---
title: "SumizAI vs hako"
url: "https://sumizai.com/alternative-to/sumizai-alternative-to-dojissa-hako.html"
date: "2026-08-14T00:00:00+02:00"
modified: "2026-08-14T00:00:00+02:00"
description: "Looking for a hako alternative? SumizAI and hako side by side: price, licence, platforms and what each one actually does."
tags: ["ai notes", "sumizai", "dojissa-hako", "alternative to hako"]
---

# SumizAI vs hako

Looking for a hako alternative? SumizAI and hako side by side: price, licence, platforms and what each one actually does.

## What hako is

hako (Japanese for "box") is a lightweight, single-file personal planner that runs entirely in your browser. It's built around the idea that no two people plan the same way - so instead of forcing you into one layout, hako lets you arrange panels yourself: a daily task view, a calendar, notes, and other modules, tailoring the interface to your own individual way of thinking about planning. The application runs under a freemium model, classified as a calendar and note-taking tool.

Key features and functionality:

Being single-file means the entire hako application fits in one file, making it exceptionally lightweight and easy to store or move around, unlike elaborate applications requiring installation or complex server infrastructure. Running entirely in the browser means the user doesn't need to install any additional software - simply opening the file or visiting the page is enough to start using the planner. Flexible panel arrangement lets every user build a layout matched to their own preferences - one person might prioritize the daily view, another the monthly calendar, yet another notes, with no single universal solution imposed on everyone. The philosophy that "no two people plan the same way" sets hako apart from most competing planners, which are designed around one default way of organizing time.

Who it's for:

hako is aimed primarily at people frustrated with the rigid structure of traditional planning apps that don't let the layout be adapted to an individual way of thinking about time organization. Users who value technological lightness and simplicity, wanting to avoid installing elaborate software for the simple task of planning a day, appreciate hako's single-file, browser-based nature. People experimenting with different layouts for organizing their time use hako's panel flexibility to test which configuration best supports their productivity. Minimalist tool enthusiasts, looking for a planner without the unnecessary complexity typical of elaborate productivity platforms, find in hako a simple but flexible solution.

Use cases:

Someone who prefers visual daily planning arranges hako's panels so the daily view takes the central spot in the interface, with the calendar and notes placed at the margins as a supplement. A user wanting a simple, portable planning tool opens the single-file hako app from any computer with no installation needed, keeping access to the planner regardless of the device in use. Someone experimenting with different time-organization methods tests successive panel layouts in hako, looking for the configuration that best matches their natural work rhythm. A student who prefers minimalist tools without distracting extra features uses hako as a simple, clear planner focused solely on the most essential functions.

Pricing and business model:

hako runs on a freemium model, offering free access to core planning functionality and a paid subscription unlocking expanded capabilities, likely including additional panels or sync features. This model lets users test hako's unique, flexible approach to planning before deciding on a paid subscription matched to their own organizational needs.

Comparison with SumizAI:

hako and SumizAI operate in entirely different areas of digital work. hako is a lightweight, flexible personal planner running in the browser, with no integration with artificial intelligence. SumizAI, by contrast, is a platform enabling conversations with multiple AI providers at once, unrelated to planning a day or managing a calendar. Someone organizing their day in hako might additionally use SumizAI when they need AI help making decisions about task prioritization or planning a longer project.

AI notes in a flexibly organized planner:

hako users often add a notes panel tailored to their needs, saving ai notes in it from consultations with language models about their plans and goals. The flexibility of panel arrangement means such a ai notes panel can sit directly next to the daily task view, building a natural link between AI-assisted reflection and concrete actions to take. hako's lightweight, single-file nature means access to accumulated ai notes stays fast and responsive even with an elaborate, personalized panel layout. Because every user arranges panels differently, how ai notes get presented can be just as individualized as the rest of hako's interface.

**Key facts**

- Price: Freemium
- License: Proprietary
- Category: Calendar, Note-taking

## What SumizAI is

A note-taking application built around a conversation with an AI model. You ask a question, the answer streams back, and the answers worth keeping become Markdown notes — filed into a vault that is a folder on your own disk.

A vault is a directory holding `base.md`, a generated table of contents up to six levels deep, and a `notes/` folder with one `.md` file per note. Before a note is written it is checked against the ones already there, so the fourth note about the same idea gets merged instead of added. Links between notes are ordinary Markdown links to files that exist.

The model is never ours: you bring your own API key to one of seven providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, a local Ollama or your own server — and pay that provider directly. A question sends the table of contents plus at most five relevant notes within a 24,000-character budget, and the app shows you which five it used.

## Where they differ

- AlternativeTo's description of hako does not mention an AI model. That is the whole starting point in SumizAI: you have a conversation with a model on your own API key, and the answers worth keeping become notes without you filing them.
- hako is freemium: there is a free tier and a paid one, and the line between them is the thing to read before committing. SumizAI has one plan at a dollar a month, so there is no feature held back for a higher tier — and an unpaid account still opens and exports every vault it already has.
- AlternativeTo's description of hako does not mention Markdown, so check what format your notes end up in before you fill it up. SumizAI writes standard `.md` files to a folder you picked, and an unpaid account can still export all of them.
- hako runs in the browser. SumizAI is a desktop and mobile application, and on the desktop the vault is a folder on your own disk rather than a document in someone's cloud.

Full side-by-side comparison table and pricing: [https://sumizai.com/alternative-to/sumizai-alternative-to-dojissa-hako.html](https://sumizai.com/alternative-to/sumizai-alternative-to-dojissa-hako.html)
