It's close: Things 3 edges it 8.8 to 8.7, so the right pick depends on what you need. Things 3 wins on 3 of the 5 scores, TickTick on 2.
Apple users who want a calm, personal task manager without a subscription
Students and planners who want tasks, calendar, habits and focus in one app
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Things 3 | TickTick |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #5 of 10 | #6 of 10 |
| Developer | Cultured Code | Appest Limited |
| Pricing | Paid | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | No | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Strengths and weaknesses
Things 3
- Calm, polished design that makes planning easy
- Fast, reliable sync across Apple devices
- One-time purchase with no subscription
- Apple devices only, with no web access
- No shared lists or team collaboration
Things 3 is the most pleasant task manager on Apple devices. Every screen is calm and clear, and features like Today, This Evening, Areas and headings make planning feel easy rather than fiddly. It syncs reliably through Things Cloud and works well with Shortcuts and widgets. The catch: there are no Windows, Android or web apps, no sharing with other people, and you buy each platform separately.
Full Things 3 review
TickTick
- Huge feature set for the price
- Useful free plan with habits and focus timer
- Apps for every major platform, including Linux
- Interface feels busy with so many features
- Fewer third-party integrations than Todoist
TickTick packs more into one app than almost any task manager. Alongside lists and natural language input, you get a calendar view, habit tracker, Pomodoro focus timer and Eisenhower matrix, on every major platform. The free plan is unusually useful, and Premium is good value. The trade-off is a busier interface than Things or Todoist, and fewer integrations. Great if you want tasks, time and habits in one place.
Full TickTick review
