Best Fantastical Alternatives with AI Task Management
Fantastical excels at calendars but lacks true task integration. Discover alternatives with AI task scheduling, not just task lists.
Fantastical makes beautiful calendars. Terrible task managers.
You’ve probably experienced this: You add a task in Fantastical, expecting it to help you actually get it done. Instead, it sits in a list. No scheduling. No time blocking. No intelligence about when you should tackle it. Just a reminder that yes, it still exists.
That’s because Fantastical was built as a calendar app that added tasks as an afterthought. It treats tasks like calendar decorations—things to display alongside your meetings, not actual work to schedule and complete.
If you’re looking for an alternative that takes both calendars and tasks seriously, you’re in the right place. This guide covers tools that actually integrate tasks into your schedule, use AI to find time for them, and help you get work done instead of just tracking it.
Why Look Beyond Fantastical?
Fantastical does several things exceptionally well. Natural language parsing is instant—type “coffee with Sarah next Tuesday at 3pm” and it’s done. The interface is gorgeous. Calendar sets and templates save time if you juggle multiple calendars. For Apple ecosystem users, it feels native in the best way.
But the moment you try to manage actual tasks, the cracks show.
Tasks in Fantastical are lists. That’s it. You can see them in your day view, check them off, set reminders. But there’s no time blocking, no capacity planning, no AI to figure out when you should actually do them. If you have a task that requires two hours of deep work, Fantastical won’t help you find those two hours. It’ll just remind you the task exists while you stare at a packed calendar wondering where it fits.
The task features feel like they were designed by people who think tasks are quick errands, not substantial work. There’s no concept of task duration, no scheduling logic, no intelligence about your actual capacity. You’re paying premium pricing (starting at $4.75/month, up to $7.49/month for the full version) for features that don’t meaningfully help you get work done.
This becomes especially painful when you’re dealing with creative work, deep focus tasks, or anything that requires more than five minutes. You need a tool that understands tasks are time-consuming work that needs to fit into your calendar, not floating reminders that nag you from the sidebar.
What Makes a Great Fantastical Alternative?
If you’re moving away from Fantastical, you need more than just “tasks plus calendar.” You need actual integration.
Real task scheduling. Time blocking that puts tasks directly into your calendar. AI that finds available time based on your actual capacity. The ability to see not just what you need to do, but when you can realistically do it.
Intelligent prioritization. Not all tasks are equal. Great alternatives understand the difference between responding to an email and writing a quarterly strategy document. They help you schedule demanding work during your best hours, not just whenever there’s a gap.
Cross-platform functionality. Fantastical works beautifully on Apple devices and terribly everywhere else. If you ever need to check your schedule from Windows or Android, you need something more flexible.
Honest pricing. Fantastical charges premium prices for calendar features. Alternatives should deliver premium value—especially on the task management side that Fantastical neglects.
Different users need different things. If you’re drowning in meetings and need help protecting focus time, that’s one problem. If you’re managing complex projects with multiple deadlines, that’s another. If you’re trying to work with your energy levels instead of against them, that’s a third. The right alternative depends on which problem you’re actually trying to solve.
The Alternatives
rivva – Energy-Aware Task Scheduling
rivva treats tasks like the time-consuming work they actually are. Instead of sitting in a list, tasks get scheduled into your calendar based on when you have energy to do them.
The core difference is energy awareness. rivva integrates with Apple Health (or other health apps) to understand your actual energy patterns throughout the day. It learns when you’re alert and focused versus when you’re dragging. Then it schedules demanding work during your peak hours and lighter tasks when your energy dips.
This matters because not all calendar time is equal. That 2pm slot might look free, but if that’s when you hit your afternoon slump, scheduling deep work there is setting yourself up to fail. rivva knows this and schedules accordingly.
Nia, the AI assistant, helps you break down overwhelming tasks and reschedule when things inevitably go sideways. You can chat with her naturally—”I’m not getting this done today, what should I move?” and she’ll reorganize your schedule without you manually dragging everything around.
Task capture happens automatically. Forward an email, get mentioned in Notion, tagged in a Google Doc—rivva extracts the task and suggests when to schedule it. For meeting-heavy days, it pulls action items from meeting summaries so nothing falls through the cracks.
Best for: Individual professionals who want to work with their energy instead of fighting it. Especially good for people who notice their productivity varies throughout the day but haven’t had tools that acknowledge this.
