The Maggie Holmes and the Happy Planner have the same disc size / spacing so you can switch pages between each… But if you can only choose one, here is a detailed comparison to help you decide.
My review of the Maggie Holmes planner, click here.
For all of my Happy Planner reviews, click here.
There are so many Happy Planners now with all different colors, themes, styles etc. so for the purpose of this comparison I chose a few so it’s easier to see the differences.
Maggie Holmes versus the Happy Planner
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Dated vs. undated
The Maggie Holmes is undated so you can start and stop using it whenever you like.
The Happy Planner offers both dated and undated planners (refill pages).
Winner: Tie. Depends on personal preference
Page Size
Maggie Holmes is 7.5″ wide x 9.5″ high (1 page size only available)
Classic Happy Planner Size is 7.75″ wide x 9.75″ high, the actual planner pages are 7″ wide x 9.25″ high. There is also a smaller size (mini) and larger page size (the Big).
Winner: Tie. Depends on personal preference
Duration
The Maggie Holmes currently only comes in a 12 month format.
The Happy Planner comes in 12 month and 18 month formats.
Winner: Happy Planner as there’s more options
Cover
The Maggie Holmes is that sturdy plasticy feel cover (similar to the poly cover material of the ARC and TUL discbound planners).
The Happy Planner is laminated cardstock.
The Happy Planner has a variety of designs with patterns, quotes, multi-colored, one color, foil etc.
The Maggie Holmes has more of a focus on floral with one gold foil cover design.
Winner: Tie. I like both covers. The laminate of the Happy Planner can be bent which isn’t a problem with the material used for the Maggie Holmes. However since the Maggie Holmes material is thin it can be a bit floppy / not structured.
Discs
The Maggie Holmes come in pastel colors, gold, and see through glitter discs. They are currently offered in 1 disc size only (1.25″) with no punch out in the middle.
Happy Planner comes in 3 disc sizes
- Mini (0.75″)
- Medium / Classic Planner size (1.25″)
- Big (1.75″)
They also have different punch outs including heart, smiley face, cross and rainbow. There are more colors to choose from too (pastel, multi-colored rainbow etc.)
Winner: Happy Planner (as there’s more options and different disc sizes
The disc size, stem of the half circle / mushroom end and spacing are compatible for both brands. Here is the Maggie Holmes in the Happy Planner.
Related post: Discbound planners & notebooks: brands that are compatible
Size
Without adding any extra pages yourself, both of the planners are around 0.75″ thick. Note: This Happy Planner is an 18 month planner, the Maggie Holmes is a 12 month planner. There are more pages in the Maggie Holmes 12 month planners than the Happy Planner.
Winner: Tie. Depends on personal preference. The Maggie Holmes is thicker for a 12 month planner as the cardstock divider pages have the pattern printed on the front and back. Happy Planner prints half of the monthly calendar on the back so it’s not as thick.
Dates at a glance
Both offer a dates at a glance page for the year of the planner and the next year.
Winner: Tie
Monthly dividers & tabs
Both brands have cardstock dividers.
The Maggie Holmes have a pattern printed on the front and back whereas the Happy Planner has 1 side divider and the other side is half of the monthly calendar. The Happy Planner tabs block part of the page (usually the sidebar) so you can’t write over the top where the tab sticks to the page. This isn’t an issue in the Maggie Holmes due to the double sided divider page.
Maggie Holmes have more of a focus on floral designs as well as some random things like music notes. Happy Planner have a mix of pattern only and pages with quotes.
The Maggie Holmes has colored tabs on both the front and back. For some weird reason, Happy Planner have only ever printed the color on one side. So once you’re done with that month and move to the next one, the backside of the tabs of the finished months are white.
The Happy Planner tabs are bigger and much more sturdy than the Maggie Holmes.
