What to-do apps cost: Things 3, Todoist, TickTick, OmniFocus

By Basil, maker of Alcove · Updated 8 October 2026 · 13 min read

To-do app prices change more often than the articles that quote them. Todoist raised its prices in December 2025, TickTick's yearly price moved in 2026, and many pages still list the old numbers. This page lists what each app costs today, what the free plans leave out, and what you'd pay over one, three and five years to use an app on a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad.

How I compared. I make Alcove, so read this with that in mind. I checked each app's App Store listing, pricing page and help documentation on 8 October 2026. Prices are US prices before tax, and where an app's website and the App Store differ, I give both.

Every price in one table

Checked on 8 October 2026. The cost columns are for Mac, iPhone and iPad together, billed yearly where there's a choice, at today's prices.

Two things the table can't show. A one-time price covers the version you buy: OmniFocus says future major upgrades will be discounted, not free. And a subscription buys things a one-time app may not have: Todoist and TickTick run on Windows and Android as well as Apple devices, and both let you share lists.

How much does Things 3 cost?

Things 3 is sold separately for each kind of Apple device, and each is a one-time purchase:

• Mac: $49.99
• iPhone: $9.99, with the Apple Watch app included
• iPad: $19.99
• Vision Pro: $29.99

Syncing between them through Things Cloud is free, and a second device of the same kind costs nothing more. Things supports Family Sharing, so one purchase covers your family group. There's a 15-day free trial on the Mac only: Cultured Code explains that the App Store only allows trials for apps with in-app purchases or subscriptions, which Things doesn't have. There are no bundles, and Cultured Code doesn't offer student discounts itself; it points students to their institution's Apple education programme.

Is Things 3 worth it? If you want a polished, mature to-do app on your Apple devices and don't need to share lists, the $79.97 for Mac, iPhone and iPad is a one-off cost. If plain lists and reminders are enough, Apple Reminders does that for free; Things 3 vs Apple Reminders weighs the two. And if you also need Windows or a shared list, Things can't help, because it runs only on Apple devices and doesn't share lists.

How much does Todoist cost?

Todoist has three plans:

• Beginner (free): 5 personal projects, 3 filter views, one week of activity history, task reminders, list and board layouts, and file uploads up to 5 MB.
• Pro: $5 a month billed yearly ($60 a year), or $7 billed monthly. In the App Store, Pro is $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month. Pro adds 300 projects, a calendar layout, task durations, custom reminders, 150 filter views, full activity history, deadlines and unlimited Ramble (Todoist's voice capture).
• Business: $8 per member a month billed yearly, or $10 monthly, adding a shared team workspace.

The December 2025 price rise. On 10 December 2025, Pro went from $48 to $60 a year and from $5 to $7 a month. Existing subscribers moved to the new price at their first renewal on or after that date, except those who pay through the App Store, who stay on Pro Legacy at their old price.

Todoist free vs Pro: when Pro is worth it

Beginner covers a simple personal list well: quick add, reminders and five projects. Pro is worth paying for when you outgrow five projects, want to see tasks on a calendar or give them a length, or rely on saved filters. Over three years Pro costs $180, so it's worth being sure you'll use those things. For apps you pay once for instead, see Todoist alternatives for Mac, and for a straight comparison with Things, Things 3 vs Todoist.

How much does TickTick Premium cost?

TickTick's free plan is generous but capped:

• 9 lists, with 99 tasks in each
• 2 reminders per task and 19 checklist items per task
• 5 habits and 5 countdowns
• One attachment a day, and basic calendar views

Premium is $49.99 a year on TickTick's site. The App Store sells the same yearly plan at $49.99 and a monthly plan at $4.99. Premium raises the limits (299 lists of 999 tasks, 5 reminders per task, 299 habits) and adds the full calendar views, a timeline view, task durations, email reminders and more themes. TickTick's pricing page offers no lifetime plan.

The price went up in 2026. Archived copies of TickTick's upgrade page show Premium at $35.99 a year in February 2026. By July 2026 the page showed $49.99, with $35.99 as a "Limited-Time Offer", and by 1 October 2026 the offer had gone.

Is TickTick Premium worth it?

It's worth it if you live in TickTick's calendar views, track more than five habits, or need more than nine lists, especially if you also use Windows or Android, where few apps do as much. If you only want tasks and reminders on your Apple devices, the free plan or a one-time purchase may be enough. See TickTick alternatives.

OmniFocus 4: licence or subscription?

The Omni Group sells OmniFocus 4 both ways:

• Perpetual licence: $74.99 for Standard or $149.99 for Pro. It's a universal purchase for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and includes every 4.x update. Future major versions are offered at a discount.
• Subscription: $99.99 a year, which always includes the latest Pro version and the web app, with no upgrade costs.
• Web access for licence owners: $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, if you want the browser version alongside a licence.