Key Features:
Energy-based task scheduling (works with Apple Health, Google Fit, wearables)
AI assistant (Nia) for task breakdown and rescheduling
Automatic task extraction from email, Notion, Docs, GitHub
Two-way calendar sync (Google, Outlook)
Time blocking with energy awareness
Mobile and web apps
Pricing: $13.99/month (monthly) or $10.50/month (quarterly billing). 7-day free trial.
Pros:
Actually schedules tasks based on when you can do them well
Energy insights reveal why some days feel impossible
Automatic task capture reduces cognitive load
Nia helps without requiring perfect prompts
Works beautifully on iOS with the native feel Fantastical users expect
Cons:
Energy features require health app integration or wearable
Newer to market than established alternatives
Less calendar customization than Fantastical
rivva makes sense if you’re frustrated by tools that ignore the obvious: your capacity changes throughout the day. Scheduling a difficult task at 3pm when you’re exhausted is a recipe for procrastination. rivva prevents that.
Motion – AI Task and Meeting Scheduling
Motion rebuilt task management from the ground up with AI. Tasks don’t sit in lists—they get automatically scheduled into your calendar based on deadlines, duration, and available time.
The AI is aggressive about protecting your time. Set a deadline for a project, tell Motion how long it’ll take, and it blocks out time to actually do the work. When meetings get added or shifted, Motion automatically reorganizes your task schedule. When you fall behind, it reschedules everything else to accommodate.
This works particularly well for people managing multiple projects with hard deadlines. Motion understands dependencies and will schedule prep work before the meeting where you need it. It’ll move tasks around to prevent deadline collisions. It acts like a very competent chief of staff who’s constantly optimizing your schedule.
The meeting scheduling features compete directly with Fantastical—AI-powered booking links, smart availability detection, automatic coordination. But unlike Fantastical, Motion treats tasks as first-class citizens in your schedule, not sidebar decoration.
Best for: Project managers, team leads, or anyone juggling multiple deadlines who needs aggressive AI to keep everything on track.
Key Features:
AI auto-scheduling for tasks and meetings
Project management with dependencies
Deadline-driven scheduling
Smart meeting booking
Team coordination features
Mobile and desktop apps
Pricing:
Individual Pro: $29/month (annual) or $49/month (monthly)
Individual Business: $39/month (annual) or $69/month (monthly)
Team plans available starting at $19/seat/month
Pros:
Powerful AI that actually manages your calendar
Excellent for complex project management
Automatically reorganizes when things change
Strong team features if you need them
Handles both tasks and meetings intelligently
Cons:
Expensive, especially for individual users
Can feel overly aggressive about scheduling
Steeper learning curve than simpler alternatives
No energy awareness—treats all hours equally
Motion makes sense if you have clear deadlines and need AI to play calendar Tetris with your tasks. It’s not subtle, but it’s effective.
Morgen – Calendar-First with AI Task Suggestions
Morgen started as a calendar and added tasks thoughtfully. It feels like the spiritual successor to what Fantastical should have built—beautiful calendar interface plus actual task integration.
The approach is calendar-first but task-aware. You can see tasks in your daily view, drag them onto your calendar to time block, and get AI suggestions for when to schedule them. It’s less aggressive than Motion (the AI suggests rather than dictates) but more useful than Fantastical (tasks actually get scheduled, not just listed).
Morgen shines for people who want control but appreciate intelligent suggestions. The AI will recommend scheduling your report during your usual productive morning hours, but you can override it. Tasks integrate with Todoist, so if you’re already managing tasks there, Morgen becomes the scheduling layer on top.
The interface is fast and clean. Multiple calendar views, keyboard shortcuts, and scheduling links all work smoothly. It feels like what you’d get if Fantastical’s design team actually cared about task management.
Best for: People who like Fantastical’s polish but need real task features. Good middle ground between full AI control and manual planning.
Key Features:
Beautiful calendar interface
AI task scheduling suggestions
Todoist integration
Scheduling links and smart booking
Multiple calendar support
Team calendar coordination
Windows, Mac, Linux support
Pricing: Free tier available. Pro starts at €8/month (~$9/month).
Pros:
Gorgeous, fast interface
Cross-platform (actually works on Windows and Linux)
AI suggests without being overbearing
Todoist integration for task management
More affordable than premium alternatives
Cons:
Task features less powerful than dedicated tools
AI scheduling less sophisticated than Motion
No mobile app yet
No energy awareness
Morgen works well if you want Fantastical’s elegance with better task support and actual cross-platform compatibility.
