Comparison

Classify vs Shovel Study Planner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Classify

This app helps students organize their academic life by managing homework, schedules, and events. It features collaborative class group chats for effortless information sharing and a focus mode with a Pomodoro timer to boost productivity. Track your progress with detailed statistics and stay on top of your commitments.

Highlights
  • Class group chats for homework and event sharing
  • Digital homework diary with reminders
  • Focus mode with Pomodoro timer and study playlists
  • Intuitive timetable with alternating schedule support
  • Event and club management with calendar view
  • Detailed statistics on task completion and study habits
Features
Read full description

Whether you are attending elementary school, high school or college, Classify is the only organization app you’ll ever need. Now with the ability to create class group chats, you can share information about homework, events and clubs in one click, so you can let your classmates and friends organize for you. Getting down your homework, managing your timetable, events and clubs, plus a distraction-free space to stay focused, all in one app. KEY FEATURES: LET OTHERS ORGANIZE FOR YOU Our new class group chat feature, Classroom, allows you to share your homework, clubs and events all in one click. When you’re in a classroom and a classmate shares one of these to the group chat, it will automatically be added to your planner, details and all! Organization without effort. Now complete with subchats to discuss specific homework and events within a Classroom that get automatically archived over time. WRITE IT DOWN. LEVEL UP. Our digital homework diary means you will never forget to do your homework. Add details including the type of homework, what teacher has set it, add files and images, set reminders to not miss the deadline and more! FOCUS LIKE A PRO Stay fully focused with help of our latest feature, Zone, which helps you stay concentrated and stop procrastinating, leaving more time to do the things you love most. With an integrated pomodoro timer, curated study playlists and to-do lists, you can get more work done, in less time. STAY AHEAD OF YOUR SCHEDULE Quick and easy to set up, our intuitively-designed timetable means you will know exactly where to be and at what time. With flexibility and personalisation at its core, the timetable helps you know exactly what your day looks like — so forget roaming around the corridors cluelessly on your first day of school. Now supports alternating timetables. EVENTS AND CLUBS School life is stressful. You have to balance curricular and extra-curricular activities, and it can get overwhelming. Classify helps keep stress out of your routine and is your companion to help you remember about all your events, commitments, and responsibilities to make sure you can plan out your day-to-day and succeed in achieving all your ambitions. Set reminders, specify the frequency of the event, and then view it at a glance on our calendar view to never miss a meeting again. DETAILED STATISTICS TO HELP YOU IMPROVE Ever wondered what teacher gave out the most homework? And how many hours of your life you’ve spent on studying? And how much time you spent doing chores and other tasks on your to-do list? Classify can now answer all those questions with our stats page – which dives deep into your tasks and homework completed, what teachers and subjects are most homework-heavy, and how many hours you spend working on the things you’ve added to Classify. Because improving your workflow starts by understanding your current study habits and knowing where to improve. KEEP TRACK OF DAILY TASKS AND HABITS Academic success is achieved through more than just studying and doing your homework – so we developed Tasks to help you keep track and get reminded of any chores and other tasks you have to do. Sort tasks based on urgency to compartmentalise everything on your to-do list. … and so much more! Download Classify today to make organization the easiest step in your academic success. We would love for you to join the Classify family and be a part of our growing community! - Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @classifyapp - Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/EYSZ5QEEYC All legal information, including privacy policy and terms & conditions, are viewable here: https://classify.org.uk/legal

About

Shovel Study Planner

This app helps students manage their academic workload through time-blocking and executive functioning skills. It predicts if tasks can be completed on time and allows for flexible schedule adjustments. It requires initial setup on a web platform.

