Discbound is my all time favorite type of binding for making a DIY planner with printables. The discs mean you can add and remove pages, turn the pages back completely on themselves to have a flat surface to write on, and you can add and remove pages as often as you like.
They are becoming more common these days, so if you want to make the switch (and I highly recommend you do!) or already have and just want to try a new discbound notebook, here are a few to consider:
Discbound Notebooks
1. ARC from Staples
The first discbound notebook I ever purchased and the one I still use to this day, is the ARC system from Staples. I have an A5 size that I use for frequently referred to printables such as password logs, project planners, extra checklists, lined paper for brain dumping, scratch paper etc. and an A4 size that I use for homekeeping, business stuff (more of a reference notebook that I don’t refer to as often).
The punch, while expensive, is good quality. It’s served me well for 6+ years plus the leather cover. They were about a third of the cost when I bought them years ago but I’d still pay the expensive price they are today.
Planning with a functional minimalist DIY weekly planner printable
2. Office by Martha Stewart
I think of this as a more pretty version of the ARC. If you’re in the USA these come in letter size and junior (half letter size) and are more affordable than the ARC.
3. Happy Planner
You need a daily, weekly planner? What size? How about accessories? Happy Planner would have to be the planner company that offers the most options for literally everything. You better set a budget before you start shopping!
- How to print printables at MAMBI Happy Planner Size (step by step tutorial)
- MAMBI Happy Planner horizontal dimensions & measurements (classic size) for making planner stickers
- MAMBI Happy Planner Happy Notes Review
- Honest review of the Happy Planner by Me and my Big Ideas (MAMBI)
- Happy Planner Super Mom
4. Levenger Circa
On the pricey side… and not that great. Limited cover options, expensive, limited and very basic inserts. However, they do have lots of different colors discs and leather covers.
Related: Levenger Circa Discbound Planner Review
5. Inkwell press
For their 2019 planners, Inkwell Press bought out a discbound option. Um, yes please!
Review here: Inkwell Press Planner Review – 360 Discbound
6. Busy Days Notebook
A relatively unknown planner from the UK that reminds me of the Happy Planner (but only 1 style notebook).
7. The Perfect Notebook
I did a review here. The only problem is that there is currently only 1 disc size available.
8. Atoma
Hard to find and super expensive. It’s not very pretty and there’s very limited accessories, inserts etc. so I haven’t purchased.
9. Tul
Very similar to the ARC from Staples. See my review in this post. They don’t only have student planners, they have plain lined notebooks and teacher planners too. And leather covers.
10. Idoc from Switzerland
A random find when I was in Switzerland – a simple cheap discbound option. If you stumble across it then great, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to get one.
11. Dokibook Discagenda
A bit pricey and not very well known, Dokibook is another discbound option. They have aluminium (including rose gold!) discs instead of plastic.
Does it come with a compatible punch?
If you want to add your own printables to create a custom planner, the ability to print any page you like (and as many copies) and punch then pop it in is rather important!
All of the above brands have a punch that is compatible with their brand of notebook except for:
- Inkwell Press (at the time of writing this)
- The Perfect Notebook
- Idoc
As for whether one brand of punch can be used with other brands, I’ve only ever used the ARC punch. I’ve tested it with the Happy Planner and Levenger both of which is was compatible with. I cannot say if the hole size, spacing and discs are compatible with other systems.
Some such as the Busy Days notebook state they are compatible with other brands (that one says the spacing and disc size works with MAMBI). I’ve been content with the ARC (it’s really strong and can punch through multiple sheets at once) so haven’t tried another punch.
Related: Guide to Discbound Planners & Frequently Asked Questions
More discbound posts:
- ARC punch versus Levenger 1-2-3 versus the Happy Planner punch – which is best? (includes downloadable comparison table for quick reference)
- Where to find discs to make a discbound planner or notebook (downloadable comparison)
- ARC by Staples versus MAMBI – Which discbound system is better?
Related: How to resize printables for the MAMBI Happy Planner (tutorial)
If a planner doesn’t come in discbound option, there are a few companies that will sell you the planner unpunched, as they know some people want to disc bind it themselves. Companies that do this are Plum Paper and Limelife Planners. There are probably many more that I’m forgetting so please comment below if you know of others 🙂
Related: Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!
Planning tips
- Best paper planners if you have large handwriting (and planners you should avoid)
- Bullet Journal Ideas: 26 Weekly Spread Layouts to Try
- How to make planner printables (advice from a planner addict that’s made over 4000 printables)
Learn how to make your own printables for your discbound notebook (click here)
Found this post helpful? Pin it!
Pat. says
Hi Rachel! Love all your posts!
I have ARC, TUL (available at Office Depot and Office Max in the US), IQ 360 (carried for a short time at WalMart), and Happy Planner disc bound books, and a Classic size Happy Planner punch and a TUL punch. They are all compatible BUT the “stems” on the Happy Planner holes are about 2 cm longer than the others. I purchased the HP/MAMBI punch because I was trying to make divider tabs for my Happy Planner using the TUL punch, and was having a really hard time calculating the way to adjust the size my dividers should be to adapt to the different stem size. (I know, it shouldn’t be that hard, but it was. Besides, the dividers punched with the shorter holes “stuck” or snagged on the disks. I had a coupon to Michael’s and decided that wasted scrapbooking paper and laminating sleeves would cost more than the punch.)
I was browsing Amazon the other day and found a couple more brands of disc-bound books, They look compatible with ARC and TUL. The brand names I saw were Talia and Eagle. I want a set of covers that is lighter weight than my ARC leather covers, but I don’t like the way the ARC plastic covers look. They look cheap to me, so I went looking on Amazon. I’m not sure that the Talia or Eagle look any better for what I want! Maybe scrap booking paper and laminator will be my solution.
What I really want is a planner that is the size and weight of a Leuchterm or Moleskine bullet journal, but the pages can come in and out and be rearranged! The closest I’ve been able to cobble up is ARC or TUL pages (and printables) in a plastic cover with small discs (i.e., HP mini size, which are about 7/8″. Of course, there are only 8 discs on an HP mini, and a “half-letter” or junior size ARC or TUL uses 9 discs! Fortunately I purchased 2 of the mini HP notebooks that were just dotted grid paper with dividers, so I have a matching set of 16 blue discs. That may be my answer.
Anyway, just wanted to pass on info about sources and compatibility.
I enjoy your posts and always watch for them. I’m a rainbow lover too.
Elena says
https://dokibook.com/
Also I’d a disc bound system and also regular 6 ring system. Great covers & basic inserts, but have some basic accessories too.
LC says
Maybe no one is reading this, all these years later, but I’m feeling chatty about disc binder compatibility: I arrived at this page googling whether or not MAMBI mini might work with Levenger Compact (Meh, sorta, not worth it). But I thought I’d share some of my “Franken Planning” with different brands, from the point of view of someone who likes a modicum of playfulness in my otherwise serious planners.
Martha Stewart: I got her gray linen and aqua pleather covers, but I don’t care for the paper or the hole punch size so much. They gray one is a financial planning binder with grey TUL dividers and platinum grey TUL discs. Much nicer than what it came with. For me, the cheap rose-gold discs that came with the aqua binder are actually the best choice for it, among all the others I’ve considered. I’d do clear ones if I had to do an expansion, because the pleather just doesn’t seem elegant enough for metal discs.
Levenger: I scout the Levenger Sales for special items – gorgeous brown softfolio with copper discs for a gift for my husband, and the pearl white leather softfolio and foldover for me, and some Jumbo transparent discs. After doing tons of research, I concluded that I would prefer the Levenger punch and to make my own pages and dividers to customize, sometimes. Trying out their sample system was how I test-drove it, and applied the whole purchase price to their nicest, heavy-duty punch (which I use to create punch through plastics and cardboard – to make custom dividers). But it was too big to fit into my desk drawer, so I eventually splurged on the medium size Levenger punch, as well. I think they have the best jumbo clear pocket dividers, too. Waiting for other favorites to go on deep discount. Their pre-printed pages don’t excite me, except for the Cornell Notes idea. Guess what? You can design your own and print your own!
Tul: I have some of their leather foldover binders in different sizes, their nice gray monthly dividers, and their platinum dark gray discs (goes with my Martha gray linen-look covers). I have some of their “student” cover notebooks, but I mostly have used these to hold extras.
Talia: Amazon carries their products, and I’ve gotten some black ones and opaque grayish ones to go with some of my binders. I got the transparent tape with white lettering to customize these with my Brother P-Touch labeler. I’ve gotten some in different sizes, letter, half-letter, classic MAMBI. Some are top tab. The side tabs are either 5 or 6 tabs.
Office Depot – back before the price of dividers flew to the moon, I purchased some plain ones white ones, covered them with black and white line-drawing graphics of my different hobbies for each divider. They dress up my TUL black leather binder quite nicely. The pictures tell me what the section is about, and the paper extends over the tab.
MAMBI/Happy Planner Classic Size – I call these the “You GO, Girl!” planners. Not my taste at all. The heart-shaped holes in the discs are tolerated, not loved. But I love the width of the planners relative to their height and they have attractive tabs -though the page the tab comes with is usually covered with a design I don’t love on one side, and half of a calendar on the other: GLUE AND PRETTIER PAPER FIXES THIS!!! Shopping sales yields some good buys, along with a packet of album-sized papers, also bought on sale, in patterns I like, to fix what I don’t like. I’ve experimented with their fillers (on sale) but the pages aren’t really laid out for me. TIP: try making your own pages similar to theirs, and see if they WORK for you before spending the money. At some point I also got a Mini and a Micro size, and I love how portable they are. I literally chop scratch paper up with a paper trimmer, and punch it myself for free filler. I can easily jot down notes on the go, and press the small notes into the pertinent binder/section in a bigger binder when I get home. OTHER TIP: On every single MAMBI planner except for one, I’ have flipped the interior to the outside – the inside of the covers are not so loud and annoying to me, and some are very pretty to me.
Park Lane – I purchased some of these MAMBI Classic – compatible disc binders on sale because they also had pretty dividers – without the half-month on one side. Having them undated was a win-win.
MAMBI/Happy Planner Work-Life Planner, Letter Size – loved the tabs and cover on this, and picked up on that was past its expiration date for about $10. It was also messed up so far as the calendar pages went, but no problem – that’s not what I bought it for! I used the pages that were done correctly, used some white out as needed, and when I was done, I did my own thing to keep using it: I didn’t mind the front of the divider pages at all, and did graphic papers in black, white and pink on the half-month side: pink and white cabana stipes, black and white graphic floral line drawings, polka dots and cabana stripes. I love it. I do my own goal and project pages and those will go there along with a journal of what has gotten accomplished. I HAD TO GET A MAMBI PUNCH TO MAKE MY DIY PAGES WORK. Levenger-punched and Tul-punched pages hung out past the dividers too much, due to the stem length.