PublishPress Planner

PublishPress Planner is a self-hosted WordPress planning plugin for editorial teams coordinating posts from idea through publication. It is most convincing when your work already lives in WordPress and several people need shared schedule, status, and notification views. The main trade-off is that advanced Planner Pro functions come only through broader PublishPress Pro subscriptions.

Overview

Planner is built for WordPress sites that publish substantial content with contributors working together. Its calendar, overview, and board present the same editorial workload from different angles, while proofing comments keep review conversations attached to the process. That makes it a sensible fit for publishers wanting planning inside the WordPress administration rather than in a separate project system.

The plugin is self-hosted and web-based. PublishPress is a US company with a remote team, and its changelog records a September 28, 2026 update addressing Dependabot dependency alerts, an indication of ongoing dependency maintenance. Member support tickets are intended to receive a reply within 24 hours on weekdays; non-member questions may take several days.

Key features

Three editorial views

The Content Calendar combines planned and published content. Editors can create content from the calendar or drag an item to a different publication date, making schedule changes visible without leaving the planning view. The Content Overview reorganizes work by status, category, or user and can produce a printable summary, which is useful for meetings or handoffs. The Content Board assigns each status its own column and supports dragging posts between stages, giving teams a straightforward workflow view alongside the date-based calendar.

Notifications and collaboration

Notifications can be set by send time, recipients, and the information included in each message. Planner Pro adds reminder notifications and allows post meta to appear in notifications, giving teams more control over what collaborators need to act. Pro can also send alerts to Slack channels, where recipients can reply without logging in to WordPress. PublishPress advises against using Planner email notifications for large groups, so organizations that depend on broad email distribution should choose their communication layer carefully.

Calendar export

Schedules can be exported to Google Calendar and other software that accepts iCal. The connection is one-way: edits made in the external calendar do not update WordPress. Treat the export as a viewing or sharing convenience, not as a synchronized planning system.

Pricing

Plan	Price	Includes
Planner Free	free	Content Calendar, Content Overview, Content Board, notifications, and Google Calendar export
Business	$129 a year, billed annually	All PublishPress Pro plugins including Planner Pro; 1 site and 1 support user
Agency	$299 a year, billed annually	All PublishPress Pro plugins including Planner Pro; 5 sites and up to 5 support users
Unlimited	$499 a year, billed annually	All PublishPress Pro plugins including Planner Pro; unlimited sites and up to 10 support users

The free tier covers the core planning views, notifications, and export, so it suits a small WordPress operation that does not need Pro-only additions. Business is aimed at one site and one designated support user, but it also buys the complete PublishPress Pro plugin bundle rather than Planner Pro alone. Agency is the practical step for up to five sites and support users, while Unlimited removes the site cap and raises support-user capacity to ten. All paid options renew annually, and the bundle may be poor value if Planner is the only PublishPress product you need.

Platforms

Planner runs on self-hosted WordPress through a web interface. It is listed for blog publishing workflows and supports proofing comments.

Who it's for

Choose Planner for a WordPress editorial team that needs a shared publishing calendar, status-based workflow, configurable alerts, and optional Slack participation. The free plan is particularly suitable for teams that can work with core views and one-way calendar export. Paid plans make more sense for organizations that also want reminder and post-meta notifications, Slack replies without WordPress login, branding removal, priority personal support, or the wider PublishPress Pro collection. It is less suitable when external calendar edits must synchronize back to WordPress or when notification email must reach a large audience.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Calendar, overview, and board views cover date planning, filtering by status/category/user, and stage tracking without splitting the workflow across tools.
• Pro: The free plan includes the principal planning views, notifications, and Google Calendar export at no cost.
• Pro: Planner Pro's Slack replies let recipients respond without opening WordPress.
• Con: Calendar export is one-way, so changes made in Google Calendar or another iCal client must be repeated in WordPress.
• Con: Email notifications are discouraged for large groups, limiting the plugin as a mass-alert channel.
• Con: Pro capabilities require a bundle of all PublishPress Pro plugins, which may not suit buyers seeking only planning upgrades.

Alternatives

For a broader directory of planning tools, see Content Calendar Software.

• StoryChief Broadcasts is a better fit if Android and iOS access, web use, and social or SEO analytics matter more than self-hosted WordPress planning.
• CoSchedule suits teams wanting Android, iOS, web, and browser-extension access, with a free tier and paid plans starting at $29 a month billed annually.
• Nelio Content is another self-hosted WordPress option with a free plan and social-profile-focused tiers.
• Narranta is aimed at publication workflows through an API and web app, including a free solo-creator plan.
• Sheetlane is a self-hosted, web-based workspace with spreadsheet-style capacity and AI-credit allowances.
• Strive Content Calendar offers a web calendar, pipeline board, editorial statuses, checklists, and notes on its free Lite plan.
• Storyflow is a web-based paid product with shared boards and unlimited objects on its free launch offering.
• Uix Page Builder is a free self-hosted WordPress page-building plugin rather than a dedicated editorial planner.

Verdict

PublishPress Planner is a strong choice for collaborative, self-hosted WordPress publishers who want calendar, board, overview, proofing comments, and configurable notifications in one editorial workflow. Its free plan is unusually complete for core planning. Look elsewhere if you require two-way calendar synchronization, large-scale email alerts, or a standalone purchase of advanced planning features instead of an all-plugins PublishPress bundle.