Best To Do List App? 7 Top Options Compared in 2021 (Most Are Free)

We’ll share seven of the most popular and best to do list apps. For each app, we’ll specify whether it’s best for personal use or team/business collaboration. Then, we’ll also share key details on features, operating platform/app availability, pricing, and more.

• Todoist
• Microsoft To Do
• Any.do
• TickTick
• Things
• OmniFocus
• Remember the Milk

Best to do list app: QUICK SUMMARY

If you’re in a hurry, here are our picks for the best apps for certain use cases. Keep reading for more details on all your options:

Todoist

• Best for:  Individuals OR teams/businesses. There are plans and features for both. 

With features/plans for individuals and teams, Todoist is one of the best all-around to do list apps. It also has one of the best user experiences, which helps explain its popularity.

One of Todoist’s standout features is its easy task adding using natural language processing. Instead of needing to use separate fields to assign categories and set due dates, Todoist lets you add everything by just typing in a box using natural language, which makes it super easy to quickly add tasks.

Another standout feature is its many apps. In addition to having apps for all the platforms that you’d expect, you also get dedicated add-ons for web browsers and even email clients like Gmail and Outlook so that you can quickly add tasks no matter where you’re working.

Personally, I think this is the overall best to do list app, which is why it’s what I use for my own work.

Task management features 📋

• Create tasks using natural language processing. E.g. type “Finish the reorganization for the #Sandler project by next Tuesday” and Todoist will automatically assign the task to the Sandler project and set the due date for next Tuesday. See how it works.
• Recurring tasks. Set up flexible schedules for recurring tasks.
• Projects. Organize tasks into different projects.
• Kanban boards. View tasks in Kanban view in addition to lists (Kanban boards are what Trello uses).
• Sections and sub-tasks. Further organize tasks by creating sections and sub-tasks as needed.
• Priority levels. Add priority levels to highlight the most important tasks.
• Reminders. Get reminders for time-sensitive tasks (Pro plan only).

Available apps 📱

• Web
• Browser extensions (Chrome, Safari, and Firefox)
• iOS
• Android
• macOS
• Windows 10
• Linux
• Apple Watch and Wear OS for wearables
• Email (dedicated add-ons for Gmail and Outlook to turn emails into tasks)
• Voice assistants (Google, Siri, and Alexa)

Collaboration features 🤝

• Assign tasks. For team plans, you can assign tasks to other users in your team.
• Comments. Add comments to shared tasks.
• File uploads. Add files to tasks and share them with other users.

Other notable features 👍

• Productivity analytics. See details on how effective you are at closing tasks.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ✅
• Starting paid price for individuals: $3/month
• Starting paid price for teams: $5/user/month

Microsoft To Do

• Best for:  Individuals. 

Microsoft To Do is the reincarnation of Wunderlist, a popular to do app that Microsoft purchased in 2019 and then shut down in 2020. While the name is different, Microsoft To Do shares a lot of the same features as Wunderlist and has a design that looks strikingly similar as well.

Despite coming from Microsoft, Microsoft To Do is fully cross-platform. While it does include some sharing features, Microsoft To Do is primarily for individuals looking for a solution to manage their own tasks.

Overall, it can be a good option for simple task management, but it lacks the advanced features that some of the other tools offer so it’s probably not the best option for power users.

It can also be nice if you’re already using Outlook for emails because it integrates with some of Outlook’s features.

Task management features 📋

• Task categories/lists. Create different categories of tasks, e.g. “Work”, “Home”, “Grocery Store”, etc.
• Sub-tasks. Break down tasks into different steps that you can check off.
• Due dates and reminders. Add due dates to tasks and get reminders before they’re due.
• Attachments. Attach files to tasks.

Available apps 📱

• Web
• Android
• iOS
• Windows 10
• Mac

Collaboration features 🤝

• Shared to do lists. Create shared lists that you can collaborate on with other Microsoft To Do users.

Other notable features 👍

• Outlook integration. If you’re using Outlook, Microsoft To Do has a built-in Outlook Tasks integration that lets you view all of your tasks in one place.
• Other Microsoft integrations. It also integrates with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Teams, which are other features that may be useful for people in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ✅ 100% free

Any.do

• Best for:  Individuals OR teams/businesses. There are plans and features for both. 

