Motion app review: what it costs, who it suits, and a calmer alternative
Contents
Motion is an AI scheduler: it puts your tasks on your calendar and re-plans them whenever something changes. This Motion app review covers what that costs ($49 a month for one person, or $29 a month billed annually), who it suits, and where it gets in the way. If you would rather choose the day yourself, Carnet is a digital bullet journal with a weekly spread, at $10 a month.
We make Carnet, so read this page with that in mind. Every Motion fact below comes from Motion's own site or its App Store listing, checked on November 1, 2026. The sources are listed at the bottom.
Motion vs Carnet at a glance
| Motion | Carnet | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI work platform: tasks, projects, calendar, docs and meeting notes | A digital bullet journal: a weekly planner on a two-page spread, born from a paper bullet journal |
| Who plans the day | The software. It time-blocks your tasks and re-plans when things change | You. A task gets a day, not a time |
| Things with no date yet | Scheduled for you from priority, deadline and duration | A "This week" box, until you pick a day |
| Notes | Docs, wikis and AI meeting notes | A Notes box, pages inside every day, a daily brain dump page |
| Calendars | Google, Outlook and iCloud in one view | Reads Google Calendar, read-only |
| Teams | Yes, with per-seat plans | No. It is for one person |
| Platforms | Web, desktop, iOS, Android | Web, on any screen. No native app |
| Price for one person | $49 a month, or $29 a month billed annually | $10 a month during the beta |
| Free plan | None listed | None |
| Try before paying | 7-day free trial | 7-day free trial, card required. A demo on the homepage, no account needed |
Motion app review: the short verdict
Choose Motion if:
- you have more tasks than hours and want software to decide the order;
- your work is deadlines, dependencies and meetings, often with a team;
- you want projects, docs and meeting notes in the same tool as your calendar;
- you spend most of the day at a computer.
Choose Carnet if:
- you want to put something on Tuesday and find it still there on Tuesday;
- you plan one person's week, work and life together;
- you need a place for thoughts that aren't tasks;
- you'd rather pay $10 a month and have very little to set up.
The trial will tell you which one you are. If you follow the schedule Motion builds, keep Motion. If you spend the week dragging blocks back to where you wanted them, you are looking for a planner, not a scheduler.
What Motion does well
You give Motion tasks with a priority, a deadline and a duration. It places them in the free time on your calendar, and when a meeting lands or a task runs long, it rebuilds the plan without being asked.
It also tells you when the math doesn't work. If a task is at risk of missing its deadline, Motion warns you in advance, while you can still do something about it.
Around that scheduler sits a full work platform. Motion merges Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars into one view. It records meetings, writes the notes and turns action items into tasks. The Business AI plan adds Gantt charts, time tracking and team capacity planning.
If your week is twenty deadlines and a team waiting on you, Motion was built for you.
Why people look for a Motion alternative
Four reasons follow from how Motion is built and priced.
The price. For one person, Pro AI comes to $588 a year on monthly billing and $348 billed annually. The pricing page lists no free plan, and Motion's terms say purchases are non-refundable.
The plan isn't yours. Motion's homepage describes a plan that "optimizes itself hundreds of times a day". That also means the afternoon you had in your head this morning may not be the one on the screen at noon.
It has become a work platform. Projects, dashboards, workflows, a meeting notetaker, AI credits. If you came for a personal planner, most of what you pay for will stay closed.
It is computer-first. The App Store listing calls the mobile app a companion to the web and desktop version, not a standalone app.
How Carnet is different
You choose the day, and it stays there
In Carnet, the week sits on a spread of seven boxes, like a paper planner lying open. Appointments keep their time. Tasks only have a day.
"Call the accountant" goes in Thursday's box. It will be in Thursday's box on Thursday. If Thursday goes badly, you move that one line to Friday yourself. Nothing else shifts.
"This week" for what has no day yet
Some tasks have no day yet. They go in a box called "This week". "Renew the passport" can wait there, in sight, until you know when.
Room for what isn't a task
A lot of what's in your head isn't a task. Carnet gives it somewhere to go:
- a Notes box on the spread, for the sentence you don't want to lose;
- pages inside every day, with headings, lists and checkboxes;
- a brain dump page each day, to empty your head first and sort later.
