ByDesign vs ClickUp

ClickUp runs a team’s work. ByDesign runs your life, and your team can join.

ClickUp is a work platform: Spaces, Folders and Lists, custom fields, Board, Gantt, Timeline and Whiteboard views, Docs, Chat, Dashboards and an AI layer called Brain. ByDesign is a planner for one person first: goals the AI turns into a scheduled plan you approve, habits with streaks, notes, a Pomodoro timer and a year-to-day canvas, with sharing, chat and team plans when you need them.

Try ByDesign free See the comparison

What you get with ByDesign that ClickUp doesn’t offer

Built for your life, not only your work
A habit tracker with streaks and stats, goal pages built from a goal, Hub courses and roadmaps you can schedule, and a Pomodoro timer. ClickUp has Goals with targets, recurring tasks and reminders, a Template Center, and Pomodoro through an integration.
A schedule you approve
ByDesign places tasks around your hours, breaks and buffers, shows the proposed week and waits for your OK. ClickUp’s calendar blocks focus time for your tasks with AI; a preview-and-approve step isn’t part of what ClickUp describes.
Your whole year on one canvas
Year, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface, with sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the plan itself. ClickUp has a day, week and month calendar, Gantt and Timeline views, and sticky notes on separate Whiteboards.
Voice that runs the plan
Talk to ByDesign with the mic or hands-free with a wake phrase, and the assistant moves and reschedules items with your calendar, goals, habits and notes in view. ClickUp’s Talk to Text dictates updates, tasks and Docs in Brain MAX, a trial on the Free plan.

ByDesign vs ClickUp, feature by feature

Only the differences. What both apps do the same is listed underneath.

Included
Limited
Not available

Feature	ByDesign	ClickUp
AI planning
AI goal plans	Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Brain creates tasksDescribe what you need and Brain creates tasks, subtasks, Docs and lists; Goals track targets; no plan with courses and deadlines is built from a goal for you to approve
AI scheduling with a preview you approve	Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: AI Time-BlockingAI blocks focus time for your tasks; no preview-and-approve step described
Auto-schedule around your hours	Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks	Limited: AI auto-schedulingThe calendar schedules priority tasks and blocks focus time around meetings and working hours; no preview step described
Voice control	Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Talk to Text, Siri and Google AssistantDictate in Brain MAX (a trial on Free); Siri and Google Assistant on mobile
Planning views
Year-to-day planning canvas	Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Calendar, Gantt and TimelineDay, week and month calendar plus project timelines; no zoomable year-to-day life canvas
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar	Included: Yes	Limited: On WhiteboardsSticky notes and shapes on a Whiteboard, separate from the calendar
Customisable dashboard	Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban	Limited: DashboardsCards for tasks, sprints, time and goals; a trial on Free and Core, included from Business
Habits, focus and learning
Habit tracker	Included: Check-ins and streaksSkip a day, stats, habits with friends	Not available: Recurring tasks and reminders instead
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub	Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar	Not available: Template Center and ClickUp UniversityTemplates for every item and training on ClickUp itself; no courses to schedule onto your calendar
Pomodoro timer	Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer	Not available: Through the PomoDone integrationA time tracker is built in

AI planning

AI goal plans
ByDesign
Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans
ClickUp
Limited: Brain creates tasksDescribe what you need and Brain creates tasks, subtasks, Docs and lists; Goals track targets; no plan with courses and deadlines is built from a goal for you to approve
AI scheduling with a preview you approve
ByDesign
Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans
ClickUp
Limited: AI Time-BlockingAI blocks focus time for your tasks; no preview-and-approve step described
Auto-schedule around your hours
ByDesign
Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks
ClickUp
Limited: AI auto-schedulingThe calendar schedules priority tasks and blocks focus time around meetings and working hours; no preview step described
Voice control
ByDesign
Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans
ClickUp
Limited: Talk to Text, Siri and Google AssistantDictate in Brain MAX (a trial on Free); Siri and Google Assistant on mobile

