CanPlan vs RoutineFactory
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CanPlan
This app helps individuals with cognitive challenges gain independence by breaking down tasks into visual, step-by-step instructions. It includes scheduling and reminders to ensure tasks are completed on time, fostering confidence and self-sufficiency.
- Step-by-step task sequencing with photos
- Optional text and audio prompts
- Daily task scheduling
- Timed reminders for tasks
- Customizable task categories
- Active task reminders
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*** WHAT IS IT? *** CanPlan promotes independence and builds confidence by helping people with cognitive challenges complete tasks successfully. Virtually any activity can be broken into a sequence of easy-to-follow steps, illustrated by photos and reinforced with optional text and audio. Scheduling and reminder features ensure each task gets done on time. Support workers and therapists are providing CanPlan to their clients with cognitive, memory and other challenges, while families and caregivers are using the tool with loved ones who desire more independence. For any given task, a user initially goes through the activity with a support person or family member. Together, they take photos of each step in the task, adding text or audio as needed. The task is then filed under a customizable set of categories, which could include areas such as: Food Preparation, Household Chores, Shopping, Transportation, Exercise, Workplace Tasks, and so on. *** WHO IS IT FOR? *** CanPlan is especially beneficial to people who have difficulty performing activities that require following a sequence of steps, including those with: - Brain injury - Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease - Autism Spectrum Disorder - Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder - Dyslexia - Developmental disabilities *** KEY FEATURES *** - Task Sequencing: breaks each task into an easy-to-follow sequence of photos, with optional text or audio - Scheduling: shows a list of tasks to be completed during the day - Prompting: provides the option of audible timed reminders - Active Task Reminder: helps the user stick with a task until it’s complete - Task Categorization: allows tasks to be filed in customizable categories for easy retrieval - CanPlan is a universal app optimized for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad *** SUPPORT *** To report a problem with the app, please email canassist@uvic.ca *** TESTIMONIALS *** “It really helps me to function and complete day-to-day tasks. I use the schedule and alarm to structure my day. It has removed so much stress in my life.” – Client with early onset Alzheimer’s disease “It works great – I can add whatever tasks I need to remember. And I’ll add more and more tasks as I get more to do at work, and when I start taking the bus to work.” – Client with brain injury “I like that each step of a task includes a photo and audio as well. I also like that we are able to add empowering messages.” – Support worker of client with brain injury *** CANASSIST at the UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA *** CanAssist at the University of Victoria is dedicated to developing customized technologies and services for people with disabilities, with a focus on clients in British Columbia, Canada.
RoutineFactory
This app helps users establish structure and focus by creating clear daily and weekly schedules. It offers digital assistants with step-by-step instructions, pictograms, and timers to manage tasks and activities effectively.
- Daily and weekly schedule overviews
- Digital assistants for tasks
- Step-by-step instructions
- Timers for tasks
- QR code integration for assistants
- Pictograms and visual aids
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Do you need structure? Do you not always know what to do or when? Do you get side-tracked and could use some focus? RoutineFactory can help you. With RoutineFactory, you will see what needs to be done, every day. Use the RoutineFactory online tool to create clear day- and week schedules and easy-to-use digital assistants. The Schedule Wizard helps you to set up a morning routine or get your household chores organized in minutes. Together with your supervisor, caretaker and/or family members. Use checklists with detailed step-for-step instructions to split up complex tasks and keep focus & progress. Pictograms, photos, colors and instruction texts help make activities recognizable and help with overview. Digital assistants can be called at any time to help with a specific task or in a specific situation. With this app you can: - Use schedules created with the RoutineFactory online tool - Clear daily and weekly overviews - Create digital assistants to help with a task or situation - Simple scheduling of daily, weekly or monthly tasks and activities - Shows timers to keep track of how much time is left on a task - Receive a signal when it is time to start an activity or task - Link digital assistants to QR codes
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CanPlan at 4.7 against RoutineFactory's 4.0. CanPlan also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). RoutineFactory's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 78%). 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
Both are free to download. CanPlan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and RoutineFactory sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
CanPlan holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of CanPlan's written reviews are positive against 100% of RoutineFactory's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
CanPlan ships an update every 3 months, RoutineFactory every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on July 4, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CanPlan | RoutineFactory |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better | 4.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Victoria | ZelfstandigmetZorg B.V. |
Customer experience
CanPlan
RoutineFactory
In-app purchases
CanPlan
- Unlimited TasksFree
RoutineFactory
- RoutineFactory subscription, one year$34.99









