Erin Condren vs. Plum Paper

I’m a planner girl. Yes, I have a smart phone. Yes, I know how to use it. No, I do not want to. I love color coding, stickers, and visual organization more than anything in the world.

I have had four Erin Condren planners in my lifetime and LOVED them. I started using them in college after my PR bestie got one for Christmas. She sat next to me in every class and I practically drooled over the stickers, fun designs and organizational possibilities. So, of course, monkey see monkey needs and I got one too.

I filled that baby up. I had every class, party, sorority mixer, paper, deadline and Sonic Happy Hour color coded and scheduled.

Then EC came out with the gold edition and I had to have that one too. I really loved that one. It was so pretty, but because I was out of college I didn’t have as much to put in it. I had my work stuff and social events which were a little more frequent because I was driving my booty back to my old college town every chance I got to be with my friends and boyfriend, but I was not filling it up nearly as much as I was.

This last year EC planner was hardly filled at all. Work events and weddings. That’s about it. Not much color coding necessary. A lot of my fun stickers weren’t used because quite frankly I wasn’t going to parties and social events all the time. I still love Erin but can’t justify the price anymore for something that I’m not using as much as I was. Not to mention they are having some delivery and customer service issues lately.

Enter Plum Paper. I have heard good things so I decided to try it out. I’ve had it for maybe an hour, but so far so good! Here’s my side by side comparison, I made my photos smaller this time to keep this post from being twelve miles long. Disclaimer: My EC planner is the 2014-2015 edition.


Size: 
They’re the same size. Not even a little bit off. Put them on top of each other and it looks like a really fat planner.

Customization and extras:
Plum Paper has more options for customization which I LOVE! I love being able to pick exactly what I want in a planner. You can select which month you want your planner to start, how many months. There are also four options for the weekly spreads! In addition you can select to disperse your note pages, to-do pages, etc. AND this is where they really got me…you can add on sections. They have options for fitness, budgeting, wedding planning, baby planning, and blogging! What?? Too cool. So I added the blogging section for sure.

EC has customization options but they are definitely more standard. Like pick this or this. They also have a lot of the things that are add-ons on Plum Paper already included in their design like notes, to-do lists, stickers, etc. These options are just stuck where they are though you can’t move them. But EC does have fun extras like pre-printed stickers, a ruler, the zippered clear pouch, stickers and labels, clips, etc.

Price:
Hello. No comparison here. Plum Paper is $31 before add-ons and Erin Condren is $50 for regular and $65 for Metallic before add-ons. After my add-ons and shipping I spent approximately $50 for Plum Paper and between $90-$100 for my Erin Condrens depending on the year.


Covers:
Erin definitely takes the cake in this category. Her interchangeable beautiful covers and constant new designs just can’t be beat. They are also pretty durable. I stuff mine into my purse all the time and the bottom right corner always gets a little bent, but overall they last until the year is up and I need another one.

Plum Paper doesn’t have even a quarter of the designs as EC, but definitely has some cute options to choose from. They are just a thicker paper stock with a plastic protective sheet on top. It definitely dulls the cute design.

Overview Calendars:
I will go ahead and admit that I can count on less than one hand I have used this page. So I actually couldn’t care less about these pages. But here they are…The first is EC the second is PP.

Monthly Spread:
I do actually use these pages frequently, but don’t have a preference of one over the other. First is EC (which clearly I haven’t finished filling out) and second is PP.

Weekly Spread:
So I’ve only had my Plum Paper for a few hours, but I already prefer their weekly spread. They have four options to choose from where EC only has two. I write like a four year old little girl, so actually the lines keep me in check. When I had blank space I got a little cray cray. BUT I like the blank space for stickers. See Katy’s wedding weekend for example… Plum Paper leaves less room for creativity but that doesn’t mean anything lol I’ll find a way around. The first is PP, the second is EC and the third is EC.

Notes Pages:
I use my notes pages ALL the time. I do like that I can disperse them throughout the months on Plum Planner, but I like that they are already included on EC. Design wise, they’re pretty much the same.

Stickers:
Again something I use all the time! Erin Condren has pre-printed and plain stickers already included and gives you the option to create your own stickers. I don’t use all the pre-printed stickers. I just don’t get to go on vacation as much as EC thinks…but I do use some of them. Concerts, birthdays, etc. I use my custom stickers all the time. I have stickers printed with “Meeting @ _____” in bulk. I love these because I just fill in the time. I really like the plain stickers too, but sometimes EC has some crazy colors like poop brown that I just never use.

Plum Paper does not include stickers and doesn’t have the pre-printed option, but they do give you lots when you add-on and they are all colors one would actually use.

Overall:
I like them both and see why they’re both so great. I am going to commit to the Plum Planner this year but who knows in the future. Maybe I should do another review in a year haha!

Do you still use a planner? Which brand is your favorite?