Todoist vs Things 3 2026: Which Task Manager Is Better?

Two Very Different Philosophies

Todoist and Things 3 are both excellent task managers, but they serve fundamentally different audiences. Todoist is a cross-platform powerhouse available everywhere —web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android —with team collaboration and deep integrations. Things 3 is an Apple-exclusive app that prioritizes beauty, simplicity, and focus over feature breadth.

Choosing between them isn't about which is objectively better —it's about which philosophy matches how you work. If you live entirely in the Apple ecosystem and want a tool that stays out of your way, Things 3 is compelling. If you need your tasks on every device and collaborate with others, Todoist is the clear choice.

Todoist: The Universal Task Manager

Todoist's superpower is natural language processing. Type 'Review proposal tomorrow 2pm #work p1' and Todoist automatically parses the date, project, and priority. This makes capturing tasks incredibly fast —no clicking through fields, just type and press Enter.

The cross-platform consistency is excellent. Whether you're on Windows at work, a Mac at home, or Android on the go, the experience is identical. Quick Add widgets, email forwarding, and browser extensions let you capture tasks from anywhere without opening the app.

The Pro plan ($6/mo) adds reminders, unlimited labels, filters, and upload attachments. The Business plan adds shared projects, team activity logs, and admin controls. For personal use, the free plan is surprisingly capable —the main limitation is 10 projects and 5 people per project.

Where Todoist falls short: The interface is functional but not beautiful. The project hierarchy can feel cluttered with complex systems. There's no start date concept —only due dates —which makes planning harder for people who think in terms of 'when to start' rather than 'when it's due'.

Things 3: Beautiful Focus

Things 3 is the task manager that makes you want to do your tasks. The interface is meticulously crafted —smooth animations, thoughtful typography, and a layout that feels like a premium Apple app. But the beauty isn't superficial; it serves a purpose: reducing friction so you spend less time managing tasks and more time doing them.

The Today view is Things 3's signature feature. It shows only what you should work on today —tasks with due dates, scheduled tasks, and anything you've manually added to today. The Upcoming view shows a clean timeline of future work. This separation keeps you focused on the present without losing sight of what's ahead.

Areas and projects provide clean hierarchy. Areas are life categories (Work, Personal, Health), projects group related tasks, and headings within projects create further structure. It's simple but sufficient for most personal task management needs.

Where Things 3 falls short: No collaboration whatsoever —no shared projects, no assignments, no comments. No Windows or Android apps. No web app (unless you use the third-party ThingsViewer). No integrations —no Zapier, no IFTTT, no email-to-task. And the one-time pricing adds up: $50 Mac + $10 iPhone + $20 iPad = $80 total.

Our Honest Recommendation

Choose Todoist if: You use non-Apple devices (Windows, Android, Linux), you collaborate with others on tasks, you rely on integrations (Zapier, Slack, calendar sync), or you prefer subscription pricing over upfront cost. Todoist is the practical choice for most people.

Choose Things 3 if: You use only Apple devices, you manage tasks solo, you value beauty and simplicity over raw features, and you're willing to pay one-time for each platform. Things 3 is the emotional choice —the one that makes task management feel pleasant rather than like another chore.

The contrarian pick: Use both. Things 3 for personal life management (health, habits, home projects) where the elegance keeps you engaged. Todoist for work tasks where collaboration, integrations, and cross-platform access are essential. This is surprisingly common among productivity enthusiasts.