Can AI replace Sunsama?

KINDA · weekend project
price $25/moyou'd save $300/yrbuild time multi-daycategory 🗓️ tasks & calendarreplaced by 0 peoplebuild unverified

A daily planning dashboard is not hard, but Sunsama's value is many integrations, careful UX, calendar sync, and habit-forming workflow.

the prompt
Build me a solo daily planner like Sunsama. Requirements:

- A local web app on localhost:4400: Node + Express + better-sqlite3, server-rendered
  with a little vanilla JS for drag and drop. No frontend framework.
- Today view, two columns: my Google Calendar events (read-only via googleapis, OAuth
  creds in .env) as a timeline, and today's task list beside it.
- Tasks have title, estimate in minutes, project tag, done flag. Quick-add box at the
  top, plus a backlog panel of unplanned tasks I can drag into today.
- Header shows planned minutes vs a daily budget from config (default 6h) and turns
  red when I overplan.
- A /shutdown page for the end of day: walks each unfinished task, one keystroke to
  roll to tomorrow, send to backlog, or drop, then shows planned vs actual.
- Keep per-day history in SQLite so a /week page can show the last 7 days of planned
  vs done.
- Calendar is read-only: never write events. Out of scope: task-tool integrations
  (Todoist, Trello, email), mobile apps, and two-way calendar sync.
- No accounts, no telemetry, everything local except the Google API calls.
- README: Google Cloud console steps for the OAuth client · budget an hour, that
  console is the worst part of this build.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter) or copy it raw · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR

why people still pay

They pay for a planning habit that survives across tools, not a new to-do list.

what you lose

xintegration breadth

xcalendar two-way sync

xdaily ritual design

xmobile apps

xanalytics

xreliability

prior art · use these instead of building, if you'd ratherSuper ProductivityOpen-source task/time-planning app with local-first workflows.
share on X ↗"I just replaced Sunsama ($25/mo) with one prompt"
questions
Can AI replace Sunsama?

Kinda. The core of Sunsama is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: integration breadth, calendar two-way sync. Read the honest list above before committing.

How much does Sunsama cost?

Sunsama costs about $25/month (Personal, checked 2026-07-30), which is $300 per year.

What do I lose by replacing Sunsama?

Honestly: integration breadth; calendar two-way sync; daily ritual design; mobile apps; analytics; reliability. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Sunsama?

Yes — Super Productivity (Open-source task/time-planning app with local-first workflows.). Using prior art is also a valid exit; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.