Top Tools

Digital publishers looking to improve their editorial workflows and scale up their production of quality need an editorial calendar. The software is invaluable to publishers looking to compete in the information age. Editorial calendars can meet several different needs at the same time. They afford publishers the ability to plan their content output in advance, assign writers and editors to projects and dynamically showcase priority across different workflows. Both publishers and marketers have come to rely on calendar software, with 73% of marketers in a 2022 report (PDF download) claiming to use editorial calendar/workflow software. Both Airtable and Asana claim to be used by 80% of Fortune 100 companies. Demand for such software means that the market is awash with options, each with a wide range of differences in features and price, meaning that finding the right software is now the challenge. With this in mind, we’ve drawn up a list of the 13 best editorial calendar software in 2024. Why You Should Use an Editorial Calendar Editorial calendars are essential for publishers to gain a bird’s-eye view of the entirety of their editorial operation. They are the tools publishers can use to track which content creator is assigned to which task, when is it due and on which channels the content will be posted. In the age of digital publishing, editorial calendars are more important than ever. As editorial work becomes more outsourced, an editorial calendar helps to keep track of a growing list of freelancers. Moreover, content calendar tools have become useful for navigating an oversaturated social media landscape. An editorial and social media calendar will allow publishers to plan out and schedule both their articles and social media content across multiple channels. These software are highly adaptable to an often dynamic industry. As priorities shift between different projects, these calendars can keep track of the most important task to work on. Most importantly, these software can track and maintain goals and campaigns outside of the immediate content. To use a metaphor, editorial calendars allow publishers to see the entirety of the puzzle — both the box art and the pieces. As the media landscape continues to change and adapt to emerging digital technologies, it has become more important that publishers strike a “balance between efficiency and continuity”. For publishers looking to perform in a digital landscape, they need to ensure they publish content in an efficient and consistent manner. Without a tool that can automate functions of editorial operations and track deadlines, publishers will struggle to maintain a consistent production cycle. 13 Best Editorial Calendar Software 1 Airtable AirtableAirtable is a popular editorial calendar that proudly claims to be used by 80% of Fortune 100 companies. The software is used by companies such as Medium, Expedia and Time. Publishers using Airtable can view their data through many different forms, such as a calendar, grid or Kanban. The Pro version also includes a timeline, GANTT, and a customizable option. While you can create data to use from within the software itself, Airtable also allows users to import data from other files, such as Google Sheets or Excel. Airtable’s greatest strength lies in its accessibility. While the software has depth, those users with some skills in other spreadsheets will be able to leverage its features fairly quickly. The free version of this product is also well-equipped for individuals and small teams and is a great demonstration of the software’s capabilities to publishers interested in Airtable. At the same time, however, the tool isn’t designed specifically for project management, introducing Alongside its free version which allows up to five contributors, the software comes with a Plus version for $10 per user, per month, or a Pro version for $20 per user, per month, as well as an enterprise version for large organizations. Airtable Features Multiple visualization options Import data from Sheets or Excel Can assign tasks to your team and track progress Pros Transfer spreadsheet skills Visual design is easy to grasp Free version Cons May struggle with managing complex projects management Doesn’t have a spreadsheet’s full functionality 2 CoSchedule CoScheduleThe CoSchedule editorial calendar is another strong option for publishers looking for a less complex way to schedule projects. The software is used by publishers and organizations such as Forbes, Unicef and Vericast. Compared to Airtable, the software lacks some data visualization options but makes up for it in its smooth presentation and in-depth project creation and organizational tools. The software also integrates into other programs, such as MailChimp, and social media channels for instant publishing across multiple social profiles. After a project has been created, it can be dragged and dropped anywhere in the calendar. Each project also creates and assigns individual tasks and schedules them into the calendar. Emails, Slacks messages and meetings can also be imported as projects into the calendar. CoSchedule’s pro version costs $29 per user, per month and comes with up to 10 social profiles. Publishers can also add additional social profiles with every five social profiles costing $15. CoSchedule also has a free version for a single team member that publishers can use to get a feel for the software. CoSchedule Features Integrates with other programs and social media channels Individual tasks can be assigned and scheduled in the calendar Pros Drag and drop management of projects and content plans Variety of messages can be imported into the platform Free version Cons Lacks some data visualization options 3 PublishPress PublishPressUnlike other software on this list, PublishPress is a WordPress editorial