Any.do is a flexible to do list app with features for both individuals/personal use and teams/business use.

The free plan makes a great option for individuals looking for simple to do lists, while the paid plan adds features like flexible reminders and, if you’re part of a team, collaboration features.

One of the most unique things about Any.do is that it includes a built-in calendar view that lets you assign time blocks to tasks and view your entire schedule in a calendar (much like Google Calendar or other similar tools).

Task management features 📋

• Add tasks using natural language processing. Like Todoist, you can add tasks using natural language processing – called Smart Type.
• Organization. Organize your tags using lists and tags.
• Calendar view. See tasks on a calendar view, complete with specific times of day. This is pretty unique for a to do list app.
• Kanban view. See tasks on a Kanban view, like Trello.
• Reminders. Get reminders, including unique options like location-based reminders (for the mobile app) and WhatsApp reminders.

Available apps 📱

• Web
• iOS
• Android
• Windows desktop
• Mac
• Apple Watch and Wear OS
• Chrome extension (with Firefox on the way)
• Voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant)

Collaboration features 🤝

• Assign tasks. You can assign individual tasks to other team members.
• Built-in discussion. You can have internal discussions on each task.
• Share file attachments. Attach files to tasks and share them with other team members.

Other notable features 👍

• Dedicated grocery list feature. For personal use, there’s a dedicated grocery list feature that will automatically organize items by the aisle where you’ll find them.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ✅
• Starting paid price for individuals: $2.99/month (if you pay annually)
• Starting paid price for teams: $5/user/month

TickTick

• Best for:  Individuals OR teams/businesses. There are plans and features for both. 

TickTick is another feature-rich to do app that comes with useful features like voice input tasks and natural language processing for due dates, along with added views like calendar and Kanban views.

TickTick has pretty good app coverage, with dedicated browser extensions and email add-ons to turn emails into tasks. The only other to do app on this list that rivals it in that respect is Todoist and maybe Any.do.

Overall, it’s another solid app if you value having lots of features and different ways to view your upcoming tasks.

Task management features 📋

• Voice input tasks. Create tasks using your voice.
• Natural language due dates. Add due dates using natural language instead of a separate date field. Similar to Todoist and Any.do.
• Recurring tasks. Set up automatic recurring tasks on specific durations.
• Task durations. Set up specific time durations for a task. Useful for things like appointments or other time-specific tasks.
• Location reminders. Get reminded about tasks when you visit a specific location (with mobile apps).
• Calendar view. Like Any.do, one unique feature in TickTick is its full calendar view, which lets you organize tasks by time.
• Smart lists. Use AND/OR filters to create custom lists that highlight key tasks.
• Kanban view. See tasks in a Trello-like Kanban board.

Available apps 📱

• Web
• iOS
• Android
• Windows
• Mac
• Apple Watch
• Browser extensions (Chrome and Firefox)
• Email add-ons (Gmail or Outlook)

Collaboration features 🤝

• Assign tasks. Easily assign tasks to other users in your team.
• Discussion. Chat with collaborators about tasks from inside the app.
• File attachments. Attach files to tasks that you can share with other team members.

Other notable features 👍

• Built-in Pomodoro timer. Practice the Pomodoro productivity technique using the built-in timer, which also includes background white noise.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ✅
• Starting paid price: $27.99 per year for each user ($2.40 per month)

Things

• Best for:  Individuals looking for a personal to do app. Apple ecosystem only. 

Things is an Apple-specific to do app for Mac and iOS. If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, you should give it a look, but otherwise you’re out of luck.

As an Apple-specific tool, it has the beautiful design that you’d expect. Plus, while there’s not a free version, it’s a one-time purchase, which means its long-term cost will be pretty low if you plan to use it for a long time.

Overall, it’s pretty lightweight and minimal, which is why it’s best for simpler personal use rather than heavy-duty productivity (the next tool that we’ll feature covers that use case for Apple users).

Task management features 📋

• Natural language processing for dates. You can add due dates using natural language – e.g. “Renew my passport tomorrow”.
• Task headings/lists. Organize tasks with different headings to create separate lists.
• Reminders. Add customizable reminders, including a Siri integration so that you can have Siri create Things reminders for you.

Available apps 📱

• iOS (iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch)
• Mac

There’s no generic web app, so you can only access tasks on your Apple devices.