Winner: Tie
Monthly Calendar
Both offer the traditional boxes for each day layout
The Maggie Holmes boxes are 1.5″ wide x 1.5″ high. As the planner is undated you add the dates yourself so you can choose if you want to do a split box or just restart the numbering on the top row.
The Happy Planner does split boxes (and even worse – splits boxes in half diagonally). The boxes for each day are slightly bigger at just over 1.5″ wide x 1.5″ high (4cm wide x 4cm high).
Winner: Both planners include the same style / layout monthly calendar with the sidebar however Maggie Holmes wins this one for me (no split boxes)
Monthly Planning
Happy Planner has a more journaling focus on the monthly overview page whereas the Maggie Holmes is a list only / functional layout.
Winner: Tie. Depends on personal preference. I like the Maggie Holmes layout but the color schemes of the Happy Planner
Weekly Spread
At the time of writing this post in 2020, the Maggie Holmes comes in a vertical weekly layout only.
Happy Planner comes in vertical, horizontal, vertical hourly, dashboard as well as themed e.g. fitness.
Winner: Happy Planner as there’s more options
Extra pages
Both planners only come with 1 lined notes page at the back of the planner however both brands brands offer refill / add on pages if you wanted to add some more.
Maggie Holmes only have the essential refill packs – dot grid & graph pages
Happy Planner have an overwhelming amount of refills – checklists, notes pages, daily planning, weekly and monthly, recipe, fitness etc.
Related post: Favorite Happy Planner Refill Inserts
Winner: Happy Planner
Paper Quality
The Maggie Holmes paper feels thinner and is also prone to pen ghosting and stamps bleed through.
The Happy Planner feels much thicker and rarely has any show through.
Winner: Happy Planner
Punch
Both brands have a punch.
The Maggie Holmes punch is only 6 holes long so it’s awkward to line up the holes and takes much longer than the Happy Planner where you can punch the whole length of the page in on go.
Happy Planner’s punch comes in classic size and big (US letter size). While it’s not very sturdy – I can usually only do 3 pages with it – it’s much quicker to use than the Maggie Holmes punch.
Winner: Happy Planner
Colors
The Maggie Holmes (apart from the covers and dividers) is very minimalist, black and white only.
The Happy Planner is full color throughout the entire planner.
Winner: Tie. Depends on personal preference
Accessories
Maggie Holmes don’t have many accessories and those that they do only come in 1or 2 options – clips, mini sticker book, stamp set, a few stencils, sticky notes and washi tape
The Happy Planner has an overwhelming amount of accessories to choose from – hundreds of sticker books, stamps, washi tape, sticky notes, tote bags, covers, stencils, pencil cases and plenty of refill pages.
Winner: Happy Planner
Price
Both planners are available in my sister’s planner supplies store, Carefully Crafted so I will use that for reference:
- Maggie Holmes = $59.95 AUD + shipping
- Happy Planner classic size 12 month = $49.95 to $54.95 AUD + shipping
Winner: Happy Planner
Availability
Both are available in my sister’s shop.
Happy Planner have the planners on their own website, Amazon as well as Michael’s and Joann in the USA.
Maggie Holmes is available in Joann’s.
Winner: Happy Planner
Which is better?
I prefer the Happy Planner. There’s more options to choose from for everything – weekly spreads, cover designs, add on pages and accessories. Happy Planner have been doing discbound planners for about 5 years now (from memory I think 2016 was the first year they did discbound). 2020 is the first year of the Maggie Holmes planners so give it a few years and they may have a bigger range to choose from.
More discbound planner reviews
- Levenger Circa Discbound Planner
- Dokibook Discagenda Planner Review – A5 Diva
- Musboeken Feeling Plantastic Discbound Planner
Planning Tips
- MAMBI Happy Planner Discbound Punch versus the ARC (are they compatible?)
- How to make planner stickers – creating perfectly proportioned shapes in Silhouette Studio (video tutorial)
- 50 Reminders to Put in Your Planner or Bullet Journal
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