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Most to-do apps are free until you rely on one. The week you want "put the bins out" to come back every Tuesday, you find that Any.do's free plan has no recurring tasks at all, TickTick's lets you set two reminders per task, and Google Tasks won't repeat a task you've shared. Meanwhile Todoist, the app most roundups crown, put its price up in December 2025. The real question is which limit you'll hit, and whether removing it is worth paying for.
What is a to-do list app?
It's an app that holds your tasks in one place, syncs them across your phone and computer, and reminds you when they're due. The better ones read a task typed in plain words, such as Todoist's example "Submit report every Friday at 4pm", and set the date and the repeat for you. Most also share lists and show tasks beside your calendar.
Why is everyone looking for a new one?
Mostly because of Todoist. From 10 December 2025 its Pro plan went from $5 to $7 a month and from $48 to $60 a year, and in a reader poll on Android Authority's report, 71% of 184 voters said they'd move to a rival app. Voice capture has arrived too: Todoist's Ramble turns speech into tasks in more than 40 languages, and 
SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → turns meetings into action items.
In the UK, "best to do list app" is searched about 880 times a month, "best task manager app" about 260 and "todoist alternatives" about 70 (Google Keyword Planner, October 2026).
What does it cost, and what's the catch?
A year costs nothing with Apple Reminders, Microsoft To Do or Google Tasks, which have no paid tier. On the UK App Store in October 2026, a year of TickTick Premium is £49.99, Superlist Basic £59 and Todoist Pro £59.99, while Things 3 is a one-off £79.97 for iPhone, iPad and Mac together.
The catch most people miss is the cost of switching, since every list and repeat has to be rebuilt; r/todoist even has a name for bouncing between Todoist and TickTick: "purgativity". Leaving is awkward too: Todoist's backups are paid-only and leave out completed tasks.
The short answer: If everyone you share lists with has an iPhone, free Apple Reminders is enough for most people; if your household mixes iPhone, Android and Windows, free Microsoft To Do works everywhere. If you'll pay, Todoist is the best all-rounder at £59.99 a year, TickTick is the cheaper option with a focus timer and habit tracker at £49.99, and SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → suits people who want notes and tasks on the same page, from £59 a year (UK App Store prices, October 2026). Apple users who refuse subscriptions have Things 3. More task and focus apps are on our productivity apps page.
The to-do list apps side by side
The table sets out what each free version stops you doing and what paying costs on the UK App Store in October 2026.
| App | Free version's main limit | Paid (UK App Store) | Runs on | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Reminders | Apple devices only | Free | iPhone, iPad, Mac, iCloud.com | iPhone households |
| Microsoft To Do | Fewer features | Free | Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, web | Mixed households, Outlook users |
| Google Tasks | Shared tasks can't repeat | Free | Android, iPhone, Gmail and Calendar | Gmail users |
| Todoist | 5 projects, no calendar view | £6.99 a month or £59.99 a year | Everything, Linux included | Most people who'll pay |
| TickTick | 9 lists, 2 reminders per task | £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year | Everything, Linux included | Students, focus-timer fans |
| SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → | No voice, integrations or AI | £6 a month or £59 a year | Mac (beta), iPhone, Android, web | Notes and tasks together |
| Things 3 | No free version (Mac trial) | £9.99 iPhone, £49.99 Mac, one-off | Apple only | Subscription refuseniks |
| Any.do | No recurring tasks | £8.99 a month or £56.99 a year | iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, web | Family planners |
Before the detail, it helps to know what you're replacing. I'll share what readers say once enough people have answered.
Are the free built-in apps good enough?
For a lot of people, yes: the three below sync, repeat tasks and share lists for nothing, and the phones in your house decide between them. Benjamin Preston's unsponsored walkthrough covers them alongside the free plans of Todoist, TickTick and Notion.
Apple Reminders: the free answer for iPhone households
Reminders is on every iPhone, iPad and Mac, and has become a capable shared list. You can assign items with @name and get a notification when someone adds or ticks something off, and on iOS 17 and later a Groceries list sorts items into aisles such as Produce, Meat and Frozen Foods. It also works in a browser at iCloud.com.
It copes with more than its reputation suggests: one r/gtd user keeps 100 to 300 open tasks in it on a full iPhone 11 and says it "still flies".
Who it suits: iPhone families who want a free shared shopping list and simple reminders.
Less suited to: any household with an Android phone, since everyone sharing a list needs an Apple Account with Reminders on in iCloud.
Price: free.
Microsoft To Do: the free one that works on every phone
Microsoft To Do is the free choice when a household mixes iPhone, Android and Windows. Microsoft says it's free and syncs across iPhone, Android, Windows and the web, and there's a free Mac app too. My Day suggests tasks for today and a flagged Outlook email becomes a task.
Sharing works by link between personal Microsoft accounts, or within one workplace or school, according to Microsoft's help page, so a list on your work account can't be shared with your partner.
Who it suits: Windows and Outlook users, and couples who want one free shared list across iPhone and Android.
Less suited to: power users who want boards, filters or AI, where Zapier finds it hasn't caught up.
Price: free with a Microsoft account.
Google Tasks: fine for Gmail, weaker for shared chores
Google Tasks earns its place if your day runs through Gmail. You can turn an email into a task and trace it back to the email, and tasks sit in the side panel of Gmail, Calendar and Docs.
It's basic, though: dates are picked by hand rather than typed in plain words, Android Authority found, and Google says shared tasks can't be set to repeat.
Who it suits: Gmail users who want a plain free list next to their inbox.
Less suited to: couples sharing weekly chores.
Price: free with a Google account.
Todoist: the best all-rounder if you'll pay
Todoist runs on practically everything and handles plain-English dates better than its rivals. Its apps cover web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and Wear OS, and its repeats go further than most: "every last workday at 3pm" works, and "every!" counts from the day you finish, even on the free plan.
The free plan shares each project with up to five people but stops at five personal projects, no calendar layout and ten Ramble voice sessions a month. Pro lifts that to 300 projects, a calendar view, unlimited Ramble and automatic backups.
The r/todoist commenter below tried TickTick and came back for Todoist's layout, not needing a timer or habits.
Who it suits: most people who want one app on every device, especially Windows plus iPhone or Android households.
Less suited to: anyone who wants a focus timer or habit tracker built in. Its Trustpilot score is 3.3 from 82 reviews (October 2026), some citing trouble deleting accounts.
Price: £6.99 a month or £59.99 a year on the UK App Store in October 2026; on the web it's $7 a month or $60 a year, with no pounds option.
TickTick: cheaper, with a timer and habit tracker built in
TickTick is the value pick: it adds a calendar, a Pomodoro-style focus timer and a habit tracker to your lists, for £10 a year less than Todoist on the UK App Store (October 2026). It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, Apple Watch and the web, and Android Authority found it reads phrases like "Go to the gym every Monday and Wednesday at 6 PM".
The free plan pinches: TickTick's comparison caps it at 9 lists, 99 tasks per list, 2 reminders per task and sharing with 2 people; Premium raises those to 299 lists, 5 reminders and 29 members.
A Todoist user who tried it on r/ticktick liked the calendar and timer but planned to go back over weaker natural language for repeats and no nested folders.
Who it suits: students and anyone wanting tasks, timer and habits in one cheap app.
Less suited to: minimalists, and anyone who wants to know where their data is held: TickTick's privacy policy names no company, country or hosting location.
Price: £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year on the UK App Store in October 2026.
Superlist: notes and tasks on one page, plus meeting notes
SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → is here for people whose lists start as messy notes. It comes from Wunderlist creator Christian Reber's Berlin team (9to5Mac called it "the new Wunderlist"), and a list mixes free writing with tasks: any line of a plan can become a task with a date. On the App Store it's Superlist: To Do List & Notes by Superlist Software GmbH; an unrelated bookmarking app shares the name.
Its other trick is AI meeting notes without a bot joining the call. On a Mac (macOS 14 or newer) it listens to the Mac's audio and prompts when a Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack Huddle or Discord call starts, and since June 2026 the iPhone and Android apps record in-person meetings. Action items land in your lists with assignees and due dates. If that's the draw, our guide to the best AI note takers compares the dedicated tools.
Paperless X's review shows the notes-plus-tasks writing. His biggest complaint, losing work to swipe-to-delete, was fixed when Superlist added a Trash on 8 October 2026.
On r/ProductivityApps one user found it "so buggy, especially sync" and moved off; another stayed with Todoist because Superlist has no Linux app.
Who it suits: people who want notes and tasks in one place, small teams sharing lists, and anyone wanting meeting actions in their task list.
Less suited to: Linux users and anyone after the sharpest natural-language entry. TechRadar (June 2025) found voice entry occasionally got details wrong, and support is by email only.
The catch: voice input, integrations and meeting notes aren't on the free plan, and meeting notes need Super at £25 a month, four times Basic. We found no export option on Superlist's site or help centre.
Price: free plan with unlimited tasks and notes; Basic £6 a month or £59 a year, Super £25 a month on the UK App Store in October 2026 (Super is $249 a year on the web).
