ALT vs Motion
A Motion alternative for Mac
A work platform that automatically schedules tasks around deadlines, priorities and meetings. [1] 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 | Motion | ALT |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A work platform with automatic task scheduling and team project management. [2] [1] | AI planner and time blocking app for Mac. Private beta. |
| Platforms | Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Mobile is a companion to the web and desktop apps. [3] [4] | 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 official 0.117.0 Mac download. [12] | Native, SwiftUI |
| Calendars | Google, Outlook and iCloud. Motion's iCloud guide says it reads iCloud but can't write tasks back to it. [5] [6] | 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) | Team capacity planning subtracts meetings and remaining tasks from working hours. Available on Business AI. [7] [8] | Yes. Each day and week shows planned hours against your working window minus meetings, and how much it's over. |
| Time blocking | Yes. Automatically schedules tasks using duration, deadlines, priorities and busy events; can split tasks into blocks. [1] | Yes. One task can take several blocks in a day, numbered block 1 of 2. |
| AI assistant | AI Chat works with tasks, projects, documents and meeting notes. Automatic scheduling adjusts the plan as the day changes. [9] [1] | 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) | No official MCP server in Motion's docs. Community servers connect through the Motion API. [13] | 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 | Workspaces, folders, projects and tasks, with documents at each level. [10] | Areas, projects (two levels), sections, a result line per project, notes as an outline on the Mac. |
| Week, month and year | Not checked | Day, week, month and year views, with hours. |
| Price | Individual Pro AI: $49/month, or $29/month billed yearly. Individual Business AI: $69/month, or $39/month billed yearly. Checked October 21, 2026. [8] | Free during the beta. Paid plans after it. |
| Status | Available with paid Pro AI and Business AI plans. [8] | Private beta. |
Where Motion is ahead
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: