Planners come in plenty of different sizes these days (I shared a size guide in this post). The 4 most popular sizes seem to be: personal size, A5, 7 x 9″ and full page size (8.5 x 11″ / US letter size). If you’re unsure what planner size is right for you, here are some pros and cons of each to aid your decision making!

COMMON PAGE SIZES QUICK REFERENCE:

In ascending order of size:

• Pocket = 81mm x 120mm
• Personal = 95mm x 171mm
• A5 (Half A4 page size) = 148 x 210mm or 5.8 x 8.3″ (used in Australia & the UK)
• Half letter size = 5.5” wide x 8.5” high (used in the USA)
• Medium size (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’) = 7” wide x 9” high
• A4 = 210 x 297mm or 8.3 x 11.7″ (used in Australia & the UK)
• US Letter size = 8.5” wide x 11” high (used in the USA)

Extra Small – Personal

The smallest size planner I’ve tried is the MAMBI Mini Happy Planner which was too small for me. Personal page size is even smaller!

Related: Week 22: Using Erin Condren size planner stickers in the Mini Happy Planner 

Pros of this planner size

• Portable
• Lightweight

Cons of this planner size

• Not many companies produce planners in this size
• Line spacing tends to be close together so you’ll need to write small
• Can be awkward to write in as there’s no page to rest your hand on
• Need more pages / a fatter planner as can’t fit as much on the pages
• Monthly calendars are basically useless in these planners – there’s no room to write in the monthly calendar boxes as they’re so small. You’d have to shade boxes in, color code or use a key that relate to colored dot stickers
• Most planner stickers will be too big for this size

Related: Using a planner key and symbols to code your planner (efficient planning methods)

A few planners that come in this size

Personal size tends to be the smallest size that planner companies will manufacture and even then very few do so.

Some planners that come in personal size:

• Filofax
• Kikki K
• Kate Spade
• Color Crush (Webster’s Pages)
• Limelife Planners (they also have free printables of their layouts)

Travellers Notebooks

I personally hate travellers notebooks. They’re too small for me and I hate the covers (especially the brown / fake leather ones – they’re hideous, boring and the material feels gross!)

Pros of this planner size

• Portable
• Ideal for list making
• Lightweight – most travellers notebooks are staple bound so there’s no heavy binding or laminate covers
• Use what you need – most just come with an empty notebook without any extra pages so you can completely customise it to your liking
• Ideal for bullet journalling

Cons of this planner size

• Small – not much room to write especially if you have big hand-writing
• Can’t personalise the cover – most of the covers are one color only and I’m yet to see a company do cover personalisation for travelers notebooks
• The covers are quite expensive – sometimes as much as the cost of just buying a medium size planner (which includes pages too and not just a cover)
• Can be hard to find printable style inserts in this size (and they’re expensive)
• If you’re printing printable inserts it may waste a lot of paper
• If you’re using printable inserts it’ll be time consuming to cut to size
• It can be confusing / time consuming to get the print order right if you want to do duplex printing for this page size

A few planners that come in this size

• Carpe Diem
• Webster’s Pages Color Crush 
• American Crafts 
• Freckled Fawn
• Prima Marketing 
• Limelife Planners (they also have free printables of their layouts)

Small – A5

A5 is ideal for people that want a portable planner without sacrificing too much room.

If you prefer to use inserts, many come in this size for use with binders. Or you could use them with a discbound system (like the ARC notebook which is my personal favorite), or the MAMBI, Levenger or We R Memory Keepers discbound systems.

Related: Carpe Diem A5 Planner (by Simple Stories) Review & Flipthrough 

Pros of this planner size

• Plenty of Etsy shops now sell inserts to suit this size
• Portable
• Easy to print your own inserts from full page size printables (just select ‘2 per page’ printing in your printers options menu) tutorial in this post

Cons of this planner size

• Most inserts that come in this size are pre-punched for ring binders (a huge con if you hate ring-bound planners as much as I do!)
• If you buy inserts they can get really expensive (especially when you add shipping)
• If your printer can’t do 2 per page printing (tutorial in this post). You’ll end up wasting a lot of paper if printing onto full page size paper then trimming to size (and it’s time consuming). Some printers can print direct onto A5 size paper, but they tend to add a white border / margin around all the pages (so shrink the design and writing space). I’ve personally found it’s a bit hit and miss with quality. Even though printers have an aligning tool – sometimes the paper slips and the design prints crooked.

Related: Printing Tips

Found a printable you like but don’t want to print it at A5 (or smaller) page size? Fold the page to fit the size of the planner you’re using 

Related: 10 Quick planner hacks you need to try (planning tips & inspiration)

A few planners that come in this size

• Green and Lyme inserts
• Inkwell press inserts
• Carpe Diem
• Day Timer (ring bound)
• Filofax
• Kikki K
• Amelia Lane Paper

Related: Planning 101: Planner lingo (what does it all mean?) 

Medium – 7 x 9″

7 x 9″ is a great size with just the right amount of planning space (in my opinion!)