Things 3: pay once, Apple only
Things 3 is for Apple users who would rather pay once. Each version is a one-off purchase: £9.99 for iPhone (with the Apple Watch app included), £19.99 for iPad and £49.99 for Mac, so £79.97 for all three, with free sync through Things Cloud.
Only the Mac version has a trial, 15 days with every feature. The others have none, but UK App Store purchases can be withdrawn within 14 days without giving a reason. Cultured Code also says real-time sharing of lists isn't supported, which is why one r/thingsapp commenter uses Todoist for work.
Who it suits: Apple-only individuals who hate subscriptions and care about design.
Less suited to: anyone with a Windows PC or Android phone, and couples who want shared lists.
Price: £9.99 to £49.99 per device, one-off, on the UK App Store in October 2026.
Any.do, Notion, Sunsama and Akiflow: the others you'll hear about
Any.do has a family plan with a shared grocery list, but its free plan has no recurring tasks, and Premium is £8.99 a month or £56.99 a year on the UK App Store, with many discounted offers in the app.
Notion is a workspace you can build a task list in, but Android Authority notes there's no plain-English date entry; Plus is £11.99 a month on the UK App Store.
Sunsama and Akiflow drag tasks onto your calendar as time blocks, with no free plan: $17 and $19 a month billed yearly respectively (October 2026), a lot for a to-do list.
Does the app matter, or the list?
The list matters more than the app. In lab studies, Masicampo and Baumeister (2011) found unfinished goals kept intruding on people's thoughts and hurt their performance on unrelated tasks, and that writing a specific plan for those goals made the effects disappear.
In a sleep-lab study of 57 adults aged 18 to 30, Scullin and colleagues (2018) had people write for five minutes before bed: those who wrote a to-do list fell asleep significantly faster than those who listed what they'd already done, and the more specific the list, the faster they dropped off. It was small, and Scullin said a larger study would be of value.
Neither needs a subscription. Bill McLean tried the paid apps and settled on free Reminders, calling the hunt for the right app a form of procrastination.
What UK buyers should know before paying
Three things matter here. First, web prices for Todoist, TickTick and SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → are in US dollars, while the UK App Store charges in pounds, including any applicable taxes, so that's the price you'll pay.
Second, where your lists live. Todoist processes data in the US under UK-approved contract clauses and says it doesn't train general AI models on it. Superlist's policy lists hosting with Hetzner in Germany alongside US providers, with AI from Google Gemini, OpenAI and Deepgram, without saying whether they can train on your content. TickTick's names no location at all.
Third, leaving. Todoist's CSV backups are paid-only, but ones made while you paid stay downloadable after you downgrade. For Superlist we found no export at all, worth weighing before years of notes go in.
Questions people ask
What is the best to do list app?
For people who'll pay, Todoist (£59.99 a year on the UK App Store, October 2026). Free Apple Reminders suits iPhone households, and free Microsoft To Do suits homes that mix phones.
Which to do list app is free?
Apple Reminders, Microsoft To Do and Google Tasks are completely free. Todoist, TickTick, SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → and Any.do have free plans that each cap something, such as Any.do's missing recurring tasks.
Which is better, TickTick or Todoist?
TickTick is cheaper (£49.99 a year against £59.99 on the UK App Store, October 2026) and adds a focus timer and habits; Todoist's plain-English dates are stronger.
Can I share a to-do list with my partner on iPhone and Android?
Yes, with Microsoft To Do (free, between personal Microsoft accounts) or Todoist (free for up to five people per project). Apple Reminders needs everyone on an Apple Account, and Things 3 doesn't share lists.
Is Superlist free?
SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → has a free plan with unlimited tasks and notes, but voice input, integrations and AI meeting notes need Basic (£6 a month) or Super (£25 a month) on the UK App Store, October 2026.
So which to-do list app should you use?
The free app that matches the phones in your house is the place to begin, and paying makes sense once a limit actually annoys you: Todoist for the best all-rounder, TickTick for a timer and habits for less, SuperlistSuperlistSuperlist is a to-do list and notes app from the team behind Wunderlist, with shared lists, voice capture and bot-free AI meeting notes that turn calls into tasks. It suits individBuying guide · View store → if your tasks begin life as notes or meetings, and Things 3 if you'd rather pay once. Either way, the research suggests a specific written plan is what quiets the nagging.
If voice capture appeals, our guide to the best dictation software covers the tools built for it, and the Calendly alternatives guide helps when half your list is arranging meetings. Every task and focus app we cover is on our productivity apps page, with the rest of our software guides.
