50+ Productivity Apps: Ultimate Tool Recommendations for 2022
A directory of the most useful recommendations & options
So, there are endless options for productivity apps and tools.
We’ve shortlisted them down into their categories and recommended a few that we commonly review and cover on Keep Productive.
As there are so many, this might look like a long list, but truly it is so important to pick and stick with the tool you use. There’s no worse thing than switching apps and moving bases so frequently.
So please take your time exploring these and follow me on Medium for more.
⚡️ This article is kindly sponsored by Coda
Coda is the all-in-one doc that brings words, data, and teams together.
Coda is the all-in-one doc that brings words, data, and teams together. It comes with building blocksーlike tables that talk to each other and buttons that take actionーso anyone can make a doc as powerful as an app.
👀 3 Features to Look Out For
1. Pages
Pages are the basic scaffolding of Coda. You can have as many pages as you like, giving your doc infinite depth to grow your ideas.
2. Tables & Views.
A table in Coda can be as simple as a list or as deep as a database. And it can have customizable, connected views, so everyone can work off the same data, in their own preferred way.
3. Packs
Packs connect your Coda doc to the apps you use everyday — the tools you and your team communicate, code, and design in.
Thanks to Coda for sponsoring this article
👩🏻💻 Subscribe on YouTube for more!
Note: Applications are in no particular order, just categorised and numbers for ease of reading. * mentions include an affiliate.
✅ To-Do List applications
1. Todoist*
Todoist a great all-rounder, for folks managing projects and groceries alike.
2. Things 3
The most beautiful of all the to-do list apps, minimal and great for solo users.
3. TickTick
Todoist’s closest rival, comes in cheaper & with premium unlocks calendars
4. Microsoft To-Do
Microsoft’s free to-do list app, great for sharing lists & for MS lovers
5. Sorted 3
A flexible timeline based to-do list application, developer for iOS and Mac
6. Moleskine Actions
One of the best designed to-do list apps developed by Moleskine Studio
7. Planny 5+
In the 5th edition, Planny is best for those looking at easy mobile task tracking
8. TeuxDeux
A perfect week planner for mapping what’s ahead for your week and lists
9. Google Tasks
Ideal for Google lovers, works well with Gmail too — for saving email tasks
10. Zenkit To-Do
Developed by Zenkit Suite, aimed to replace Wunderlist’s feature-set
📝 Note-taking application
11. AmpleNote
A very powerful note-taker, with a neat “Task Score” feature for prioritising
12. Bear Notes
A minimal and easy to use markdown edit for simple notes and ideas
13. RemNote
Perfect for students and researchers alike, bi-directional note-taking too!
14. Nimbus Note
A great alternative to Evernote with more media and clipping abilities
15. Agenda Notes
Combine notes and your calendar in one application — great for meetings
16. Evernote*
Growing in features once again, Evernote now offers tasks, calendar & notes
17. Mem
A new kid on the block, Mem’s quick capture is speedy and with more to come!
18. Roam Research
The OG bi-directional note-taker and much loved by the “Roam Cult”
19. Obsidian
A free, offline note-taker with graph view and ideal for note-connecting
20. Craft
Winner of Apple’s Mac of the Year app and a stunning personal docs app
21. ReMarkable
A hardware paper tablet with much to offer for taking yourself away from apps
22. NotePlan3
A hub tool for managing notes, calendar and tasks in one place
📅 Calendar Apps
23. Fantastical 3
A reliable and beautifully designed calendar application with a good rep!
24. Morgen
Security focused application for managing your calendar
25. TimeTree
Socially orientated calendar app for sharing events with friends & family
26. Calendars 5
A perfect iOS viewer for your Google Calendar or Apple Calendar
27. BusyCal
A professional looking Fantastical 3 alternative
28. Nook Calendar
Schedule meetings in seconds with Nook — a new entry!
29. Cron
Yet to be fully released, Cron has a minimal design with much hype
30. Daybridge
Much like Sunrise— Daybridge wants to be the hub for everything time based
31. Magical
A coming soon experience for bringing your calendar to the focus of your work
32. Clockwise
Perfect for folks who need to focus on their time and focus time
📮 Email Apps
33. Newton
Minimal email application now available in the SetApp subscription
34. Superhuman
Well-known for speed and accuracy of email experience
35. Spike
Conversational email for simple emails and more chat like management
36. Spark Mail
Readdle’s well-built answer to email management — well-respected!
37. Hey
A new take on email management, helping to reduce load & incoming
38. Airmail
A simple iOS and Mac app for managing email — well-designed client
39. ProtonMail
Privacy first email client for managing emails, comes with email domain too!
40. Missive*
Built well and offering a great experience for personal and shared email
🌿 Project Management Tools
41. ClickUp*
A flexible, customisable project management application for all
42. Monday*
Well-known reliable way to manage projects — with dashboards for teams
43. Wrike
A popular one for marketing and sales teams to manage tasks and workload
44. Basecamp
More designed for remote and a-sync teams to co-ordinate projects
45. Walling
Creatively led projects will look great in Walling — with mood board vibes
46. Asana*
A well-respected and timeless way to plan projects — plus, with timelines
47. Airtable
A powerful way to create apps for you and your team’s problems
48. Trello
Acquired by Atlassian and growing in views, Trello is a well-known project tool
✨ Wiki & Team Docs Tools
49. Coda (article sponsor)
Coda is the all-in-one doc that brings words, data, and teams together. It comes with building blocksーlike tables that talk to each other and buttons that take actionーso anyone can make a doc as powerful as an app.
Discover Coda here >
50. Almanac
A wiki application for teams’ to create docs and manage them in one place
51. Notion
Taken the world by storm, Notion offers a flexible canvas for all
52. Tettra
Tettra offers some awesome ways to capture silo’d information — inc. Q&A
53. Slab
Knowledge sharing hub for you and the team
54. Slite
A-sync teams use this to collect docs and work together
55. Dropbox Paper
Part of the Dropbox ecosystem offering tools for real-time collab
56. Quip
Owned by Salesforce, more suitable for larger team doc-management
🎼 Mindful & Sound
57. Endel
A smart sound experience for creating better work environments for focus
58. Brain.FM
Sound environments range from coffee shops to deep focus
59. Noisli
Simple and easy place to mock-up sounds for remote work
🎯 Planner Tools
60. Akiflow*
A new to-do list/calendar app for focusing on work at hand
61. Motion*
Trying to kill to-do list apps, Motions takes over your scheduling
62. Sunsama*
A mindful way to plan tasks and calendar events, with hand-holding help
63. Friday*
A new team hub for managing check-ins, posts and planning personal day
🎉 Focus
64. Session
The most beautifully designed of pomo timers on the market
65. Flora
Offering a way to focus for 25m, by growing seeds
66. Forest
Much like Flora, almost identical — you grow forests to help stay focused
🌿 Thanks again to Coda for sponsoring
Coda is the all-in-one doc that brings words, data, and teams together. It comes with building blocksーlike tables that talk to each other and buttons that take actionーso anyone can make a doc as powerful as an app.