TickTick – Full Task Management with Calendar
TickTick is a task manager that added calendar features, the opposite approach from Fantastical. The result is a tool that excels at task management and treats calendar integration as essential, not decorative.
Tasks in TickTick have everything you need: subtasks, due dates, durations, priorities, tags, custom fields. You can build complex task workflows that Fantastical can’t touch. Then the calendar view shows where everything fits, and you can time block by dragging tasks onto your schedule.
The calendar sync works with Google Calendar and Outlook, so your meetings and tasks live together. But the focus is clearly on tasks—the calendar exists to help you schedule work, not the other way around.
This works best for people whose primary challenge is task management, not calendar complexity. If you have dozens of tasks to organize, track, and complete, TickTick gives you the structure. The calendar makes sure they actually get scheduled.
Best for: Heavy task users who need powerful organization features and want calendar integration as a bonus.
Key Features:
Comprehensive task management (subtasks, tags, priorities, custom fields)
Calendar view with time blocking
Habit tracking
Pomodoro timer
Natural language input
Calendar sync (Google, Outlook)
Multiple platforms
Pricing: Free tier available. Premium is $2.99/month (annual) or $4.99/month (monthly).
Pros:
Extremely powerful task features
Very affordable
Works on every platform
Habit tracking and Pomodoro built in
Calendar integration actually functional
Cons:
Interface less polished than Fantastical
Calendar features basic compared to dedicated calendar apps
No AI scheduling
Can feel overwhelming if you just need simple task management
TickTick makes sense if tasks are your priority and you need a calendar that supports them, not a calendar with token task features.
Any.do – Task-Focused with Calendar Integration
Any.do takes a simpler approach than TickTick but still prioritizes tasks over calendar polish. It’s designed around the daily planning ritual—each morning, review your tasks, schedule them into your day, and work through them.
The calendar integration is straightforward: see your meetings, add tasks to open time slots, time block as needed. It won’t wow you with features, but it won’t confuse you either. Tasks are the focus, calendar is the container.
Where Any.do differentiates is the planning experience. The daily planner prompts you to actually decide when you’ll do each task, not just acknowledge it exists. This manual approach won’t appeal to everyone, but it creates intentionality that AI scheduling sometimes lacks.
Best for: People who want simple task management with just enough calendar integration to stay organized.
Key Features:
Clean task management
Daily planning workflow
Calendar integration
Task sharing and collaboration
Grocery list and errands features
Cross-platform apps
Pricing: Free tier available. Premium is $5.99/month or $2.99/month (annual).
Pros:
Very easy to use
Good daily planning ritual
Calendar integration without complexity
Collaboration features for shared tasks
Affordable
Cons:
Too simple for complex projects
No AI scheduling
Calendar features basic
Less powerful than TickTick or Motion
Any.do works if you want a gentle nudge toward planning your day, not aggressive AI management.
Todoist – Task Manager with Calendar View
Todoist built its reputation as the best straightforward task manager. No fuss, just solid task organization with filters, labels, and priorities that actually work. The calendar view came later but integrates well.
You won’t get AI scheduling or automatic time blocking. What you get is a reliable system for tracking tasks with a calendar view that shows when things are due and where your meetings are. If you prefer manually planning your day with good tools rather than letting AI decide, Todoist delivers.
The strength is flexibility. Filters let you view tasks by project, priority, label, or custom criteria. You can build workflows that match how you think. Then the calendar view provides context for when to actually do the work.
Best for: People who want control over their task system and calendar as reference, not automation.
Key Features:
Powerful task organization (projects, labels, filters, priorities)
Calendar view
Karma gamification
Two-way calendar sync
Natural language input
Extensive integrations
Pricing: Free tier available. Pro is $4/month (annual) or $5/month (monthly).
Pros:
Best-in-class task management
Extremely reliable
Calendar integration provides good context
Very affordable
Works everywhere
Cons:
No AI scheduling
Calendar view is reference only, not planning tool
No time blocking features
Have to manually plan when to do tasks
Todoist makes sense if you trust your own judgment about when to work on things and want tools that support that rather than automate it.
Akiflow – Task Consolidation with Time Blocking
Akiflow solves a specific problem: you have tasks scattered across email, Slack, Notion, Linear, and twelve other tools. Akiflow pulls them all into one place and lets you time block them onto your calendar.
The workflow is: consolidate everything, then schedule it. Tasks flow in from integrations, you drag them onto your calendar to time block, and work through your day. The focus is on creating a single source of truth for what needs doing and when you’ll do it.
