To-do lists have come a long way from the days of scribbling notes on scraps of paper and then frantically rummaging through everything on your desk in search of a lost Post-It note.
Today, we are blessed with entire app stores full of digital to-do lists and daily planners. No more scraps of paper or trying to decipher your own handwriting – these problems are a thing of the past.
Yet modern to-do apps are much more than just digital notepads. You can use them to plan and manage your entire workflow, set deadlines for each task, and set reminders so you don’t miss or forget anything. With some of the more complex task scheduling applications, you can manage entire projects, and multiple teams, and simplify highly complex workloads.
If you’re looking to increase personal or team productivity, this is the first tool you should add to your kit. And to help you choose the right app for you (or your team), here are the 7 best to-do list and daily planner apps available right now.
Top 7 To-Do List Apps
In this article, I’ll start by introducing the top 7 apps and task schedulers I’ve used (I’ve used a lot), with a quick introduction and overview of what they have to offer. Then, in the second part of this article, I will compare them in more detail (features, price, UX, etc.) to help you choose the best app(s) for your needs.
We all work differently and require certain things from productivity apps. This is something that I was very conscious of when choosing these recommendations, and they all have something to offer.
Here are the apps we’ll be looking at today:
- Journy
- nTask
- Anydo
- TickTick
- Things
- Wedo
- Habitica
Some of them are simply great to-do list apps and planning tools. Others are more complex and offer a range of project management and productivity features – all of which will be explained in this article.
With so many to-do lists and task management apps available these days, choosing one can be overwhelming. But once you are done with this article, it will be much easier for you.
Here is your first recommendation.
#1: Journy: (iOS and Android)
Todoist is an exceptional to-do list manager that excels in its simplicity.
As a Todoist user, there are a few things that caught my eye and made me choose it for managing both personal and work tasks in one place.
The first is that it’s extremely easy to add tasks wherever you are. The value of this shouldn’t be underestimated, because what good is a to-do list manager if you can’t easily use it to get things off your mind when you think about them? With Gmail, Alexa, Slack, Zapier and many more integrations, it’s very easy to incorporate them into your workflow.
One more extraordinary element of Todoist is Karma. While I’m not ordinarily one for baldfaced gamification, I find Todoist’s methodology shockingly keen. By variety coding my work projects (purple), individual (green) and inbox (dim) I can perceive how my efficiency changes by class over the long run as well as the amount of my work is arranged versus done responsively from the inbox.
Journey App Download Links:
#2: nTask (iOS, Android and Web)
nTask says it’s “more than just a task manager” and I can tell you that’s no lie. This app is packed with features for task management, project management and general business running.
You can run nTask in a browser, and its mobile app is available for iOS and Android, but there are no native desktop apps for Windows or Mac. While it would be nice to see these native apps available for desktops, the nTask web app works very well.
#3: Any.do (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Web)
Unlike nTask, Any.do is truly a task management app and doesn’t try to be anything else. It’s also a beautifully designed app that’s available on all major platforms, and the web app means you can access it in a browser on almost any device.
If you’re looking for a task management app that’s available on your smartwatch, this will also be one of your few options — and luckily, it’s a very good one.
Any.do is a joy to use with a sleek interface design and smooth operation. You get all the basic features you’d expect from a tool like this: to-do lists, task management, etc. However, the calendar and daily planner integration is excellent, and the interface is very responsive.
#4: TickTick (iOS, Android and Web)
TickTick is similar to Any.do in many ways. Although they look very different, both strive for minimal design and smooth operation. They also keep things simple when it comes to task features, giving you everything you need to manage tasks without trying to do anything else.
Either way, you end up with a streamlined app that does exactly what it says and everything you need is available within a click or two. Again, TickTick has an excellent calendar interface integrated into its app, giving you a broader view of your to-do lists.
TickTick is another app that doesn’t have native desktop apps, but you can access the web app from any connected device. The downside, of course, is that you can’t use TickTick offline.
#5: Things (Mac, iOS)
Unfortunately, Things is only really an option if you’re an Apple loyalist, and it’s a shame there isn’t even a web app available on board for Windows and other OS users. However, if you use a Mac and an iPhone/iPad, it has its advantages: Things is designed from the ground up for macOS and iOS – and it shows.
In addition to being designed and optimized for Apple devices, Things also offers some unique features that you’ll end up wishing were more common.
For example, its “Upcoming Events” interface constantly reminds you of what you need to do in the next few days, so you won’t get caught up with tasks you’ve forgotten.
#6: WeDo (Mac, iOS, Android and Chrome)
WeDo was originally designed for students but has evolved into a decent work/life task management tool for professionals as well. The emphasis here is on finding a work-life balance with WeDo, and the app aims to make it achievable for you.
In addition to creating tasks, setting deadlines, and all the usual things you’d expect from a task management app, WeDo wants to help you develop good habits, and you can create separate habit lists.
Another interesting feature is that the app asks you how long the tasks took you after completing them and how you felt about them. All of this is added to your reporting data and you can see how your speed/mood improves on repetitive tasks and aspects of life (work, diet, exercise, etc.).
#7 Habitica (iOS, Android and Web)
I can confidently say that Habitica is unlike any other tool in this article and any other to-do list app I’ve ever come across. I should clarify that Habitica isn’t really designed for work, but rather aimed at developing better habits when you’re away from your computer.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for work purposes or as a tool to improve your work-life balance.
Habitica enriches the to-do list experience by allowing you to create an Avatar that earns points and bonuses for completing tasks on your list. The more points you win, the more powerful your Avatar becomes and the more game features and rewards you unlock.
You can develop positive habits that earn you points, as well as negative habits that you want to avoid, in which case points will be deducted. You can also create habits that have both positive and negative outcomes—like eating a healthy dinner. If you eat something healthy, you get points; if you eat something unhealthy you lose points.
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