Best Productivity Apps 2018 For Mac

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There are dozens of tricks you can use to improve your own productivity and outlook, but if you’re looking for a more objective, comprehensive fix, the best thing to do is equip your Mac with productivity apps designed to help you do more in less time. Bottom Line: Evernote has long been one of the best productivity apps. Even though rising costs have lessened the value proposition, long-time users will have a hard time finding a better replacement.

Owing to latest innovations and offering that is made in mobile technology in recent years along with increasing reliance on remote working, a lot of businesses are now using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to assist them in operating and managing their day to day operations and dealing with their customers and providing them support.

At general, the reliance on personal computers for a variety of tasks are now over; the businesses can manage all their work using their iPhone, iPad or even Android. Whether it is about organizing meetings, reading hundreds of emails, meeting tough deadlines, etc., the importance of mobile has become undeniable. In most cases, applications or apps are now transforming the way we go through our lives and work in many various ways.

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  2. Microsoft Office has been synonymous with productivity for decades, and you can naturally use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as mobile apps for iOS and Android. All three options feature a familiar user interface and a great selection of tools to work with.
Best productivity apps 2018 mac

By downloading the best and right apps which fit your business requirement, you can boost your productivity and improve your operations. There are many apps which help the team members to better coordinate and accomplish tasks. At present, there are a variety of apps to manage different aspects of business, from product management, customer support to accounting. Here, we will discuss the important productivity apps which are currently available in the market-many of them are web-based which can be utilized via your mobile.

1. Boomerang

(Android/IOS, free/from $5)

When it comes to managing important emails, the arrival of emails is quite a tough task. Boomerang is a plugin for various email clients such as Gmail, Outlook, and Android which allows the user to temporarily dismiss emails from the inbox, to present themselves at different time or days so that you can deal with them effectively. It also allows you to pause your inbox completely and even suspend the arrival of emails when you are busy, and you can even schedule your outgoing messages which will be sent at a certain specific time. It comes with 10 free uses per month, followed by monthly subscription which starts at $5.

2. Doodle

(Android/IOS, free)

It is quite a useful website and a mobile application which assists in scheduling meetings as well as events. You can easily setup list of possible dates along with times, and then the invitees can just drop by the Doodle website and opt for the options that fit them. It allows you to look at the availability of people and as recipients don’t have to make their own accounts on Doodle, it is a smoothest among the productivity apps. It can be connected to Google for Outlook calendar for better and easier scheduling. This provide easy maintenance of events and meetings which assists in better planning.

3. FocusList

(macOS, $4.99, IOS, £4.99)

Along with to-do lists, this app for iOS and MacOS allows you to plan your day along with segmenting it into stream of timed tasks, As the countdown timer appears, it encourages you to follow the “Pomodoro Technique” of dealing in different 25-minute sessions with 5 minute breaks in midst, in order to keep you productive and taking off the load on your brain. At the day’s end, you can review the amount of time you have taken on different tasks and with this productivity app, you can track your performance over weeks and months.

4. FocusWriter

(MacOS, $5)

It is a basic word processor for Linux, MacOS, and Windows which allows to keep you away from distractions, to make you focus on your different task. It has an empty screen apart from your text, and if you wish, you can have an appealing background, as well as controls and menus which are nicely placed at the screen edges. It comes with in-built spell-checking and word-count functions along with time to help you to stick to a schedule and the various files can be saved as per industry standard plain text, ODT or RTF formats. It is among various productivity apps which increase your handling of tasks with ease.

5. Genius Scan

(Android, from £0.99/IOS, free)

This app turns your iOS or Android device into a personal document scanner. In case you have a receipt, a contract or any other important paper, you can just use your camera phone, and this app will convert it to a great-quality PDF which can be easily archived. Color correction along with perspective can be automatically applied, and its batch mode allows you to quickly capture different multiple page documents. It comes with a Premium edition version that costs at $8 which adds the ability to upload these PDFs to any cloud services such as Google Drive. It helps you in keeping record of various physical papers in organized form and saves you time and effort in longer run.

6. Inbox by Gmail

(Android/IOS, free)

If you are getting overwhelmed by various emails, then this app allows you to better manage your Gmail account. With links, attachments and other important information which can be automatically extracted from any incoming messages, you can also process an email which will be archived and consequently removed from your view. You can also easily create a timed to-do reminders, and different items can be temporarily snoozed for you to take action at later times. The companion apps for iOS and Android usually means that you can keep your productivity and in case you don’t like it, you can easily switch back to the traditional Gmail.

7. Grammarly

(Chrome/Firefox, from $30 per month)

Almost all web browsers now come with spell checker which allow you to avoid typos which can be embarrassing, but when it comes to grammar errors, it is quite tough. This plugin for Firefox and Chrome automatically show common mistakes and even suggests corrections as you type. It allows you to upload and pre-written documents for easier analysis and get pointers to assist you in improving your written language. Its premium service with subscription at whopping $30 per month or $140 per year, allows you to check subtle mistakes and even provides you style advice. It is among the best productivity apps solving your grammatical mistakes and problems.

8. join.me

(Android/IOS, free)

Since there is no apparent shortage of various teleconferencing services, this one is quite the one to know about. It allows you to host meetings with its website and you don’t require to download or configure and software. It does come with Android and iOS apps. Along with audio and video, this service supports a virtual whiteboard and a screen-sharing feature. Its free service supports three participants meeting, and for premium plans, you can allow at max 50 users along with scheduling and recording tools.

9. oTranscribe

(Chrome, free)

It is a good habit to record meetings, or any lecture as transcribing them can be quite tough. Its website allows you to type as you listen and even comes with shortcuts to either slow down or pause the audio without any need of taking your hands off the keyboard. Its editor is rudimentary, however, it is easier than constantly switching back and forth between various applications. It easily works with MP3, WAV files, and even YouTube videos and doesn’t require any uploading to the cloud which keeps the privacy and security. It saves time for transcribing the audio and videos which will help you in your learning and managing your records.

10. Papier

(Chrome, free)

It is lightweight Chrome extraction which replaces the default “New Tab” page and puts an interactive notebook. By simply clicking and typing notes or pasting interesting links; it provides support for basic formatting which includes headings and subheadings, and it allows you to tick-boxes to create a list of to-do items. It takes away the pain of saving and syncing, and next time you open a new tab, your notes will be present there.

11. RescueTime

(Android, macOS, Linux, Windows, free)

In case you are wondering how you spent your day, then this app will come quite handy. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux and it does run in the background. It then tracks your application as well as website usage. It also generates reports to find out where your time is being spent and helps you in achieving productivity goals like spending just an hour on social media website. It is among the best productivity apps. It comes with $9 subscription per month, a premium edition which also gives you alert when you are spending more time on any app, and it also helps you track the time you spent away from the computer. It saves your valuable time with the better management of, apps.

Here’s a comprehensive review of RescueTime.

12. Shyft

(IOS, $2.99)

Don’t get confused with other time-management apps which comes by the same name; this app is iOS only and a to-do tool which helps you attain work and life balance. It helps you maintain two types of task lists, one for professional things and one for personal. You can also use the swipe or 3D touch gestures to add, edit, defer and even completed tasks. However, it isn’t a feature packed Todoist, but it has reminders and interactive notifications which you will require, and it is quite handy for students and freelancers who work on irregular schedules.

13. Slack

(Android/IOS, free)

It is an instant-messaging as well as a file-sharing app which changes the way teams collaborate. Various messages along with files can be easily exchanged using the website or apps for all type of desktop and mobile devices. It is quite easy to send private as well as public messages. You can also set up forums for any project you specify. It can also handle video and voice calls.

14. Todoist

(Android/IOS, free)

It is a feature packed to-do list platform and allows you to create tasks as well as subtasks, and you can attach priority labels. You can also share and discuss items with your team members, family and friends, and setup recurrent events. It can be accessed via the Todoist website or variety of native apps and supports Amazon Echo and Google Home which allows you to use voice commands in order to add and check list items. It is among the top productivity apps to maintain your daily schedule and sticking to your routine.

15. Trello

(Android/IOS, free)

It is a great tool to manage team workflows with ease. The tasks can be visualized as cards which can also be grouped into boards and then assigned to any individual and allows you to see who is working on what. These cards can also be updated with comments as well as links, attachments, and other important information and provide automatic notifications which keep the team members in the loop. It’s paid plan comes with enhanced security and larger attachment sizes. It’s free edition is powerful enough for most of the organizations.

16. Any.do

(Android, iOS: Free)

Since most of the busy people usually forget their daily tasks, this app helps you in keeping up to your schedule on track with to-do list along with reminders and notes. It provides the ability to share lists as well as assign tasks to others. This app allows you to sync between phone, web, desktop, and web. It has a voice-entry feature which allows you to add items to your task list, just by speaking. It comes with calendar integration for better task list management. It is among the best productivity apps which boost your productivity with its cross-platform support for various sub tasks, notes, and even file attachments.

17. Just Press Record

(iOS: $4.99)

It is a versatile one-tap recording app for iPad, Apple watch, and iPhone users and adds useful features such as in-built transcription features allowing to take notes easily. Users can also record from a long press on the app icon even from a lock screen or notification widget. This app can easily transcribe speech with support to different languages along with spoken punctuation commands. The recordings can be easily sorted by date and time and even names manually.

18. MyScript Nebo

(iOS: Free)

It is feature-rich note taking app which is built in line with Apple Pencil and iPad. With its MyScript’s Interactive Ink technology, Nebo automatically easily parses handwritten notes into text which allows you to easily format your text. You can also add extras such as emphasis, bullet points, underlining, mathematical notations and even picture annotation. The users can even write equations and calculate and even export to LaTeX, also export text into MS Office documents and search through you notes quickly.

19. WPS Office

(Android, iOS: Free)

Formerly known as Kingsoft Office, this is another famous mobile office suite especially if you want an all-in-one app for slideshows, presentations as well as word processing. It supports a wide range of file formats such as .dox, .ppt and .xls and is a great office suite for both viewing as well as creating documents. The tabbed document editing provides you the ability to work on easily and also cross-reference many files, and with cloud support through Google Drive and other services, you can easily save and share your various documents online. It is one of the top productivity apps for dealing with presentations and slideshows.

20. Adobe Acrobat Reader

(Android, iOS: Free)

It is highly functional annotation app with which the users can easily rely on for viewing and signing their PDFs. You can open PDF from email or the web or any app that supports sharing as you scroll, search, zoom in and zoom out. You can easily add comments on PDFs using sticky notes and use drawing tools and even highlight and mark up text with annotation tools. You can easily fill PDF forms by simply typing the text into different fields and you can use your finger in order to sign any document. You can share and save documents through free Adobe Document Cloud account. In-app purchases allow you to create PDFs, reorder pages as well as convert MS office files and images.

21. Notion

(Android, iOS: Free)

This app uses AI to help you make sense out of your inbox of email. Its algorithms take into your email history in the account and learn which messages are important for you and highlight them for better reference in your inbox. Its Radar feature focuses in on messages which require urgent replies boosting your productivity. With search features, customizable notifications, it comes with swipe control which you can personalize. It includes Alexa skills that provide you the ability to listen to important emails and even organize your messages through the smart speaker system of Amazon. It supports Gmail, G Suite, IMAP email services as well as Office 365. It is one of the best productivity apps for managing your inbox efficiently and increase your productivity by many folds.

22. IFTTT

(Android, iOS: Free)

In case you are wasting a lot of time with many similar types of or repetitive internet tasks, or you just wish to automate tasks on your smartphone then try this app. It comes with a wide range of pre-built applets which automate various tasks such as backing up photos to cloud accounts, sending messages to friends or family in case you wish to ask them their choice of food or making your smart lights to turn on when you are back to your home. Users can also build custom tasks using the applets and services offered, combining many tasks and triggers in an “If This, Then That” structure.

23. Accompany

(iPhone: Free)

This app brings together the contact management features along with calendar which helps you in meeting your best goals. You just have to sign up for the service with your work email account and this app turns itself into you mobile secretary by assembling detailed profiles for people as well as companies in your upcoming meetings and events, which you can view on the move or even consult in an Executive Briefing which is emailed to you the night before any event. You can also look up any type of last communications with your contacts along with their social media posts or news posts which feature them as well as their company profiles. You can also see financial reports and news and keep yourself up to date.

24. Email by EasilyDo

(Android, iOS: Free)

This app tries to be your all-in-one email solution which takes in all of the incoming emails from various accounts and then automatically categorizes the messages into easy-to-manage groups like travel, bills, packages, etc. In addition to quick email categorization, it also provides unsubscribe feature for easily unsubscribing from various bulk emails. It offers real time travel notifications which immediately let you know about travel related messages such as flight details along with a package tracking system which searches for tracking codes unnecessary. It supports Gmail, Outlook, AOL, IMAP, Office 365, Exchange and Yahoo Mail accounts. It is one of the best productivity apps which helps you in getting best email services and managing them with ease.

25. Droptask

(Android, iOS: Free)

It is another team and task management app which takes the route of visual approach in order to coordinate your projects. It takes inspiration from mind mapping, and it presents your task as well as projects in different colors, linked circles, along with who is assigned to each as well as completion status and how each task interacts and exchanges data with other parts of any ongoing projects along with many features. It is quite a useful package, even for a free offering, with teams up to 5 people working together.

With this, we end our list of top 25 best productivity apps present in the market for various platforms. These apps will certainly help you in boosting your productivity and allow you to manage your work efficiently. They will also provide you useful insights about your tasks and assist you in different actions.

Let us know your reviews and comments regarding our list. We would surely like to know about your offerings on this list. Till, then we sign off, hoping that this list will come handy for you.

Why Trust Us?


My name is Adrian, and I have a lot of things to keep track of. That might be a good thing because I love playing with apps that help me manage it all. I used Above & Beyond throughout the 90s on my Windows laptops, and when I became a Linux geek turned to Task Coach and web apps like Todoist, Remember the Milk and Toodledo.

After moving to the Mac, I fell in love with Cultured Code’s Things, and I’ve used it successfully for the last decade. But I do love to play, so I keep five or ten of these apps installed on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Some I use, and others I play with from time to time. I have a keen interest in OmniFocus and used it as my main task manager for a few years. I also use Apple Reminders and Wunderlist to share tasks with my family. I’ll share some of my experiences throughout the review.

What You Need to Know Up-Front about Task Management

Before we look at the individual apps, here are a few things you should know first.

1. Just Installing a New App Won’t Make You More Productive

Apps are tools, and they will be of more use to you if you know how to use them effectively. Right now, there’s a lot of advice out there about how to become more productive and get more out of your apps. You can’t read it all, but some study will yield a great return on your investment. Start by reading the material that comes with your task management software.

Many have found value reading and practicing David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done“. In it, he covers a range of useful techniques, including capturing tasks and ideas as they occur to you, keeping project lists where you identify the next action to be done, considering higher horizons of focus like your vision and goals, and reviewing all of your lists each week. I recommend it.

2. There’s Room for Personal Preference

We’re not all alike. We have different tasks to manage, and different approaches to the way we organize them. There’s a lot of room for personal preference, and the app that best suits me might not suit you. Look for the app that works the way you do.

3. Lists Aren’t Just for To-Dos

Are you a list keeper? They’re helpful for a lot of things in life. Don’t just use your app to list your daily to-dos — you can use it to track so much more! Here are some ideas:

  • Keep a list of the books you want to read and movies you want to see.
  • Record the places you’d like to go and people you’d like to visit.
  • Keep track of the bills that need to be paid and the dates they’re due.
  • Create a bucket list of achievements you’d like to accomplish while you’re still breathing.

4. Other Types of Apps that Help with Task Management

In this review we’ll cover list managers, but keep in mind there are other types of apps that can help you to be productive, and supplement your to-do list:

  • calendars to manage your time (Apple Calendar, BusyCal, Fantastical),
  • timers and Pomodoro apps to keep you focused and accountable (Be Focused, Timing),
  • project management apps (Merlin Project, OmniPlan, Pagico),
  • notes apps to keep track of reference material (Apple Notes, Evernote, Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, Bear),
  • outliners to structure your life and information (OmniOutliner, Outlinely, Workflowy, Dynalist),
  • Kanban boards to track your team’s progress (Trello, Any.Do, Freeter).

Top Mac Apps 2018

Who Should (& Should Not) Get This?


Years ago my friend Daniel told me, “I thought only disorganized people used to do lists.” I disagreed, but that experience helped clarify to me that not everyone values using a to-do list. He’s certainly not the sort of person who’d spend $80 on an app! Perhaps you feel the same. I encourage you to give a task management app a serious try anyway.

At the time I was editing several blogs, managing a few dozen writers, and having to meet deadlines most days. I couldn’t have survived without the getting the most out of the best task management software I could afford. If you’re the same, then you’re sold on the idea of using a to-do list, and just need to identify the right app for you.

In “Getting Things Done“, David Allen explains that trying to remember all of the things you need to do just adds stress to your life. Once you write them down and get them out of your head you can relax and focus on the task at hand, and become more productive.

Almost everyone will be better organized by using a to-do list app. Once you’ve listed everything you need to do you can become objective. You’ll find it easier to get an idea of how long it will all take, which tasks are most important, and which don’t need to be done at all. You can start to put what you need to do in some sort of order.

How We Tested and Picked

Comparing apps that can manage your to do list is tricky. Each has its own strengths, and there’s a wide range of prices, features, and techniques. Here’s what we were looking for when evaluating.

How Easy Is It to Capture Tasks?

Once you’ve thought of something to do — or someone has asked you to do something — you need to get it into your to do system as soon as possible, or you may forget it. Doing so should be as easy as possible. Many apps have an inbox, where you can enter multiple items quickly without having to organize them up front. Integration with other apps is also helpful, so you can add a task from, say, an email directly into your app.

How Versatile is the App’s Organization?

We all have different roles and task categories, so you need an app that can organize things in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to separate work tasks from your personal ones and create a number of lists to match your responsibilities. Folders, tags, priorities, and flags are some of the ways an app will let you create structure.

Does the App Provide Different Ways to View Your Tasks?

When organizing tasks, it’s helpful to see the details of each project. When doing tasks, it’s helpful to group them in different ways. You might want to see a list of all the tasks that are due soon, quickly check all of the phone calls you need to make, or create a shortlist of the tasks you aim to accomplish today. Many apps allow you to view your tasks by context, filter by tag, or notify you of tasks due today. Some apps even allow you to create custom views.

How Does the App Handle Dates?

Some tasks are associated with a date — most often a deadline, like a homework assignment. It’s helpful to see a list of tasks due today (or in the next few days), and some tasks may deserve a pop-up notification to remind you. Some tasks are recurring and need to be done on a certain day each week, month or year, for example, putting the garbage out. You may have some tasks that you can’t actually start yet. They shouldn’t be clogging up your list, so some apps will let you hide them from your list until a future date — a feature I find very helpful.

Is the App for an Individual or a Team?

Many of the apps we’ll cover in this review are for one person only. Others allow you to share lists and delegate tasks with others. Which do you need? Many people prefer to use two different apps, one for personal use (which other members of the team can’t mess up), and one for shared tasks and projects.

Can the App Sync to Mobile?

I find myself checking my to-do list on my phone and iPad more than my computer. I often review my tasks on the go and add new tasks as soon as I think of them. Mobile apps are helpful and should sync quickly and reliably with your Mac.

Cost

The best to do list apps are not cheap, and in my opinion, that cost is justified. Not everyone will agree, so we’ve included apps right across the price range, all the way down to free. Here’s what the apps we cover cost, sorted from cheapest to most expensive:

  • Wunderlist – free
  • Apple Reminders – free
  • WeDo – free
  • GoodTask 3 – $19.99
  • 2Do – $24.99
  • TaskPaper – $24.99
  • OmniFocus – $39.99
  • Todoist – $44.99/year
  • Things 3 – $49.99
  • OmniFocus Pro – $79.99

Now let’s get to the winner’s list.

The Winners

Best Choice for Most People: Things 3

Cultured Code Things is a sleek, modern task manager, and has recently been rebuilt from the ground up. Tasks are logically organized by area of responsibility, project, and tag, and can be viewed in a number of ways — tasks to do today or in the near future, tasks that can be done at any time, and tasks you may get around to someday.

$49.99 from the Mac App Store. A fully functional 15-day trial version is available from the developer’s website. Also available for iOS.

Meet the all-new Things! A complete rethinking of the original, award-winning task manager – with a perfect balance between simplicity and power, incredible new features, delightful interactions, and a timeless new design.

Things has been my main task manager since 2010 — almost as long as I’ve been using a Mac. It suits me well. Maybe it’s a good fit for you too.

Above is a screenshot of the tutorial project. The app looks clean, and there’s a sense of logic in the way it’s set out. The left pane contains a list of your areas of responsibility and projects, and above them, some shortcuts for smart folders that give you useful overviews of your tasks.

Areas of responsibility are the categories that sum up your major roles and interests. It could be as simple as “Work” and “Home”, but I find it useful to include additional areas like “Cycling”, “Tech” and “Finances”.

You add tasks under each of these areas, or you can add projects for jobs that require multiple tasks. For example, under “Family” I have a project that lists the places we’d like to visit while living inter-state for the next year, and under “Work” I have a project related to writing this review.

The smart folders at the top list tasks according to the level of commitment you have toward them:

  • Today contains the tasks you should finish today. That includes the tasks that are due today and the ones you’ve flagged as wanting to work on today. You can also list separately tasks to do in the evening.
  • Upcoming tasks have start dates or due dates that are coming up. These are listed by date along with events from your calendar.
  • Anytime contains important tasks you can work on now, but don’t have a deadline.
  • Someday is a list of tasks you haven’t committed to doing yet. They could be wish list items or tasks you don’t have time for right now.

Other folders include the Inbox where you can rapidly enter new tasks, the Logbook which contains all of your done tasks, and the Trash.

Things offers two additional methods of organization. The first is headings. A big project can become cumbersome, and headings allow you to split it into smaller sections. That’s clearer than having one big jumbled list and simpler than creating two different projects.

Things also allows you to categorize your tasks by tags. One task can be assigned multiple tags, and these can be used for a variety of our purposes. Here are some examples:

  • Context, for example, home, work, phone.
  • People, so you can quickly look up tasks you need to talk to someone about, or tasks that relate to a certain client.
  • Priority, so you can focus on just your most important tasks.
  • Energy required, so you can choose easy or challenging tasks depending on how much energy you have.
  • Time required, like 15m, 30m, 1h, so if you have limited time, you can still find something to do.

Once you have set up some tags, you can filter any list to show just the items tagged a certain way. For example, here are the tasks I can do anytime that are tagged “Phone”.

Things also supports checklists, which is helpful for tasks with multiple steps that aren’t significant enough to be set up as a project.

Things offers three date features:

  • When (start date). Some tasks can’t be started yet, so shouldn’t be cluttering your to-do list. The “When” setting will hide the task until you can actually start to work on it, though you’ll always be able to track it down in the Upcoming section.
  • Deadline (due date). Some tasks have a deadline, and there may be consequences if you miss it!
  • Reminder (notification). For those tasks you can’t afford to forget about, you can set a reminder alarm at a specific time on the day it’s due.

Things is designed for individuals and doesn’t allow you to share or assign tasks. There are mobile versions of the app for iPhone and iPad, and sync is reliable.

At $49.99 Things is not cheap, and if you need the iPhone and iPad versions, it’s even more expensive. I find it worth every cent. You can read more from my full Things app review.

Best Choice for Power Users: OmniFocus 2

OmniGroup’s OmniFocus is a power user’s tool for getting things done. Unique features like outlines and perspectives allow you to optimize your workflow, and the review feature allows you to periodically check up on your projects.

Power users will want the Pro versions of both the Mac and iOS apps, which comes to an eye-watering $139.98. If you put a high value on productivity, you might find that a bargain.

Best Productivity Apps 2018 Ios

$39.99 from the Mac App Store or the developer’s website. A 14-day trial version is available from the developer’s website. OmniFocus Pro is available for $79.99 from the developer’s website, or you can upgrade through an in-app purchase. Also available for iOS.

Live a productive, contextual life with OmniFocus 2 for Mac. Keep work and play separated with contexts, perspectives, and focus. Ignore the irrelevant, focus on what you can do now, and accomplish more. And do it all much faster than before.

OmniFocus can do everything Things can do, and more. It’s a powerful and flexible tool that can adapt to your way of doing things. For best results, you’ll need to purchase and carefully configure the Pro version. So it will cost you more and require more effort to set up.

You can view your OmniFocus tasks by project or by context. Project View allows you to organize what you need to do in detail. You’re able to create as many folders and subfolders as you need to give categories to place your tasks and projects in.

Projects can be parallel or sequential. A parallel project has tasks that can be completed in any order, where the tasks of a sequential project must be done in the sequence they are listed. You can use the outline feature to create a hierarchy of subtasks. I love the idea, but find the interface a little fiddly, and wish it worked more like OmniOutliner.

Context View is often the best way to work on your tasks. You could pull up your “Phone” context if you’re in the mood to chat, or the “Errands” context when shopping. All relevant tasks from across your projects will be there. However, while Things allows you to apply an unlimited number of tags, each OmniFocus task can be associated with one and only one context.

Regular reviews are important. In OmniFocus, you can define how often each project should be reviewed. The Review view shows you all projects that are due.

But the real power of OmniFocus Pro is its Perspectives, where you can create as many custom views as you need. You could create a perspective to imitate Things’ Today view that lists all tasks that are flagged or due today.

You could set up “Home” and “Work” perspectives, have one for tasks that are due soon and another for tasks that are on hold. This feature is only in the Pro version and really allows you to personalize the app.

The Best Free Choice: Wunderlist

Wunderlist is an attractive, multi-platform task app that is now completely free. The Pro version was recently discontinued, and its features incorporated into the standard app. There are versions for Windows, Android and more.

Wunderlist has fewer features than both Things and OmniFocus. That keeps the app simple, which will appeal to some people, as will its price. One final benefit — the app allows you to share task lists and assign tasks, making it the only winner appropriate for teams.

Free download from the Mac App Store. As of April 4, 2018, Wunderlist Pro is no longer available, and its features are now included in the free version. Also available for Android, iPhone, iPad, Web, Windows Phone, Chromebook, Kindle Fire.

Wunderlist is the easiest way to get stuff done. Whether you’re planning a holiday, sharing a shopping list with a partner or managing multiple work projects, Wunderlist is here to help you tick off all your personal and professional to-dos.

If you’re concerned about the cost of our other winners, Wunderlist may be for you. It’s a simple and attractive task manager that manages to include quite a few features, and it’s absolutely free.

Like most task managers, you can set up lists for the main categories of your life. With Wunderlist, you can share each list with others, so you could share a shopping list with your family, and a work project with the other team members. Individual tasks can be assigned to other members of the group.

This is something our other winners are unable to do. So, besides cost, the ability for multiple people to manage the same task is another strong reason to consider Wunderlist.

You’re also able to star important tasks, and set due dates and reminders. When looking for urgent tasks, you’ll need to check both the “Starred” and “Today” lists. I wish that you could view both in a single list, but that’s not possible unless you go through the list of tasks due today and manually star them.

Tasks can contain checklists, notes, and comments. Comments allow team members to discuss a task with one another.

The Competition and Comparisons

There are plenty of alternatives. Here are a few highly rated apps you may like to consider.

2Do is recommended in many reviews and highly rated on the App Store. It has many of the features of our winners and costs the same as Things.

The app offers tags and notifications, lists and projects, mobile apps and sync. Although it looks quite simple, there is plenty of power under the hood, including smart lists, which are similar to OmniFocus’ perspectives. They are configurable saved searches that can pull tasks from all of your lists, for example, all tasks due in the next three days that are tagged “bill”.

2Do is $49.99 from the Mac App Store, or $9.99/mo on Setapp. Also available for iOS and Android.

GoodTask 3 is based on the standard Mac Reminders and Calendars app and adds functionality. That makes it a good choice if you’re already using Apple’s productivity apps, but wish they were more capable.

