Grab the budget pack for hundreds of stickers related to personal finance or the self-care pack to embrace wellness throughout the year. The 1000+ sticker packs cover a variety of themes and embrace a plethora of designs, from a “retro” look to classic elegance.
Explore the wide range of sticker packs available to help you plan your perfect year.
Have a Blast Planning Your Year
Planners aren’t a chore anymore when you have a fun planner helping you along the way. The right planners and accessories make it fun!
Grab your 2026 planner and embrace your journey into the new year.