The 13 Best To-Do List Apps in 2019 (Android & iOS)
Looking for the best to do list app in 2019?
We’ve got you covered.
In this article, we’ll review the 13 best to do list apps you can use to boost your productivity.
By the end of the article, you’ll have a concrete idea of which to-do list app suits you best.
Here are the tools we’ll cover
Click on the links below to jump to each tool.
- ClickUp
- Todoist
- Remember the Milk
- Google Keep
- TeuxDeaux
- Things
- Wunderlist
- TickTick
- Toodledo
- Bear
- Microsoft To-Do
- Evernote
- Google Tasks
Let’s get started…
1. ClickUp
In most of the apps listed here, you’ll have to pay extra for things like notifications, managing tasks or assignments.
With ClickUp, you get the power of a full-on productivity platform and a personal task management tool, with loads of integrations such as the Google Calendar and Slack integration.
ClickUp has a lot of powerful features, but you can customize the statuses and workspaces to use only what you need and set reminders for when you need them.
Use ClickUp everywhere. Use the ClickUp app for your iOS/ Android device, the desktop app, the web app –wherever you go, ClickUp is right there with you.
It’s also great for storing information, like recipes, planning a birthday party or managing tasks or tracking contacts for networking. Here are some great ways you can use ClickUp in your life.
ClickUp also helps you stay in sync, because you can use it across devices and even connect your Google calendar.
Here are some key features you get for free when you use ClickUp as your personal productivity platform and to-do list app.
- Lists — Create smart lists to set up your life. For example, one folder could be “Home” where you have all of the pertinent activities that you need, such as “Bills” or “Grocery List.”
- Start Times and Due Dates — Specify both time and day, and get notified when tasks are past the deadline. You’ll automatically get reminded when something is due. Alternatively, if you have a task in the future, you can set a start time. Very convenient for managing tasks if you need to plan something out days or weeks in advance.
- Prioritize — What’s the important task on your list today? Flag it as urgent or low priority , instantly.
- Smart Search — Forgot something? No worries. You should search for it. The more you use it, the smarter it gets (that’s some top-notch AI stuff right there).
- Integrations — Have calendars in Google Calendar or other personal documents like in Dropbox? Of course, you do. Connect them with ClickUp.
- Custom Statuses — Customize your projects with statuses to fit each individual project. You can customize your statuses for different areas. For instance, a home renovation project would need a different status than planning your vacation or hiring a new team member.
- Notes — Need to jot down something quickly? No problem. Use the ClickUp notepad to note down anything in a flash. You can even add pictures, links and checklists to make them as powerful as possible.
- Drag and Drop — Drag and drop tasks no matter where they are in ClickUp — Board, List, or Box view.
- ClickUp gives you handy project calendar to manage all your current and future tasks easily. It can sync with external calendar apps like Google Calendar to make sure your calendars are always up-to-date.
Other Useful To-Do List Features for Teams
- Multiple Assignees — Bring your team members, friends or family members into ClickUp as users and even assign them tasks to help them remember to do something. ClickUp allows you to assign the same task to multiple people.
- Rich Text Editing — With ClickUp’s intuitively beautiful rich formatting interface, you can have detailed descriptions of each task in rich text with nearly all the formatting options you get in MS Word or Google Docs.
- Multiple Views — List View and Board View gives you options for managing tasks as a board (which is useful for teams) or as a Get Things Done task list. No to-do list app gives you these type of options!
- Also get Gantt charts, wiki, docs, spreadsheets, embeds and more!
What’s up with ClickUp?
Bottom line, it has the features you’d love to have for your to-do list and task management, with the power to do more. Oh and all those great features? Absolutely free. Why not go for it? Use it as your primary task management app, project management tool or your basic to-do list app, all in one!
On the pro version, you get more storage and more advanced features.
Sign up here to start with ClickUp!
Pros:
- Feature-rich free version.
- Simple drag and drop functionality for easy task management.
- Can easily add start dates and set due dates.
- User-friendly interface.
- Custom statuses to keep track of your task list easily.
- Can assign multiple people to a task.
- Smart search feature to find all your tasks.
- Loads of integrations like the Slack and Dropbox integration.
Cons:
- New to the market
- No internal chat
Pricing: Free to $5 per user/per month
2. Todoist
Todoist was recently named the best to do list app by The Verge and it’s easy to see why.
The simple, elegant interface puts the focus on the tasks at hand. Just type in the action you need to do, set a due date and it will remind you of when your deadlines are quickly approaching.
Todoist shows you tasks that are due today, tomorrow and within the next week. For apps that focus on simple reminders, it’s great.
