Front
Cosplay Planner
Cosplay planner for builds, budgets, and con deadlines
Costumary is a web-based cosplay planner. Each costume gets its own project with a reference board, a material list you can mark as needed, ordered, arrived, or owned, a budget that totals what you've actually spent, a timeline you can attach to a real convention date, and a build log with photos and hours. Starter is free with 2 active projects. No app store, no phone-only planner that disappears.
Every build, remembered
Project reference group
Back
Fabric
Detail
Foam
Build note
Front trim needs sealing before paint. Match fabric edge to the darker swatch.
Seal foam edges
Log fit test
Add material cost
Material Sheets 6mm
Synced to materials and budget
$12.99
Ask with project context
Costumary workspace demo showing four core features:
- Reference board: drag and drop character images, group by costume piece, add color swatches, notes, and checklists
- Materials tracker: list supplies with costs, stores, quantities, and order status. Live budget totals update as you add items
- Project timeline: plan milestones for patterning, construction, painting, fitting, and packing with convention deadline tracking
- Build diary: log progress with photos, notes, and technique records. Track what worked, what failed, and what to try next time
Overwhelmed? Start with a template.
Each template comes with milestones, starter materials, and a timeline. Skip the blank page and start building today.
Yuji Itadori
~3wJujutsu High's unassuming sorcerer-in-training: the pink-and-black undercut wig, white school uniform, and subtle Sukuna curse marks. The wig styling is the make-or-break challenge—it needs proper teasing, gel, and heat-setting to hold spikes through a con day. 4 components, 10 materials, 3-4 weeks, $75-150.
10 milestones·10 materials·$75-150·
Use templateNaruto Uzumaki
~4wThe most recognized ninja in anime: Naruto's orange zip-up jacket with white trim, blue sandals, Leaf Village headband, and spiky blonde hair. A beginner-friendly build with one statement jacket, a styled wig, and a few accessories that read instantly on the con floor. Includes 5 components, 12 materials with cost estimates, 11 milestones, and a realistic 4-week, $80 to $200 budget.
11 milestones·13 materials·$80-200·
Use template
A practical cosplay planning flow
Start with references, break the costume into components, list every material with a buy status, estimate the budget, set milestone dates backwards from the con, then log progress after each work session so the next task is always obvious.
- Collect reference images before buying materials, including back and detail shots.
- Break the costume into components: wig, garment, armor, props, shoes, makeup.
- Track materials by status: needed, ordered, arrived, or already owned.
- Set milestones backwards from your convention date, not forwards from today.
- Use build logs to capture mistakes, hours, and next steps while they are fresh.
A realistic 10-week build schedule
Most full costumes fit into about ten weeks if you protect buffer time. Weeks 1-2: gather references and finalize the material buy list. Weeks 3-4: order fabric, foam, wig, and paint, and start patterning while shipping arrives. Weeks 5-7: main construction, the longest and least predictable phase. Week 8: details, weathering, and paint. Week 9: first full fitting and a real wear test. Week 10: repairs, packing, and a repair kit for the con floor.
What to track first as a beginner
If this is your first build, skip complicated systems. Track the character, the deadline, reference images, the pieces to make or buy, the materials needed, an expected cost, and the single next task. Add time logs and detailed technique notes later, once the basics are actually holding up.
Coordinating more than one build
Many cosplayers juggle a main costume, a backup, repairs, and a future build at the same time. A planner keeps each project separate while still showing what needs attention next, which matters most when two builds share fabric, paint, tools, or the same convention deadline.
Planner vs a spreadsheet, Trello, or Notion
Spreadsheets and general tools can work, but you build and maintain the structure yourself, and that structure tends to rot mid-crunch. A cosplay-specific planner starts with the sections makers already need, so the first thing you do is add your build, not design a system.
- Spreadsheet: flexible for budgets, weak for references, photos, and timelines.
- Trello: good for task cards, poor at cost totals and material status.
- Notion: powerful but high-setup, and easy to abandon during con crunch.
- Dedicated planner: references, materials, budget, timeline, and build log in one place.
Planning around a convention deadline
Convention builds need buffer time. A realistic plan includes a final fitting, a full wear test in the finished costume, repair time for whatever breaks during that test, and a packing day before you travel. Leave the last week light on purpose.
