Motion vs. Reclaim vs. Clockwise: AI Calendar Assistant Showdown 2025

Category: Reviews · Stage: Decision

By Chaos Content Team

Updated 20 December 2025

AI calendar assistants promise to solve the scheduling nightmare: auto-schedule tasks, find meeting times, protect focus blocks, reschedule when priorities change.

The pitch: Stop manually playing calendar Tetris. Let AI optimise your schedule.

Tested three leaders for 30 days each:

• Motion (£27/month)
• Reclaim AI (£10/month)
• Clockwise (free tier, £12/month Pro)

Tracking: Time spent on scheduling, calendar satisfaction (1-10 daily rating), tasks completed, focus time achieved.

Here's which one actually delivers—and which is expensive theatre.

Testing Methodology

Test period

30 days per tool (90 days total, sequential testing to avoid cross-contamination).

Same job, same workload (product manager role, 15-25 meetings/week, 10-15 tasks/week).

Metrics tracked

Time on scheduling: Daily time spent manually adjusting calendar (measured via toggle tracking).

Calendar satisfaction: Daily 1-10 rating ("How well did my calendar match my priorities today?").

Tasks completed: % of planned tasks actually finished.

Focus time: Hours of uninterrupted 90+ min blocks per week.

Scheduling conflicts: Times AI double-booked or created unusable schedule.

Baseline (no AI tool)

Ran 2-week baseline with Google Calendar alone before testing AI tools.

Baseline metrics:

• Time on scheduling: 35 min/day
• Calendar satisfaction: 5.2/10
• Tasks completed: 68%
• Focus time: 3.2 hours/week
• Conflicts: 2-3/week

Motion: Premium AI, premium price

Pricing: £27/month (individual), £38/month (teams)

What Motion does

1. Task auto-scheduling

Add tasks with deadlines and duration estimates → Motion schedules them in your calendar automatically.

2. Dynamic rescheduling

If meeting added, Motion shifts tasks to accommodate.

3. Meeting autopilot

Motion suggests meeting times based on attendee availability and your priorities.

4. Project management integration

Tasks organised into projects, dependencies tracked, Motion optimises schedule across projects.

The promise

"Your tasks will always fit your calendar."

Motion schedules tasks at optimal times (based on deadlines, priorities, energy levels), reschedules when conflicts arise.

What worked brilliantly

Auto-scheduling is genuinely impressive.

Example: Monday morning, I added 8 tasks with various deadlines (some due Tuesday, others Friday).

Motion's schedule: Prioritised urgent tasks (Tues deadline) in morning high-energy slots, deferred Friday tasks to afternoon low-energy slots, left gaps for expected meetings.

When meeting got added: Motion automatically rescheduled 3 tasks to other days to maintain 90-min focus blocks.

Result: I didn't touch my calendar. Motion handled it.

Time saved: ~25 min/day that I'd normally spend manually scheduling tasks.

What didn't work

Over-aggressive scheduling.

Problem: Motion fills every available slot. If you have 30 min gap, Motion schedules a task.

Result: Calendar feels packed. No breathing room.

Example: Back-to-back 30-min task slots between meetings = context-switching nightmare.

Fix: I had to manually configure "buffer time" rules (15 min between tasks/meetings). But this defeats the "fully automated" promise.

Expensive.

£27/month is steep for calendar tool.

Comparison:

• Google Calendar: Free
• Fantastical: £4/month
• Reclaim: £10/month

Motion's value proposition: AI scheduling justifies 3× price.

Reality: It's good, but is it £17/month better than Reclaim? Debatable.

Learning curve.

Motion requires setup: task templates, project structures, energy level configurations.

Week 1: Frustrating (schedule was chaotic because I hadn't configured preferences).

Week 2-4: Much better after tuning settings.

If you're not willing to invest 2-3 hours learning Motion, it won't deliver value.

Motion results (30-day average)

| Metric | Baseline | Motion | Change | |--------|----------|--------|--------| | Time on scheduling | 35 min/day | 8 min/day | -77% ✅ | | Calendar satisfaction | 5.2/10 | 7.8/10 | +50% ✅ | | Tasks completed | 68% | 84% | +24% ✅ | | Focus time | 3.2 hrs/week | 6.1 hrs/week | +91% ✅ | | Conflicts/issues | 2-3/week | 4-5/week | +67% ❌ |

Strong performance on core metrics (time saved, task completion, focus time).

Conflict rate higher: Motion sometimes double-booked or created awkward gaps (though these were fixable).

Reclaim AI: Best value

Pricing: Free (basic), £10/month (Pro)

What Reclaim does

1. Habit scheduling

Define recurring tasks ("Exercise 4×/week, 60 min") → Reclaim finds slots automatically.

2. Smart 1:1 meetings

Schedule recurring 1:1s → Reclaim auto-schedules at mutually free times, reschedules if conflicts arise.

3. Focus time protection

Reclaim blocks focus time (configurable, e.g. "2 hours daily"), defends from meetings.

4. Task scheduling (limited compared to Motion)

Add tasks → Reclaim schedules, but less sophisticated than Motion.

The promise

"Protect your time automatically."

Reclaim focuses on defending focus time + automating recurring scheduling (habits, 1:1s).

What worked well

Habit scheduling is killer feature.

Example: Configured "Deep work: 2 hours/day, Monday-Friday."

Reclaim's behavior: Blocked 9-11 AM daily (my peak energy), marked as "Busy" so colleagues couldn't book meetings.

When someone requested 10 AM meeting: Reclaim suggested alternative times (2-4 PM, when I'd configured as "flexible").

Result: Consistent 10 hours/week focus time (vs 3.2 baseline).

This alone justifies £10/month.

Smart 1:1s saved surprising time.

I have 6 recurring 1:1s (team members, stakeholders).

Before Reclaim: Manually coordinated scheduling ("When works for you?" → 4 email exchanges).

With Reclaim: Created Smart 1:1 events → Reclaim found mutually free slots → auto-rescheduled when conflicts arose.

Time saved: ~30 min/week (across 6 people).

Simpler than Motion.

Reclaim has fewer features, but setup is 30 minutes (vs 2-3 hours for Motion).

If you want "good enough" AI with minimal configuration, Reclaim wins.

What didn't work

Task scheduling is basic.

Motion vs Reclaim task scheduling:

Motion: Sophisticated (considers deadlines, priorities, energy, dependencies).

Reclaim: Basic (schedules tasks in available slots, limited intelligence).

If you want AI to manage complex task scheduling, Motion >> Reclaim.

If you just need focus time + recurring 1:1s, Reclaim is sufficient.

Free tier is too limited.

Free Reclaim: 1 habit, limited smart meetings, no task scheduling.

Effectively forces Pro tier (£10/month) to get useful features.

Not a dealbreaker (£10 is fair), but free tier is more "demo" than "usable."

Reclaim results (30-day average)

| Metric | Baseline | Reclaim | Change | |--------|----------|----------|--------| | Time on scheduling | 35 min/day | 18 min/day | -49% ✅ | | Calendar satisfaction | 5.2/10 | 7.1/10 | +37% ✅ | | Tasks completed | 68% | 74% | +9% ✅ | | Focus time | 3.2 hrs/week | 5.4 hrs/week | +69% ✅ | | Conflicts/issues | 2-3/week | 1-2/week | -33% ✅ |

Solid improvement across all metrics, though less dramatic than Motion.

Focus time gain impressive (5.4 hrs/week vs 3.2 baseline)—habit scheduling works.

Task completion lower than Motion (74% vs 84%)—Reclaim's task scheduling is weaker.

Clockwise: Free option, limited power

Pricing: Free (basic), £12/month (Pro)

What Clockwise does

1. Auto-schedule flexible meetings

Mark meetings as "flexible" → Clockwise reschedules to create focus blocks.

