Lowtide vs Sunsama: a daily planner, or a list of what you owe people?
Updated
Short answer: For the replies you owe, the answers you’re waiting on and your meeting promises, Lowtide is the better choice: it finds them for you, drafts each one, and can hold time on your calendar for any of them, free during early access. Sunsama is the better fit if you want a full daily planning ritual and to time-block all of your work, on any device.
At a glance
| Lowtide | Sunsama | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Mac menu bar app that keeps one list of what you owe people across your tools | A daily planner that pulls tasks from your tools into a time-blocked day |
| Works with | Gmail and Google Calendar (several accounts), Slack, Granola, GitHub, Linear, Claude Code and Codex | Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Linear, GitHub, Notion, Asana, Jira, Todoist and more |
| Runs on | Mac (macOS 26 or later) | Mac, Windows, Linux, web, iPhone and Android |
| Price | Free during early access | Pro $22 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly (its FAQ says $25 and $20); 14-day trial |
| Emails that need a reply | Yes: emails and Slack messages that need you, ranked, each with the reason it’s there | You choose which emails become tasks |
| Emails nobody answered | Yes: questions you asked by email or Slack that nobody answered come back with a nudge drafted | Not tracked |
| Promises from meetings | Yes: what you promised, read from Granola notes or the recap Zoom, Google Meet, Fathom, Fireflies or Otter emails you | Not tracked |
| Slack | Yes: messages that need your reply, and questions you asked that nobody answered | You turn Slack messages into tasks yourself |
| Drafts in your voice | Yes: learns from your sent mail and from the changes you make | Not described on its site |
| Time on your calendar | Hold time: finds a free 15 to 60 minutes and adds a private Busy event, with Undo | Yes: you plan your whole day as time blocks |
What’s the difference between Lowtide and Sunsama?
Sunsama is for planning: each morning you choose what you’ll work on from your inbox, Slack and project tools, size it, and place it on your calendar, and each evening you look back. Lowtide is for not dropping things: it reads your mail, Slack and meeting notes and keeps a short list of obligations to people, the replies you owe, the answers you’re waiting on and what you promised, with the reason each is there and a draft ready.
In Sunsama, an email is on your plan because you put it there. In Lowtide, it’s on your list because someone is waiting on you.
Does Lowtide plan your day?
A little. Its morning plan shows your meetings with the free stretches between them and what fits in each, and Hold time puts any card on your calendar as a private block. It doesn’t plan projects or tasks with no one waiting on them; Sunsama does.
How much do they cost?
Sunsama’s pricing page shows $22 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly, while its FAQ says $25 and $20; check before you buy. It has a 14-day trial. Lowtide is free while it’s in early access.
Can you use both?
Yes, and they fit: Lowtide catches what you owe people as it comes up, and Sunsama is where you plan the bigger work. Lowtide doesn’t send its cards to Sunsama, so you’d bring over the ones that need a block of time.
Choose Lowtide if
- You want obligations found for you rather than picked by hand.
- You want replies and follow-ups drafted.
- You want promises from meetings tracked until they’re done.
- You want something free to try on your Mac.
Choose Sunsama if
- You want a daily planning and shutdown ritual.
- You time-block everything, not just what you owe people.
- You use Windows, Linux or want it on your phone.
- You want tasks from many project tools in one plan.
Questions people ask
Is Lowtide a Sunsama alternative?
Only partly. If you use Sunsama mainly to keep track of emails and Slack messages you owe, Lowtide does that on its own. If you use it to plan and time-block your whole day, Lowtide doesn’t replace it.
Can Lowtide put time on my calendar?
Yes, one card at a time: Hold time finds the first free 15 minutes to an hour within your working hours and, when you press Hold, adds a private event others see as Busy, with Undo.
Sources
What this page says about Sunsama comes from its own site, checked on October 20, 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, tell us through the form on our home page and we’ll fix it.