What you get inside a cosplay project
Every project opens on a dashboard and holds the same six working sections. You move between them from the project sidebar, and they share the same data, so a material you add shows up in the budget without retyping it.
Reference board
A pannable canvas for reference images, color swatches, links, and sticky notes. Group nodes so they move together, drop in pages with the web clipper browser extension, and share a read-only board link when you want feedback. Starter includes 100 reference uploads per project.
Materials list
Every fabric, foam sheet, paint, wig, and fastener with a quantity, store link, unit cost, and a status: needed, ordered, arrived, owned, tested, or used. Your cross-project stash carries leftovers from the last build so you stop rebuying 2mm foam.
Budget
Set a total budget for the costume and the materials list totals against it. You see spent, remaining, and a breakdown by category, plus a split between what you bought for this build and what came out of your stash.
Timeline and milestones
Attach the project to a real convention from the convention database, or type your own build date. Milestones can be scheduled backwards from that date, so patterning, construction, paint, fitting, and packing land on actual days instead of vibes.
Build log
Log each work session with photos, hours, and what you changed. It's the part you'll reread six months later when you need to remember which primer you used or why the pauldron warped.
Build diary and sharing
Turn the build log into a documented diary with WIP photos, and share it publicly or export it. PDF and WIP book export are on Base and Studio, but the diary itself and reference board sharing are on the free Starter plan.
Costumary and the other cosplay planners
Cosplay planning apps come and go, which is exactly why people search for replacements. Here is where each one stands as of September 2026, listed alphabetically.
| Planner | Platform | Free tier | Paid | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosflowy | Mobile | Yes | Premium price not published | Active |
| Cosgear | Mobile | Not available | Not available | Dead |
| Cosplai | Mobile and web (cosplai.me) | 5 active projects, 25 images | Pro $9.99/mo | Active |
| Cosplan | Mobile only, no web app | Yes | No premium tier | Active |
| Cosplanner | Mobile | Not available | Not available | Dead |
| Costumary | Web, works in any browser | Starter: 2 active projects | Base $9/mo, Studio $19/mo | Active |
Checked September 2026. If you were on Cosplanner or Cosgear, read the full cosplanner alternatives comparison before you rebuild anything.
What a cosplay planner costs here
You can plan a full costume on the free plan. Paid tiers exist for people running several builds at once or taking client work.
Starter
$0
Enough to plan and finish a real costume without paying anything.
- 2 active projects
- 100 reference uploads per project
- Materials, budget, and stash tracking
- Build diary and reference board sharing
Base
$9/mo
For cosplayers juggling several builds against the same con deadline.
- Unlimited projects
- 200 reference uploads per project
- Project-aware build help
- PDF and WIP book export
Studio
$19/mo
Adds the commission side: client intake, quotes, and a client portal.
- Everything in Base
- Public intake form and request queue
- Quote builder and approval gates
- Client portal, no client account needed
Studio comes with a 30-day free trial, once per account. Base has no trial but a 14-day refund window. Yearly billing saves 20%.
Frequently
asked questions.
Keep learning
Next steps, deeper guides, and free tools to help you build.
Cosplanner Alternatives (2026)
Every cosplay planning app still standing, compared on price, platform, and what they actually track.
Convention Trip Budget: Real Costs
Badge prices, hotels, food, travel, and dealer room spending at real conventions.
Convention Packing Checklist
Interactive packing list that saves your progress across sessions.
Convention Trip Budget Planner
Plan your full con trip cost with travel, hotel, food, and spending.
Cosplay Budget Calculator
Estimate a build's total cost before you buy the first yard of fabric.
Upcoming conventions
Plan your build around a real deadline. Find dates, checklists, and budget estimates.
New York Comic Con 2026
Oct 8-11 · New York, NY
The East Coast's largest pop culture convention, with major panels, artist alley, and cosplay showcases.
Anime USA 2026
Oct 9-11 · Washington, DC
A mid-size anime convention in the DC metro area, offering panels, cosplay, and Japanese cultural programming.
Tsubasacon 2026
Oct 9-11 · Charleston, WV
Sekaicon 2026
Oct 9-11 · Newark, OH