A beautiful, simple way to organize your day. Clear is an easy-to-use app that transforms the most complex of tasks into manageable to-do lists. It’s perfect for planning projects, preparing yourself for the day ahead or keeping your next holiday stress free.
Whether you’re a seasoned to-do list aficionado or a newcomer, you’ll find a smooth and simple way to organize your tasks on the best to-do list app for Mac. With features like priority settings, repeating tasks, search, and attachments for your tasks, there’s no reason to waste time with any other to-do list app.
Todoist [Best overall]
Todoist has made its way onto plenty of lists as one of the best to-do list apps. I only needed to test it out for a few minutes to figure out why: It offers the perfect balance of power and simplicity. Not to mention, the app itself is beautiful and it runs on virtually every platform.
With over 10 million users, Todoist makes it easy to get a clear overview of everything on your to-do list. Adding a task takes just a few seconds with the quick add option, and you can even set recurring tasks to help you build habits.
You can keep your tasks organized with sections and subtasks, adding deadlines to ensure you get the tasks done on time. Todoist also allows you to set priorities to highlight your most important tasks and mark tasks as favorites to keep them top of mind.
This app gives you the option to personalize the way you organize your to-dos to fit with your workflow and processes. Use the Boards option to get a Kanban-style board with cards you can drag and drop into different categories. You can also label your tasks to make them easier to find later.
Whether you’re sharing a grocery list with your partner or a work project with your coworkers, Todoist makes it possible to share your projects and tasks with others. Delegate tasks to other people and get notified when the task is completed or the person posts a comment.
Todoist also integrates with Zapier. That means you can automatically create tasks in Todoist when a certain action is taken in another app. For example, you might add new Google Calendar events to your Todoist tasks.
Compatibility: Web, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Pricing: The Starter plan is free with paid plans starting at $3/month (billed annually).
Asana [Best for teams]
I’ve been using (and loving) Asana since 2013. While it is more of a full-fledged project management tool than a simple to-do list app, I thought it would be a disservice to not include it in this list.
Founded in 2008, Asana is an app designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work projects and tasks. It’s ideal for teams who need to collaborate on to-do lists, but you can also use it for your own personal to-dos if you like the features and functionality of the app.
One of the greatest benefits of Asana is that it offers a variety of ways to organize and view your tasks. You can use the Board view to organize your tasks like sticky notes, moving them from one category/stage to the next as you progress through the project. You can also view them in a list, timeline, or calendar format, depending on your preference.
In Asana, you organize your work into projects, breaking down your to-do list into separate tasks so it’s easier to manage. Add sub-tasks to any task to break it down further, and assign those tasks to team members so it’s clear who is responsible for what. You can also add dependencies and due dates to your tasks.
The notification system is also helpful in that it gives automatic updates about projects, conversations, and tasks you are involved with in your Asana inbox. You can also set up notifications to email you with these updates.
Asana syncs your tasks across the desktop and mobile apps while also letting you access the platform from your web browser.
Compatibility: Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Pricing: Basic plan is free forever with paid plans starting at $10.99/user/month (billed annually).
Things [Best for the highly organized]
Things blends functionality and beautiful design to offer an app that’s simple and attractive without sacrificing must-have features. If staying organized is important to you, and you want a simple way to do it, Things might be the best to-do list app for you.
With a drag-and-drop interface, Things makes rearranging your to-dos quick and easy so you can prioritize what’s important. If plans change, you can also reschedule events on your calendar by dragging and dropping them to a different date.
The biggest reason why I chose this app for the highly organized is that it allows you to view your calendar events and to-dos together. This makes it easy to plan your day without forgetting a single task or event. (Not to mention, you won’t have to switch between applications during the day since it’s all in one place.)
Add tasks, notes, checklists, and reminders to your to-do list in just a couple of taps. Keep everything organized by projects which can contain headers or tasks. You can also use subtasks to break things down even further.
While other apps offer similar features to Things, what makes Things unique is its design. Even though there is a lot going on, it never feels cluttered or confusing because of the way it’s designed.
Unfortunately for Android and PC users, this app is an Apple-only application.
Compatibility: macOS, iOS
Pricing: The app is $9.99 in the Apple Store.
Habitica [Best for those who want to make it fun]
Like playing games? Wanna make your to-do list tasks more fun? Then Habitica is probably the best to-do list app for you!
Habitica is unlike any other app on this list as it uses gamification to motivate you to achieve your goals. Using in-game rewards and punishments as well as adding a social network aspect, this app will inspire you to get stuff done and build healthy habits while having tons of fun.
You add your tasks, daily activities and habits to the app. These all become little monsters that your character has to conquer. When you complete the tasks, you level up, and when you slip up, your character takes damage.
As you continue to check things off your to-do list and build up your habits, you earn in-game currency that you can use to buy offline rewards like snacks or in-game rewards like cool gear for your character.
To add another level of accountability and motivation, you can collaborate and compete with your friends as well. Fight monsters with your friends. When one person forgets to complete a task or slips up with a habit, the monster hurts everyone. There are even challenges that allow you to compete with friends and strangers for special prizes.
While Habitica certainly won’t appeal to everyone, it is a very unique take on the to-do list app that may be just what you need to FINALLY check things off your to-do list. If you’re competitive or just more likely to get things done when they’re fun, then I’d recommend checking this app out.
Compatibility: iOS, Android
Pricing: Free version is available with a paid plan starting at $4.99/month.
ClickUp [Best for those who like to visualize their to dos]
Like Asana, ClickUp is geared more toward project management and team collaboration than simple to-do lists. However, it’s packed with helpful features, easy to use, and could very well change the way you manage your to-dos, making it a welcome addition to this list.
ClickUp features different apps that you can use to add functionality to your ClickUp boards. These allow you to customize the way you use ClickUp and get more out of the platform. For example, you can use the Automations app to save time by automating tasks or use the screen recording app to add more details to your ClickUp tasks.
This app is great for those who like to easily visualize their to-dos. ClickUp offers multiple views for visualizing tasks and subtasks, allowing you to customize the way you see your to-dos every day.
The core views allow you to view your tasks as a list, board (Kanban style), or calendar. The advanced views allow you to see tasks by location, activity, box, Gantt, mind map, table, timeline, and workload.
It’s easy to keep things organized with ClickUp. Add custom statuses, fields, and tags to categorize and organize your tasks. You can quickly rearrange tasks by dragging and dropping them and assign priority so you know what you need to complete first.
Have a bunch of tasks you need to edit or update? With ClickUp, you can edit tasks in bulk using the Multitask Toolbar.
ClickUp is also great for team collaboration. You can add relationships and dependencies to tasks and subtasks. The app’s unique Time Management feature helps you assess your team’s workload with time estimates.
Compatibility: Web, iOS, Android
Pricing: Free plan is available with paid plans starting at $5/member/month (billed annually).
Conclusion
Life is busy. We have commitments to juggle, meetings to attend, and tasks to complete. Keeping track of everything can leave you feeling like your brain is about to explode. So write it all down! Or better still, install an app.
To do lists have been around for hundreds of years. They help you manage your tasks, time and sanity. Software task managers take things further by popping up reminders, drilling down to what’s important, and syncing to your smartphone.