TickTick vs Things 3: Which App Fits? (2026)

TL;DR: TickTick bundles tasks with a calendar, habits, and Pomodoro, and it runs on the web, iOS, and Android. Things 3 is Apple-only GTD with Today, Upcoming, Anytime, and Someday built in. Done Bear keeps that structure, adds web and Windows, and stays local-first. We make Done Bear, so we name where the others win.

TickTick and Things 3 both hold a personal list. The rest of the product is not the same: platforms, whether habits and a calendar live in the same app, whether you share projects, and whether a script or an assistant needs access.

Platforms

Things 3 runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. No web app, no Windows, no Android. If a browser-only machine or a Windows laptop is part of your day, Things is not there; Things 3 for Windows is the direct answer.

TickTick has a web app, plus iOS and Android. Backup and import live on the web only: avatar, then Settings, then Account, then Backup and Import. Neither phone app can generate a backup.

Done Bear covers web, macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS, plus a Raycast extension and a CLI. No Android app today, so TickTick wins if that is a hard requirement.

Cultured Code’s official device list lists Windows, