Personally, keeping up with all the tasks is very difficult. One of the main reasons there are so many competing to-do list apps is that no app fits everyone or works truly for everyone. And while all types of productivity apps are vital, most of us must have one to be a master list of all those small things we need to do.
Best Apps For Mac users, in the aggregate, are much more particular about the software they use. That is the reason why they’re ready to pay a premium for a Mac in the first place. Things become and remain that way and they generally behave the same across different apps and programs—there’s a specific “Mac” look and command pattern.
However, the problem lies in that apps that aren’t created specifically for macOS can just seem off. Keyboard shortcuts, notifications, and menu items (among others) will not work as expected. Even if the app is outstanding on a Windows machine or in a web browser, it is irrelevant if it fails to comply with macOS standards. Hence, such an app will disrupt users’ workflows—defeating the very purpose of productivity software.
I have used a Best Apps For Mac, a to-do list maker, and a tech writer for more than a decade, and I kept these in mind while I tested every Mac to-do list maker I could get my hand on. Therefore, below are the best to-do list apps that can be found for macOS.
Key Features of the Top To-Do List App for Mac
The variety of Mac to-do list apps on the market is great. All satisfy different kinds of user needs. Some are plain text lists, while others are high-level project management tools. Whether it is the one you prefer may well depend upon your taste, however, to me, the perfect Mac to-do list apps should do five vital things.
Provide excellent native macOS experience. This goes beyond mere macOS features like notifications, widgets, and menu bar apps, to the general app look and feel as well. Therefore, you will not find a lot of team productivity tools of big names on this list. With regard to examples, Todoist is one of our favorite to-do apps, but it is not one of our favorite to-do apps for Mac.
Demonstrate multiple ways to sort and organize tasks, for example, tags, lists, projects and deadlines. A good to-do app for Mac can deal with professional, personal, and every other kind of work you throw at it.
Make it fast for users to add new tasks and get to see what they have to do, preferably with many keyboard shortcuts and similar features. All the best apps become your mind’s extension.
Remind self-imposed deadlines again. The most effective to-do list for Mac will explain not just what to do, but also when to do it.
Sync with your smartphone. Unable to check your to-do list when you are not at home or in the store is a very big annoyance. If your to-do list is available only when you’re at your desk, its usefulness is incredibly restricted.
All my selections have free trials included, so you might want to try anything that floats your boat. Some tasks are good for managing dozens of projects, on the other hand, others offer a simplified experience that lets you stay on task.
I found it easy to test many to-do apps because I had already used most of them over the past ten years, so I just needed to refresh my memory about them. Like many others, I’ve tried lots of options to find the one that works best for me. Therefore, the best six to-do apps for Mac are presented in the following.
Best Mac To-Do List Apps At a Glance
Name | Best for | Standout feature | Pricing |
TickTick | A cross-platform option that feels native to the Mac | Works across various platforms | Free; paid plan from $3.99/month |
Things | A blend of powerful features with elegant design | Intuitive keyboard shortcuts | Mac: $49.99; iPad: $19.99; iPhone: $9.99 |
Reminders | A simple option for Apple-only users | Free and included with all Apple devices | Free |
OmniFocus | Power users and GTD fans | Highly customizable task organization | From $49.99 for Mac or iPhone and iPad; or $9.99/month for all versions |
GoodTask | Making Reminders more powerful | Adds important features to Reminders | Mac: $39.99; iPhone and iPad: free (in-app option of $9.99) |
2Do | Multiple syncing options | Power features without the learning curve | Mac: $49.99; iPhone and iPad: $9.99 |
Top-notch to-do list app compatible across platforms, prioritizing Mac users.
TickTick (Web, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Apple Watch)
![Best Apps For Mac](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TickTick-App-1024x609.png)
TickTick Pros:
- Just a web app, therefore it can be accessed cross-platform with Windows and Android.
- Yet Apple maintains the design style of macOS, so you don’t have to struggle using it.
TickTick cons:
- This is a web app wrapper when it is.
TickTick is a simple to-do list app for almost any existing platform on this planet. TickTick works well as a web app on Mac, and it gets updates over time. Some of its design choices are good, but there are also special features for Mac users that make it different from other apps like Todoist. These include the icon menu bar, Calendar for easily adding appointments, and notifications that are built into Mac. Plus, there is a keyboard shortcut to create tasks from anywhere.
Organizing your tasks isn’t complicated: for lists, you have tags, due dates. And a few advanced views such as a calendar, Eisenhower matrix, or Kanban board. Also, this app has some features which other apps don’t have like an in-built Pomodoro timer. Indeed, the TickTick Mac app is essentially a wrapper for the web version. However, if you’re seeking a simple yet effective solution, especially for syncing non-Apple devices or collaborating extensively with others, it’s worth considering. While it might not meet high Mac standards, it stands out among modern web-based to-do apps.
TickTick Price: It is free but the paid features like a monthly calendar view. And custom smart lists are a time charge of $3.99/month.
Top pick for Mac users, offering a mix of robust features and stylish design in a to-do list app
Things (Apple Watch, macOS, iPhone & iPad)
![Best Apps For Mac](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Things-3-Mac-App-1024x611.png)
Things Pros:
- Despite being light and minimalist, she is stuffed with features
- Adaptable to most types of tasks
Things cons:
- No web version
To-do list apps tend to fall into two categories: both the complex and the minimalist. Things are somehow both.
Open Things for Mac and it looks simple: you have an Inbox with your tasks. And the possibility to create more lists. Dig deeper and they have all types of highly sophisticated tools around. There are nesting ways to organize your tasks: you can have areas that have tasks or projects. Tasks or headers that can have tasks or headers that can have tasks, and tasks that even have subtasks and notes. The concept sounds complicated, but it isn’t. And that gives you a good idea of how well-designed the Things app is. This system is not exclusive to any particular way of using it. Feel free to use as many or as few of the organizational options as you want. However you like, to bring order to your list of to-do’s; pick which items from the list you want to tackle today; and then go do them.
Other apps have this feature, but it doesn’t make it feel like the app is cluttered. Things is a native Mac app, which means it fits seamlessly into the macOS desktop. It boasts a beautiful blend of features, including quick task adding, and calendar integration for easy scheduling. andy keyboard shortcuts, reminders with native notifications, and syncing across iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch. It’s also a great tool that helps you with organizing your tasks—and then doing them. And I’m the one who uses it myself.
Things price: The Mac version is also available at $49.99 but provides a free trial of 15 days on the Things website. The iPad version’s cost is $19.99 and the iPhone version’s cost is $9.99.
Simple Mac to-do List App Apple Only For Users
Reminders (Web, Mac,iPad, Apple Watch,iPhone)
![Reminders in iphone and Uses](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Reminders-in-iphone-and-Uses-1024x582.png)
Reminders Pros:
- Free and to go with your Apple products.
- Nails the basics perfectly, but has a good selection of additional features to cover most users’ needs.
Reminders cons
- The app for Mac is still quite a little, though, and lacks the universal hotkey for adding tasks.
Therefore the best to-do list is the one which you have on you at any given moment. If you own a Mac, you already have Reminders which comes preinstalled on every Apple product.
Apple’s default task management app may appear to be a simple one. But it has almost become powerful in the past few years. You can create tasks coming with the selection of the due date and tags, Smart Lists automatic categorization. And even location-based alerts. You can also make a delisting that automatically puts the products into the right categories, so you don’t miss anything at the store. There are a few views: Today, Tomorrow, This Week, and Flagged. Besides this, you will see an individual folder and your automatically updated Smart List. It’s simple, sure, but this simplicity might be a big plus: you type in and add tasks, and you are done with that.
While there is no global keyboard shortcut for adding tasks, this app integrates with Siri for Mac. Interestingly, no other app on this list can claim the same without a problemed workaround that relies on the Reminder app. And now with iCloud support, you can sync your tasks with your iPhones and iPads easily and even share lists with friends and family members, letting them assign tasks.
If you find yourself managing lots of tasks, Reminders might feel overwhelming. However, if you’re looking for an app to keep lists of groceries or plan family trips, Reminders, which comes already installed on your Mac, is a handy choice.
Reminders price: All Macs, iPhones, and iPads include this feature.
Top choice for Mac users who are power users and fans of GTD
OmniFocus (Web, macOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch)
![Best Apps For Mac](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/OmniFocus-Mac-App-1024x607.png)
OmniFocus pros:
- The to-do list app, for the power user, with all that it implies.
- Multiple customizable views, contexts, and workflows
OmniFocus cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Expensive
If you’re picky about the level of detail, then OmniFocus is for you. This app is a godsend for power users, as it allows you to categorize your tasks in as many unique ways as you can think. (The real danger is that you’ll waste time planning your to-do list and not so much doing things on it.)
There are three types of projects that you can create, such as. There are 6 main view options in default, beginning from the Inbox where you can dump all your tasks, Forecast where you see the time events that are due that very day, and Review where you can check on your unfinished tasks towards the end of the day or week. You can also make your view to see only personal tasks or only to-dos that relate to a specific client that is just due this week. In honesty, it has more customizability and productivity-focused tools than I can easily write in a concise brief.
OmniFocus is not an easy thing to learn, sometimes it can be cluttered and it is overkill for most people. However, once you have it all figured out, you will have a very detailed, GTD-style task list that works example like you desire. Put it together with a global keyboard shortcut keystroke for fast task entry, and you’ve got no excuse at all in terms of organization. OmniFocus for Mac also syncs with your iPhone and iPad and even has a web version, so it’s compatible with Windows devices as well (at least when you have to).
OmniFocus Price: OmniFocus for Mac has a starting price of $49.99 after a 14-day trial. The professional version, which gives you a chance to put your content in the sidebar, costs $99.00. The app starts from $49.99 for the iPhone and iPad versions with a 14-day free trial as well. Alternatively, you can subscribe to all versions from the lowest which is $9.99/month.
Apple Reminders More Powerful Best App For Mac
GoodTask (iPad, macOS, Apple Watch, iPhone)
![Best Apps For Mac](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GoodTask-Apple-Watch-and-Mac-1024x615.png)
GoodTask Pros:
- Extends Reminders in the areas where the program is deficient, like a keyboard shortcut.
- Joined with Calendar, so you can view events and to-dos together
GoodTask cons:
- What we get for the price tag of an add-on app is expensive.
Reminders are wonderful, but their simplicity may be a weakness when you are working with complicated tasks. GoodTask is unique in that it uses Reminders as a backend: if you add anything to GoodTask then it will appear in Reminders (and vice versa). So what’s the point? GoodTask brings some features that the Reminders app doesn’t have from Apple.
First of all, there is Calendar integration which enables you to get your calendar appointments and tasks in the same place. You can also go a step further and create more powerful smart lists, through which you can filter your tasks based on tags, due dates, and location. Initially, you will need to set it up before it becomes better than Reminders but if you are sure of the task overview, you can get this done. Finally, there are all the other good-to-have functions that a good task management app features: these include features like an Overdue list that shows the tasks for which the due date has passed, and pop-up windows for planning the day or for seeing exactly what task you should be working on right now.
Reminders integration means all your tasks sync with the iPhone and iPad without the need for any other software, though there are versions of GoodTask available for these devices as well if you still want to use it on them. And of course, the last advantage is that if you can’t convince your relatives to use a more powerful to-do app, you can still share lists with them even if they stick to the more low-end Reminders. There is an easy universal keyboard shortcut to add an event, and this could be the deal-maker for keeping this app over Reminders. Overall, this is more or less a premium enhancement over Apple’s standard application; you can try it out.
GoodTask for Mac Price: $39.99 for the 14-day free trial. GoodTask can be found through Setapp, which is a $10/month subscription service that gives access to dozens of Mac apps. The app can be installed for free on the iPhone and iPad, with the in-app purchase of $9.99 to unlock all features.
Top-Rated Customizable To-Do List App for Mac, Offering Various Syncing Choices
2Do (Android, Mac,iPad, iPhone)
![Best Apps For Mac](https://peaceloverbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2Do-Mac-App-1024x616.png)
2Do Pros:
- Abundance of pros like tags and due dates, which are free from the learning curve of OmniFocus.
- Multiple sync options are available to choose from, with iCloud and Dropbox being included.
2Do Cons:
- The interface is a little cluttered and somehow old-fashioned
A little cluttered (and a bit heck) at first glance, but it is also really strong. And the possibilities go beyond that, if you’re up for the extra effort. This is a power user’s to-do list that is malleable – just about any workflow should work with it. It’s going to take you some time, but it’s going to be rewarding, at least for you, if you’re the one who love fiddling. Obviously, it is less a hassle than OmniFocus.
This is not a disappointment as there is no calendar integration. However, there are many integrations with the rest of the system. Having a universal keyboard shortcut for adding new tasks, notifications for upcoming deadlines, and Today widgets makes checking off tasks very convenient.
Synching is, however, is special because it has many alternatives. You can sync with the iPhone or Android version through iCloud, Dropbox, Yahoo, Fruux, Toodledo or any CalDAV server. Another benefit is having your synced tasks on any of those services although not with the 2Do-specific features. It’s much all-embracing syncing options, more than what any other app from here provides, so take a spin and find what it works for you.
2Do for Mac Price: $49.99 and it is with 20-day free trial. 2Do is also found in Setapp that is a $10/month subscription service with access to many apps for the Mac. The iPhone and iPad app is US$9.99, whereas Android is free but the syncing feature is Pro which costs US$9.99.