I put in the items I wanted to research, and then the app prompted me to do them quickly. I’ve never tried to do a big project in Todoist, but I don’t need it for that. I need it to tell me when to do follow-ups or to pick up laundry.
What’s nice though is that Todoist integrates with Google calendar, and so your tasks and events can meet up themselves. That’s the hard part of most to-do mobile apps.
It also works great for everyday tasks like sharing a grocery list with your significant other or splitting it up among roommates.
Another nice perk?
Todoist suggested projects for me to add to like shopping, personal or even movies I want to watch. That’s a handy reminder that doesn’t really need deadlines but is a convenient feature.
Bonus:
Todoist will show you the task history, so you can see what you’ve finished and helps you set goals for each day to stay productive. You gain karma points when you complete tasks and projects which give you a little more incentive. It can also be translated into a basic task management app for your teams.
Todoist Features:
- Recurring due dates
- Subtasks
- Prioritize tasks
- Active projects
- You have to upgrade to Todoist premium for premium features like task comments, color-coded labels and reminders.
Pros:
- Loads of preset templates to get started easily.
- Multiple third-party integrations to power up your to-do list software.
- Good free version.
Cons:
- Cannot set statuses for different stages of your task.
- Calendar view for tasks needs work.
- Cannot collaborate with your team efficiently.
Currently using Todoist but want to try ClickUp? Import your tasks.
Available: iOS | Android | Web
Pricing: Free to $5 per user/month
3. Remember The Milk
This task management app has been around for a while, and it’s still a solid choice. Its name kind of says it all–it’s a place to dump all of your random ideas into a central place. Like getting milk after work, or calling family members on their birthday. The simple stuff.
Their smart list feature is really nice, which lets you write out the details and due dates in one line with natural language. It will also send you texts and Gmail notifications to customize how you want to receive information.
Remember The Milk opts for simple tags and smart lists over the more formal “projects” which I think is a good choice for a personal application like this. Sample tags include work, personal or “bananas.” In other words, you can make tags for anything.
Free vs. Paid Version
Remember The Milk has made a lot of their essential features limited to the premium version, like subtasks or getting mobile notifications. You get many of those things for free in your usual task management tool. However,if you like the interface or are already in the Remember The Milk universe, then upgrading probably makes sense.
Remember The Milk Features:
- Get reminders by Gmail, text, Twitter and other mobile notifications
- Share your lists
- Filter tasks by priority
- Due dates
- Recurring tasks
- Tags
- Location-based tasks
- Attachments (Pro version)
- Stay in sync with Outlook (Pro version)
Pros:
- Simple to-do list management.
- User-friendly web app interface.
- Loads of third-party integrations for added functionality.
Cons:
- Cannot add location-based reminders.
- Cannot be used as a powerful task manager for your task lists.
- Cannot handle complex team collaboration.
Pricing: Free to $39 per year
4. Google Keep
I asked a friend of mine the other day which to do list app he uses, and he mentioned Google Keep. This surprised me because I use Google Keep just as a note-taking app, not a personal to-do list software.
However, it makes sense in many ways, especially if you’ve been wedded to pen and paper for most of your life. It’s kind of the same, just with quicker formatting. You can title your list, save it and then come back to it later.
You can also set reminders (I should do this…) and come back to notes or other items later. Color-coded labels serve as “tags” in this scenario.
This is good if…you’re enmeshed in the Google App Store or Android world. It fits in seamlessly with the collaboration tools you’re probably already using to organize your life. It’s also a native part of every Android phone.
Personally, I like the “pinned” posts option which keeps important to-do list items at the top of your mind.
Google Keep Features:
- Set reminders
- Draw or type
- Leave voice reminders
- Save articles
- Multiple devices
- Pin posts
Pros:
- Very user-friendly — next to no learning curve.
- Supports voice commands.
- Completely free.
Cons:
- Cannot handle anything besides the most basic task management.
- Cannot share groups of notes together.
- No calendar view for to-do lists and tasks.
Pricing: Free
5. TeuxDeaux
This to-do list app is new (neaux?) to me but it looks cool. It’s well-designed, with big, bold fonts but in a clean non-flowery way.
Tasks are laid out in a weekly view, showing the highest priority tasks you need to do for each day of the week. It’s also simple to move tasks from calendars and lists and back again.
Here’s the good part: If a task isn’t done one day, it simply rolls to the next day. That’s amazing and makes a whole lot of sense.
You can quickly add in recurring tasks–that way you don’t have to rewrite the same thing every day or schedule it out every single day. That’s nice, too.