2. Focus time

Clockwise identifies gaps, blocks as focus time, defends from meetings.

3. Team scheduling

For teams on Clockwise, auto-coordinates meeting times across members.

The promise

"Defragment your calendar automatically."

Clockwise focuses on rearranging meetings to create longer focus blocks.

What worked

Free tier is genuinely useful.

Unlike Reclaim's limited free tier, Clockwise free includes core features:

• Focus time blocking
• Flexible meeting rescheduling (limited to 2 meetings/week on free)
• Basic calendar analytics

If budget is constraint, Clockwise free > Reclaim free.

Focus time worked well.

Similar to Reclaim—Clockwise blocked 2-hour daily slots, defended from meetings.

Result: 4.8 hours/week focus time (vs 3.2 baseline).

Not as good as Reclaim (5.4) or Motion (6.1), but significant improvement for free.

What didn't work

Flexible meeting rescheduling barely triggered.

The core feature: Clockwise reschedules "flexible" meetings to create focus blocks.

Reality: Only works if (1) you mark meetings flexible, (2) attendees have availability, (3) Clockwise finds better time.

In 30 days, Clockwise rescheduled 3 meetings.

Why so few?

• Most meetings had fixed times (client calls, team standups—can't move)
• External attendees not on Clockwise (no visibility into their calendar)
• Even when Clockwise could move meeting, improvement was marginal (moved meeting 30 min later—didn't create meaningful focus block)

Feature sounds great, rarely delivers.

No task scheduling.

Clockwise doesn't schedule tasks at all—only meetings and focus time.

If you need task auto-scheduling, Clockwise doesn't compete with Motion/Reclaim.

Pro tier (£12/month) marginal value.

Free → Pro upgrades:

• Unlimited flexible meeting rescheduling (vs 2/week on free)
• Advanced focus time preferences
• Calendar analytics

Problem: If flexible rescheduling rarely works, unlimited vs 2/week doesn't matter.

Pro tier is poor value unless you're on team where everyone uses Clockwise (then team scheduling features activate).

Clockwise results (30-day average)

| Metric | Baseline | Clockwise | Change | |--------|----------|-----------|--------| | Time on scheduling | 35 min/day | 28 min/day | -20% ✅ | | Calendar satisfaction | 5.2/10 | 6.2/10 | +19% ✅ | | Tasks completed | 68% | 69% | +1% → | | Focus time | 3.2 hrs/week | 4.8 hrs/week | +50% ✅ | | Conflicts/issues | 2-3/week | 2/week | -17% ✅ |

Modest improvements.

Focus time gain good (4.8 hrs) but less than Reclaim or Motion.

Task completion unchanged—no task scheduling means no impact here.

Time saved minimal (28 min/day vs 35 baseline)—Clockwise doesn't automate as much.

Head-to-head comparison

| Feature | Motion | Reclaim | Clockwise | |---------|--------|---------|-----------| | Pricing | £27/month | £10/month | Free / £12/month | | Task scheduling | Excellent ⭐⭐⭐ | Basic ⭐ | None | | Focus time blocking | Excellent ⭐⭐⭐ | Excellent ⭐⭐⭐ | Good ⭐⭐ | | Meeting coordination | Good ⭐⭐ | Excellent (Smart 1:1s) ⭐⭐⭐ | Good (if team uses) ⭐⭐ | | Habit scheduling | Via tasks | Excellent ⭐⭐⭐ | Limited | | Setup complexity | High (2-3 hours) | Low (30 min) | Very low (15 min) | | AI sophistication | Very high ⭐⭐⭐ | Medium ⭐⭐ | Low ⭐ | | Free tier | No free tier | Limited (1 habit) | Generous | | Time saved | -77% | -49% | -20% | | Focus time gain | +91% | +69% | +50% | | Task completion | +24% | +9% | +1% |

The verdict by use case

Choose Motion if:

✓ You have complex task management needs

Multiple projects, dependencies, varying deadlines → Motion's AI shines.

