ok here is a review of my planner
for 2026 i bought a Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover Weekly Planner in the size Medium (A5). so the size of the actual thing is 5.8 inches x 8.2 inches and the actual paper inside is a bit smaller
past the front cover is a "please return to:" page, and after that in order is three pages consisting of a 2025-2027 yearly calendar, 12 pages going through the months of 2026-2027 for as needed marking things to remember later in the year, a double page spread with the dates of national holidays for several countries (only dates and not the holiday names or anything. so.), a two page project plan spread for 2026, and then the rest of the actual pages are the weekly planner into a couple blank pages. at the back of it is a paper pocket for holding whatever (i use it for mostly stickers).
in 2024 when i was first getting into planners i used a hobonichi techo weeks and didn't really like it; i wasn't into the paper, i felt like i wasn't using it to its full potential since i don't like fountain pens (booing), and i didn't have too much of a use for the extra graph paper since i live a pretty sedentary lifestyle. in 2025 i used an indie pokemon planner which was Just Okay but again had the problem of having too much shit i didn't use but felt obligated to try and put effort into.
The Leuchtturm1917 feels Just Right for Me. the main layout is really simple: every two page spread is just the week monday through sunday, with each week given a large blank spot to fill in. there's also symbols for full moons and new moons (something i did miss from the hobonichi before) but that's it. the month, the date, the day it is, the moon. there's enough room on each spread for stickers and writing both, and people with smaller or neater handwriting than mine could probably get even more out of it than my usual two to five sentences.
the slightly less smooth paper deals well with the inks i use, aka mostly gel and regular ink put into various pens. i don't know how it holds up to sharper-tipped pens like fountain or glass pens; you might have to deal with some deep scratching if you have a heavy hand. there is Unfortunately a good bit of bleed-through since it's so thin: here's some examples of a page from back in february held up to the light and held normally. sorry for the blur im not good at holding things
as you can see it's a bit worse for darker inks and thicker nibs (i try and stick to .5 and .7). this isn't really a deal breaker for me but you might value having a clean-looking page more.
another small issue is that the cover is Very easily scratched. it's cardboard covered in a softer plastic so dents and scuffs show up pretty easy; i have to imagine it's worse if you travel and keep it in a bag loose with other stuff. i just keep mine on a bedside table so it's not Too bad, but the cats have left a few marks. stickers stick to it well though.
idk what else to say. i think the leuchtturm1917 weeks is a great planner for me specifically and my needs and you might like it (or the daily, or monthly) also. thanks for to coming to my planner talk