Something different? Teaux-Deaux bills itself as a “design” app in the App Store, meaning they appeal to creative types. One way they do is by adding markdown features to their tasks. That means you can bold or underline if you need a little extra push.
TeauxDeux Features:
- Tasks roll over to next day
- Recurring tasks
- Customizable smart lists
- Markdown support
Pros:
- User-friendly interface.
- Multiple text-formatting options available.
- Task roll-over function for recurring to-do list items.
Cons:
- No free version.
- No mobile apps designed for your Android device.
- Cannot easily collaborate with your team over tasks.
Pricing: $2/month or $24 annually
6. Things
Things takes a minimalist approach and gives you a lot of white space to add details for your projects or chores. You start with a big list and then add smaller elements underneath.
This is like if you’re scheduling a big event–like a vacation–and need to do several things to prepare. As a task manager, this allows for more nesting and helps you separate into more categories. The advantage of headings is that you can move the whole set of tasks, mark them complete or change the due dates.
You also get checklists, like if you’re packing for a trip or need to make improvements.
Here’s the thing: It also has a magic button, which isn’t as glorious as it sounds, but is still a convenient way to add tasks, no matter which category they fall in. If you do use headings, Things has nice visual cues to show progress–and how much work you have left.
And it’s only for Macs and iOS. They haven’t designed mobile apps for Android devices.
Things Features
- Checklists
- Headings
- Easy to add tasks
- Tags
- Search
- Natural language processing
- Progress charts
- Touch bar support
Pros:
- Good task sorting filters.
- Can handle complex task management.
- Can sync with your iCloud account.
Cons:
- Can only support iOS and Mac — no mobile apps designed for your Android device.
- Cannot share tasks with team members.
- No free version available.
Pricing: $9.99 to $49.99
7. Wunderlist
Wunderlist is beautiful and it looks accessible. It has more visual cues than typical to-do list software in a contemporary format.
It’s also easy to share a task list and responsibilities with your partner, family or co-workers to streamline your life. Their tagline is “keep your life in sync.” That’s a promise that anyone can get behind.
Wunder what they’re up to? Wunderlist is slowly moving into the project management space, with assignments, file storage and even note-taking capabilities that make it a blend of Evernote, Google Keep with simplified project management.
Also, Microsoft purchased Wunderlist and has made Microsoft To-Do (see below). That doesn’t make too much sense, so don’t get too invested with this one.
Wunderlist Features:
- Folders
- Comments
- Due Dates
- Notes
- Tags
- Chrome browser extension
Pros:
- Good web app.
- Stay in sync with your to-do lists across devices.
- Completely free.
Cons:
- Cannot support advanced task management.
- Cannot add due dates for separate subtasks.
- No calendar view for your lists.
Pricing: Free
8. TickTick
TickTick harnesses the power of traditional task management into an app-first interface. TickTick has broader capabilities like location reminders, voice input and real-time data syncing across platforms that helps you stay on track.
You can also share lists, which your team can use in a work environment if you need a smaller program that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. With their calendar, it’s easy to assign and manage new tasks for certain times of the day.
TickTick Features:
- Folders
- Smart dates
- Voice input
- Location reminders
- Tags
- Start and due dates
- Multiple platform support
Pros:
- Comes with an in-built time tracker.
- Can function as a good task manager for items.
- Intuitive UI with drag and drop functionality.
Cons:
- Most of the features are limited to the premium version.
- Cannot integrate with other task management apps.
Pricing: Free to $28.99 per year
9. Toodledo
If you need your application to fit the way your life works, then Toodledo may be an option for you.
You can make your own workflow or work within their systems.
Toodledo gives teams and people the flexibility of task management in an online to-do list.
However, the interface looks a little clunky compared to more cutting-edge tools.
Toodledo Features:
- Track habits
- Outlines
- Smart sorting
- Tags
- Hotlist priorities
- Natural language processing
- Reminders
- Sharing
Pros:
- Can handle a bit of complex task management with features like smart sorting and habit tracking.
- Built-in time-tracker.
- Can synchronize with devices across platforms.
Cons:
- Most advanced features are limited to the premium version.
- Free version lacks basic team collaboration capabilities.
- Doesn’t have lots of preset templates for simple task list management.
Pricing: Free to $4.99 per month
10. Bear
Think of Bear as your essential online to-do list software meets note-taking app. It’s handy to add checklists, add detail to your tasks and take extensive notes if necessary.
It’s perfect for flipping from the boardroom to the grocery store; Bear can handle all of it.
Their hashtag functionality links tasks, notes and files altogether. You don’t have to worry about putting your tasks in the right place with that functionality.
