Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Drafts VS Fantastical 2

Compare Drafts VS Fantastical 2 and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Drafts logo Drafts

Quickly capture text on iOS and send it anywhere

Fantastical 2 logo Fantastical 2

Fantastical, the Mac calendar app you'll enjoy using. Quickly create new events with natural language input and more.
  • Drafts Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-26
  • Fantastical 2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20

Drafts features and specs

  • Quick Capture
    Drafts allows users to capture text quickly with minimal friction, making it ideal for jotting down ideas or notes on the go.
  • Extensive Scripting
    The app supports extensive scripting and automation capabilities, enabling users to tailor workflows to their specific needs.
  • Integration
    Drafts integrates seamlessly with many third-party apps and services, enhancing its utility as a central hub for text-based workflows.
  • Cross-Platform Sync
    With cross-platform support, notes and drafts can be accessed on different devices, ensuring continuity and accessibility.
  • Customizable Interface
    Users can personalize the interface with themes, font choices, and organizational methods to suit their preferences.

Possible disadvantages of Drafts

  • Subscription Model
    Drafts operates on a subscription model which can be seen as costly over time compared to one-time purchase apps.
  • Learning Curve
    The app's extensive features and scripting capabilities can be overwhelming for new users, requiring time to learn.
  • Platform Limitation
    Primarily designed for Apple ecosystems, Drafts is less accessible for users relying on non-Apple devices.
  • Complexity for Basic Users
    For users seeking a simple note-taking app, Drafts might be more complex than necessary given its numerous features.
  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of Drafts is limited in functionality, potentially pushing users towards the paid version for full capability.

Fantastical 2 features and specs

  • User Interface
    Fantastical 2 has an intuitive and visually appealing interface, making it easy for users to navigate and manage their calendar events.
  • Natural Language Parsing
    The app allows users to create events using natural language input, which makes event creation faster and more user-friendly.
  • Integrations
    Fantastical 2 integrates seamlessly with other calendaring services like iCloud, Google Calendar, Exchange, and more, ensuring that all your events are centralized.
  • Reminders
    The app supports Apple's Reminders, which allows users to manage tasks and events in one place.
  • Customizable Views
    Fantastical 2 offers various view options (day, week, month) that can be customized to suit different user preferences.

Possible disadvantages of Fantastical 2

  • Cost
    Fantastical 2 is relatively expensive compared to other calendar apps, which might be a deterrent for some users. There's a one-time cost for Fantastical 2, but the new versions may require a subscription.
  • Platform Limitation
    The app is primarily designed for Apple devices, which means Android and Windows users are unable to use it.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may need some time to get accustomed to the app's features and capabilities, despite its intuitive interface.
  • Occasional Sync Issues
    Some users have reported occasional sync issues, where calendar events do not appear consistently across all devices.
  • Limited Free Features
    Fantastical 2 offers limited features in the free version, pushing users towards the premium subscription to unlock the full functionality.

Drafts videos

Drafts Tips & Tricks: The Best Note Taking App

More videos:

  • Review - Tips for Using Drafts: The One Notes App to Rule Them All
  • Review - Why I Use Drafts For Collecting To-dos and Notes

Fantastical 2 videos

Friday 5: Fantastical 2 - my favorite Mac calendar app!

More videos:

  • Review - Fantastical 2 Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Drafts and Fantastical 2)
Note Taking
100 100%
0% 0
Calendar
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
37 37%
63% 63
Appointments and Scheduling

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Drafts and Fantastical 2

Drafts Reviews

We have no reviews of Drafts yet.
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Fantastical 2 Reviews

