The "Project Management" category is one that has been quite underwhelming for a while. If you've been interested in this space for long enough, you probably saw the hype around Monday and ClickUp, only to see them both devolve into an all-in-one tool instead of re-thinking project management.
That's where we have to hand it to Motion. They started out as simply that of a calendar and scheduler tool, and upon perfecting the time management component, moved to task management (individual), perfected that, and then finally moved to the project management space (teams).
They walked before they ran, and focused more on how individuals manage their time, and how that affects the greater team around them.
They've essentially created this over-encompassing category of time management and daily planning, mixed in a bit of AI (for task/event prioritization), and it feels like you have a personal assistant.
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For Small + Mid-Market teams looking to for an AI-powerd time management platform (Calendar + Scheduling + Tasks & Projects).
Motion is a tool that I've been looking for ever since Sunrise Calendar was acquired by Microsoft, more than a decade ago. Since that faithful day, I've been on the never-ending journey of evaluating every single calendar/scheduler/task manager on the market, in search for what I once had.
We believe that Motion is creating a new category entirely, and while you'll see us compare it with the best project management software on the market, you'll see that it isn't just a traditional project manager. And with that, let's dive in:
Rating: A+
Motion isn't just a calendar, scheduler, or task manager. It's really an AI assistant that takes all of this unique information, and uses it to build your perfect day:
Other project management tools require you spend chunks of your day re-evaluating deadlines and shifting back work. Not to mention, they have no actual reference of your calendar, so actual focus time available doesn't even take into account when you're in meetings... 😅
That's where Motion is different, and in some ways, in a category of its own. What they are doing is unmatched in the project management space, and when you compare Motion vs Asana amongst others in the category, you see how outdated traditional task management tools truly are.
They've also taken this whole time management category and leveled up your project management software with a baked in calendar scheduler that takes into account all of your tasks and hard deadlines, along with time blocking to only recommend the best times for you to meet with others, ensuring that you can still get your work done on time. Something that no other project manager can do.
Rating: B-
Motion has a functional calendar/task interface that has your most important tasks on the left, and a calendar on the right. When comparing Motion and Cron, you start to see where the UI could be improved:
The plus side here is that the UI could be improved with some pretty minor tweaks, like making it more obvious as to what the current day is, having less harsh and lighter color pallet for events and tasks (in both light and dark mode), displaying calendar text in a more useful/way (versus getting cut off sharply), amongst other modifications.
We have faith that the team will make the much needed improvements here, and since it would require such minor modifications, we can't weigh this section too heavily against Motion. With these modifications, we feel Motion can pretty easily get to a B+ rating in this category.
Rating: B
The main benefit of Motion, and how it differentiates from every other project management tool on the market is you add your tasks to it, then you forget about it. It will automatically schedule your tasks into your calendar to ensure that you get them done by the time they need to be completed.
With other tools like Asana, you need to manually reschedule your tasks manually on a daily basis, wasting anywhere from 20–60 minutes per day—something you don't even need to think about with Motion.
We would have actually rated Motion as an A in the UX area back when it was a Chromium extension, because it would do incredibly impressive things like automatically pulling up your calendar when visiting a calendly link within the browser, showing you in Motion what times work best for you.
The problem was, there's just too much limitation as a Chromium extension versus being a fully standalone app, so they made the right directional move, they just need to bring some of these super thoughtful experiences back to the desktop app.
Motion is always a keyboard shortcut away (OPT + C), and that's one of the things we love most about using it. Once you're in the app though, it would be nice to have less clicks to get to where you're trying to get.
There's also a few times where you'd actually want to open back up Google Calendar, in things like proposing a new time for example, or editing a team's calendar event (even if you're invited to it), so fixing these things will greatly improve the UX. We're confident that they can actually get this up to an A in the next 6–18 months.
Rating: B-
Motion has an iOS and Android app that is fully-featured, including the full calendar functionality, along with your complete project task lists, and quick access to booking links while on-the-go.
Things we'd love to see to bring Motion up to an A is a proper widget to replace the need for Google Calendar entirely. Some quality UX improvements could be made with having a way to more easily create tasks from other apps, by say sharing a screenshot to Motion, or highlighting text and sharing it with Motion (or even using Siri/Google Assistant to create tasks while on-the-go).
One little knit-pick is the time it takes for the mobile app to load, although this is something that the team is aware of, and we feel pretty confident that the mobile app will hit B+ category in the months to come.
Rating: C+
We have to hand it to the team at Motion on this one—they launched an API, and then almost immediately spun up a Zapier integration to make their API even more accessible to others, something that newer tools in the space haven't invested in which makes Motion stand out, and something we greatly appreciate.
The API is surely to improve with time, adding in more functionality, although it does allow for the major things you'd want to use it for already, like create/find/update of tasks, and most importantly, creating the magic auto-scheduled task.
The one thing that the API is lacking though is on the appointment scheduling side of things. For example, you can't get the same type of API functionality that a tool like Calendly will give you on that front, although you can actually build some of the same functionality (like logging new appointments into your CRM upon booking) using a tool like Mailparser alongside Zapier (although I will say, it's not that straightforward). 😅
If Motion added in API functionality for their scheduler, we'd put Motion's API at a solid B, which is all you'd really need it to be.
