Apple App Picks

Productivity

Best To-Do Apps for 2026

Five task managers for people who actually finish things.

We tested for three weeks before we wrote this. No review units, no affiliate compensation, no sponsorship.

To-do apps are a small, mature category and most of the volatility in the rankings comes from how you weight Apple-ecosystem-only versus cross-platform. We’ve split the difference here — Todoist takes the top because it’s strong cross-platform, but Things 3 is closer to a tie than the ranking suggests, and we recommend it specifically in the Productivity list.

If you only need an iOS task manager and don’t collaborate on lists, Things 3 might be the right pick for you. If you live across iPhone, web, and Windows or Android, or you share lists with anyone, Todoist is the answer. Both are excellent.

How we tested

I (James) have used Todoist continuously across iPhone, Mac, web, and Android for several years. Lily uses Things 3 as her primary task manager (covered in the Productivity list at length). OmniFocus we both ran in parallel for two months for this update. Apple Reminders we use as the always-on baseline. TickTick I ran for six weeks for this list.

1. Todoist — Top Pick

Best for: most people, especially those across multiple platforms.

Todoist is the most polished cross-platform task manager. The natural-language entry is the best in the category — typing “review report tomorrow at 3pm #work @laptop p1” creates the right task with the right project, label, due date, and priority. The collaboration features (shared projects, comments, file attachments) are the best in the category for personal users. The cross-platform parity is real — the Android app, web app, and Windows desktop are all genuinely usable, not afterthoughts.

The case against Todoist is that the free tier has gotten more limited over the years. In 2026 the free plan caps at 5 projects, no reminders, no labels. Most serious users will need Premium. At $5/month or $48/year, it’s still cheaper than most equivalents.

Pros:

• Best natural-language entry
• True cross-platform parity
• Strong collaboration for personal users
• Mature, stable product

Cons:

• Free tier is increasingly limited
• Subscription required for serious use
• Less Apple-native than Things 3

Pricing: Limited free tier. Premium $5/month or $48/year.

2. Things 3 — Best Apple-Only

Best for: Apple-ecosystem-only users who don’t need collaboration.

Things 3 is the productivity top pick on this site for a reason. Beautiful design, sane hierarchy, instant sync, one-time purchase. It’s a better-designed app than Todoist. The reason it’s #2 here and not #1 is the cross-platform gap — if you live in Windows or Android even occasionally, Things isn’t an option. And there’s no real-time collaboration.

For Apple-only users with personal task management (no shared lists), Things 3 is the right pick. For everyone else, Todoist.

Pros:

• Best-designed task manager on iOS
• One-time purchase
• Instant, reliable sync

Cons:

• Apple ecosystem only
• No collaboration
• Slow update cadence

Pricing: $9.99 (iPhone) / $19.99 (iPad) / $49.99 (Mac). One-time.

3. OmniFocus — Best for GTD Practitioners

Best for: committed GTD users.

OmniFocus is the most powerful task manager on iOS, and it expects you to bring the discipline to use it. The Inbox/Projects/Contexts hierarchy maps directly to David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology, and the perspectives feature lets you build any view of your tasks you can imagine. For a serious GTD practitioner, OmniFocus is the only app on this list that actually fits.

The case against OmniFocus is that the power is overkill for most people, and the steep subscription pricing makes it hard to justify if you’re not using the depth.

Pros:

• Most powerful task manager on iOS
• True GTD-aligned hierarchy
• Custom perspectives are unmatched

Cons:

• Steep subscription pricing
• Overkill for non-GTD users
• Apple ecosystem only

Pricing: Standard $59.99/year. Pro $99.99/year.

4. Apple Reminders — Best Free Default

Best for: anyone who hasn’t tried it.

Apple Reminders has improved dramatically since the iOS 13 redesign. Smart Lists. Tags. Subtasks. Templates. Natural-language date entry that’s competitive with Todoist’s. Tight Siri integration (genuinely useful for car / “remember to call mom” use cases). For users who don’t need cross-platform or heavy organization, Apple Reminders is enough.

The case against is that “enough” is the ceiling. For real personal-task-management depth, the dedicated apps are still better. But the gap has narrowed meaningfully in the last three years.

Pros:

• Free, ships with iOS
• Best Siri / voice integration
• Genuinely capable
• iCloud sync is reliable

Cons:

• Apple ecosystem only
• Lacks the depth of dedicated apps
• Lists/projects model is shallower than Todoist’s

Pricing: Free.

5. TickTick — Best Free Power User

Best for: users who want Todoist-style features without the subscription.

TickTick is the best free-tier task manager on iOS. Pomodoro built in, calendar integration, habit tracking, natural-language entry. The free tier is generous in a way Todoist’s is not. The downsides: the design is a step less polished than Todoist or Things, and the company is owned by a large Chinese tech parent which raises trust questions for some users.

Pros:

• Most generous free tier
• Pomodoro and habit tracking built in
• Genuinely cross-platform

Cons:

• Less polished than Todoist or Things
• Ownership-based trust concerns for some users
• Premium is needed for some power features

Pricing: Free tier. Premium $35.99/year.

Quick Comparison Table

Verdict