This works well for people drowning in tool sprawl who need one place to see everything. The calendar integration is solid—time blocking is smooth, meetings sync properly, and you can see your entire day in one view.
Best for: People using multiple project management tools who need to consolidate everything into one schedule.
Key Features:
Integrations with 15+ tools (Slack, Notion, Linear, Gmail, etc.)
Time blocking on calendar
Task consolidation
Command bar for quick actions
Meeting management
Calendar sync
Pricing: Starts at $19/month (annual) or $34/month (monthly).
Pros:
Excellent for consolidating scattered tasks
Smooth time blocking
Many integrations
Fast keyboard-driven interface
Good for busy professionals juggling multiple tools
Cons:
Expensive for individual users
No AI scheduling
Requires manual planning
Overwhelming if you don’t have scattered task sources
Akiflow makes sense if your main problem is tasks living in too many places and you need one schedule to rule them all.
Sunsama – Manual Task-to-Calendar Planning
Sunsama takes the opposite approach from AI scheduling. Every evening or morning, you manually review your tasks, decide what to work on, and time block it onto your calendar. No AI, no automation—just intentional planning.
This appeals to people who find AI scheduling too aggressive or impersonal. You’re forced to think about your actual capacity, acknowledge what won’t get done, and make conscious choices. The ritual creates clarity.
The downside is time. You’re spending 10-15 minutes daily on planning. For some people, this feels centering. For others, it feels like overhead. Your tolerance for manual planning determines whether Sunsama helps or hinders.
Best for: People who value intentional planning and don’t want AI making schedule decisions.
Key Features:
Daily planning ritual
Task import from multiple tools
Time blocking
Calendar integration
Reflection and shutdown routine
Integrations with Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Gmail, Slack
Pricing: $16/month (annual) or $20/month (monthly). 14-day free trial.
Pros:
Creates intentional planning habits
Imports from many tools
Good for work-life boundaries
Thoughtful shutdown routine
Focus on sustainable productivity
Cons:
Requires daily manual planning
No AI assistance
Relatively expensive for manual tool
Can feel slow if you’re in a hurry
Sunsama works if you want to slow down and think about your schedule rather than automate it.
Google Calendar + Google Tasks – Free Baseline
Google Calendar with Google Tasks gives you the basics: calendar for meetings, tasks for work, integration between them. It’s free, works everywhere, and handles fundamental scheduling without complexity.
Tasks show up in your calendar sidebar. You can add due dates, subtasks, and basic details. It’s not sophisticated—no AI, no time blocking, no energy awareness. But it’s also not trying to be. It’s a simple, free starting point.
This makes sense if you’re figuring out what you actually need or if your workflow is simple enough that free tools suffice. It’s not competing with Fantastical or rivva on features. It’s just available and functional.
Best for: People with simple needs or who want to try task-calendar integration before paying for premium tools.
Key Features:
Calendar and tasks in one ecosystem
Free
Works everywhere (web, mobile, integrations)
Basic task features
Google Workspace integration
Pricing: Free.
Pros:
Completely free
Already have it if you use Google
Simple and reliable
Works on every platform
No learning curve
Cons:
No AI scheduling
No time blocking
Basic task features
No energy awareness
Limited customization
Google Calendar + Tasks works as a starting point but won’t satisfy anyone looking for sophisticated task scheduling.
Fantastical – Beautiful Calendar, Limited Tasks
Fantastical remains the standard for beautiful calendar apps on Apple platforms. Natural language parsing is instant. Calendar sets let you show/hide calendars for different contexts (work, personal, side project). Templates automate repetitive events. The design is gorgeous.
But tasks are an afterthought. You can create them, see them, check them off. That’s it. No scheduling, no time blocking, no intelligence about when to actually do them. They exist as reminders, not as work to be scheduled.
For people whose tasks are quick errands (”buy milk,” “call dentist”), this might suffice. For anyone whose tasks are substantial work (”write quarterly report,” “prepare presentation,” “design new feature”), Fantastical provides no meaningful help.
Best for: Apple users who primarily need excellent calendar management and only have trivial tasks.
Key Features:
Beautiful native Apple design
Natural language event creation
Calendar sets and templates
Meeting scheduling
Time zone support
Weather and map integration
Pricing: Free tier available. Premium is $4.75/month (annual) or $7.49/month (monthly).