15 Best Free Daily Planner Apps for 2024 (Features, Price)
Natural language support for easy scheduling. Seamless synchronization across multiple calendars. Recurring task-setting capabilities. Geofenced reminders for the most relevant tasks. Pricing: Fantastical 2 is available as a free planner app.
Source: affine.pro
The 13 best calendar apps for Android and iOS help you organize a chaotic day
Many of the app’s features are standard fare and just what you’d expect a calendar app to offer, but Fantastical 2 strives to make every process more convenient in order to save time. For example, you can start a sentence with “reminder,” “to do,” or “task” to create reminders, or use phrases like “remind me tomorrow at 3PM,” or “alarm 3PM” to set new alerts. You can also...
Beyond Google Calendar and Apple Calendar: The 18 Best Apps to Manage Your Schedule
While it's nice to have the mobile app, Fantastical 2 is at its best on desktop. The app is colorful without being gaudy or overwhelming, and it's easy to use without sacrificing control over your event details. On a Mac, the menu bar app lets you quickly add an event or see what's on your agenda in the coming days. Adding details to your events—such as notes, URLs,...
Source: zapier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Drafts should be more popular than Fantastical 2. It has been mentiond 75 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Drafts mentions (75)

  • Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped
    Interesting. I have almost the same workflow with https://getdrafts.com/ where I only take short notes and I have custom action which sets the creation date+time of the note as its first line. But, having a separate entry for each line is the next level of this approach. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Ask HN: What note taking app do you use and why?
    I use https://simplenote.com - Syncs across multiple platforms. - Plaintext based (with MD support). - Search + edit UI similar to https://notational.net and https://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt - Simple to publish/share notes - Free (as in beer and speech) --- If I used MacOS or there were web versions, I would love to use the following (they are all better at plaintext than SimpleNote): -... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?
    In no particular order: Prologue [0] - iOS Audiobook player, used Plex as a media source Overcast [1] - iOS Podcast player CleanShotX [2] - macOS screenshot/video/gif capture with annotation Drafts [3] - iOS/macOS note taking tool Paprika [4] - Cross platform recipe app YNAB [5] - "You Need A Budget" - web/mobile budgeting app 1Password [6] - Cross platform password manager Carrot Weather [7] - iOS weather app... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Question: Best Statistics/Dashboard Solutions for Todoist?
    Finally, using Google Apps Script, I email myself a weekly summary of tracker/Todoist tasks completed with a comparison versus the previous week. It also contains a link to the graph that is published on the web. I also send this to Drafts using the mail drop feature. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Taking notes on podcasts/audiobooks
    When I want to take notes on something I'm listening to, like a book quote or a thought I have while listening, I stop and make a note right then. Because I don't know if the next paragraph is going to suck me in more and make me forget whatever I wanted to note. I have a few ways to do this. I often take a voice recorder with me in the car, so if I have interesting ideas while driving I can just push a button,... Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Fantastical 2 mentions (27)

  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    - Raycast (https://www.raycast.com/) there's also a free version, I just prefer to support the author with a Pro purchase. - Homebrew (https://brew.sh/) - Visual Studio Code - SyncThing (https://syncthing.net/) - Fantastical (https://flexibits.com/fantastical) - MonitorControl (https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl#readme). - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Calendar advice for home + work?
    I use an app called Fantastical (https://flexibits.com/fantastical). I believe it is macOS/iOS only, but there might be alternatives with work with other systems. Basically, I add in my work Office365 account and my personal iCloud and it shows everything together. Whenever I'm making an appointment, I just check that rather than my Outlook calendar. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Sick of Fastmails subpar iOS app
    Looks like most of your issues are with the calendar. For this I highly recommend an app dedicated to this, like Fantastical, BusyCal, Calendar366 or even a native ios calendar app. These apps have clients for ios, macos and even watchos. Lots of config options and nice features and timely notifications. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Productivity apps - recommendations needed
    I personally have been trying out Fantastical and it literally is life changing doing everything in a calendar. You can make a recurring event or something and have it notify you whenever you want. The time limit can be achieved by just creating the duration. Although I'm unsure about the "mark as done" functionality. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Todo app that syncs with calendar?
    Fantastical https://flexibits.com/fantastical. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Drafts and Fantastical 2, you can also consider the following products

Obsidian.md - A second brain, for you, forever. Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.

Google Calendar - Spend less time managing your day & more time enjoying it

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.

Microsoft Outlook - Organize your world. Outlook’s email and calendar tools help you communicate, stay on top of what matters, and get things done.

Simplenote - The simplest way to keep notes. Light, clean, and free. Simplenote is now available for iOS, Android, Mac, and the web.

24me - Next Generation Personal Assistant