Which is cheaper depends on what you need. Over three years, the Standard licence costs $74.99 against $299.97 for the subscription. If you need Pro and the web app, a Pro licence plus yearly web access comes to $299.96 over three years, about the same as the subscription, and $399.94 over five years against $499.95. OmniFocus 4 needs macOS 15.2 or iOS 18.2 or later, has a free trial, and Omni offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. See OmniFocus alternatives and Alcove vs OmniFocus.

Any.do

Any.do's free plan includes tasks and lists, reminders, the calendar, its daily planner and sync across devices. Premium is $4.99 a month billed yearly ($59.88 a year) or $7.99 monthly on Any.do's site; the App Store lists a 12-month plan at $59.99. Premium adds the things the free plan leaves out: repeating tasks, location reminders, WhatsApp reminders, colour tags and AI features.

The Family plan is $8.33 a month billed yearly, or $9.99 monthly, for up to four members, with a shared family space, a shared grocery list and up to four shared projects.

Daily planners in brief

Planners that put tasks on your calendar cost more than most to-do apps. In short:

• Sunsama: $17 a month billed yearly ($204 a year), or $22 monthly, after a 14-day free trial.
• Akiflow: $19 a month billed yearly ($228 a year), or $34 monthly, after a 7-day free trial.
• Structured: free to start; Structured Pro is a subscription, or $99.99 once for Lifetime in the US App Store.
• Ellie: free plan; Pro is $9.99 a month, $99.99 a year in the App Store, or $299.99 once for Lifetime.

What each one is like to plan with is in daily planner apps for Mac and iPhone, and the method itself is in time blocking on Mac and iPhone.

Free options: Apple Reminders and Microsoft To Do

Apple Reminders is free and already on your Mac, iPhone and iPad, syncing through iCloud. Since iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, Calendar shows your scheduled reminders beside your events, and in iOS 27 you can describe a new reminder in your own words on iPhones with Apple Intelligence.

Microsoft To Do is free, with no in-app purchases in the App Store. It has My Day for planning the day, notes on tasks and shared lists, and keeps your lists in Microsoft's cloud.

Start with one of these if you're unsure. Paying makes sense once you hit something they don't do for you: Things' design and Apple Watch app, Todoist's projects and filters on Windows and Android too, TickTick's habits and calendar views, or OmniFocus's depth.

Alcove (I make it)

Alcove: Tasks & Notes is a free download with a 14-day free trial on every device. After that, one $29.99 purchase (US) unlocks it on Mac, iPhone and iPad together, and Family Sharing covers your family group. There's no subscription, no account and no ads, and everything syncs through your own iCloud. It's a to-do list, planner and notebook: the Mac menu bar, quick add with ⌥ Space, a calendar with an hour grid, boards, notes that calculate, and widgets.

If you don't buy it, nothing is deleted. Your tasks and notes stay readable on every device; adding and editing pause until you unlock.

It isn't the cheapest option: Apple Reminders and Microsoft To Do are free. And it isn't for everyone: Alcove has no Windows, Android, web or Apple Watch app, and doesn't share lists. For more apps you pay for once, see to-do apps without a subscription.

Price history and how prices are checked

Changes found while checking this page:

• 10 December 2025: Todoist Pro rose from $48 to $60 a year, and from $5 to $7 a month.
• February 2026: TickTick's site listed Premium at $35.99 a year.
• July 2026: TickTick's site showed $49.99 a year, with $35.99 as a limited-time offer.
• 1 October 2026: TickTick's site showed $49.99 a year, with no offer.
• 8 October 2026: every price on this page checked.

How: US prices from each app's App Store listing and its own pricing page, on the date above. Past prices come from the vendor's own announcement where there is one (Todoist) or from archived copies of the vendor's page on the Wayback Machine (TickTick). Totals assume today's prices and yearly billing; they leave out sales tax and future price changes. If you spot a price that has changed, tell me through the support page.

Sources

Checked in October 2026:

• Things 3 for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro on the App Store
• Todoist Business plan pricing update
• Getting Things and Trying the App, Things Support
• Todoist pricing, Todoist Pro pricing update in 2025 and Todoist on the App Store
• TickTick Premium, TickTick on the App Store, and archived copies of TickTick's page from February 2026, July 2026 and October 2026
• Buy OmniFocus and OmniFocus 4 on the App Store
• Any.do pricing and Any.do on the App Store
• Sunsama pricing, Akiflow pricing, Ellie pricing and Structured on the App Store
• Microsoft To Do for iPhone and iPad and Mac on the App Store
• Use reminders in Calendar on Mac, Apple Support, and Here's everything new for Reminders in iOS 27, 9to5Mac
• Alcove: Tasks & Notes on the App Store

Questions people ask