Erin Condren and the MAMBI Happy Planner – 2 of the most popular planners on the market – but which is better?

Erin Condren Versus Happy Planner

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner related videos!

The weekly spread

Both planners have the week starting on a Monday.

Winner: Tie. Although it would be good if both companies also offered Sunday week start versions!

Size

Both planners are a similar size.

• The Erin Condren is 7 x 9 “
• The Happy Paper Planner cover is 7.75″ x 9.75″, the pages are 7″ x 9.25″ high

Both feature a similar height / size of lined writing space.

The Happy Paper have the option of mini size and letter size (the ‘Big’ version) for most of their weekly planners, whereas Erin Condren only offers this size for their teacher planners and lined notebooks.

Winner: Happy Paper as there’s more size options 

STANDARD INCLUSIONS

FEATURES OF THE Happy planner:

• Sturdy, laminated covers
• Laminated tabs
• Some dividers treated with foil <3
• Year-at-a-glance calendar pages
• 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on a Sunday)
• 2 Page Weekly spread (starts on a Monday)
• Option to start academic year or calendar year

FEATURES OF THE ERIN CONDREN PLANNER:

Winner: Tie. Both companies include monthly notes pages, dividers with tabs and similar layouts

The cover

Both planners have a laminated cover and both are about the same sturdiness. Both covers are interchangeable so you can switch it out if you get bored.

This is the inside of the covers – The Erin Condren has space to write notes & reminders using a whiteboard marker.

The Happy Planner comes in lots of different cover styles & options (so many it can be a bit overwhelming and confusing!). The same is true for the Erin Condren Life Planner, however, you can go even further and upload your own photos, change colors or upload a custom image to create a DIY cover. Like I did with the monogram cover shown in the photo below:

Related: How to make a DIY Erin Condren Planner Cover for less than $2 (plus free printable cover) 

Winner: Erin Condren

The binding

The Erin Condren planner has the typical spiral binding. The coil provides space for the planner to expand if you use planner stickers.

The MAMBI Happy Planner has discbound binding. This means you can add and remove pages as often as you please. So you can keep re-using the discs over and over again (similar to the Arc discbound system).

Related: Planner Organization: Why I use the Arc Planner instead of binders

Both feature interchangeable covers, but with the happy planner you could add and remove the internal pages as well.

Winner: Happy Planner

The Dividers

Both planners feature plenty of quotes and lots of color. The colors of the Happy Planner are nicer (and some have gold foil <3)

The Happy Planner dividers are thin cardstock while the Erin Condren dividers are just paper.

Winner: Happy Planner

Related: MAMBI Happy Planner horizontal dimensions & measurements (classic size) for making planner stickers 

The Tabs

Both feature long, easy to grip tabs. The Happy Planner tabs feel a bit sturdier than the Erin Condren and are wider so they’re easy to locate.

Both planner’s covers extend over the top of the tabs to prevent them from getting damaged.

Winner: Happy Planner

The Monthly calendar

Both planners feature the same standard 2 page monthly calendar that most planner companies produce. Both also have my pet hate when it comes to planners – when the boxes are split in 2 rather than re-starting the numbering at the top of the page – why?! 🙁

The Happy Planner shades the weekend boxes in a different color and includes the holidays at the top of the box adjacent to the date, rather than at the bottom i.e. the holidays don’t take up as much functional planning space. Rather than an open-ended sidebar it features a top 3 and notes section. I always do a top 3 for monthly, weekly and daily planning so <3 this feature!

Winner: The Happy Planner

The Monthly Planning Pages

The newer edition of the Erin Condren planners have an updated monthly planning page rather than the notes pages shown in the image below.

For their 2017 – 2018 planners, Erin Condren appear to have updated this page with goal setting and list making space – love the new layout – so functional!

The Happy Planner has more of a ‘journal’ style layout with the ‘currently section’ (that I personally would never use) and the dates at a glance calendars.

Winner: Definitely Erin Condren

The Weekly Spread

Both feature lined writing space for each day with a notes section at the bottom. The Erin Condren splits each daily planning space into 2 sections.

As for the colors, the Erin Condren Life Planner has different colors for each month (although the colors of the EC aren’t the nicest) and also offers a neutral colorway option.

Winner: Erin Condren as there’s more options

Pen Testing

The Happy Planner paper feels slightly thicker and nicer than the Erin Condren. Both planners had some pen ghosting on the pages for thicker pens e.g the Sharpie and Staedtler Triplus color markers

Note that for the 2017 – 2018 planners, Erin Condren have updated their paper

Winner: Tie

Related: Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 

PLANNER STICKERS

Most planner stickers on Etsy etc. are sized to fit the Erin Condren planner since it’s so popular.

While my stickers are designed for the Erin Condren planner, you can use them with Happy Planner – both have similar sizes for their 3 section vertical layouts. The Happy Planner boxes are slightly longer – if you use a strip of washi it’ll cover up the gap.

Related: Week 24: Using Erin Condren Size Planner Stickers in MAMBI Classic Happy Planner

It’s a similar story for the horizontal weekly spread as well.

Erin Condren don’t produce many planner stickers but plenty of Etsy sticker shops do. MAMBI have plenty of sticker books with a variety of functional and quote sticker to choose from. There’s a lot of stickers in those sticker books so they work out to be good value.

Winner: Happy Planner

Related: How to make planner stickers – creating perfectly proportioned shapes in Silhouette Studio (video tutorial) 

PLANNER ACCESSORIES

Erin Condren have various accessories which coordinate with the planners including:

• Dry erase insert (click here to learn how to make your own for just a few dollars!)
• They also have other stationery such as mouse pads (I couldn’t resist ordering one)
• Planner stickers
• Pen holders
• Elastic pens to keep your planner closed

The Happy Paper have a plethora of sticker books, deco pens, inserts etc.  and bring out new stuff very frequently.

Winner: Happy Planner

Price

The Erin Condren planner starts at $50USD but will inevitebly end up costing more by the time you add on all the accessories such as pens, a pen loop, stickers, a foil cover etc. And if you live in Australia like I do, add $40 international shipping on top of that.

In contrast the Happy Planner is only $30 and is available in Australia (from my sister’s planner supplies shop!)

Winner: Happy Planner

SALES & DISCOUNTS

Both companies offer regular sales. Erin Condren has a $10 credit if you refer new people.

Happy Planner is stocked in Michaels in the USA where there are frequent coupons. They also offer their dated planners on clearance during ‘off-peak’ planner season and tend to offer a bigger discount than Erin Condren.

Winner: Happy Planner

So which planner is best?

In my opinion, I prefer the MAMBI Happy Planner for the following reasons:

• Discbound binding
• The dividers are more sturdy (and some feature gold foil! <3)
• Monthly calendar is more functional
• More affordable price point
• Nicer colors

Related Posts

• Favorite washi tape for planning, planner decorating & color coding
• Simple method for organized brain dumping of blog post ideas using a notebook and zooms 
• Using a planner key and symbols to code your planner (efficient planning methods)
• Daily versus weekly planners: which is right for you? 
• What is the best day of the week to plan?