ALT vs Akiflow
An Akiflow alternative for Mac
A planner with a universal inbox, calendar time slots and the Aki AI assistant. [1] [2] [3] ALT is for people who want a native Mac planner with hours, projects and an assistant whose proposals they review. ALT is in private beta.
At a glance
| What matters | Akiflow | ALT |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A task and calendar planner with a universal inbox and AI assistant. [4] [1] [3] | AI planner and time blocking app for Mac. Private beta. |
| Platforms | Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple Watch. [5] [6] [7] [9] | Mac now. iPhone and iPad join the beta in December. No sync between devices yet. |
| How the Mac app is built | Electron, checked in the 2.83.8 Mac download. [17] | Native, SwiftUI |
| Calendars | Google Calendar, Outlook and iCloud, with two-way sync. iCloud connects with an app-specific password and syncs every few minutes. [8] [9] | Reads the calendars in Apple's Calendar app, including iCloud, Google and Outlook (Exchange). Move a meeting on your day and it moves in your calendar too; a meeting can also become a task. Task blocks stay in ALT. |
| Hours (planned against available) | No view of planned hours against working hours in the checked sources. [10] | Yes. Each day and week shows planned hours against your working window minus meetings, and how much it's over. |
| Time blocking | Yes. Time Slots hold tasks on the calendar. Schedule Optimizer reflows tasks when you ask it to. [2] [10] | Yes. One task can take several blocks in a day, numbered block 1 of 2. |
| AI assistant | Aki creates and edits tasks and time slots. Inputs include chat, voice, email, WhatsApp and Siri. [3] [11] | Chat on the Mac, typed or dictated. It creates and re-plans tasks with times. Every change is a proposal you Apply or Reject, and Undo puts it back. Uses your own Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter key in the beta. |
| Claude and Codex (MCP) | Remote MCP server with OAuth. Setup is documented for Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT and Cursor; Codex isn't named. [12] | Yes, a local MCP server on your Mac: Claude Code and Codex read and change tasks, projects and notes. Works while ALT is running. |
| Projects | Projects in folders and sections, tasks, subtasks and tags. [13] [18] | Areas, projects (two levels), sections, a result line per project, notes as an outline on the Mac. |
| Week, month and year | Daily and weekly planning rituals. Upcoming lists tasks by day, week and month. No year view in the checked sources. [14] [19] | Day, week, month and year views, with hours. |
| Price | $34/month, or $19/month billed yearly. 7-day trial, no free plan. Checked October 21, 2026. [15] | Free during the beta. Paid plans after it. |
| Status | Available with a paid subscription after a 7-day trial. [15] | Private beta. |
Where Akiflow is ahead
- A universal inbox gathers tasks from tools such as Gmail, Slack, Notion and Jira. [8] [1]
- Aki accepts voice messages, forwarded email, WhatsApp messages and Siri input. [11]
- The meeting assistant records meetings, transcribes them and extracts action items. [16]
- An Apple Watch app and two-way iCloud Calendar sync. [9]
Where ALT is different
- A native SwiftUI Mac app with areas, projects, sections and notes as an outline.
- Each day and week shows planned hours against your working window minus meetings.
- The Mac assistant proposes changes with times. You Apply or Reject them, and Undo puts them back.
What ALT doesn't do yet
- No sync between Mac, iPhone and iPad yet.
- No reminders before a time block starts.
- No writing task blocks to your calendar yet.
- The assistant uses your own Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter key during the beta.
Choose ALT if ...
You want a native Mac planner that adds up your tasks and meetings in hours, with projects and AI proposals you review. You're comfortable testing a private beta with your own AI key and no device sync yet.
Sources
Checked on October 21, 2026. Sources: