#kinbor weeks

my current read and my planner for 2025 🧚

i was like “well that’s cool but i already bought my Weeks” and then i saw THEIR lineup for their 2026 Weeks knockoff:

reader, i have a fatal weakness for ancient China/traditional Chinese motifs. as soon as i saw the cover for The Crane Leads the Heart i was a goner

The fabric material for those lines for the waves and that SILVER STAMPING is to die for ahhhhhh

so guess who’s scheduling 2 weekly planners for use in 2026 like bobo the fool lololll

TO BE CLEAR there are still major differences between the two from all the YouTube reviewer videos I watched, these being the ones that stuck out (disclaimer if there’s slight mistakes I’m writing from memory after binging videos at midnight last night):

Hobonichi has a 12-month spread over 2 pages for one of their pages, while Kinbor divides those same 12 months across 3 pages of 4 months each (that means 2 months per page)

Kinbor also keeps their quotes to one line on top of the page on the weekly views while Hobonichi takes a chunk of space on the bottom

the 2026 Kinbor Weeks has moved from last year’s 52gsm baguan paper (their version of Tomoe River if not the exact same thing) to a 78gsm version this year, which means it’s thicker and heavier (the Kinbor A5 and A6 models are still using 52gsm however)

Hobonichi has maintained they use Tomoe River lol this time however production of the paper stopped in 2022 or 2023 and they’ve been creating it with other ways I think (read this from fountain pen community of news, apparently it was too expensive to produce!!) so some users have reported some paper quality inconsistencies in the 2025 batches

Both planners are known for smooth paper with longer than average drying times; this shouldn’t be an issue for most users and is just a part of life for fountain pen and gel pen writers

Kinbor Weeks has also REDUCED the number of extra memo/note pages in the back by 30 for 2026 versions, so now it’s like 50 pages instead of the original 83. compare that to the Hobonichi Weeks which has like 72-73? and the Weeks Mega with a whopping 213 extra memo pages.

Kinbor has thicker heavier bookmark ribbons with treated ends (they’re also probably part plastic??); Hobonichi’s ribbons are thinner, lighter, and more likely to fray

Hobonochi has 3.55mm spacing for its grid boxes while the Kinbor’s are ever so slightly smaller at 3.51mm; the grid boxes on the memo pages also line up perfectly with the weeks view on the next page for Hobonichi (more precise!) while the Kinbor’s is a little off. this may drive you crazy for Kinbor if you use specific planner stickers or have OCD about your boxes/lines of text lining up consistently between pages

after the months pages and before the weeks pages, Kinbor has this neat additional 2-page spread of like all 12 months in smaller boxes in the bottom half of the page and blank grid above. It’s a nice place to jot down more dates and stuff for a yearly overview. Hobonichi goes straight from monthly view into weekly view

the monthly pages from Hobonichi go from December 2025 to (I believe??) March 2027 which may drive some people nutty if they can’t fill in all the pages cause they’re like, coming from another Hobonichi or something. Kinbor Weeks just start off the monthly pages with January 2026 and end in December

the extra pages are whatever for me, though Kinbor has a 21-day month planner page with 10 blank boxes for habit tracking and like 3-4 pages of blank boxes for you to put your favorite things, while Hobonichi has the 365-day check off box and a top 100 list

Kinbor has a map of China and Chinese facts and lists the 24 solar terms which to ME is cool and helpful because I always wanted to know when they ARE; Hobonichi has like special ways to indicate the days of the week with elements which is some cool thing I haven’t figured out yet

Kinbor Weeks tells you what number DAY OF THE YEAR IT IS right on the weeks pages! (Like Sept 5th is the 248th day of the year blahblah.) Hobonichi does this in the Techo Cousin but NOT in the Weeks for whatever reason??

Hobonichi Weeks months are color coded while Kinbor Weeks months are just all gray. this is when you’re looking at the notebook from the sides and they mark the months. not a big deal either way just add stickers if you want colors so bad

Kinbor Weeks binding can feel inconsistent and some reviewers have noted 1-2 pages that weren’t quite right/flush; Hobonichi has a better track record of consistency with their bindings and etc

you can purchase a separate Weeks cover with plastic pocket for Hobonichi Weeks; Kinbor Weeks includes a (flimsy-feeling) paper pocket on the back cover and a free PVC plastic cover for their Weeks with your purchase which…doesn’t fit too well and kinda covers up the back pocket, negating its purpose in the process lolol

TL;DR it all sounds rad so I’m gonna put the (less structurally sound but has more writing space) Kinbor as my work planner and the (more aesthetically pleasing and pages-rich) Hobonichi as my writing/personal planner with a side of diary so YAY

Last but not least here are the YouTube reviewers who REALLY went into the nitty gritty details for comparisons between the two:

P.S. if u wanna buy Kinbor Aliexpress is the only place to go but go with buyers with lots of reviews an actual storefront/usernames (not gibberish or letters and numbers) as there are a TON of sellers there

(mostly) completed weekly spread in my health and fitness planner

I wanted to share an updated version of my weekly planner spread. I love this planner (it’s the hobonichi weeks style and size but this is a kinbor planner which is a Chinese as opposed to a Japanese company. It’s similar quality and I love the kinbor for more reasons than the cheaper price point) because of how changeable and versatile it is. This has overall been a really good week for habits and art work and shockingly, all of this fits in the one week spread on this planner.

You might be surprised but I’m not an ~aesthetic~ planner. I prefer to only need one pen to do all my planning with very few frills. No highlighters or washi tape or stickers. I might decorate the front cover and inside covers, but beyond that this is strictly functional.

A key part of my system is different shaped check boxes (a square for a task, a triangle for an appointment) and the completion hashes remain constant across most things. A single diagonal hash (\) means the project is in progress, started and not finished. A crossed out check (X) means it is completed. A hash across (—) means the item is canceled. An arrow (>) means that the task is rescheduled for later. Very reminiscent of the bullet journal system.

An exception to this rule is the time tracking on the lower part of the right page. In that case, each vertical hash represents about 15 minutes. So far all I’ve really been able to track is drawing and working on art stuff, but i have spots for other hobbies. I might need to adjust it from 15 minutes to a half hour and maybe add “Mindless Scrolling” to track that in comparison to other things I actually want to do.

I decided to try out kinbor weeks. Since 2024 hasn't yet started, I decided to experiment with some layouts on notes pages before the start of a new year. Honestly, my anxiety about tasks is down quite a bit because there is not as much white space to fill as it was in Leuchtturm 1917 vertical weeklies. Plus kinbor size is much better for me and the planner is lightweight. Also I want to note that kinbor paper isn't printer white and also isn't very cream. It's right in the middle and I kinda like it even tho I'm more of a cream color person.

I couldn’t justify buying a hobonichi weeks for the remainder of 2025 because it’s August and even the 2025 ones are running $30-40. So i managed to snag like. The Last 2025 Kinbor. For only $16

It’s really nice and really comprehensive and I almost prefer it to the hobonichi weeks at a glance. Like the hobonichi has those little quotes on the bottom of the page that take up a decent chunk of space. The kinbor doesn’t have that. The day blocks go from the top to the bottom of the page

The basic setup for the weeklies hasn’t changed

I’m using the back pages for mood tracking, spending tracking, and more. The habit trackers in the front of the book are also for budgeting and spending tracking.

late night catching up... ✒️💤