Collaboration features 🤝

• None notable. Things is really just for individuals looking for personal task management.

Other notable features 👍

• Calendar. See upcoming events from Apple Calendar mixed in with your to do lists to get a full daily summary.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ❌ (15-day free trial for Mac)
• Mac: $49.99 one-time
• iPhone and Apple Watch – $9.99 one-time
• iPad – $19.99 one-time

OmniFocus

• Best for:  Individuals with heavy-duty organization needs. 

OmniFocus is a heavy-duty to do app for serious professionals. It’s targeted towards individuals, but it’s not the type of tool you’ll use if you just want something to keep track of the chores you need to get done over the weekend.

Instead, it’s more suited to people who are juggling multiple projects and need something to keep them organized and productive. For example, if you’re a freelancer working with multiple clients, OmniFocus can help you stay organized across all of your different projects.

Task management features 📋

• Keyboard shortcuts. Shortcuts make it easy to quickly spin up new tasks.
• Flexible organization. Keep track of tasks by organizing them with projects, tags, flagged tasks, and more.
• Forecast upcoming tasks. The forecast feature makes it easy to see what’s coming up.
• Notes and attachments. Attach text notes or files to tasks.
• AppleScript. For advanced users, you can use scripting to set up advanced workflows.
• Review mode. The review feature will periodically remind you to check in on projects to make sure you’re on track.

Available apps 📱

• Mac
• iOS
• Web

Collaboration features 🤝

• None notable. OmniFocus really isn’t built for team collaboration – it’s definitely more suited for individuals.

Other notable features 👍

• Customizable interface. OmniFocus has a really customizable interface in comparison to most of the other tools, which lets you create a task management system tailored to your own needs.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ❌ (14-day free trial)
• Mac only: $99.99 one-time
• iOS only: $49.99 (Standard) or $74.99 (Pro) one-time
• iOS and Mac (includes Web access): $9.99/month or $99.99/year
• Web add-on for iOS or Mac only plans – $4.99/month or $49.99/year

Remember the Milk

• Best for:  Individuals (though it does let you share to do lists with others). 

Launched all the way back in 2005, Remember the Milk is one of the oldest to do apps out there. In 2023, it’s still alive and chugging along, though it’s not quite as popular as it once was.

Overall, Remember the Milk can be a good option for individuals looking for a personal task management system. It does include some collaboration features, like sharing lists with other users, but these are more suited for family use than serious business use.

For example, it can be handy if you and your partner want to share a to do list.

Task management features 📋

• Smart task adding with keyboard. You can set up tags and due dates using just your keyboard. It’s not quite natural language processing, but you can use shortcuts to quickly add details. For example, typing ^ expands a due date list.
• Useful task adding integrations. Add new tasks via email, Alexa, Siri, or Twitter.
• Sub-tasks. Break down tasks into sub-tasks (and even sub-sub-tasks).
• File attachments. Use Google Drive or Dropbox to store file attachments.
• Unlimited lists. Create separate lists to store tasks.
• Zapier integration. Use Zapier to automatically add tasks.

Available apps 📱

• Web
• Windows
• Mac
• Linux
• iOS
• Android (including a dedicated Fire app)
• Blackberry 10
• Apple Watch
• Email integrations (Outlook and Gmail)

Collaboration features 🤝

• List sharing. With the paid version, you can share your to do lists with other people.

Other notable features 👍

• Outlook sync. If you’re using Outlook, you can automatically sync your Remember the Milk tasks.

Pricing 💵

• Free plan: ✅
• Paid price: $39.99 per year

Which is the best to do list app?

As you can probably tell from how I set this up, there’s no single best to do list app that applies to all scenarios. People have different needs from a to do list app, so you’ll want to pick the one that’s best for your use case.

For example, there are big differences between wanting a personal productivity tool and something your whole team can use. Likewise, there are big differences between wanting something lightweight to organize your chores and wanting something heavy-duty to organize multiple projects.

So with that in mind, here are some recommendations for different use cases:

The other apps all have something to offer, too, so you can play around with their free versions to see if you prefer something like Remember the Milk over Todoist.

For some other tools to improve your productivity, you can also check out our collections of the best time tracker software and the best project management software.

Do you still have any questions about the best to do list app for your needs? Let us know in the comments!

Layout and presentation by Chris Fitzgerald and Karol K.