Things vs Todoist

Things 3 is the right choice for individuals fully committed to the Apple ecosystem who want the most beautiful, focused, and thoughtfully designed task manager available—and who prefer paying once over subscribing forever. Todoist is the right choice for anyone who needs cross-platform access, team collaboration, or natural language input that handles complex recurring patterns. The choice is often simple: if you only use Apple devices and work alone, Things 3 is superior. If you use any non-Apple device or collaborate with others on tasks, Todoist is your only option between these two.

Things 3 was released in 2017 by Cultured Code, a German company known for obsessive attention to design detail. It won an Apple Design Award and is widely considered the most beautiful task manager ever made. The app is available as separate purchases: $9.99 for iPhone, $19.99 for iPad, and $49.99 for Mac—one-time purchases with no subscription. Cultured Code has maintained and updated Things 3 continuously since 2017 without requiring additional payment. The total cost ($79.97 for all platforms) pays for itself in under two years compared to Todoist Pro's $48/year subscription.

Todoist was founded in 2007 by Doist, a fully remote company. It is available on every platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, web, browser extensions, email plugins, and watch apps. Todoist's philosophy is universal access—your tasks should be available everywhere, on every device, with consistent functionality. The free tier allows 5 active projects and basic features. Pro at $4/month ($48/year) unlocks unlimited projects, reminders, labels, filters, and file uploads. Business at $6/user/month adds team features.

The design philosophy difference is immediately apparent when using both apps. Things 3 is opinionated about how you should organize your life: Areas (broad life categories like "Work," "Personal," "Health"), Projects (specific outcomes with deadlines), and Headings (sections within projects). This hierarchy maps naturally to GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology. The Today view shows what you committed to doing today. The Upcoming view shows your schedule. The Anytime view shows everything available. The Someday view holds ideas for later. Every view is clean, focused, and distraction-free.

Todoist is flexible about organization: projects can be nested infinitely, labels provide cross-cutting categorization, filters create custom views with complex queries, and sections organize tasks within projects. You can replicate Things 3's Areas/Projects structure in Todoist, or you can create entirely different organizational systems. This flexibility serves diverse workflows but requires more decisions about how to organize your system.

Feature deep-dive: Things 3 provides Areas, Projects with Headings, Today/Upcoming/Anytime/Someday views, tags, deadlines, checklists within tasks, repeating tasks, Quick Entry (global keyboard shortcut for capture), Mail to Things (email tasks to your inbox), Calendar integration (see calendar events alongside tasks), Shortcuts/automation support, and a Magic Plus button that adapts based on context. The interaction design is exceptional—every animation, every transition, every gesture feels intentional and polished.

Todoist provides projects (infinitely nestable), sections, labels, filters (custom views with query syntax), natural language input ("every weekday at 9am" creates a recurring task), comments on tasks, file attachments, task activity history, reminders (time and location-based), templates, integrations (100+ apps via API), collaboration (shared projects, task assignment, comments), and Karma (gamification of task completion). The natural language input is Todoist's standout feature—type "submit report every Friday at 5pm #work @high-priority" and it parses everything correctly.

The natural language input difference matters daily. Things 3 parses dates and times from text (type "tomorrow at 3pm" and it sets the deadline), but it does not handle complex patterns. Todoist handles sophisticated recurring patterns ("every 2nd Monday," "every weekday except holidays," "every 3 months starting Jan 15"), priorities, labels, and project assignment—all from a single text input. For power users who capture tasks rapidly, Todoist's parser saves significant time.

Collaboration is Todoist's exclusive advantage. Things 3 has zero collaboration features—it is a personal task manager only. You cannot share projects, assign tasks, or comment on others' tasks. Todoist supports shared projects where multiple people see the same tasks, assign work to each other, leave comments, and track completion. For teams (even small ones like a couple managing household tasks), Todoist's collaboration is essential.

Platform availability: Things 3 is Apple-only—Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch. No web app, no Windows, no Android, no Linux. If you ever need to check your tasks from a Windows computer or Android phone, Things 3 cannot help. Todoist is everywhere—native apps for every platform, a web app, browser extensions for Chrome/Firefox/Safari, plugins for Gmail and Outlook, and integrations with virtually every productivity tool.

Sync and reliability: Things 3 syncs via Things Cloud (their own sync service)—fast, reliable, and included free. Todoist syncs via their servers—equally fast and reliable. Neither has sync issues in practice. Things 3's sync is Apple-device-to-Apple-device only. Todoist syncs across all platforms.

Choose Things 3 when you are an individual (not a team) using only Apple devices, when you value beautiful design and thoughtful interaction above all else, when you prefer one-time purchase over ongoing subscriptions, when you follow or want to follow GTD methodology, when you want an opinionated structure (Areas/Projects) rather than infinite flexibility, or when you find Todoist's feature density overwhelming.

Choose Todoist when you use any non-Apple device (Windows, Android, Linux), when you need to collaborate on tasks with others (partner, team, family), when you want powerful natural language input for rapid task capture, when you need complex recurring task patterns, when you want integrations with other productivity tools (Zapier, IFTTT, calendar apps), or when you need a web app accessible from any browser.

Feature	Things	Todoist
Sugggest Score	—	1
Category	Productivity	Office & Productivity
Pricing	—	Freemium

Product Overview

Things

Description: Things is a task management app for Mac and iOS that helps users organize projects and to-do lists. It has a simple, clean interface and features like tags, reminders, and deep Apple integration.

Todoist

Description: Todoist is a popular to-do list and task management app for personal and team productivity. It allows users to organize tasks, set due dates and reminders, collaborate with others, and integrate with various third-party apps. Key features include customizable workflows, natural language parsing, and apps for all major platforms.

Key Features Comparison

Things Features

• Task management
• Project organization
• To-do lists
• Tags
• Reminders
• Deep Apple integration

Todoist Features

• Task management
• Project planning
• Collaboration tools
• Mobile apps
• Browser extensions
• Natural language input
• Reminders and notifications
• Productivity analytics

Pros & Cons Analysis

Things

Pros

• Simple, clean interface
• Powerful organization features
• Seamless syncing between Mac, iPhone, iPad
• Strong Apple integration

Cons

• No web app
• Can be pricey for extensive features
• iOS-focused features may not appeal to non-Apple users

Todoist

Pros

• Intuitive interface
• Powerful features
• Great for personal and team productivity
• Flexible pricing options
• Seamless sync across devices
• Strong third-party integration

Cons

• Can be overwhelming for new users
• Mobile apps lack some advanced features
• No offline access
• Free version lacks team features

Pricing Comparison

Things

• Not listed

Todoist

• Freemium