Cinch vs Helium
Cinch
cinchplanner.com
Helium
heliumedu.comSide by side
| Figure | Cinch | Helium |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.08/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Study Planner Apps | 8.9 (#4) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Spec score · Daily Planner Apps | 8.2 (#64) | 7.7 (#105) |
| Audience | Cinch is designed for college and graduate students and says it does not knowingly collect information from children under 13. | Helium says it fits middle school, high school, college, university, graduate school, and homeschool students. |
| Calendar integration | Cinch uses Google Calendar's calendar.events OAuth scope to read existing events and create study blocks and due date markers; it says it does not modify or delete existing events. | It supports two-way calendar syncing with Google, Apple, and other calendars, including iCal sources. |
| Calendar sync | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Purpose | Cinch is a mobile study planner for college and graduate students. | Helium is a planner for organizing classes, homework, grades, notes, and academic workload. |
| Support | The App Store listing provides [email protected] for questions. | Helium provides a support portal with knowledge-base articles, FAQs, and a way to get in touch. |
Plans
In their own words
Helium
Helium is a free planner for organizing classes, homework, grades, notes, and academic workload. Its grade tools calculate results in real time, let students test hypothetical scores, and estimate what is needed on a final to reach a target grade. Scheduling offers Month, Week, 3-Day, Day, and Agenda views with color coding, filters, search, and drag-and-drop. Push notifications on iOS, Android, and web, or email reminders, can cover assignments, classes, exams, and events. Helium supports two-way syncing with Google, Apple, other calendars, and iCal sources. Notes can include headings, lists, quotes, links, and search, and can connect to classes or assignments. The open-source service provides a public REST API for actions available in its apps, though it does not maintain official tooling or pre-built integrations. Users can access, export, or delete their data, and full schedules can be exported as JSON. Data is stored and processed on servers in the United States. Helium says it suits middle school, high school, college, university, graduate school, and homeschool students.