Plum Paper Haul (all 7 x 9″ page size)

Pros of this planner size

• Good amount of writing space without being too big and bulky
• Plenty of options and layouts to choose from as this is the most common size planners come in

Cons of this planner size

• Very hard to find inserts in this size (Agendio is one company that does inserts in this size. If you know of any others please comment below!)
• If printing printables or inserts at this size and making a DIY planner – it’s hard to find spiral coils / binding already made to this size. If you want to do discbound binding, I recommend the MAMBI punch as it’s designed for their classic size planner (which is approx 7 x 9″)

Related: Honest review of the Happy Planner by Me and my Big Ideas (MAMBI)

Planners that come in this size

Just about every planner company produces their planners in this size. Here are a handful of those companies:

• Plum Paper (one of my all time favorite planner companies!)
• Erin Condren
• Inkwell Press
• Limelife Planners (they also have free printables of their layouts)
• The Happy Planner from Me and My Big Ideas

Most planners that come in this size are spiral bound. If you prefer to use discbound binding (like I do!) Plum Paper sends the pages unpunched if you request this at checkout. Other planner companies are likely to offer this too if you just ask!

Using the ARC punch with the Plum Paper – didn’t turn out too bad but note that the discs are quite close to the top of the page so I have to be gentle when turning the pages so they don’t accidentally get torn out

Related: Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself! 

Related: Week 29: Plum Paper Me Planner 

Large – 8.5 x 11″ or A4 Size

Most teacher planners come in full page size (US letter size 8.5 x 11″ or A4 page size for my fellow Aussies and the UK)

I took the Erin Condren teacher planner and modified it into a weekly planner – out of more than 50 different ways I planned the week it was one of my favorite weeks!

Related: Week 25: Using the Erin Condren Teacher Planner for weekly planner 

Pros of this planner size

• Plenty of room to write
• Easy to find printables – e.g. my Etsy shop 🙂

Cons of this planner size

• Larger page size = more weight to carry out
• Bit bulky to fit in most handbags – if it’s a tight fit, the planner may get scuffed more easily
• Need a lot of room on a desk if you’re using a 2 pages per week spread and want to see the entire week all at once
• As the size of the planner is larger, it tends to cost more
• Due to the weight, shipping tends to be more expensive

A few planners that come in this size

For the above cons, not many planner companies produce planners in this size. Some that do are:

• Erin Condren
• Bloom Teacher Planners
• Passion Planner 
• Plum Paper
• Day Designer for Blue Sky
• Agendio

Related: Creating a custom, personalised planner with Agendio

I printed Limelife Planners Layout C (free printable) at A4 size and added it to my ARC notebook. I liked the layout so much I ended up ordering the planner in the 7 x 9″ size!

Ring Bound Planners

Ring bound planners seem to come in the most size options – especially Filofax and Franklin Covey!

Image Credit

Still not sure what size is right for you?

If in doubt, here are a couple of options / alternatives:

• Purchase a smaller size that’s more portable and use sticky notes or a list insert to create extra space
• Purchase a larger size – then the extra room is there each week if you need it
• Use an app in conjunction with your planner. I like using the reminders app that comes standard on an iPhone (and it’s free) in conjunction with my paper planner

Some planner companies such as Limelife Planners and Amelia Lane Paper have free printables of their layouts which you can print and try out. I did a roundup of them in this post.  You can print these out at any size you like – see this tutorial for instructions.

Related: Week 41 (part 2): Using the Limelife Daily Planner (free printable)

Another thing to consider is what planner accessories you want to use. Some stickers are too big for very small size planners.

What planner size is my favorite?

7 x 9″

After trying more than 50 different ways to plan the week last year, the most common size I used was 7 x 9″ as this is the size produced by most planner companies.

My second favorite size is A4 size. Some weeks 7 x 9″ isn’t quite enough planning space. While I tend to use sticky notes to add extra space on the page, sometimes it’s nice to have a little too much space than not enough so I can see everything neatly laid out, with a bit of white space and without having to layer sticky notes.

My third favorite size is A5. The main reason being because I can choose ‘2 per page printing in my printer’s menu then cut the sheet in half – no trimming required which is the case if you ant to print a printable at 7 x 9″ page size.

Related: The ‘Create your own planner kit’ 

I use the ARC planner system – the punch has spaces where you slide the punching mechanism to the page size you want – A4 and A5 are standard (so are half US letter size and letter size) so it makes it really easy to punch. I punched one of my Plum Paper Planners (the Me Planner), and because of the spacing of the punch, one of the discs ending up being close to the top of the page. It’s not an issue for me as I don’t take my planner with me (I take a photo for reference), but if you were carrying your planner with you on the go then the pages may come off the discs.

Some alternative discbound systems to try are the MAMBI Happy Planner punch, Levenger and We R Memory Keepers.

More posts on choosing a planner

• Finding planner peace: 18 things to check before choosing a planner 
• 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on
• Daily versus weekly planners: which is right for you? 
• Choosing sections for your planner: what to keep in your weekly planner versus a household binder 
• How to choose a binding system for your planner (comparison and which one I like the most) 
• Buying a planner versus DIYing and making your own (pros and cons) 
• Overwhelmed by the planner community? Read this post 
• Ultimate planner page size guide (with printable reference cheat sheet) 
• Planner Organization: Why I use the Arc Planner instead of binders
• Choosing a planner: Horizontal versus Vertical versus Hourly planners (which is right for you?)

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More planning posts

• Using a planner key and symbols to code your planner (efficient planning methods)
• 12 Different ways to plan blog posts using pen and paper
• Silhouette Studio Software versus Photoshop: Which is better for making planner stickers?

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