There are no folders. You search for a word and the page comes up. And nothing measures you: no streaks, no score, no dashboard. What's done turns gray. If you come from paper, our digital bullet journal guide shows how a bujo spread works on screen.
What Carnet doesn't do
Read this before you switch.
- One calendar, no other integrations. Carnet reads Google Calendar, read-only. No Outlook, no Apple Calendar.
- No notifications. Nothing reminds you of a deadline.
- 7-day free trial, card required. Nothing is charged before the trial ends. You can also try the spread on the homepage without an account, but nothing you write there is saved.
Motion pricing in detail
Motion's pricing page has two tabs, Individuals and Teams, and two plans in each. Here is what it displayed, with yearly totals worked out.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro AI, individual | $49 a month | $29 a month | $588 or $348 |
| Business AI, individual | $69 a month | $39 a month | $828 or $468 |
| Pro AI, team (per seat) | $29 a month | $19 a month | $348 or $228 |
| Business AI, team (per seat) | $49 a month | $29 a month | $588 or $348 |
A few things to know before you pay:
- Solo costs more than a seat on a team. The "$19" you may have seen is the team price per seat, billed annually. Alone, the same plan is $29.
- AI comes with a monthly allowance. Pro AI includes 7,500 credits per seat per month, Business AI 15,000.
- The trial is 7 days. Motion's terms say your payment method is billed automatically when the trial ends, so cancel before then if you don't want to continue.
- The App Store shows other prices. The iOS listing gives in-app purchases of $44.99 monthly and $294.99 annual. Check which price you are being shown.
Carnet has one price, $10 a month during the beta, taxes included. You can cancel anytime, and your access runs to the end of the paid month.
Other Motion alternatives
- You want time-blocking, but done by you: Akiflow is a time-blocking planner with an inbox for your other tools, at $34 a month or $19 a month billed yearly.
- You want a guided daily plan: Sunsama costs $22 a month, or $17 billed yearly. We compared it in our Sunsama alternative page.
- You only want a solid task list: Todoist and TickTick both have a free plan. Our Todoist alternative page compares Todoist with Carnet.
FAQ
Is Motion worth it?
It is if you have many deadline-driven tasks, a busy calendar, and you trust software to arrange them. Auto-scheduling, meeting notes and project tools are what you pay $348 to $588 a year for. If you mostly need to see your week and decide for yourself, a simpler planner will do the job for less.
How much does Motion cost?
For one person, Pro AI is $49 a month billed monthly, or $29 a month billed annually. Business AI is $69 or $39. Team plans are priced per seat: $29 or $19 for Pro AI, $49 or $29 for Business AI.
Does Motion have a free plan?
Motion's pricing page lists no free plan. There is a 7-day free trial, and Motion's terms say your payment method is charged automatically when it ends unless you cancel first.
What is the best Motion alternative?
It depends on why you're leaving. For time-blocking you control, look at Akiflow or Sunsama. For a plain task list, Todoist or TickTick. If you want a calm weekly view where tasks get a day instead of a time slot, look at Carnet.
Try the spread before you decide
You don't need an account to see whether a week on two pages suits you. Open the homepage, click a line and write. Nothing is saved, so treat it as scratch paper.
Read next
Sources
Checked on November 1, 2026.
- Motion, pricing page (Pro AI and Business AI, Individuals and Teams tabs, monthly and annual prices, AI credits per plan, Business AI features, free trial, no free plan listed): https://www.usemotion.com/pricing
- Motion, homepage (automatic scheduling and re-planning, deadline warnings, Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars, projects, docs, meeting notetaker, the quoted phrase): https://www.usemotion.com/
- Motion, terms of service (payment method billed automatically after a free trial, purchases non-refundable): https://www.usemotion.com/terms
- Motion, App Store listing (7-day free trial, mobile app described as a companion, in-app purchases of $44.99 monthly and $294.99 annual): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/motion-tasks-ai-scheduling/id1580440623
- Akiflow, pricing page ($34 a month, or $19 a month billed yearly): https://akiflow.com/pricing
- Sunsama, pricing page ($22 a month billed monthly, $17 a month billed yearly): https://www.sunsama.com/pricing
- Todoist, pricing page (a free plan called Beginner): https://www.todoist.com/pricing
- TickTick, pricing page (a free plan): https://ticktick.com/about/upgrade
- Carnet, homepage (features, beta price, demo without an account): https://gocarnet.com/en