calendar plugin and is used by organizations Disney, Salesforce and Tripadvisor. PublishPress provides many WordPress-specific plugins that introduce organizational tools such as the ability to develop checklists, schedule and approve revisions, and group content into a series. These nine plugins also allow users to edit WordPress permissions, assign multiple authors to content and add more editorial blocks. There are three different prices for purchasing all of PublishPress’ plugins: $129 per year for one site, $249 per year for up to five sites and $399 per year for an unlimited amount of site integrations. The individual plugins can be bought individually, however, these are much more expensive when outside of a bundle. PublishPress Features Nine different WordPress plugins Bundle pricing plans Pros Adds greater customizability to WordPress CMS Users can buy individual plugins Cons Limited to WordPress Can become pricey outside of bundle plans 4 Monday.com Monday.comMonday.com is a streamlined activity tracker and editorial calendar, which stands out by being both efficient to use and visually responsive. Organizations such as Canva, Lionsgate and Universal Music Group use the software. Monday.com provides several different data visualization options within its editorial calendar, including tables, forms, calendars and Kanbans. It focuses on creating workflows for teams, which are either based on one of more than 200 existing templates or can be user-made. The software has a search function for assigning roles, which can filter across both names and roles — a useful feature for large teams. While the software’s biggest standout is its responsiveness and design, its calendar view could be more visually dynamic. In addition to the free individual tier, Monday.com has four subscription versions. The Basic version costs $14 per user, per month, while Standard costs $17 per user, per month and contains the calendar and timeline views. The more advanced Pro version costs $27 per user, per month, but includes private boards and time tracking. All of these plans offer an 18% discount to the annual subscription. There is also an Enterprise version that offers additional features at a customized price. Monday.com Features More than 200 workflow templates Streamlined design Pros Very few lag and response time issues Search function streamlines team management Cons Calendar view could be more visually dynamic 5 Trello TrelloAtlassian’s Trello is primarily workspace software that can also be used with an editorial calendar. VISA, Zoom and Fender use the software. The Trello software is built around its card feature, which publishers can use to add and assign tasks. The cards also hold several key points of information, such as locations and due dates, and can be assigned customizable color-coded labels. These can be used to mark things such as priority. Trello’s cards can also be marked on Google Maps, which can be useful if tasks need to be performed at certain locations. While the software is responsive, Trello’s layout can become visually dense making it less navigable than other software on this list. Trello offers a free plan that comes stocked with features, making it a great starting point for smaller companies. The Standard version — which costs $5 per user, per month — builds upon the free features and is geared towards small teams looking to scale their collaboration. The Premium version — which costs $10 per user, per month — includes unlimited boards and advanced checklists and is aimed at teams that need greater project track and visualize multiple projects. The company also offers two enterprise tiers, one for companies with between 50 and 5,000 users and the other for companies with more than 5,000. In a somewhat unusual move for SaaS enterprise offerings, Trello provides exact pricing for that first tier, starting at $17.50 per user, per month at 50 users and dropping to $7.38 per user, per month for 5,000 users. The second tier needs to be negotiated with the company. Trello Features Cards, boards and workspaces Assignee and due dates Integration with Google Maps Pros The card system is an efficient way to add and assign tasks More transparent enterprise pricing Cons Visual density can make it challenging to navigate 6 Asana AsanaAsana is another workspace software that, similar to Airtable, claims to be used by 80% of Fortune 100 companies. Examples of organizations that use the software include Phoria, Showpo and SiteMinder. Though Asana’s editorial calendar software is simple to use, it has a surprising amount of depth. When a project is created, it can be connected to a goal, which in turn can be connected to a parent goal. This makes Asana helpful in visualizing all the moving parts of a publication. The design of Asana’s editorial calendar is streamlined and uses simple color-coded priority labels to highlight tasks across timespans. Asana can also indicate task lengths by connecting two dates on its editorial calendar. Asana has a feature-rich free version, but publishers will need to upgrade to a paid subscription if they want access to crucial features such as timelines, workflow builder and start dates and times. Asana is more expensive than other options on this list, with its Premium version costing $14.99 per user, per month and its Business version, which includes goals and portfolios, costing $33.99 per user, per month. There is also an enterprise option for large corporations. Asana Features Tasks, projects and messages Messages and activity log List and board project views Pros A large number of features in free version Good visual communication for timelines Cons Full calendar functionality locked behind paywall A little more expensive than the average 7 Adobe Express Adobe ExpressAdobe Express works as both a content creation