Comparison

TimeMaxx vs Acto|Handwritten Planner

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

Head to head
About

TimeMaxx

This app helps you understand how your time is actually spent by combining time boxing, journaling, and planning vs. actual tracking. It allows you to compare your intended day with what happened, identify dead time, and improve your daily execution.

Highlights
  • Time boxing
  • Interstitial journaling
  • Plan vs Done tracking
  • Execution Score review
  • Daily breakdowns
  • Local-first and personal
  • Quick time logging
Features
Read full description

TimeMaxx helps you understand how your day is actually spent. Traditional to-do lists track tasks, but they don’t show how your time is really used. It’s easy to overestimate what you can get done, underestimate how long things take, and lose track of where the day went. TimeMaxx combines time boxing, interstitial journaling, and Plan vs Done tracking to help you compare your intended day with what actually happened. Create Plan blocks to time-box your day. Use Done blocks, Start Now, and quick time logging to capture reality as you switch tasks. Review your Execution Score and daily breakdowns to see where your day aligned, where it drifted, and where deadtime appeared. TimeMaxx is local-first and personal. It works like a private notebook for your time, not a cloud productivity platform. I built TimeMaxx because this was a problem in my own life. It’s free because I don’t want cost to be a barrier if it can help someone else too.

About

Acto|Handwritten Planner

Features
Read full description

Acto is a handwritten planner built for iPad. Open it like a paper notebook, write your goals, plan your week by hand, and find what you wrote later — across every page(premium). WHAT IS ACTO? A digital planner where every page is yours to draw on. Five sections work together: a Cover you sign yourself, a Projects index, one Detail page per project, a weekly two-page spread that updates with your calendar, and free Notes pages you can add anywhere. DESIGNED FOR APPLE PENCIL ・Pressure, tilt, and hover support ・Markup tool picker appears the moment your Pencil touches the page ・Palm rejection follows your iPadOS system setting ・Pencil 2 double-tap and Pencil Pro squeeze respect your system shortcut ・Undo, redo, lasso select, and clear page from the toolbar YOUR PLANNER, FOR YEARS The Cover and weekly spreads read your device's date, so the same planner carries from 2026 into 2027 and beyond. No yearly re-purchase, no migration, no "2026 edition" expiring on you. SEARCH YOUR HANDWRITING (PREMIUM) On-device OCR reads Japanese and English handwriting after you leave a page, then lets you search by word, date range, or section. Even rough notes become findable. Recognition runs locally with Apple's Vision framework — your handwriting never leaves your device. ICLOUD SYNC Sign in to iCloud and your planner appears on every iPad with the same Apple ID. Your data stays in your own iCloud — only you can see it. FOUR LIQUID GLASS THEMES (PREMIUM) Sand, Fog, Graphite, and Linen. Free users start with one theme; Premium unlocks all four to match your week or your room. EXPORT WHEN YOU NEED TO PDF export collects every page in order. Single pages export as PNG. Share via Files, Mail, AirDrop, or any Share Sheet target. PLANS ・Free: 3 projects, 10 pages, one theme, PDF / PNG export, every handwriting tool. ・Premium (¥600/month or ¥4,800/year): unlimited pages, all themes, Monthly View, OCR search, every sticker. ・Content Store: stickers WHO IS ACTO FOR? ・People who plan and journal by hand and want their iPad to feel like paper ・Founders, freelancers, and students tracking several projects in parallel ・Apple Pencil users who want a structured planner alongside the note-taking apps they already use ・Bullet journal practitioners who want digital search and sync on top of paper-style layouts PRIVACY Handwriting recognition runs on-device. iCloud sync uses your own iCloud account — only you can access your notes. Acto does not collect, sell, or analyze your notes. REQUIREMENTS iPad running iPadOS 18 or later. Apple Pencil recommended (1st generation, 2nd generation, USB-C, or Pencil Pro). LANGUAGES Japanese, English. TERMS OF USE (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

TimeMaxx4 screens
Acto|Handwritten Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TimeMaxx at none against Acto|Handwritten Planner's 4. TimeMaxx also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Acto|Handwritten Planner's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads and device support 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. Acto|Handwritten Planner sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. TimeMaxx asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TimeMaxx ships an update every 6 weeks, Acto|Handwritten Planner every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
TimeMaxx versus Acto|Handwritten Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTimeMaxxActo|Handwritten Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJACOB CHAR CHINMatsu LLC.

In-app purchases

None

TimeMaxx

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Acto|Handwritten Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Acto Premium - monthly$3.991 Month
  • Acto Premium - yearly$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Basic Stickers$1.99
  • Monthly View$1.99

Questions

Is TimeMaxx free?
TimeMaxx is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Acto|Handwritten Planner free?
Acto|Handwritten Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do TimeMaxx or Acto|Handwritten Planner have ads?
Neither TimeMaxx nor Acto|Handwritten Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TimeMaxx or Acto|Handwritten Planner?
TimeMaxx ships an update every 6 weeks, and Acto|Handwritten Planner every 4 days. Most recently, TimeMaxx was updated on October 15, 2026 and Acto|Handwritten Planner on October 17, 2026.

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