I make Tasks, the first app on this list, so keep that in mind as you read. I’ve tried to describe every app here the way I’d want mine described: who it’s for, what it does better than Things, where it falls short, what it costs and where it runs. Every price and platform comes from the developer’s own site or the App Store, checked on 14 October 2026, and the sources are listed at the end of the page. Prices are in US dollars.
Things 3 is a lovely app, and Cultured Code still looks after it. Version 3.24 came out in September with support for this year’s Apple software and Siri. If it works for you, you don’t need to switch. People usually start looking when they need something Things was never designed to do.
What Things 3 doesn’t do
Things is made for one person. Cultured Code says it doesn’t support real-time sharing of to-dos or lists, so there’s no way to hand a task to someone else or plan a project together.
It only runs on Apple devices. There’s no web, Windows or Android version, which matters the day your work laptop runs Windows.
To-dos can’t hold images or files. Cultured Code suggests uploading them somewhere else and pasting the link into the notes.
It’s sold separately on each platform: $49.99 on Mac, $9.99 on iPhone (with the Apple Watch app included), $19.99 on iPad and $29.99 on Apple Vision Pro. Each is a one-time purchase with no subscription, and the only free trial is 15 days on the Mac.
There’s also no official way to connect ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Cultured Code says third-party MCP tools aren’t supported.
None of this is a flaw if you plan alone on Apple devices and like Things’ calm, opinionated way of working. Each item is a good reason to look around if it’s the thing you keep running into.
Tasks
This is my app, so I’ve put it first, and the disclosure at the top of the page applies. Tasks is for people who like how Things feels on Apple devices but whose projects need stages, extra details or other people.
Each project can have its own statuses, so tasks move through stages like To Do, Doing and Done, and you can see them as a Kanban board. Projects can have their own fields too, such as dates, people, files or task types. You can share a project, assign tasks and talk about them in comments, and only the person who shares it needs Tasks Plus. Tasks can hold images, PDFs and other files, remind you when you arrive somewhere or leave, and time how long you spend on each one. Siri and Shortcuts can reach it through more than 50 App Intents, and it can work with your Reminders lists. An AI assistant like ChatGPT or Claude can join a project as a collaborator you assign tasks to.
It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, and the web app is in beta testing. There’s no Windows or Android app. Tasks is a free download with limits. Tasks Plus is $3.99 a month or $24.99 a year, or $59.99 once for lifetime access, and every plan works with Family Sharing. It’s rated 4.8 from more than 9,000 ratings on the App Store worldwide.
The trade-off is choice. Tasks gives you more ways to set up a project than Things does, and if what you want is a planner that has already made those decisions for you, Things is better at that. There’s no Things importer either, so I’d move one active area first and only recreate what you still use.
The full side-by-side, with a feature table, is in Tasks vs Things 3. The pricing page has the plans.
OmniFocus 4
OmniFocus is for people who practise Getting Things Done seriously and want more control than Things gives them. Defer dates keep a task out of sight until you can act on it. Forecast shows what’s due next to your calendar events, and Review walks you through each project on a schedule you set. The Pro edition adds custom perspectives, which are saved views you build yourself, and Omni Automation plug-ins that work across devices, plus AppleScript on the Mac.
The trade-off is price and depth. A Standard licence is $74.99 and Pro is $149.99, both one-time purchases that cover Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro in a single universal app. You can subscribe instead for $99.99 a year, which always gives you Pro and includes OmniFocus for the Web. The web version is how you’d reach it from Windows or Android, and licence holders can add it for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. There’s a 14-day free trial.
Like Things, it’s a personal system: shared projects aren’t part of its feature list. Omni’s 2026 roadmap talks about MCP support for AI assistants, but it hasn’t shipped yet. The latest version, 4.9.3, came out on 8 October.
I’ve written a longer comparison of Tasks and OmniFocus.
Todoist
Todoist is the one to look at when your tasks need to follow you onto every device, including ones Apple doesn’t make. It has apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch and Wear OS, with browser extensions and email add-ons on top.
Its Quick Add understands natural language, so you can type a date in plain words as you add a task. A project can be shown as a list or a board on the free plan, and as a calendar on Pro. You can share projects with other people, which Things can’t do. Todoist Assist adds AI features such as turning a rambling voice note into tasks, and its official MCP server lets ChatGPT, Claude and other assistants work with your account on every plan.
The trade-off is that it’s a subscription. The free Beginner plan allows five personal projects, three custom filters and 5 MB file uploads. Pro costs $5 a month billed yearly ($60) or $7 billed monthly, and Business is $8 per person a month billed yearly. Todoist aims to feel the same everywhere, and that’s its strength, but to me it has fewer Apple-specific touches than Things.
There’s more detail in Tasks vs Todoist.
