Best To-Do List Apps Compared: Todoist, TickTick, Things 3 and More

You downloaded a to-do app, spent an evening setting up projects and labels, and used it properly for about nine days.

Now it has 140 tasks in it and you avoid opening it.

That's not a character flaw. It usually means the app was built for a bigger list than yours, or a smaller one. This guide matches the main to-do apps to the kind of list you actually keep.

First, work out what size your list is

Before comparing apps, spend two minutes on this. Look at everything you need to do in a normal week and sort it roughly into three groups.

• Projects: things with several steps, like planning a move, launching a side business or running a renovation.
• Lists: groups of small items, like groceries, packing or things to ask the dentist.
• Time-bound reminders: single things that must happen at a certain time, like paying a bill or calling the school before 3pm.

Most people find their week is mostly the third group, with a few lists and one or two projects. If that's you, a heavy project app can feel like overkill. If your week is full of projects with steps and other people involved, a light app will feel cramped.

Keep your answer in mind as you go through the options.

Todoist: best for organising a lot of work

Todoist is built to organise a large list. You can break a project into sections and subtasks, sort by priority, filter by label, view work as boards, and share projects with a team. Quick add understands natural-language dates, so "every Monday at 9am send report" becomes a repeating task, and its repeat rules handle a wide range of patterns. It has apps for phone, desktop and web.

It suits: people who manage several projects at once, and small teams who want shared projects without a heavy work tool.

Watch out for: the list growing faster than you clear it. Todoist makes adding easy, which is great until the inbox becomes a guilt pile.

A habit that helps: give every task one of two fates when you add it: a date, or a project with no date. Undated tasks with no home are the ones that rot.

TickTick: best if you want everything in one app

TickTick packs a lot in: lists with tags and smart lists, built-in calendar views, a habit tracker with streaks, a focus timer and a priority matrix. It has voice input in the app, statistics on what you've done, and apps for phone, desktop and web.

It suits: people who want tasks, habits, a calendar view and focus sessions in one place, and who enjoy setting up a system.

Watch out for: spending more time arranging the app than doing the tasks. Lots of features can mean lots of decisions.

A habit that helps: pick two features you'll use daily, such as the list and the calendar view, and ignore the rest for the first month.

Things 3: best for planners on Apple devices

Things 3 is a carefully made app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. You group to-dos into projects and areas, split a project with headings, break a to-do into a checklist and filter by tag. Your calendar events appear next to your to-dos in the Today and Upcoming views. You can add tasks through Siri or by forwarding email with Mail to Things.

It's a one-time purchase per device type rather than a subscription, sync through Things Cloud is free, and the Mac version has a 15-day free trial.

It suits: people who live on Apple devices and like to plan the week in projects and areas.

Watch out for: it's Apple only. If you use an Android phone or a Windows PC at work, your list won't follow you.

A habit that helps: use the Today list as a short, chosen list each morning instead of a dumping ground. If it's longer than you could finish, move things to Upcoming.

Remember The Milk: best for shared lists on every screen

Remember The Milk has been around a long time. It runs on the web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple Watch, so your lists follow you almost anywhere. You type tasks with plain-language dates, share lists, and assign tasks to other people. There's a free plan, and Pro adds subtasks, advanced sorting and grouping, attachments, Outlook sync, IFTTT and Zapier connections.

It suits: households or small groups who share lists, and people who switch between many kinds of devices.

Watch out for: if you mostly use it for "remind me to..." items, the reminders can still slip by as ordinary notifications.

A habit that helps: keep one shared list per job (groceries, house jobs, trip prep) rather than one big shared list where nobody knows what's theirs.

Where Mindie fits, and where it doesn't

Mindie is not a project app. It has no projects, labels, priorities, subtasks or boards, and its lists are personal rather than shared. If those are why you use a to-do app, stick with one of the four above.

What Mindie covers is the third group from earlier: time-bound reminders, plus short lists. It lives in WhatsApp, so there's nothing to open or organise. You text it:

"Every Tuesday at 7pm remind me it's bin night"

"Add sunscreen, plasters and a phone charger to my beach list"

It confirms each one. When a reminder arrives, reply "done" or "snooze 1 hour". For a list, ask "what's on my beach list?" any time. If a deadline matters, ask for a heads-up: "remind me before the passport form is due on the 20th".

A common setup is to keep Todoist or Things for projects, and send Mindie the handful of bills, appointments and follow-ups that can't be missed. They don't sync, so pick one home for each kind of task.

A quick comparison

• Most organising power: Todoist.
• Most features in one app: TickTick.
• Best on Apple for planners: Things 3.
• Best for shared lists on many devices: Remember The Milk.
• Best for reminders that arrive where you already look: Mindie in WhatsApp.

How to keep any to-do app from turning into a guilt pile

Whichever app you choose, the same few habits decide whether you'll still be using it in three months.

1. Separate "someday" from "this week". Most apps let you park ideas in a list without dates. Keep that list out of your daily view.
2. Add a date or delete it. If a task has no date and no project after a week, it probably doesn't matter.
3. Do a short weekly sweep. Ten minutes on a Sunday to clear done items, move dates and choose what matters next week. Our guide to the weekly review walks through it.
4. Write tasks as actions. "Call the vet to book Max's jab" gets done. "Vet" sits there.
5. Get open loops out of your head. Unfinished tasks keep nagging at you until they're written down somewhere you trust, which is the Zeigarnik effect at work.

Reminders worth setting

• Weekly report reminder: A Friday nudge to send the weekly update before the day gets away from you.
• Quarterly goals reminder: A check-in every three months to look at what you planned and what moved.
• Library books reminder: A heads-up a couple of days before books are due back.
• Return a package reminder: A reminder before the return window closes on something you meant to send back.

FAQ

Which to-do app is best if I only use a Mac and an iPhone?

Things 3 is built for Apple devices and suits people who plan in projects and areas. Todoist and TickTick have apps for phone, desktop and web, which helps if you ever add a non-Apple device.

What's the difference between a to-do list app and a reminder app?

A to-do app is built to organise tasks: projects, lists, labels and priorities. A reminder app is built to get one thing in front of you at the right time. Many people use both, one for planning and one for the things that can't be missed.

Is a one-time purchase better than a subscription for a to-do app?

It can be cheaper over time if you stay on the same devices. Things 3 is a one-time purchase per device type, while many other apps use plans. Choose by the features you'll use daily first, then by price.