Planning views

Year-to-day planning canvas
ByDesign
Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans
ClickUp
Limited: Calendar, Gantt and TimelineDay, week and month calendar plus project timelines; no zoomable year-to-day life canvas
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar
ByDesign
Included: Yes
ClickUp
Limited: On WhiteboardsSticky notes and shapes on a Whiteboard, separate from the calendar
Customisable dashboard
ByDesign
Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban
ClickUp
Limited: DashboardsCards for tasks, sprints, time and goals; a trial on Free and Core, included from Business

Habits, focus and learning

Habit tracker
ByDesign
Included: Check-ins and streaksSkip a day, stats, habits with friends
ClickUp
Not available: Recurring tasks and reminders instead
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub
ByDesign
Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar
ClickUp
Not available: Template Center and ClickUp UniversityTemplates for every item and training on ClickUp itself; no courses to schedule onto your calendar
Pomodoro timer
ByDesign
Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer
ClickUp
Not available: Through the PomoDone integrationA time tracker is built in

ClickUp column based on features, calendar, goals, Brain, Brain MAX, Whiteboards, time tracking, pricing, apps and developer docs on October 26, 2026. If something has changed, email info@bydesign.io.

Both apps cover the basics

An AI assistant that knows your tasks and notes
Google and Outlook calendar sync
Time blocking
Tasks with subtasks, priorities, estimates and recurring schedules
Goals with targets and progress
Docs with nested pages
Kanban boards
Time tracking with a timer
Assignees, comments and @mentions
Built-in chat
Per-seat team plans
MCP server for AI assistants
Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps

Try ByDesign free

Why people switch from ClickUp to ByDesign

Say the goal. Get a scheduled plan.

Tell ByDesign what you want to achieve. It asks a few questions, then builds the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and schedules them around the life you already have. Replan in one message.

ClickUp: ClickUp Brain can create tasks, subtasks, Docs and lists from a description, and Goals track number, currency, true-or-false and task targets. Its calendar promises to “plan your perfect schedule based on your tasks, events, and goals”, but there is no step where a goal becomes a plan you read and approve.

ByDesign AI goal plan with tasks, tags and durations

A schedule you approve, not one that just happens

Set your hours, breaks and buffers once. ByDesign places tasks into the gaps, splits long ones, shows the proposed week and waits for your OK. Replan after a busy day in one message.

ClickUp: ClickUp’s calendar says AI will “plan your perfect schedule based on your tasks, events, and goals” and block focus time around meetings. No preview or approval step is described, and Brain is a paid add-on or runs on credits.

ByDesign week view with the planning assistant previewing changes

Your whole year on one surface

The planning canvas zooms from the full year down to a single day. Pin goals, notes and milestones where they belong, drag anything, and the plan keeps up.

ClickUp: ClickUp’s Calendar view shows a day, week or month; Gantt and Timeline show projects over time; Whiteboards hold sticky notes on their own canvas. The long view and the plan live in different places.

ByDesign planning canvas showing a full year of plans

Habits, focus and courses, built in

Track habits with streaks and stats, run a Pomodoro, and schedule a Hub roadmap onto your calendar in one click. Open ByDesign in the morning and it already works.

ClickUp: ClickUp builds routines with recurring tasks and reminders, offers Pomodoro sessions through the PomoDone integration, and ships a Template Center and ClickUp University instead of courses.

ByDesign reminders, habits and deadlines on iOS

Don’t take our word for it.

From Callio
Can I just say I love you. Finally, a good-looking app that isn’t complex as hell. There are tears in my eyes. I’ll happily pay for this!💯
From adsm1993
Omg I downloaded the app and this is MY DREAM! Is like an easier onenote/word/calendar/notes in ONE🙏
From TuneOutlyson003
I just wanna say that I have FINALLY found a to-do list app where I can have recurring tasks and habit/org systems in one place. This is awesome because I keep wondering if one day my autonomous self will break....this is awesome so far!

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