Bear lets you manage the way you want, and create lists for a few simple tasks. If you need to add more than just a due date, then Bear may be the right application for you.
Bear Features:
- Rich text editing
- Support for images
- Organize with hashtags
- Select from multiple themes
- Create PDFs or Word docs
- Export to multiple files
Pros:
- Can link multiple notes together.
- Great interface with loads of customizability.
- Can handle advanced markups.
Cons
- Only compatible with Apple iOS and Mac.
- Free version isn’t very feature-rich.
- Steep learning curve for first-time users.
Download: iOS
Pricing: $1.49/month or $14.99 per year
11. Microsoft To-Do
This is from the creators of Wunderlist, but a little different. In fact, it integrates with Office 365, giving you access to part of the ultimate productivity suite.
You can even create lists and add tasks from Outlook.
For some people and teams, that is enough reason to switch over to Microsoft To-Do.
But need more? Microsoft To-Do gives you lots of customization options to spice up appearances.
Its best feature? The “My Day” focus list tells you exactly what tasks to take care of, ranked not only by your due dates but also by color-coded labels.
To-Do is free and is a heavyweight competitor to all the other online to-do list apps.
To-Do App Features:
- Task management in your pocket
- Reminders and due dates
- Daily focus list
- Notes
- Prioritize tasks
- Outlook integration
- Sharing and invites
Pros:
- Supports syncing your to-do lists over multiple platforms.
- User-friendly interface.
- Completely free.
Cons:
- Cannot add recurring tasks.
- Lacks powerful task management capabilities.
- No features to collaborate with your team over tasks.
Pricing: Free
12. Evernote
Evernote is a bit beleaguered these days, but it’s still one of the most popular options for an online to-do list app.
Their hashtagging system has revolutionized notes as a way to organize and their handwriting detection and search option is an amazing addition too.
Their WebClipper is also a popular option if you find yourself browsing and saving tasks and notes from the web.
In addition to that, it gives you a complete writing space to create checklists, meetings notes, grocery list and sync across devices. This works well if you’re at your work computer, but want to refer to something on your phone later — Evernote has you covered.
Evernote Features:
- Supports syncing across devices
- Share with friends, family or coworkers
- Save from across the web
- Take notes in your own handwriting
Pros:
- Load of third-party integrations such as Asana.
- Easy cross-platform synchronization.
- Good free version.
Cons:
- Lacks complex to-do list management features.
- Poor storage space on the free version.
- Difficult to share files with non-Evernote users.
Pricing: Free to $14.99 for business
13. Google Tasks
For a little more power centered on tasks rather than notes, Google Tasks may be a smoother option instead of Google Keep.
Their user interface is reliable and maintains the same steady, minimalist edge that Google maintains across its products. With Google Tasks, you can easily create lists, add subtasks and then set due dates. This subtask capability is something you won’t get in Google Keep and many other apps charge for.
They have a list hierarchy that serves as a project list, and you can create as many lists as you need.
Bonus: Create tasks from emails as well. This is a killer feature considering the popularity of Gmail for work and personal use.
Google Task Features:
- Subtasks
- Details
- Tasks from emails
- Due dates and notifications
Pros:
- Great for simple to-do list management.
- Easy-to-use interface.
- Completely free.
Cons:
- Cannot handle complex task management.
- Cannot print your calendar and tasks together.
- Cannot handle team collaboration.
Pricing: Free
Conclusion: Try a Productivity Platform, Not Just a To-Do List App
What are the key features that the best to do list app should have?
- Set reminders
- Manage tasks
- Easy-to-use calendar
- Track due dates and deadlines
- Team collaboration for co-workers and families
One factor that you may not think about: Most to-do apps lock you into a certain way of doing things without any flexibility.
That’s what sets ClickUp apart from other productivity apps and it’s what most people and teams overlook!
ClickUp has customization options from the way you view your tasks–in a list, box or a board–to how you customize your statuses. And let’s hit on this point again–it’s free!
You get all the key features in the free version which is different from most to-do list apps. ClickUp is more than a to-do list for your shopping list.
It’s more than only a productivity and task management app. It’s a productivity platform. It’s a way to keep your whole life in order–whether it be personal or for work.
Try a better way for your to-do lists with a productivity platform like ClickUp. I’ll repeat: it does way more than the traditional to-do list app, for the same price (that’s free).
Because of ClickUp’s flexibility, you’ll be able to manage your life the way you want to…not like how a certain system wants you to.
Interested? Go here to read more about why ClickUp is a top productivity platform.
