Todoist vs. Things 3 vs. Wunderlist
The never-ending pursuit of the best todo-app continues. How you work with your tasks largely depends on your workflow. I have compiled my findings of extensively using a couple of different apps. Most apps do the same necessary things with a distinct flavor or twist.
I am no GTD-purist and apps like OmniFocus where you are making weekly reviews have never worked for me. Instead, I try to keep it simple and if I am getting stuck, divide a big task into several manageable smaller ones.
Wunderlist
I have been a heavy user of Wunderlist since it’s release. There have been a couple of bumps in the road, but it has overall worked well for me.
The functionally for teams is also good. Easy to get going and assign the task to different members. Real-time syncing of the grocery list at the store with my wife’s phone works well. :-)
The development of Wunderlist stopped Microsoft acquired Wunderlist, and the team is working on Microsoft To-Do. While To-Do looks nice, there is no app for macOS available at this time, which is a deal breaker for me.
Pros
- Native app for iOS and macOS
- Attachments
- Teams
- Free plan is generous
Cons
- Will be shut down by Microsoft in favor of Microsoft To-Do.
Todoist Premium Version
After Wunderlist was acquired, I decided to try out Todoist. All the possible integrations with IFTTT and Zapier did seem appealing to me. Also, daily email reports did look like a great feature.
But Todoist has more labor intensive method for moving tasks around. Managing tasks is a real pain for me. There is no drag-and-drop beside re-ordering a list, you have to find and go thru context menus instead. This weird limitation is a real bummer for me. I like to create tasks for today and then sort them into projects awards.
Pros
- Apps for nearly every platform
- Lots and lots of integrations
- Fun productivity reports
- Web interface
- Email reports
- Integrations with IFTTT or Zapier
Cons
- Clunky GUI does not support drag-and-drop for sorting tasks.
- macOS desktop app loses connection
Things 3
The limiting interface (in my opinion) lead me to the opposite direction and try Things 3, which has an award winning state of the art interface. Everything works as you would expect and there are some smart solutions, especially in the iPhone-app. With Things 3 you finally get support for headlines, which is a nice addition since Things 2.
Pros
- Super lovely GUI, drag-and-drop everywhere
- Native apps for macOS and iOS
- Easy to sort projects
Cons
- Lack of web interface
- macOS/iOS only
- No teams
- No attachments
- On the more expensive side if you buy for iPhone, iPad, and macOS. On the other hand $30/year for Todoist adds up
Apple Notes
Apple notes have come a long way in the last updates of macOS and iOS. You could setup Apple Notes to work like a Get Things Done-app.
Pros
- Flexible, setup tasks as you like
- Free
- Document scanning built-in
- Support for Apple Pencil
Cons
- No reminders, you have to manually to setup this in Reminders
- No today view and so forth
Conclusion
You cannot go wrong with either of these three. In the end, I went for Things 3, mainly because Wunderlist is of its end of life. Todoist has a slightly clunky interface. In the end, it did not use the integrations and reports that Todoist provided.
Now I have been trying out Things 3 again (I moved away from Things in 2012 because of lack of syncing) I fell in love with the super smooth interface.
Since I work mostly by myself, I do not need teams or attach large attachments. If I were not an Apple fanboy I and were working outside Apple’s ecosystem, I would undoubtedly go for Todoist, primarily if I was in a team.
So, Things 3 is my choice for now at least :-)
UPDATE: As of October 2021 Things is still my favorite. The support for Markdown and formatted text is another killer feature.
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