Reclaim AI vs Sunsama: Which Daily Planner Is Right for You? (2026)
Reclaim AI automates your calendar. Sunsama makes you plan intentionally. Here’s how to choose between them.
Reclaim AI and Sunsama represent opposite philosophies about how we should plan our days.
Reclaim AI says: “Let automation handle everything. Tell me your habits and tasks—I’ll defend the time for them automatically.” It’s hands-off calendar defense that works in the background, moving meetings around to create focus blocks without asking your permission.
Sunsama says: “Slow down. Spend 10-15 minutes each morning planning intentionally.” It’s a guided ritual that makes you think about what matters today, time-block realistically, and shut down properly at day’s end.
The tension is real: automation versus intentionality. Efficiency versus mindfulness. Set-it-and-forget-it versus daily practice.
Most people searching “Reclaim AI vs Sunsama” aren’t just comparing features—they’re trying to decide which philosophy fits how they want to work. Do you want tools that get out of your way (Reclaim) or tools that make you slow down and think (Sunsama)?
Here’s what both miss: they schedule based on when you’re available, not when you’re capable. Your calendar shows you’re free at 3pm. Both will happily schedule deep work there. But after six meetings, you’re cognitively depleted—that “available” time isn’t productive time.
rivva bridges this gap: automation with intentionality, plus the capacity awareness both tools lack.
The Fundamental Difference
Sunsama: The Intentional Planning Ritual
Sunsama is productivity as meditation. Every morning, it guides you through a 10-15 minute ritual: review yesterday, pull in today’s tasks from integrated tools (Asana, Todoist, Notion, Gmail), drag them onto your calendar with time estimates, see visual warnings if you’re overcommitting.
At day’s end, another ritual: what did you accomplish? What’s moving to tomorrow? Reflect, acknowledge, close the day properly.
The philosophy: intentional planning prevents reactive chaos. Slowing down to plan saves hours of scattered work.
Reclaim AI: The Automated Calendar Defense
Reclaim AI works in the background. Create “Habits” for recurring activities (morning focus time, lunch, weekly review), connect your task managers (Todoist, Asana, ClickUp), and Reclaim automatically finds time for everything—then defends it by marking blocks as “busy” and moving flexible meetings.
The philosophy: automation removes decision fatigue. Let AI handle scheduling logistics so you focus on execution.
The Choice You’re Really Making
Sunsama: Manual planning, daily rituals, complete control, mindful approach
Reclaim AI: Automated scheduling, hands-off operation, AI control, efficient approach
Neither is wrong. Some people need rituals to stay grounded. Others need automation to maintain sanity. The question is which matches your working style.
Sunsama Overview: Mindful Productivity Through Ritual
Philosophy: Work shouldn’t feel frantic. Plan intentionally, work calmly, finish feeling accomplished.
What Sunsama Does
Sunsama is a daily planner built around guided rituals. Not quick task capture—deliberate planning sessions that make you think about what’s possible today, not what’s on your endless list.
Morning ritual (10-15 minutes): Review yesterday’s accomplishments. Import tasks from 15+ integrations (Notion, Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Todoist, Gmail, Slack). Drag tasks onto calendar with time estimates. See visual workload warnings if overcommitting.
Throughout day: Work in Focus Mode (Pomodoro timers). Track time. Adjust schedule as needed.
Evening shutdown ritual: Review what you accomplished. Reflect briefly. Acknowledge unfinished work and move it intentionally to tomorrow. Actually close the work day—don’t just stop when exhausted.
Weekly review: See where time went, which projects dominated, what you actually achieved. Improve next week’s planning based on patterns.
Key Features
Guided planning rituals: Structured morning/evening/weekly sessions
15+ integrations: Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Notion, Todoist, Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Jira, GitHub
Visual time-blocking: Drag tasks onto calendar, see your day fill up
Workload warnings: “This plan finishes at 7:30pm” when you said you’d stop at 6pm
Focus Mode + Pomodoro: Distraction-free work with built-in timers
Time tracking: Understand where time actually goes
Shutdown ritual: Psychological boundary between work and life
Pricing
Monthly: $20/month
Annual: $16/month ($192/year)
14-day free trial (no credit card)
Strengths
Prevents overcommitment before the day starts (not at 5pm when failing)
Creates actual work-life boundaries through shutdown ritual
Calm, thoughtful interface—no frantic energy
15+ integrations pull tasks from everywhere
Daily rituals build sustainable habits
Focus Mode eliminates distractions effectively
Weaknesses
Requires daily 10-15 minute ritual (feels like overhead when rushed)
No AI automation—you make every planning decision manually
Premium pricing ($192-240/year)
Mobile app less polished than desktop
Not great for quick task capture (it’s designed for deliberate planning)
No energy/capacity awareness
Best For
Professionals who chronically overcommit, people who value mindfulness and intentionality, users willing to invest time in daily planning rituals, those seeking work-life balance through structure.