Highlights
  • Time-blocking for tasks
  • Real-time time cushion estimates
  • Consolidated task management
  • Ideal schedule building
  • Rotating class schedule support
  • Detailed task progress tracking
  • Weighted grade calculation
Features
Read full description

Become a STRESS-FREE student with TIME-BLOCKING and proper EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS. **This is only a companion app. Requires account setup on our web platform shovelapp.io** Shovel is a unique study planner that will help you build a solid foundation for life. Shovel is the only study planner that will tell you if you can get every task done on time or if you need to adjust your schedule, way before you run into trouble! SHOVEL FEATURES: TIME-BLOCKING • Plan exactly WHAT task you will work on, WHEN, and for HOW LONG. TIME CUSHION • Know if you have enough time to get your task done on time, continuously in REAL-TIME. EVERY TASK FROM EVERY CLASS IN ONE PLACE • Real-time information on every task • The Time You Have Available • The Time You Need to Complete Every Task • Time Cushion Information for Every Task YOUR IDEAL SCHEDULE • Build your dream week. Block out the times when you’re busy, including 'Me-Time' for fun and personal activities and see how it affects your study schedule going forward. Shovel will tell you if you can do it all, or if you need to adjust your plan. ROTATING CLASS SCHEDULE • Create events that repeat every XX weeks with ease. DETAILED TASK MANAGEMENT • Know how long each reading will take (we do the math for you!) • Estimate how long to study for each exam • Estimate how long you need for each assignment • See how changes affect your future study time • Track your progress on every task • Move tasks to Completed or Do-Later • Adjust on the go PLANNER ON STEROIDS • Assign tasks to specific study times • Know how long you’ll work on each task and when • See which tasks you haven’t planned or how much of a task you haven’t planned yet TIMELINE OF EVERY DAY • See how you use every minute • Classes, Activities, Meals, Me Time, and Events • Even the time you spend walking to and from • Unplanned Study Times • Planned Study Times (with the tasks you plan on doing) NOTIFICATIONS • Never miss a beat. Get notified about the things you have to do, and make sure you record the things you've done. TIME EVERYTHING • Use a built-in timer to track time spent on each task WEIGHTED GRADES • Know how you're doing in each class by putting in your grades properly weighted based on your grading rubric CREATE • Tasks • Weekly commitments • Events ADJUST ON THE GO • Adjust time needed based on your progress • Adjust estimated reading times with one click and instantly see how it affects your schedule • Adjust anything in your schedule COLLEGE IN YOUR POCKET • Your entire semester at your fingertips With Shovel, there are no surprises. You’ll be in complete control of your studies. You’ll know what’s next, how long it will take, if you have time to get it done, and when you’ll get it done. Get organized and become the best student you can be. *** REQUIRES SETUP IN WEB APP FIRST*** Because college syllabi have a lot of information, the fastest way for you to get started is to set everything up on your laptop in the Shovel web-app. Sign up at: https://shovelapp.io *** QUESTIONS*** Go to our website https://shovelapp.io and use the chat. We'll be more than happy to help.

Screenshots

Classify4 screens
Shovel Study Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Classify at 4.6 against Shovel Study Planner's 4.1. Classify also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (76% vs 52%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Shovel Study Planner sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Classify asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Classify holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 223 and 195 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Classify's written reviews are positive against 52% of Shovel Study Planner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Classify ships an update every 2 months, Shovel Study Planner every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Classify versus Shovel Study Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClassifyShovel Study Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (223 ratings) — better4.1 (195 ratings)
Positive reviews75.5% of reviews — better52.3% of reviews
Number of ratings223 — better195
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size181 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPrincipal Technologies LtdHow To Study Smart, LLC

Customer experience

Classify

All ratings221 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive75.5%
Neutral11.2%
Negative13.3%

Shovel Study Planner

All ratings195 ratings
Positive75.9%
Neutral7.7%
Negative16.4%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive52.3%
Neutral17.8%
Negative29.9%

User reviews

Classify

From 223 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly and intuitive interface
  • 💰 Completely free with no in-app purchases
  • 📚 Comprehensive homework and task management
  • 🎨 Sleek, visually appealing design
  • ⏱️ Pomodoro study session feature

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
  • 🐛 Data loss and disappearing tasks/homework
  • 🐛 Login and signup screen issues
  • 🐛 Homework/task page fails to load
  • 🐛 Unable to add tasks or events

