Comparison

ByDesign

Goals Wizard

ByDesign vs Goals Wizard

Goals Wizard coaches you through the goal. ByDesign plans it and runs your week.

Goals Wizard is a guided personal-growth program: set goals with milestones, build habits and routines, plan each day, journal and reflect, with templates or ChatGPT-powered goal planning, on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and the web. ByDesign takes the goal further: AI builds the tasks and schedules them around your hours with a preview you approve, your calendar syncs both ways, and a Pomodoro timer, Kanban, a year-to-day canvas and team chat live in the same app.

Try ByDesign free See the comparison

What you get with ByDesign that Goals Wizard doesn’t offer

AI that schedules the plan, not just sets it up
Say a goal and ByDesign writes the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and places them on your calendar around your hours, with a preview you approve. Goals Wizard’s AI goal planning, built on ChatGPT, drafts SMART goals and action plans; the daily and weekly planning is yours to do by hand.
A calendar that syncs both ways
Edit an event in ByDesign or in Google and Apple Calendar and both stay right, with Outlook and ICS subscriptions too. Goals Wizard has weekly planning and calendar views of its own; two-way sync with Google or Apple Calendar isn’t among the features it lists.
Focus, boards and the long view
A Pomodoro timer, time tracking on any task, Kanban boards, and a canvas from the year down to the day with sticky notes and pinned pages. Goals Wizard has focus routines, a Time Log of planned versus spent time, and daily and weekly planning.
Every platform, and your team
Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android, with shared pages, assignments, chat and per-seat team plans. Goals Wizard runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and the web, shares progress with an accountability group, and sells coaching separately.

ByDesign vs Goals Wizard, feature by feature

Only the differences. What both apps do the same is listed underneath.

Included
Limited
Not available

Feature	ByDesign	Goals Wizard
AI planning
AI goal plans	Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: AI goal planningChatGPT-powered SMART goals and action plans, or templates, or by hand; days and weeks are planned by you
AI scheduling with a preview you approve	Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans	Not available: Not in its feature list
Auto-schedule around your hours	Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks	Not available: Not in its feature listDays and weeks are planned by hand
Planning assistant chat	Included: In the app, full contextSees your calendar, goals, habits and notes; moves and reschedules items; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: AI goal planning and a ChatGPT connectorAI drafts goals and action plans in the app; the connector, on paid plans, lets ChatGPT reach your data; no chat that moves your calendar
Voice control	Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans	Not available: Not in its feature list
Calendar and views
Two-way calendar sync	Included: Google and AppleEdit events in either place; Outlook and ICS subscriptions too	Not available: Calendar views of its ownWeekly planning and calendar views; two-way sync isn’t among the features it lists
Year-to-day planning canvas	Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans	Limited: Daily planner and weekly planningPlus calendar views; no year view
Kanban boards	Included: Custom columnsMain board plus boards per page	Not available: Not in its feature list
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar	Included: Yes	Not available: No
Customisable dashboard	Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban	Limited: Progress and reflectionProgress on each goal plus guided check-ins; no widgets
Notes, focus and learning
Notes and pages	Included: Nested pagesTables, code, embeds, sub-pages, backlinks; publish to the web	Limited: Notes and journalingCapture thoughts, lessons and ideas; no nested pages
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub	Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar	Limited: Guided programClarity, Goals and Action modules with routines and check-ins; one-on-one coaching for a fee
Pomodoro timer	Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer	Limited: Focus routinesTimeboxing, focus cycles and deep focus blocks as routines
Time tracking on tasks	Included: Start and pause on any taskTotals per task; “most tracked” filter	Limited: Time LogPlanned versus spent time per activity, with a time allocation chart
Collaboration and platforms
MCP for Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants	Included: YesClaude Desktop, Claude Code and ChatGPT guides	Limited: ChatGPT connectorAvailable on paid plans; no MCP server listed
Share pages and assign tasks	Included: View, comment or editAssign tasks; @mention in comments	Limited: Share progressWith an accountability team or mastermind group
Built-in chat	Included: Direct and groupThreads, reactions, polls	Not available: Not in its feature list
Team plans	Included: Per seatAdd or remove members in settings	Not available: Personal plans“Team Collaboration” means sharing progress with an accountability group; coaching is sold separately
Apps	Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android	Limited: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and webRuns on Apple-silicon Macs as the iPad app; no Windows app listed

AI planning

AI goal plans
ByDesign
Included: Built and scheduledTasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines land on your calendar; AI and AI Plus plans
Goals Wizard
Limited: AI goal planningChatGPT-powered SMART goals and action plans, or templates, or by hand; days and weeks are planned by you
AI scheduling with a preview you approve
ByDesign
Included: Preview, then acceptConflicts shown; nothing saves until you say so; AI and AI Plus plans
Goals Wizard
Not available: Not in its feature list
Auto-schedule around your hours
ByDesign
Included: Rules you setWork hours, breaks, buffers, max hours a day, split long tasks
Goals Wizard
Not available: Not in its feature listDays and weeks are planned by hand
Planning assistant chat
ByDesign
Included: In the app, full contextSees your calendar, goals, habits and notes; moves and reschedules items; AI and AI Plus plans
Goals Wizard
Limited: AI goal planning and a ChatGPT connectorAI drafts goals and action plans in the app; the connector, on paid plans, lets ChatGPT reach your data; no chat that moves your calendar
Voice control
ByDesign
Included: Mic and hands-freeOptional wake phrase; AI and AI Plus plans
Goals Wizard
Not available: Not in its feature list