✓ You're willing to invest setup time

Motion requires 2-3 hours initial configuration + ongoing tuning.

✓ Budget isn't constraint

£27/month is steep, but if productivity gain is worth it to you, Motion delivers.

✓ You want "fully automated" scheduling

Motion comes closest to "set it and forget it" (though not perfect).

Best for: Founders, consultants, project managers with complex workloads and budget for premium tools.

Choose Reclaim if:

✓ You want focus time protection

Reclaim's habit scheduling (e.g., "2 hours daily deep work") is killer feature.

✓ You have recurring 1:1s to coordinate

Smart 1:1s genuinely save time.

✓ You want good value

£10/month for solid AI scheduling is fair price.

✓ You want simple setup

30 min configuration vs Motion's 2-3 hours.

Best for: Knowledge workers, managers, anyone who values focus time and has recurring coordination needs.

This is my personal choice. Motion is more powerful, but Reclaim is 80% of value at 37% of price.

Choose Clockwise if:

✓ Budget is tight

Free tier is legitimately useful (unlike Reclaim's limited free).

✓ You have simple needs

Just want focus time blocking, don't need task scheduling.

✓ Your team uses Clockwise

Team features (coordinated rescheduling) only work if whole team is on it.

Best for: Budget-conscious individuals, teams willing to adopt collectively.

Skip Clockwise Pro (£12/month) unless whole team uses—marginal value over free.

Key takeaways

• Motion (£27/month): most powerful AI, complex task scheduling, 77% time savings, +91% focus time—best for complex workloads, requires 2-3 hour setup investment
• Reclaim (£10/month): best value, excellent habit scheduling + Smart 1:1s, 49% time savings, +69% focus time—simple setup, focus time protection is killer feature
• Clockwise (free/£12): generous free tier, basic focus blocking, 20% time savings, +50% focus time—good budget option, but Pro tier poor value
• Winner depends on needs: Motion for complex projects + high budget, Reclaim for focus time + recurring coordination, Clockwise for free simple solution
• All three improve focus time significantly (50-91% increase over baseline)—even basic AI calendar tools deliver measurable productivity gains
• Task scheduling separates leaders: Motion excels (+24% task completion), Reclaim basic (+9%), Clockwise none (+1%)
• Setup investment matters: Motion requires tuning (2-3 hours), Reclaim works quickly (30 min), Clockwise immediate (15 min)

The honest take

After 90 days testing, I use Reclaim.

Why not Motion? It's better, but not £17/month better for my needs. Reclaim delivers 80% of Motion's value at 37% of price.

Why not Clockwise free? Reclaim's habit scheduling + Smart 1:1s are worth £10/month. Clockwise free is fine, but Reclaim Pro is better value.

The surprising finding: All three AI tools delivered 50-90% increase in focus time.

Even basic AI calendar (Clockwise free) created 4.8 hours/week focus vs 3.2 baseline.

That's 1.6 hours weekly = ~80 hours annually of deep work time.

If focus time is your bottleneck, AI calendar tools genuinely help.

The question: Is your calendar chaotic enough to justify the tool?

If you have <5 meetings/week: Probably not. Manual scheduling is fine.

If you have 15+ meetings/week + multiple projects: Yes. AI calendar is worth it.

Start with Clockwise free (no risk). If it helps, upgrade to Reclaim Pro (£10/month). If you need task scheduling, consider Motion.

But don't pay for Motion without trying Reclaim first—most people don't need the extra sophistication.

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Want calendar automation designed for personal assistants, not just meeting schedulers? Chaos combines task scheduling, energy awareness, and calendar coordination—optimised for sustained productivity, not just filling slots. Try free for 14 days →

Sources:

• 90-day testing across three tools (personal data)
• Motion pricing and features (motion.com)
• Reclaim AI pricing and features (reclaim.ai)
• Clockwise pricing and features (getclockwise.com)