Shovel Study Planner

From 195 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Excellent for student organization and time management
  • ⏱️ Unique time-blocking and scheduling features
  • 🎓 Course and assignment-focused organization system
  • 💻 Desktop/web version works reliably and comprehensively
  • 🎨 Clean, minimalist, and aesthetically pleasing interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Mobile app frequently crashes and becomes unresponsive
  • 📱 Mobile app significantly less functional than web version
  • ⚠️ App shows blank screens and fails to load content
  • 🔌 Requires constant internet connection, no offline access
  • 🛠️ Appears to be abandoned with no recent updates

Bugs and requests

Classify

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Blank screen after signup
  • Username page stuck, cannot proceed past signup
  • App fails to open on multiple devices
  • Cannot add tasks or events
  • Homework/task page fails to load regularly
Show 12 more
  • Homework data deletes itself after marking complete
  • Homework data disappears after updates
  • Glitches erase entered homework/test information
  • Cannot save edited timetable times
  • Homework type duplicates when creating assignments
  • Classes switch around and times change automatically
  • Homework duplicates when added
  • Users logged out unexpectedly
  • Teacher names not saving
  • Add subject feature not working
  • Timetable screen completely blank
  • Add subject screen extremely glitchy

Requested features

20 requests
  • Widget support for home screen
  • Custom color themes and personalization
  • Two-week timetable (Week A/B) support
  • Ability to edit homework after creation
  • Custom time slots for lessons
Show 15 more
  • Recurring homework/events feature
  • Teacher name auto-save functionality
  • Link integration in homework details
  • Ability to add custom task types
  • Scan papers/projects into app
  • Holiday scheduling feature
  • Custom profile picture option
  • Apple Calendar integration
  • Bar graphs instead of line graphs for statistics
  • Ability to customize number of periods per day
  • Custom day names for timetables
  • Month overview on app opening
  • Larger font size for tasks
  • Upload custom songs for music
  • Block school time from study timetable

Shovel Study Planner

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes when attempting to edit task times
  • Blank white screen on app launch
  • Touch input not responding on iPad with Apple Pencil
  • Tasks and calendar items disappear after login
  • Tasks fail to save when entered
Show 11 more
  • Widget shows 'log in' prompt despite being logged in
  • Notifications arrive at wrong times or not at all
  • Dropdown menus extend beyond screen on iPhone
  • App freezes when trying to resize tasks
  • SSL certificate lapsed, preventing login access
  • App crashes when typing in new task times
  • Duplicate notifications sent for single tasks
  • Calendar refresh is slow
  • Drag-to-reschedule functionality doesn't work properly
  • Free trial data disappears after trial ends without warning
  • App won't recognize password after web signup

Requested features

16 requests
  • Push notifications for tasks and assignments
  • Dark mode for mobile app
  • Widget functionality that works reliably
  • Offline access and offline storage
  • Landscape mode for iPad
Show 11 more
  • Monthly calendar view on mobile
  • Task repeat/recurring task options
  • Ability to edit and add tasks fully on mobile
  • Integration with Google Calendar
  • Pomodoro timer feature
  • Support for 6-day school cycles
  • Non-school related task/to-do list functionality
  • Downloadable desktop app for Mac
  • In-app purchase option for premium version
  • Better iPad optimization
  • Cushion feature on mobile app

In-app purchases

None

Classify

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Shovel Study Planner

One-time2
  • Lifetime plan$13.99
  • Lifetime plan$46.99

Questions

Is Classify free?
Classify is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shovel Study Planner free?
Shovel Study Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Classify or Shovel Study Planner?
Classify is rated higher. Classify averages 4.6 out of 5 from 223 ratings, while Shovel Study Planner averages 4.1 from 195 ratings.
Do Classify or Shovel Study Planner have ads?
Neither Classify nor Shovel Study Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Classify or Shovel Study Planner?
Classify ships an update every 2 months, and Shovel Study Planner every 5 weeks. Most recently, Classify was updated on September 1, 2026 and Shovel Study Planner on September 22, 2026.

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