CanPlan vs Thruday
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.
Thruday
This app provides a visual planner and support tools designed for individuals with ADHD and Autism. It offers features like routines, mood tracking, journaling, and to-do lists to aid executive functioning, emotional regulation, and daily organization. The interface is customizable for sensory preferences and includes collaborative planning options.
- Visual routines and schedules
- Mood tracking and journaling
- To-do lists and notes
- Focus mode
- Printable schedules and PECs cards
- AI-assisted planning
- Customizable interface
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Thruday is a planning and wellbeing toolkit created for your day helping you to stay focused when it matters with your feet firmly on the ground. Our app provides a free visual planner for your daily routines with task lists, visual timelines, reminders and mood tracking built-in. Designed for anyone who benefits from more structure to their day and less overwhelm. Created by a neurodivergent founder, Thruday is more than just another scheduling or calendar app. Thruday is a flexible planning system that looks after your wellbeing and is used by people who need to stay focused, feel less pressure and keep going when life does not go to plan. Thruday can help anyone who needs more structure in their day with gentle alerts and reminders along the way. The app is especially useful for people who have ADHD, autism, AuDHD, executive-function challenges and forgetful brains, as well as families, carers and anyone who prefers visual planning. VISUAL DAILY PLANNING • Plan your day with a calm visual timeline • Add activities, to-dos, notes and reminders • Use colours, icons, images and visual cues • Support time blindness with clearer daily structure • Import external calendars and sync across devices • Use home screen widgets and the web app to keep your day visible ROUTINES & EXECUTIVE FUNCTION • Build ADHD, autism and AuDHD-friendly routines • Create morning, evening, school, work or care routines • Break big tasks into smaller steps • Use recurring activities and reminders • Brain-dump tasks before they disappear • Stay focused with priority planning and focus tools MOOD & WELLBEING • Track your mood with a traffic-light mood system • Journal how your day is going • Use breathing tools when things feel overwhelming • Notice emotional patterns over time • Plan around energy, overwhelm and emotional regulation CARERS, FAMILY & SUPPORT • Invite carers, family members or support assistants • Share plans with trusted people • Help parents, carers and support workers support daily routines • Use Thruday in education, supported living, family life or independent planning PRINTABLE & VISUAL SUPPORTS • Create printable visual schedules • Make visual cards for activities, routines and communication support • Use picture-based communication cards where appropriate • Choose from thousands of activity images CUSTOMISATION • Customise colours, icons, activities and avatars • Personalise the app for sensory preferences • Build a planner that works with your brain, not against it EXTRA SUPPORT • Use AI-assisted planning to help organise your day • Access helpful neurodivergent planning and wellbeing resources • Use Thruday online or offline when you need it Thruday is useful for adults, parents, carers, support workers and neurodivergent families who need more than a standard calendar or to-do list. Use it for ADHD planning, autism visual schedules, AuDHD routines, executive function support, time blindness, emotional regulation, school routines, work routines, care routines, supported living, independent living and everyday structure without pressure. Your data is private. We do not train AI on your data. Start free with core visual planning and to-do tools using just an email and password. Website: https://thruday.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Thruday at every 3 days against CanPlan's every 3 months. Thruday also leads on ratings volume (73 vs 3). CanPlan's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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 Thruday sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $10.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for CanPlan against 4.6 for Thruday. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thruday has 73 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of CanPlan's written reviews are positive against 72% of Thruday's.
CanPlan ships an update every 3 months, Thruday every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CanPlan | Thruday |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better | 4.6 (73 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 71.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 73 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 days — better |
| 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 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 124 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Victoria | Thruday LTD |
Customer experience
CanPlan
Thruday
In-app purchases
CanPlan
- Unlimited TasksFree
Thruday
- 1 Month Premium7 Days trial$10.001 Month
- 1 Year Premium Subscription7 Days trial$50.001 Year