and content scheduler tool and is being developed by the team behind ContentCal, which is being discontinued at the end of March 2023 Social media posts can be created and arranged in the platform and scheduled for posting across all of an organization’s social channels. The content scheduler can also work as a free editorial calendar, as publishers can draft dates for content to be published. However, the software is limited in its organizational features and cannot assign tasks to individual team members. Adobe Express has a free version that contains a range of templates, images and design fonts. However, publishers will need to sign up for the premium version to be able to schedule and publish social media content across multiple channels. The premium — which costs $9.99 per user, per month and comes with a 16% discount on annual subscriptions — also comes with additional templates and stock images. Adobe Express Features Create, schedule and publish social media content Thousands of templates and design assets Royalty-free Adobe Stock collection photos Pros Broad range of content creation tools Simultaneous cross-platform social media publishing Cons Limited organizational features — lacks task assignment features Social media focus is limiting for other publishers 8 DivvyHQ DivvyHQDivvyHQ is an in-depth editorial calendar and, while it is more complex to use, offers a range of tools for publishers. The software is used by organizations such as National Geographic Channel, Red Bull and Pfizer. The range of tools offered by this software cannot be understated. DivvyHQ can plan and maintain campaigns, calendars and content, and connects each of these elements in a sophisticated system. Content strategies can be planned from the software itself, with DivvyHQ having a dedicated metadata location for items like keywords, target audiences and publishing channels. Because of DivvyHQ’s complexity, the software has a steep learning curve and can oftentimes appear visually dense. Also, the software can be a little slow at times. DivvyHQ is one of the most expensive editorial calendars, with its starter version at $49 per user per month and its Pro version at $119 per user, per month These plans do come with discounts on an annual subscription. DivvyHQ does offer an enterprise version, but interested users will need to contact the company directly to discuss rates. While expensive, there is an argument to be made that its depth justifies the cost. DivvyHQ Features Plan and maintain campaigns, calendars and content Embed content strategies into the planning stage Pros Provides sophisticated control over campaign creation Plan content strategies inside the software Cons Steep learning curve Steep price tag Can be slow 9 Optimizely OptimizelyOptimizely is an all-in-one type of editorial calendar that includes many optimization features for publishers. Organizations such as eBay, Dolby and New Era use the software. Optmizely’s calendar can track multiple campaigns at once, track forecasted budgets and assign tasks to campaigns or individuals. Campaigns can connect to parent campaigns for a bird’s-eye view of editorial tasks. The software is visually easy to understand, despite its depth. However, the software can be a little slow to update when many tasks are added at once. Optimizely has a starter version that is entirely free and gives teams of up to five access to features such as spreadsheet planning, a monthly editorial calendar and a campaign timeline. While the next tier up, Manage, is somewhat expensive at $79 per user, per month, it does provide key features such as capacity management and a place to proof and comment on created assets. There is also the Create tier for more content creation options and the Orchestrate tier for a full end-to-end experience manager. Optimizely Features Track forecasted budgets across multiple campaigns Assign tasks to campaigns or individuals Pros Strong campaign hierarchy visualization Bird’s-eye view of editorial tasks Cons Can be laggy when adding many tasks at once 10 Storychief StorychiefStorychief is both an editorial calendar tool and a social media marketing platform rolled into one and is capable of automating processes and enhancing editorial efficiencies. The software is used by publishers and organizations such as De Speld, HRmagazine and Bloozi. When starting an editorial campaign on Storychief, publishers can either choose to create a story plan, social media post or an event on its calendar. Social media channels can be connected to the software to ensure that content is posted everywhere with a single click. The software also comes packaged with an inbuilt editorial AI, which is capable of anything from general copy editing down to generating entire editorial briefs. These briefs can be attached to story plans and assigned to writers on the software calendar. Storychief offers modular pricing plans that target marketing teams and publishing teams. We’re going to look at publisher pricing as it this tier provides a greater number of articles to be scheduled. Storychief starts at $900 per month for 10 users and is billed on a quarterly basis, with discounts available for those that take out an annual subscription. Subscribing allows users to manage 150 articles per month, connect a single website’s CMS. In addition there’s unlimited scheduling, access to the content calendar, PR tools, campaign oversight and more. Storychief also offers a range of add ons, for which it charges separately. These include the social media scheduling features and access to an AI editorial assistant. Storychief Features Variety of content planning options Publish to a website and social media channels simultaneously Manages content campaigns from start to finish Pros Centralizing the content creation process AI editor for