Calendar and views

Two-way calendar sync
ByDesign
Included: Google and AppleEdit events in either place; Outlook and ICS subscriptions too
Goals Wizard
Not available: Calendar views of its ownWeekly planning and calendar views; two-way sync isn’t among the features it lists
Year-to-day planning canvas
ByDesign
Included: Year to dayYear, quarter, month, week and day on one zoomable surface; AI and AI Plus plans
Goals Wizard
Limited: Daily planner and weekly planningPlus calendar views; no year view
Kanban boards
ByDesign
Included: Custom columnsMain board plus boards per page
Goals Wizard
Not available: Not in its feature list
Sticky notes, images and pinned pages on the calendar
ByDesign
Included: Yes
Goals Wizard
Not available: No
Customisable dashboard
ByDesign
Included: Drag-and-drop widgetsScore board, tasks, habits, inbox, pinned pages, Kanban
Goals Wizard
Limited: Progress and reflectionProgress on each goal plus guided check-ins; no widgets

Notes, focus and learning

Notes and pages
ByDesign
Included: Nested pagesTables, code, embeds, sub-pages, backlinks; publish to the web
Goals Wizard
Limited: Notes and journalingCapture thoughts, lessons and ideas; no nested pages
Courses and roadmaps from the Hub
ByDesign
Included: The HubCourses, roadmaps and a habit library; schedule a roadmap straight onto your calendar
Goals Wizard
Limited: Guided programClarity, Goals and Action modules with routines and check-ins; one-on-one coaching for a fee
Pomodoro timer
ByDesign
Included: Built in25/5/15 cycles with a floating timer
Goals Wizard
Limited: Focus routinesTimeboxing, focus cycles and deep focus blocks as routines
Time tracking on tasks
ByDesign
Included: Start and pause on any taskTotals per task; “most tracked” filter
Goals Wizard
Limited: Time LogPlanned versus spent time per activity, with a time allocation chart

Collaboration and platforms

MCP for Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants
ByDesign
Included: YesClaude Desktop, Claude Code and ChatGPT guides
Goals Wizard
Limited: ChatGPT connectorAvailable on paid plans; no MCP server listed
Share pages and assign tasks
ByDesign
Included: View, comment or editAssign tasks; @mention in comments
Goals Wizard
Limited: Share progressWith an accountability team or mastermind group
Built-in chat
ByDesign
Included: Direct and groupThreads, reactions, polls
Goals Wizard
Not available: Not in its feature list
Team plans
ByDesign
Included: Per seatAdd or remove members in settings
Goals Wizard
Not available: Personal plans“Team Collaboration” means sharing progress with an accountability group; coaching is sold separately
Apps
ByDesign
Included: Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android
Goals Wizard
Limited: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and webRuns on Apple-silicon Macs as the iPad app; no Windows app listed

Goals Wizard column based on App Store listing, features, programs and FAQ on October 26, 2026. If something has changed, email info@bydesign.io.

Both apps cover the basics

Goals with milestones and progress
Habit tracker and routines
One-time and recurring tasks in a daily planner
Notes and journaling
Templates to start from
Sync across devices
Multiple interface languages

Try ByDesign free

Why people switch from Goals Wizard to ByDesign

Say the goal. Get a scheduled plan.

Tell ByDesign what you want to achieve. It asks a few questions, then builds the tasks, subtasks, courses and deadlines and schedules them around the life you already have. Replan in one message.

Goals Wizard: Goals Wizard walks you through its Clarity, Goals and Action modules: define the goal, break it into milestones and action steps, then plan each day in the morning routine. Its AI goal planning drafts SMART goals and action plans; the schedule is still yours to build.

ByDesign AI goal plan with tasks, tags and durations

Your calendar, both ways

Connect Google or Apple Calendar and edit an event in either place, with Outlook and ICS subscriptions too. Auto-scheduling fills the real gaps around the meetings already there.

Goals Wizard: Goals Wizard’s daily planner and calendar views hold the tasks you add there. A two-way sync with the calendar you already use isn’t among the features it lists.

Google, Microsoft and Apple calendars syncing with ByDesign

Your whole year on one surface

The planning canvas zooms from the full year down to a single day. Pin goals, notes and milestones where they belong, drag anything, and the plan keeps up.

Goals Wizard: Goals Wizard plans in days and weeks, with milestones and progress on each goal. There is no zoomable year view, no Kanban and no canvas to pin notes and images onto.

ByDesign planning canvas showing a full year of plans

On every device, with your team

ByDesign runs on the web, Mac, Windows, iOS, iPad and Android. Share pages, assign tasks, @mention in comments and chat in the app.

Goals Wizard: Goals Wizard runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and the web. You can share progress with an accountability team or mastermind group, and buy one-on-one coaching for an additional fee; assigning tasks and chat aren’t part of it.

Don’t take our word for it.

From Daniel
Honestly, Notion was really exhausting for me... Your product works in the simplest way. I’m a product designer, and I’d love to share my feedback with you after using it more :)
From Petey M.
I used to keep a calendar, a to-do list, and a project app. ByDesign replaced all of them. It’s clean, it works, and I haven’t needed anything else.
From Callio
Can I just say I love you. Finally, a good-looking app that isn’t complex as hell. There are tears in my eyes. I’ll happily pay for this!💯

See All The Love →

Make the switch in three steps

No setup project. Start free, connect the calendar you already use, and give ByDesign your first goal.

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Connect your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar.
Say your first goal and watch the plan land on your calendar.

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