Reclaim AI Overview: Automated Calendar Defense
Philosophy: Automation removes decision fatigue. Let AI handle scheduling so you focus on doing.
What Reclaim AI Does
Reclaim runs in the background defending your time automatically. Create “Habits” for recurring activities you want protected (morning focus time, lunch, exercise, weekly planning). Connect task managers. Reclaim finds time for everything, marks it busy on your calendar, and moves flexible meetings to protect it.
Smart Habits: Automatically schedule and defend recurring time. “Focus Time” every morning 9-11am—Reclaim blocks it and reschedules conflicts.
Task auto-scheduling: Integrate Todoist, Asana, ClickUp—tasks appear on calendar automatically at optimal times.
Smart 1:1s: Find optimal times for recurring team meetings without manual coordination.
Buffer time: Automatically adds breaks and transition time between meetings.
You set priorities and preferences once. Reclaim handles execution automatically, adapting when schedule changes.
Key Features
Smart Habits: Automatically schedule and protect recurring activities
Task auto-scheduling: From Todoist, Asana, ClickUp, Jira, Linear, Google Tasks
Focus Time defense: Creates and protects 2-4 hour deep work blocks
Smart 1:1s: Automatically finds optimal team meeting times
Buffer time: Adds breaks between commitments automatically
Calendar sync: Google Calendar, Outlook (limited)
Team coordination: Optimizes schedules across multiple calendars
Pricing
Free: Limited (1 habit, 1 calendar, 3-week scheduling range)
Starter: $10/month (up to 10 users, 8-week range)
Business: $12/month (up to 100 users, 12-week range)
Enterprise: $18/month
Strengths
Genuinely creates 4-6 hours of focus time weekly
Completely hands-off—no daily planning required
Most affordable AI scheduling ($96-144/year)
Habit feature builds consistency automatically
Strong task manager integrations
Great for teams (Smart 1:1s, workload coordination)
Weaknesses
Web-based only (no native apps—mobile experience limited)
Calendar-focused (tasks secondary to calendar management)
Less effective if most meetings aren’t flexible
No daily planning ritual or reflection (if you want that)
No energy/capacity awareness
Automation can feel opaque—hard to understand why changes happened
Best For
Professionals drowning in meetings, people wanting complete automation, teams needing coordinated focus time, users comfortable with hands-off AI control.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Planning Philosophy: Manual vs Automated
Sunsama: You plan manually every morning. The ritual forces you to think: What matters? What’s realistic? How long will things take? It’s slow by design—intentionality over speed.
Reclaim AI: Set it once, forget it. AI schedules automatically based on priorities, deadlines, and calendar availability. No daily planning sessions—just execute what AI schedules.
Winner: Depends on personality. Sunsama for people who need rituals to feel grounded. Reclaim for people who want efficiency over contemplation.
Daily Workflow: What a Day Actually Looks Like
With Sunsama:
8:00am: 10-minute planning ritual—review, import, time-block
Throughout day: Work with Focus Mode timers, adjust schedule as needed
5:30pm: 5-minute shutdown ritual—review, reflect, move unfinished tasks
Feel accomplished, boundaries clear
With Reclaim AI:
Morning: Check calendar—AI already scheduled everything
Throughout day: Work during blocks AI created, meetings happen where AI moved them
Evening: No ritual—just stop when done
Feel efficient, but maybe still working past intended stop time
Winner: Sunsama for work-life balance focus. Reclaim for pure efficiency.
Task Management Depth
Sunsama: Tasks are central. Import from everywhere, time-block manually, track time on each. Rich task management with Focus Mode and tracking.
Reclaim AI: Tasks are secondary to calendar. Auto-scheduled from integrations but calendar defense is the main feature. Less robust task detail.
Winner: Sunsama if tasks are your priority. Reclaim if calendar management matters more.
Calendar Integration Approach
Sunsama: Time-blocking—drag tasks onto calendar manually, creating visual plan. See tasks and meetings together.
Reclaim AI: Calendar defense—AI finds time slots, marks them busy, moves meetings to protect them. Automated conflict resolution.
Winner: Sunsama for visual control. Reclaim for automated defense.
Mindfulness & Intentionality
Sunsama: Built for mindfulness. Rituals create reflection points. Shutdown ritual provides psychological closure. Overcommitment warnings before starting.
