One of my lovely readers sent me a sample of the new paper that Aura Estelle will be using in their planners for 2026. My plan was to review this new Tomoe River Paper 52gsm white (New Sanzen) paper on its own but it quickly became clear that a comparison was needed between not just the Aura Estelle but the papers being used in some of the other planners currently available.
I have pulled together the following planners/paper:
- 2025 Hobonichi Weeks (Super-thin Tomoe River S paper- cream) Week size
- 2025 Owl Paper (52gsm Tomoe River Paper – white) B6
- Sterling Ink 2026 (Tomoe river paper 52 gsm – New Sanzen – white) N1-H Compact
- Aura Estelle (Tomoe River Paper 52gsm -New Sanzen- white) SAMPLE A6
The Paper:
Based on this list, the assumption would be that the Aura Estelle paper is the same as the Sterling Ink and Owl Paper — it is NOT. The Aura Estelle paper is much smoother and slicker than any of the other Tomoe River papers on this list. That’s not a good or bad thing but it is definitely different. All three other TR papers had a slight tooth and texture to them.
I am pretty confident that Owl Paper and Sterling Ink are using the same version of Tomoe River 52 gsm paper. Sterling Ink paper looks slightly creamier but the difference is minimal so I can’t decide if my eye are playing tricks. Sterling Ink has a darker printed grid and informational data compared to the Owl Paper. Most notably, both the Owl and Sterling planners use the white TR paper while Hobonichi uses the cream/ivory color paper.
I’d say if you were looking for a Hobonichi alternative with brighter white paper, Sterling Ink or Owl Paper are good options.
Sizes and Layouts:
Designwise, the Sterling Ink planners have clean, minimal design style. Owl Paper has a visual style that feels more utilitarian. The printed details in the Owl Paper are as light as the printed grid. Alternately, Hobonichi uses a darker grey for dates and informational text. I don’t have a printed Aura Estelle planner in hand but looking at their website, it looks like the printed information is darker than the grid lines as well.
In terms of pre-printed layouts, each system adds to or removes elements in an effort to make the most functional planner. Its so hard to quantify which system is better or will work best for you. While I do like some sort of weekly layout with Monday through Sunday listed for big tasks, meetings, appointments and travel, I don’t need an hourly breakdown but you might need that for time management. All the planner books I am showing here today feature blank pages that can be used for daily journaling or record keeping.
The Sterling Ink Common Planer adds in yearly overviews, quarterly goal setting and habit tracking pages as well as the more expected month on two pages and weekly (horizontal on one page with a page for notes) pages.
The Owl Paper Planner does not add as many pre-printed pages, just a few yearly overview pages, monthly calendar on two pages and then weekly (vertical format) on two pages.
Aura Estelle offers yearly overview, monthly tracker pages, month on two pages and then dated daily pages (similar to the traditional Hobonichi Techo but without extraneous quotes). Of the planners shown here today, the Aura Estelle is the only one that offers dated daily pages besides a Hobonichi Techo (not shown).
I won’t belabor the Hobonichi Weeks layouts as I assume most people have seen the interior layouts (monthly calendar pages followed by horizontal week on a page with a page for notes).
If you like the aesthetics and layouts of the Sterling Ink, they have many other sizes. The N1 H Compact that I got is the size of a standard Traveler’s Notebook insert. The N2 size is more comparable to the Hobonichi Weeks size so be aware of that if you decide to purchase one. Sterling Ink has an array of size options so if you are looking for more unique sizes like A5 Slim, passport or even B5, they may have what you are looking for. To be honest, I was almost overwhelmed by all the options. Books could also feature foil edges or not.
Aura Estelle offers just A5 and B6. Those are pretty popular common sizes so if you like the formats it may be easier to make a selection.
Owl Paper only offers an A5 undated and a B6 dated for 2026.
I didn’t deep dive into the cover colors or materials. Hobonichi, particularly for the Weeks, offers dozens of color options. Aura Estelle, Owl Paper and Sterling Ink offer a small palette of colors for their covers. I feel like if you don’t like the cover colors, its easy enough to either make a wrap for the cover or put the planner into a fabric or leather cover since these are all fairly common size options.
My final opinions:
I am not a fan of the paper Aura Estelle chose to use for their 2026 planners. I a so grateful to Marcia for sending it to me to try. It is too slick for me personally but I know a lot of people will be thrilled with a smoother, thin paper option in a planner.
I love the size of the Hobonichi Weeks but I definitely think I will prefer the brighter white paper in the Sterling Ink Common Planner (I just wish I hadn’t gotten the larger TN-sized N1).
I really like the floppy feel of both the Owl Paper and Sterling Ink covers. They have lovely textured covers and while they might not be sturdy enough to be carried without a protective exterior cover, I appreciate that there is not a lot of added bulk with these covers. I wish I liked the vertical weekly layout more because I would be 100% in on the Owl Paper planner if I was.
So, in my dream world, I would have the Sterling Ink design aesthetic with foil edging and austere grey cover, with the lighter grid from the Owl Paper in a Hobonichi Weeks size. I guess the closest I would get would be to purchase a N2 version but the gird lines are still a little darker than I prefer. Since the version of the Owl Paper Planner only takes me to the end of 2025, I can play with it over the next few weeks and see if I can learn a way to use the vertical weekly layout. I still have the Sterling Ink N1 Common Planner as a fallback. (Did I just suggest I had a “fallback planner”?!?! What have I become?)
Do you have make or break elements in a planner/journal?
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