We get asked all the time which editorial content planning tools are the best on the market. Of course, we believe Kordiam is the best, but it's only the best for some organizations and some teams. No single tool works for everyone. This guide focuses on editorial content planning tools used by newsrooms, broadcasters, publishers, and communications teams to coordinate planning, assignments, and publishing across platforms.
So, in the spirit of honest exploration and useful research, we’ve put together a curated list of the top content calendar software options for 2026. Whether you’re a small team or a large corporation, this guide is designed to help you get an overview of the plethora of tools. However, because there are so many tools out there, we aren’t able to list all of them, so this list is not exhaustive
This list doesn’t only include strictly planning tools, it also includes content management systems (CMS), content publishing systems, and plug-ins that enhance the functionality of content planning tools.
For a deeper breakdown of editorial calendar types and use cases, see our guide to Editorial Calendar tools.
How these tools are grouped
- Dedicated editorial planning and calendar tools
- Broadcast planning and rundown tools
- CMS plugins and extensions
- All-in-one publishing platforms
- Generic planning tools adapted for content teams
Editorial Content Calendar Tools for Newsrooms
An editorial calendar is a crucial tool for managing the challenges of publishing across multiple platforms. From newsrooms and magazine teams to broadcast outlets and corporate communications, it helps organizations maintain visibility, coordinate teams, and plan content with greater accuracy and accountability across editorial cycles.
AP Storytelling
AP Storytelling, developed by AP Workflow Solutions, is designed to support newsrooms managing complex editorial workflows across digital and broadcast environments. It enables teams to coordinate story planning, assignments, and production in a shared system, helping editors maintain oversight of coverage while adapting traditional newsroom workflows to modern, multi-platform publishing demands.
Alfamedia
AlfaMedia provides newsroom systems and applications designed to support long-term editorial and publishing operations. Its solutions help media organizations maintain stability in planning and production workflows while evolving their systems over time, supporting continuity and operational reliability across changing editorial requirements.
Atex
Atex delivers newsroom software solutions that support publishers in managing editorial planning, production, and publishing at scale. Its tools help organizations coordinate newsroom operations, adapt workflows to digital-first strategies, and support sustainable publishing models across platforms.
Naviga
Naviga Content Creation Suite enables newsrooms to plan, write, edit, and publish content for multiple platforms from a single interface. It helps editorial teams centralize workflows, reduce duplication across systems, and maintain consistency from planning through publication.
Peiq
With PEIQ PRINT, print production is generated in real time based on content from the digital editor. This allows publishers to retain control over print layouts while aligning print output more closely with digital-first editorial workflows, supporting hybrid publishing environments.
Kordiam
Kordiam is a content planning and assignment management tool designed for editorial, broadcast, and communications teams. It helps organizations coordinate long-term planning and day-to-day execution, maintain cross-team visibility, and manage editorial complexity across platforms by connecting planning workflows with existing tools through open APIs and integrations.
Note: Kordiam appears in multiple sections below because it is used across editorial, broadcast, and CMS-integrated planning workflows.
Broadcast Planning Tools
Broadcast planning tools are essential for managing the coordination, timing, and resource demands of live and multi-platform content delivery. They help broadcast teams align editorial intent with production execution, maintain real-time visibility, and manage complex workflows across shifts and channels.
Dalet
Dalet is a media operations platform used by broadcasters to manage planning, production, and multi-platform distribution. It supports teams in coordinating editorial workflows, managing media assets, and delivering content consistently across broadcast, web, and social channels within integrated environments.
Octopus Newsroom
Octopus News is a broadcast newsroom platform designed to support live and scheduled news production. It helps teams manage rundowns, coordinate editorial and production resources, and respond to real-time changes while integrating with broadcast and playout systems.
Wolftech
Wolftech is a story-centric planning and workflow platform used by broadcast organizations to manage news and live content production. It provides teams with shared visibility into stories, resources, and timelines, supporting coordination across editorial and production roles from planning through publishing.
Saganews
Saga is a cloud-native newsroom and rundown system built for modern broadcast workflows. It enables teams to plan and produce stories collaboratively across linear, digital, and social platforms, supporting real-time coordination and story-centric planning within a unified, browser-based environment.
AP Storytelling and AP ENPS
AP Workflow Solutions, including AP Storytelling and ENPS, supports broadcast newsrooms in managing content production and distribution. Together, these tools help organizations coordinate editorial planning, newsroom operations, and technical workflows while allowing teams to evolve processes without fully replacing existing systems.
Kordiam
Kordiam enables broadcast teams to plan, coordinate, and assign coverage across complex, multi-platform workflows. It provides a shared planning environment that helps teams maintain visibility over editorial intent, assignments, and timing across shifts, while integrating with existing newsroom, production, and publishing systems rather than replacing them.
CMS Plugins for Editorial Content Planning
These are either small tools that become part of the CMS or they are external tools with a very deep bi-directional integration with the CMS:
WordPress
Drupal
Joomla
All-in-one Publishing Suites and Content Management Systems
These all-in-one tools are built to cover as many needs of a newsroom or communication team as possible. In most cases, that includes a content calendar as part of the overall suite.
Digital Newsrooms
Print Newsrooms
Broadcast Newsrooms
Content Marketing & Communications
Generic Project Management Tools Used for Content Planning
There are plenty of task and project management tools out there. Some of them offer features or tweaks that can work as a content calendar, even if that’s not their main focus.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Team
There are a lot of options out there, from lightweight plug-ins to full-scale publishing platforms. The best editorial content planning tool is the one that fits your team's goals, workflows, and the kind of content you produce.
In practice, editorial teams often choose:
- Dedicated planning tools when visibility and coordination are the priority
- Broadcast systems when live production and rundowns are central
- CMS plugins when planning needs to stay tightly coupled to publishing
- All-in-one platforms when organizations want a single vendor
- Generic tools when no editorial-specific system is in place
This guide is here to help make that choice easier. Whether you're running a busy newsroom, planning marketing campaigns, or broadcast rundowns, there's something on this list that can work for you.
If you're curious about how these tools compare or want to learn more about how Kordiam fits in, we're always happy to chat.
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