generating briefs and copy editing Cons Base package expensive compared to some competitors Add-ons increase cost 11 Google Docs/Sheets Google Docs/Sheets For publishers looking for a free and highly customizable option, Google Docs and Sheets can deliver some of the functions of an editorial calendar with none of the associated costs. Google Docs and Sheets come with features that can take on the role of an editorial calendar and, given these are cloud based applications, online collaboration is simple. Using Google’s comments feature, editors and publishers can assign tasks to writers. The software can also connect to Google Calendar. While these features are free to use, what publishers don’t pay with money they pay with time in terms of customizing documents to serve their needs. Luckily, there are resources out there to help publishers establish an editorial calendar using Google Sheets. For example, publishers could download editorial calendar templates to avoid having to manually design and integrate a calendar. Google Docs/Sheets Features Cloud-based spreadsheets and word processing Integrates with Google Calendar Pros The Google Suite is ubiquitous and free to use Fully customizable, with many third-party integrations Cons Requires some investment in catering for specific needs A pure spreadsheet/word processing approach brings inherent limitations 12 Gather Content Gather ContentGather Content is an editorial calendar software with a streamlined design that is used by organizations such as Intel, the UK’s NHS and Boston University. Gather Content is designed around creating and maintaining projects. Within these projects, individual items can be created and assigned due dates and workers. These items, alongside other content and media, are stored in folders in the software’s sidebar. Gather Content centralizes the content creation process, allowing the first draft to be created on the platform before being edited and managed by multiple stakeholders. While the software offers a faster workflow compared to other options on this list, there are some issues with work not being added or updated correctly. The software design can also be unintuitive, with the toolbar at the bottom of the content section being easy to miss. The platform doesn’t restrict team size, preferring instead to limit the number of projects that can be worked on. With no free tier, Gather Content has three set price points: $99 per month for its Starter version, $299 per month for its Scale version and $799 per month for its Transform version. Users receive a 10% discount when signing up to an annual subscription. Meetgeek Features Create, edit and manage content Assign workers and due dates to projects Store media and content in the software Pro Centralized content management boost efficiencies Assigning workers and deadlines to project components Cons Very expensive Issues with design navigability and lag 13 ClearVoice ClearVoiceLast but definitely not least is ClearVoice, which is used by organizations such as Cisco, Cox and Carfax. After creating assignments in ClearVoice’s calendar, these can be assigned to multiple writers and editors, while followers can also be set — much in the same way as cc’ing on an email works. The software can also display the assignment’s client. ClearVoice highlights assignment priorities by using a customizable colored sidebar. The software can also duplicate tasks and create them in bulk, which can be useful for assigning a weekly newsletter or other repetitive tasks. Alongside its editorial calendar, ClearVoice can also scout freelancers to write content for publishers using the same platform. However, freelancer experiences on the platform have not been overly positive in general, which might suggest that better writers might be more inclined to use other platforms. Currently, ClearVoice’s pricing information is not available publicly. As the software has many different features alongside its editorial calendar, the company seems to prefer discussing potential needs directly with clients. ClearVoice Features Multiple users can create, review and edit projects Multiple users can create, review and edit projects Freelancers sourcing Pros Create blended teams of in-house and freelance writers Duplicate tasks and assign them in bulk Cons Limited pool of freelance talent on the platform Final Thoughts Editorial calendar tools have become necessary for digital publishers to compete in digital spaces. They ensure that the daily editorial operation and social media management run smoothly and efficiently. Throughout the list, what becomes apparent about editorial calendars is that they are highly variable. While they may have similarities, each piece of software is uniquely designed to handle different editorial areas. There are also a number of free resources out there to help publishers decide which editorial calendar may be best. Almost all of the editorial calendars listed have some sort of free trial that publishers can use to experience the software first-hand — a few even have permanent, although limited, free versions. If a publisher is savvy enough, they can also use free online tools, such as Google Sheets, to develop their own personalized editorial calendar. While editorial calendars are essential for publishers to compete in a digital landscape, they alone are not enough of an editorial strategy. At State of Digital Publishing, we offer content strategy services such as auditing and strategy development. Contact us today to schedule a meeting and receive a free content strategy audit.

11 Best Paywall Services for Publishers

15 Best Transcription Software in 2024

10 Best Content Syndication Platforms in 2024

7 Best Data Management Platforms in 2024

21 Best Ad Networks for Publishers in 2024

17 Best Digital Publishing Platforms in 2024