Like 2Do, GoodTask features smart lists, which search for tasks from certain lists, or that include (or exclude) certain tags. This feature isn’t as powerful as OmniFocus’ perspectives, but it’s helpful all the same. Other features include subtasks, repeating tasks, manual sort, and quick actions.

GoodTask 3 is $19.99 from the Mac App Store or $9.99/mo on Setapp. A trial version is available. Also available on iOS.

Todoist started as a web app, but now has apps for most platforms, including Mac. I used it long-term over a decade ago, and it’s come a long way since then.

The free version includes everything you need to get started but doesn’t include all of the features of our winners. It allows you to capture and organize tasks, remember deadlines, and review the week ahead. You can map out your tasks with projects and goals, and highlight tasks that are important with color-coded priority levels, and even visualize your progress with attractive charts and graphs.

There are some limits to the free version. You can have a maximum of 80 projects, and up to five people can access a project. Yes, it’s a multi-user app. A premium subscription will increase these numbers to 200 and 50, and unlock even more features, like templates, labels, themes and custom views.

Download Todoist from the Mac App Store. It’s free for a basic plan and $44.99/year for premium.

TaskPaper 3 is quite different to the other apps we’ve listed. It’s a plain text app and very minimalistic. It’s also quite smart, offering a very different way of working with your tasks. You organize your projects, tasks, and subtasks in an outline, and I find it more intuitive than OmniFocus’ outlining features. You can use tags on each item, and quickly filter your whole list by a specific tag.

When my daughter’s family moved in with us a few years ago, rearranging the house was a huge task. So I used a TaskPaper file in Editorial on my iPad to organize and track our progress. I just attempted to open that file in TaskPaper for the Mac for the first time, and it worked perfectly.

TaskPaper is $24.99 from the Mac App Store, or $9.99/mo on Setapp. A 7-day trial version is available. It is no longer available for iOS, but compatible apps like Taskmator and Editorial are.

Free Alternatives

Here are some ways to manage your to-do list without spending any money.

Use Pen and Paper

You don’t absolutely need to use an app to manage your to-do list. There’s something satisfying about crossing completed tasks off a paper list. You could scribble on the back of an envelope with a pencil, or purchase a stylish Moleskine or Daytimer, it’s totally up to you.

There is a certain amount of redundancy and duplication when using pen and paper. You may find that frustrating, or you may find it a good way to review your tasks each day. Paper productivity systems seem to be taking off again, and new methodologies like the Bullet Journal are being developed.

Free To Do List Apps for Mac

Wunderlist is a great free task manager for the Mac. Here are a few more.

Apple Reminders is already installed on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and allows you to create tasks with reminders, and shared lists. Some time ago I moved our family shopping list from Wunderlist to Reminders, and it works well. My wife and I can add items to the list, and they’re updated automatically on both of our phones. It works well.

Siri integration is very helpful. You wouldn’t believe how many times I say to Siri, “Remind me to check the washing machine in 90 minutes.” It creates a Reminders task for me and notifies me 90 minutes later without fail.

WeDo is free from the Mac App Store. It includes subtasks, due dates, repeating tasks, reminders, notes, and attachments. You can also share and assign tasks to others, making it suitable for families and small businesses.

Free To Do List Web Services

2018 Best Mac Applications

Instead of using a Mac app, there are a quite a few web apps that will manage your to-do list. You’ll be able to access your tasks from any device without installing a thing.

Toodledo isn’t the most attractive web app out there, but it’s free and includes all the features you’ll ever want. Mobile apps are available.

Google Tasks is simple and doesn’t have many features, but if you use other Google apps like Gmail or Google Calendar, it is well-integrated and may come in handy.

Asana is a great way to share and assign tasks with your team, and is free for up to 15 team members. A Pro plan is available for $9.99/month that allows more members and includes more features.

The basic plan for Remember the Milk is free, and includes plenty of features. If you want more, you can upgrade to the Pro plan for $39.99/year.

Best To Do Apps 2018

GQueues Lite includes all the basic features you need for free. Upgrade and gain additional features for $25/year.

Best Productivity Apps 2018

Trello‘s boards, list, and cards allow you and your team to organize and prioritize your projects. The basic version is free, and if you need additional features, Business Class costs $9.99/user/month.