DateAlarm alternative: DateAlarm vs Alarm Clock Planner
Both apps exist because the Clock app cannot set an alarm for a date. DateAlarm frames it around countdowns to birthdays and anniversaries. The catch is in how it rings: the native iPhone alarm is a paid membership feature, and the free version alerts with notifications.*
Pick DateAlarm if you mostly track birthdays and anniversaries with countdowns and notes, and you are happy to pay for membership to get a native alarm, or your iPhone cannot update to iOS 26.
Pick Alarm Clock Planner if you want a date alarm that rings like the Clock app on the free version too, with richer repeats and tags, for $2.99 a year or $9.99 once.
 DateAlarm |  Alarm Clock Planner | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Countdowns to birthdays and anniversaries | Alarms on specific dates, and anyone with a long list of alarms |
| US rating (average) | Yes 4.9★ | Yes 4.8★ |
| Set alarms without paying† | Limited Notifications only; the native alarm needs membership | Yes Up to 3 alarms, 0 ads |
| Pay once, no subscription** | Yes $69.99 7× ours | Yes $9.99 |
| Cost for one year if subscribed** | $29.99 10× ours | $2.99 |
| How it alerts you | Notifications when free; a native alarm with membership (per its paywall) | Apple's native alarm, free or paid |
| Alarm on a specific date | Yes | Yes |
| Rings as a full alarm with the app closed*** | With membership: its paywall lists 'Default iOS System Alarm'. The free version uses notifications and says alarms cannot ring with them off | Yes It uses Apple's native alarms, so it rings through Silent and Focus |
| No ads† | Yes None seen | Yes No ads |
| No tracking (App Store privacy label) | Yes No data collected | Yes No data linked to you |
| Languages | Yes 10 or more | Yes 10 or more |
| Last update | Q4 2026 | Q4 2026 |
| Get it | App Store | Download |
Where DateAlarm is stronger
Countdowns and categories
Countdowns to birthdays, anniversaries and deadlines, sorted into categories with a note on each, and a clean calendar to pick the date. The countdown is a nice touch, but what reaches you on the day is the alarm, and on the free version that is a notification.
Older iPhones
DateAlarm runs on iOS 15 and later, so it works on iPhones that cannot update to iOS 26: the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR from 2018, and anything older. Every iPhone from the iPhone 11 (2019) onward runs it, and in June 2026 Apple counted 79% of all iPhones in use already on iOS 26, before iOS 27 came out. On those older phones it can only alert through notifications, since native alarms for apps arrived with iOS 26.
Where Alarm Clock Planner is stronger
A real alarm without paying
Every Alarm Clock Planner alarm is a native iPhone alarm, on the free version too, so it rings through Silent and Focus with the app closed. DateAlarm keeps its 'Default iOS System Alarm' behind membership; its free version sends notifications, and warns that alarms cannot ring with notifications switched off.
Repeats and tags for a long list
Monthly, yearly and every-other-week repeats with end dates, tags you switch on and off together, and a month calendar of every alarm.
Less to pay
Unlimited alarms are $2.99 a year or $9.99 once. DateAlarm's membership is $3.99 a week, $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $69.99 once (US).
About Alarm Clock Planner
An iPhone alarm clock built around the calendar, for alarms you plan ahead.
- Alarms for any future date, picked on a calendar
- Monthly, yearly, every-other-week and custom repeats, with an end date
- Tags like Work or Travel, and a whole group switched on or off at once
- A month calendar of every alarm
- 19 built-in sounds or your own audio file
- One-tap naps, Home and Lock Screen widgets, 23 themes
- Backed up to your own iCloud
DateAlarm and Alarm Clock Planner, side by side
Screens we captured ourselves, DateAlarm on the left, ours on the right.†
The main screen
DateAlarm's alarm list with five alarms in November, each on its own card under its date with the time left until it rings, and the trial countdown at the bottom.
Setting an alarm
DateAlarm's alarm editor: a calendar to pick the date, then the time.
The upgrade screen
DateAlarm's membership screen, listing 'Default iOS System Alarm' as a paid feature.
What we saw using DateAlarm
From 20 to 23 October 2026, on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with iOS 27.0.1, on an EU App Store account.†
- It opened as a trial with 3 days left.
- Without membership it alerts through notifications. With notifications off, it warns 'Alarms cannot ring when notifications are disabled'.
- Its membership screen lists 'Default iOS System Alarm' among the paid features, next to weekly, yearly and lifetime plans.
What Alarm Clock Planner does not do
- Count down to dates. Alarms show their date and time, not a countdown. If counting down to an anniversary is the point, DateAlarm does that.
- Hold the native alarm back for paying users. Free or paid, every alarm rings as a native alarm.
- Start you on a trial. There is nothing that runs out after 3 days. Up to 3 alarms are free, then $2.99 a year or $9.99 once.
Pricing
DateAlarm is free to download and opens as a 3-day trial; its membership costs $3.99 a week, $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, or $69.99 once (US). Alarm Clock Planner's free version has no time limit, rings as a native alarm and holds up to 3 alarms at a time; unlimited alarms are $2.99 a year or $9.99 once.
Questions
Do both apps set alarms for a future date?
Yes, that is the core of both. The difference is how the alarm reaches you on the day: free Alarm Clock Planner alarms are native alarms, while DateAlarm's free version sends notifications, which stay silent if notifications are off.
Will the alarm ring on Silent?
Alarm Clock Planner's alarms ring through Silent and Focus, free or paid. DateAlarm lists the native iOS alarm as a membership feature; its free version uses notifications.
Try Alarm Clock Planner
Free for up to 3 alarms. Rings on Silent. No account needed.
* We make Alarm Clock Planner, so weigh our view accordingly. Facts about the other apps come from their US App Store listings, privacy policies and public US reviews, checked on 23 October 2026, and from using each app ourselves. Versions compared: DateAlarm 1.95, Alarm Clock Planner 1.3.4.
** US App Store prices. The US list does not name plan lengths, so a plan's length comes from the app's own upgrade screen, and a US price is used only where it clearly matches that plan. “Cost for one year if subscribed” is the cheapest plan that covers 12 months. A mark on “Pay once” only says whether a one-time unlock exists; “2.5× ours” compares a price with Alarm Clock Planner's $9.99 once or $2.99 a year. Two prices are estimates, marked “about”, because the US list does not show them: Alarmy's lifetime plan (Alarmy charges the same number in dollars and euros, as its yearly plan shows, so we took the figure from its upgrade screen) and Sleep Cycle's yearly plan.
*** From each listing, checked on our own iPhone: iOS Settings shows an Alarms switch for apps that use Apple's native alarms (AlarmKit, iOS 26 and later), and we let an alarm ring with each app closed where the app let us set one. A cross means it does not use them: the app has to stay open, or it alerts through notifications, which are short and, unless they are Critical Alerts, follow the Silent switch.
† What we saw using each app ourselves, 20 to 23 October 2026, on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with iOS 27.0.1, on an EU App Store account. Ads and offers can differ by country and change over time. On “Set alarms without paying”, a tick means free with no ads, amber means free with ads or without the native alarm, and a cross means a payment or a trial comes first.