Pros:
Best natural language parsing
Gorgeous interface
Excellent Apple ecosystem integration
Calendar sets are genuinely useful
Fast and reliable
Cons:
Task features are basically lists
No time blocking
No AI scheduling
No capacity planning
Premium pricing for incomplete features
Apple-only (poor on other platforms)
Fantastical excels at calendars. If that’s all you need, it’s great. But if tasks matter, you need something else.
Which Alternative Is Right for You?
If you want AI to schedule tasks around your actual energy patterns → rivva treats high-energy and low-energy hours differently, scheduling demanding work when you can actually handle it.
If you manage complex projects with hard deadlines → Motion’s aggressive AI handles dependencies and deadline juggling better than manual planning ever could.
If you want Fantastical’s polish with better task features → Morgen delivers beautiful design and cross-platform support with AI suggestions instead of AI dictation.
If tasks are your priority and you need serious organization → TickTick offers more task features than Fantastical and Motion combined, at a fraction of the price.
If you’re overwhelmed by tasks in multiple tools → Akiflow consolidates everything into one schedule, though you’ll pay for the convenience.
If you value intentional planning over automation → Sunsama forces you to think about your day instead of letting AI decide, which some people find grounding.
If you need a free starting point → Google Calendar + Tasks covers basics while you figure out what features matter to you.
Budget considerations: TickTick and Any.do are the most affordable premium options. rivva sits in the middle. Motion, Akiflow, and Sunsama are expensive. Google Calendar + Tasks is free but limited.
The real question is whether you want AI scheduling or manual control. Motion and rivva handle scheduling for you. TickTick, Todoist, Akiflow, and Sunsama require you to decide when to work on things. The difference is time spent planning versus trust in automation.
FAQ
Can I import my Fantastical tasks into these alternatives?
Most alternatives support importing from common formats (CSV, JSON) or syncing with task managers like Todoist that Fantastical can export to. rivva, Motion, and Morgen handle calendar imports smoothly. The process usually involves exporting from Fantastical, converting the format if needed, and importing into your new tool. Some data loss is possible with tags or custom fields.
Do any of these match Fantastical’s natural language parsing?
Fantastical’s natural language is still the gold standard. Motion, TickTick, and Todoist have good natural language input but aren’t quite as smooth. rivva handles natural language well for task creation. If instant natural language parsing is your top priority, Fantastical remains the best—but remember that creating events quickly matters less if you can’t schedule tasks effectively.
Which alternatives work well on iPhone like Fantastical does?
rivva is built for iOS with the same attention to native feel that makes Fantastical pleasant to use. TickTick and Todoist have excellent iOS apps. Motion’s mobile app works but isn’t as polished. Morgen doesn’t have mobile apps yet. If iPhone experience is critical, test rivva and TickTick first.
Can I use these with multiple calendar accounts?
Yes. rivva supports up to 4 calendar accounts. Motion, Morgen, TickTick, and others handle multiple calendars (Google, Outlook, iCloud). Most tools match or exceed Fantastical’s multi-calendar support. Calendar sets (showing/hiding groups of calendars) work differently in each tool, so check if your specific workflow is supported.
Is there anything Fantastical does better than these alternatives?
Yes. Fantastical’s natural language parsing is faster and more accurate. Calendar sets are more elegant. The interface on Mac and iOS is more polished than most alternatives. If you truly only need calendar features and tasks are incidental, Fantastical might still be the right choice. But if tasks are actual work that needs scheduling, the alternatives deliver more value.
Conclusion
Fantastical makes beautiful calendars but treats tasks like decorative reminders. If your tasks are quick errands, that might be fine. If your tasks are substantial work that needs scheduling, you need a different approach.
The right alternative depends on what you value. Motion and rivva use AI to schedule tasks for you—Motion based on deadlines and dependencies, rivva based on energy patterns and capacity. Morgen, TickTick, and Todoist give you control with better tools for manual planning. Akiflow and Sunsama focus on consolidation and intentionality.
For most people leaving Fantastical, the gap is task scheduling. You need a tool that understands tasks take time, schedules them accordingly, and helps you actually get them done instead of just tracking them.
rivva approaches this by acknowledging what other tools ignore: your capacity changes throughout the day. Scheduling deep work during your afternoon slump doesn’t work, no matter how good your task list is. rivva schedules demanding tasks when you have energy to handle them and lighter work when you’re coasting. That’s the difference between a calendar decorated with tasks and a schedule built around actually completing them.
Start your free 7-day trial with rivva to see how energy-aware scheduling changes what you can accomplish without burning out.