Tasks, calendars and focus10 picks
The best to-do and planner apps for Mac and iPhone
Things 3 is the to-do app most Apple users should buy, and TickTick is the best free one.
Things 3Pick it if you live on Apple devices and want a calm to-do list you pay for once.From $9.99Things 3 is a calm to-do app for every Apple device that you pay for once, with free sync and your calendar above today's tasks. TickTick is the best free pick, with tasks, habits, a calendar and a Pomodoro timer that also work on Android. If you plan in time blocks, Structured fits better, and OmniFocus is for people running dozens of projects.
How we chose
- 1One-time price or monthly subscription
- 2Seeing tasks and calendar together
- 3Fast task entry in plain sentences
Compare at a glance
Tap a name to jump to its write-up.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | Watch | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Things 3 | From $9.99 | Pay once | 4.8 | |||||||
 Todoist | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 TickTick | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.9 | |||||||
 Structured | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 Notion | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||||
 OmniFocus | $74.99 once | Pay once | 4 | |||||||
 Sunsama | From $17 | Subscription | Too few ratings | |||||||
 Akiflow | From $19 | Subscription | Too few ratings | |||||||
 NotePlan | From $12 | Subscription | 4.8 | |||||||
 Superlist | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings |
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The picks, in order
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Pick it if you live on Apple devices and want a calm to-do list you pay for once.
Buying Things 3 for Mac, iPad and iPhone costs $79.97 once, and syncing between them never costs anything. In return you get a calm to-do app that puts your calendar above the Today list, sets a reminder when you type something like Wed 8pm, and splits big projects into headings. It is built for 1 person's tasks, so if you share lists with a partner or team, Superlist is the better fit.
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Pick this if you want to add tasks as plain sentences and have dates and repeats filled in for you.
Things charges $49.99 for its Mac app alone, while Todoist's free plan covers 5 projects on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Type "Submit report every Friday at 4pm #Work" and it files a dated, repeating task in the right project, or talk through your list with Ramble and let it sort things. Past 5 projects or for full history you need Pro at $59.99 a year.
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Pick it if you want tasks, habits and a focus timer for free, including on Android and the web.
Free for 9 lists of 99 tasks each, TickTick puts a to-do list, a habit tracker, and a Pomodoro timer in 1 app on iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, Android and the web. Type tasks in plain English, like "call mom Friday 6pm", and it sets the date and reminder. Full calendar and timeline views need Premium at $49.99 a year, and Things fits better if you only use Apple devices and would rather pay once.
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Pick this if you plan best by seeing your day as time blocks on 1 visual timeline.
A to-do list doesn't tell you whether everything fits in today, and a calendar alone doesn't hold your tasks. Structured lays both on 1 timeline across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and the free version covers the timeline, inbox, subtasks, focus timer and widgets. Pro, which pulls in your calendars and Reminders and adds recurring routines, is $29.99 a year, less than 2 months of Sunsama.
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Pick it if you want to build your own project boards and trackers instead of using a fixed to-do list.
Most people end up with tasks in 1 app, notes in another and a spreadsheet for the rest, and Notion puts all 3 into pages built from 50+ kinds of blocks. Templates give you a reading list or project tracker fast, and Notion AI answers questions about your pages. It is free for 1 person but takes time to set up, and Anytype is the pick if you want your data kept on your device.
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Pick this if you run dozens of projects and want a strict system with a weekly review.
Sort every task into projects, tags and dates, then walk through each project in a guided weekly review so nothing goes stale. The Forecast view shows what's due, and one license covers Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro with free encrypted sync. At $74.99 once for Standard, plus a real learning curve, it's wrong for anyone who just wants a list; Things or Apple Reminders suit them better.
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Pick it if your tasks come from Asana, Jira, Slack and email and you want to fit them into real calendar time.
If your tasks live in Asana, Jira, Slack and your inbox at once, Sunsama pulls them into 1 daily list and has you drag each one onto your calendar, so you see when the day is already full. It syncs both ways with Google, Outlook and Apple calendars. At $17 a month billed yearly it costs more than most to-do apps, and Apple Reminders is enough if your work lives in one place.
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Pick this if you want tasks from email, Slack and several calendars collected in 1 inbox before you schedule them.
At $19 a month billed yearly, or $34 month to month, Akiflow costs more than Sunsama, so it makes sense only if your tasks really are scattered across tools. It pulls them from email, Slack and other apps into 1 inbox, then lets you time-block them on a calendar that merges work and personal events. The 7-day trial needs a credit card, and it also runs on Windows and the web.
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Pick it if you keep a bullet journal and want each day's page next to your calendar on the Mac.
Apple Notes and Calendar live in separate apps, while NotePlan gives every day its own Markdown note with your Calendar events and Reminders beside it. Drag a task onto the timeline and it becomes a time block, notes link both ways, and everything stays as plain Markdown files in your own iCloud. At $99 a year it costs less than half of Sunsama, Setapp subscribers already have it, and Logseq does daily notes free.
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Pick this if you share lists with family or a small team and want notes attached to every task.
The team behind Wunderlist built this to-do app, and every task can hold its own notes, subtasks and checklists, so a task doubles as a small doc. Type or say 'Dentist Friday at 2pm' and it becomes a dated task, and lists can be shared with family or coworkers. The free plan stops at 5 lists and 5 people per shared list, and for a personal list Apple Reminders already does the job.
Head to head
Stuck between 2 of these? Each comparison lines up price, devices and who should pick which.
- Things 3 vs TodoistPick this if you want to add tasks as plain sentences and have dates and repeats filled in for you.
- Things 3 vs TickTickPick it if you want tasks, habits and a focus timer for free, including on Android and the web.
- Things 3 vs StructuredPick this if you plan best by seeing your day as time blocks on 1 visual timeline.
- Todoist vs TickTickPick it if you want tasks, habits and a focus timer for free, including on Android and the web.