TickTick
TickTick suits people who plan their day on a calendar and want habits and a focus timer in the same app. It has calendar views from a single day up to a whole year, plus an agenda. It also has a habit tracker, a Pomodoro timer, Kanban and timeline views, and an Eisenhower Matrix for sorting by urgency and importance. Dates are understood as you type, lists can be shared with other people, and an official MCP server connects it to AI assistants.
It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android, Windows, Linux and the web, with a browser extension as well.
Premium costs $49.99 a year, or $4.99 a month through the App Store. The free plan is fairly tight: 9 lists, 99 tasks per list and two reminders per task, and the full calendar views need Premium. TickTick does a lot, so if you liked Things because it’s quiet, it may feel busy at first.
I compared it with Tasks in Tasks vs TickTick.
Apple Reminders
Reminders is free, already on your devices, and has grown much more capable than most people remember. It’s the obvious choice if what you mostly need is a list you can share at home.
It does several things Things doesn’t. Shared lists let you assign a reminder to someone with an @ mention. Reminders can trigger when you arrive somewhere or get in the car. You can attach photos and document scans, mark something Urgent to get an alarm, and have grocery lists sort themselves into categories like Produce. Lists can be split into sections and shown as columns you drag between, and custom Smart Lists can filter by tags, dates, locations, flags and priority. With Apple Intelligence you can type a sentence and have the details filled in, though that needs an iPhone 15 Pro or later and isn’t available in every language.
It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, and there’s a version on iCloud.com, but it’s limited: you can’t manage sharing there, for example. Outside Apple’s devices there’s nothing else.
Read Tasks vs Apple Reminders for more, or see how Tasks can work with your Reminders lists.
GoodTask
GoodTask, from haha Interactive, is for people who like Reminders’ free iCloud sync and sharing but want a more powerful app on top of it. It’s built on Apple’s Reminders and Calendar, so your tasks stay in Reminders, sync through the same account and are still there if you stop using GoodTask.
What it adds is control. Smart Lists can combine lists and calendars and filter by tags, dates and priorities. Quick Actions let you edit many tasks at once. Each list can be shown as a day, week or month calendar, or as a board grouped by date, priority, list or tag.
On iPhone and iPad it’s a free download that you can try for 14 days, then unlock with a one-time Unlock Everything purchase of $19.99, which also covers Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. The Mac app is a separate $39.99, with a free trial on GoodTask’s website. Because the tasks live in Reminders, GoodTask can only store what Reminders can store, and a few of its own settings don’t sync between devices. It’s actively developed: version 8.4.9 came out on 12 October.
2Do
2Do suits Mac power users who want a lot of control, especially over how their data syncs, and would rather pay once. You can sync through Dropbox, Apple Reminders, Todoist, Toodledo, iCloud, Fastmail, Fruux or your own CalDAV server. It has Smart Lists, a Focus mode, projects with checklists, lists you can lock with a password, and Mail to 2Do. Its website says there’s an MCP server built in for assistants such as Claude.
The detail that matters most here: the Mac app says it can bring your tasks over from Things or OmniFocus in a few clicks, which no other app on this list offers for Things.
2Do is now made by Beehive Innovations, the team behind BusyCal, and new iPhone and iPad apps arrived in September 2026. The iPhone app is $9.99 and the iPad app is $19.99, both one-time purchases. The Mac app is $49.99 from 2Do’s store, with a 14-day trial, or through Setapp. A Mac licence covers up to five Macs and includes 18 months of updates, after which you keep the last version you received. There’s an Android app as well.
The trade-offs are the separate purchases and the move to the new iOS apps, which are a new purchase for owners of the old version. The Android app also can’t use the new iCloud sync.
Microsoft To Do
Microsoft To Do makes the most sense if you already live in Outlook or Microsoft 365, or need something free that also runs on a Windows PC. It’s free with a Microsoft account and runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Windows, Android and the web.
My Day gives you a fresh daily list with suggested tasks. Shared lists let you assign tasks to anyone on the list. If you use an Outlook.com or other Microsoft-hosted account, emails you flag in Outlook show up as tasks. You can attach files of up to 25 MB to a task.
There are limits. Work and school lists can only be shared inside your organisation, and Microsoft’s own advice is to start teams on Planner. The most recent iPhone and Mac update, in July 2026, listed bug fixes only.
Here’s how it compares with Tasks.
How to choose
If you plan alone on Apple devices and Things still feels right, stay with it. If you want GTD in depth, OmniFocus goes further than anything else here. If you need Windows or Android, look at Todoist, or at TickTick if your days are run by a calendar.
For free shared lists at home, start with Apple Reminders, and add GoodTask if you outgrow it without wanting to leave. If you’d rather pay once and choose your own sync, 2Do also imports from Things. If your job runs on Outlook, Microsoft To Do is free and already connected. And if your projects move through stages or involve other people, give Tasks a try.