Reclaim AI: Pure efficiency. No reflection, no rituals, no mindfulness features. Just automated scheduling.
Winner: Sunsama by design. This is its core value. Reclaim doesn’t try to compete here.
Pricing & Value
Sunsama: $16-20/month ($192-240/year). Premium pricing for premium experience.
Reclaim AI: Free tier functional. $10-12/month for full features ($120-144/year). Most affordable AI scheduling.
Winner: Reclaim on price. Sunsama justifies cost if rituals resonate.
Where Both Fall Short: The Capacity Gap
Sunsama and Reclaim share a blind spot: they don’t consider your actual cognitive capacity.
Sunsama’s morning ritual asks “what’s realistic today?” But “realistic” is based on time estimates, not energy. You might realistically have 6 hours available—but after three difficult meetings, strategic work is impossible even if time exists.
Reclaim’s automated scheduling finds available time and schedules work there. But availability ≠ capability. That 2-hour focus block after six meetings? You’re depleted. Deep work won’t happen effectively.
Both tools help manage time. Neither manages capacity.
rivva: The Best of Both Worlds
What if you could have Reclaim’s automation, Sunsama’s intentionality, plus capacity awareness?
rivva synthesizes both approaches while adding what they miss.
How rivva Combines Both
Automation (like Reclaim): Nia handles scheduling automatically based on energy, priorities, and calendar. No manual time-blocking required.
Intentionality (like Sunsama): Nia coaches you on capacity, suggests adjustments, provides guidance. Feels intentional without requiring daily 15-minute rituals.
Capacity awareness (unique to rivva): Using wearable data (Apple Watch, Oura, Whoop), rivva understands when you’re sharp vs. depleted. Schedules demanding work during peak capacity.
Key Features
Nia, your AI assistant: Combines Reclaim’s automation with Sunsama’s coaching
Energy-based scheduling: The capacity awareness both tools completely miss
Automatic task extraction from email: Neither Sunsama nor Reclaim offer this
Smart auto-scheduling: Adapts automatically like Reclaim, but capacity-aware
Energy insights: Data-driven reflection vs. Sunsama’s manual reflection
Multiple calendar support: Unified view across all commitments
Pricing
Monthly: $13.99/month
Quarterly: $31.50/quarter ($10.50/month billed quarterly)
7-day free trial
Why rivva Bridges the Gap
vs Sunsama: Get intentionality without 10-15 minute daily rituals. Nia provides guidance proactively. Energy insights show patterns automatically. Automatic email extraction vs. manual import. Similar price but more automation.
vs Reclaim AI: Get automation plus actual guidance. Calendar + tasks + capacity in one view. Intentional planning without manual overhead. Energy forecasting vs. simple habit blocking. Slightly more expensive ($20 vs. $10-12/month) but dramatically more capable.
Which Tool Is Right for You?
Choose Sunsama if:
You value daily planning rituals and find them grounding
You want complete manual control over your schedule
You’re willing to invest 10-15 minutes daily in intentional planning
You prioritize mindfulness and work-life boundaries over efficiency
You don’t need AI automation or energy insights
You’re okay with premium pricing for premium experience
Choose Reclaim AI if:
You want complete automation—set it and forget it
Calendar defense (protecting focus time) is your main need
You don’t want to spend time on daily planning
Team coordination is important (Smart 1:1s, workload balancing)
You’re okay with calendar-centric approach (tasks secondary)
You want most affordable AI scheduling option
Choose rivva if:
You want automation with intentionality—not choosing between them
You need capacity-aware scheduling based on actual energy
You want AI that coaches proactively (like Sunsama) without daily rituals
You value both efficiency (Reclaim) and mindfulness (Sunsama)
You need automatic task extraction from email (unique feature)
You want intelligent defaults that feel intentional without manual effort
You experience predictable energy patterns worth scheduling around
The Bottom Line: Automation, Intentionality, or Both?
Reclaim AI and Sunsama represent a philosophical divide: automation versus intentionality. Hands-off efficiency versus mindful rituals.
Neither is wrong. Reclaim creates focus time automatically—genuinely valuable for meeting-heavy professionals. Sunsama’s rituals build sustainable habits—genuinely valuable for people who overcommit.
But both miss capacity. Your calendar shows availability. Neither considers capability.
rivva bridges this gap: Reclaim’s intelligent automation meets Sunsama’s mindful guidance, plus energy-aware scheduling that respects human cognitive limits.
If you’re torn between automation and intentionality, you don’t have to choose. Experience both, plus capacity awareness neither offers.
Pricing and features subject to change. Always verify current details on official websites before purchasing.