If you're anything like me and just starting the quest of your own (or in the middle of it), let me save you some time: you'll likely stumble upon calendar tools like Cron, Vimcal, Magical, Fantastical, Woven (acquired by Slack), and many more scheduler-focused tools like Calendly, ChiliPiper, and Cal.com (amongst many others), along with no shortage of all-in-one task management tools (e.g. Sunsama and Akiflow), heck, even "time management" tools like Clockwise and Reclaim.
Well I'm here to tell you that I've tried them all—extensively.
Each and every tool mentioned does some aspects to time management well, but fall apart when done together.
And that's where Motion is different. Motion is more than just a calendar, scheduler, or task/project manager—it is a platform for time management. Because at the end of the day, we're all just managing time—sometimes by way of projects and tasks, and at other times meetings and events. Motion understands this fact first-and-foremost, and with a small sprinkle of AI, you're given your perfect day planned out for you, no rescheduling or rearranging necessary.
We've actually fully switched to Motion from Asana after using Asana for 7+ years.
If you're looking for a deeper dive comparison on the project management of Motion, you can check out a deep dive project management comparison that covers all of that here.
That said, I've finally found what I've been looking for. (Oh and there's actually quite a bit more to the story if you're interested in hearing more)
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There is currently no promo code for this app but we are close partners, so if you use the link above to visit the site and then let their team know that Efficient App sent you, you may just get a little something... extra 😉
There is currently no promo code for this app—we'll update it here if that changes in the future!
While there's currently no promo code available, if you use the link above and you let their team know that we sent you, they might even extend your free trial (if you write into support) 😉
The digital daily planner that helps you feel calm and stay focused.
Sunsama is an interesting category of tool, claiming to be more of a "daily planner", that toes the line of project management and time management.
You're going to get the most value using a tool like Sunsama if you use it alongside another project manager like Asana.
Rating: B
Sunsama is essentially a calendar app that integrates deeply with tools like Asana, allowing you to pull tasks from Asana and put them onto your calendar for daily planning.
It's a clever idea, especially if you're already using and loving Asana, but just frustrated by the lack of integration with a calendar. Something that Motion actually does out of the box as it's an all-in-one task and time management tool.
Rating: B+
Rating: B-
Rating: B-
Sunsama has an iOS and Android app that is relatively basic, but gets across what you need it to do. Access your tasks and calendar all in one place.
Rating: C-
Sunsama does not currently have an API. As it's more focused on native integrations with tools like that of with Asana. So with that, you can see that their focus isn't actually on extending Sunsama into a flexible tool outside of what they've decided to integrate deeply with.
If you're using one of the main tools they integrate with, this might be a good thing, but for now, with no API, you cannot integrate it with your team's CRM for example, which leads us to feel they are more focused on being an individual daily planner instead of a team project manager.
If you're not already using and loving another project manager like Asana, we'd recommend simply using Motion, as when you compare Motion vs Sunsama, you really need Sunsama and Asana together (2 separate tools) to get what Motion gives you out of the box.
There is currently no promo code for this app but we are close partners, so if you use the link above to visit the site and then let their team know that Efficient App sent you, you may just get a little something... extra 😉
There is currently no promo code for this app—we'll update it here if that changes in the future!
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Winner: Motion
This category is hands-down Motion. If you're even thinking about using Sunsama and you need a proper project manager, I say that you really need to be using a more fully-fledged project manager alongside it (ideally one that it integrates with), like Asana.
It's almost as if Sunsama was built more as a daily planner (almost as a feature of Asana), to help you focus on the work you want to get done for the day, versus being a fully standalone project management tool.
Motion on the other hand, if you're currently using a tool like Asana, we'd highly recommend you actually switch off of it, as Asana is an alternative to Motion not a complementary tool, unlike that of Sunsama, which tries to make both work together.
Start your 7 day free trial of Motion here.
Winner: Sunsama
Sunsama has many more native integrations that that of Motion. Sunsama has focused in this area, leaning on integrating with the best project management tools instead of building a project manager itself. So if you're using one of the native integrations that Sunsama has, like their integration with Asana, you'll get a great integrated experience.
What we're seeing as a whole is software in the project management space either focusing on building integrations, or their own internal evolution of task/project management, and daily planning.
Start your 30 day free trial of Sunsama here.
Winner: Motion
Motion is isn't a daily planner, so much as it is an AI daily planner. While Sunsama sets you up to put a lot of thought and care into what you want to work on for the day, Motion just takes all your task inputs (priority, deadline, availability, and even dependencies), and just does all the planning for you. So Motion actually evolves the daily planner space by introducing AI and automation into it.
If you particularly prefer to organize your own day manually, then that's where Sunsama stands out, almost putting more of a "zen-like" experience into planning your day, that said, it as the manual path.
Start your 7 day free trial of Motion here.
Winner: Motion
Motion for us replaced the need for tools like Calendly, Asana, and Cron, so in terms of overall value, we're actually paying less overall for Motion, and getting 95% of what we needed from these other tools, all in a cohesive (yet purposeful) solution.
So if you're in a similar boat, and the Scheduler, Calendar, and Project Management solution that Motion offers can replace the other tools you use in the category, it's a no-brainer on overall value. Especially if you're looking for more than just a meeting scheduler, and you're looking to block time from things like important tasks you need to get done, and you'd like how the time blocks actually affect when people should be able to schedule in with you. Allowing you to actually get more focus work done in your day.
If you're considering Sunsama, you should also be using a proper project manager like Asana, and scheduling tool like Calendly. Although it has calendar functionality, you might still want to use a proper calendar tool alongside Sunsama like that of Cron.
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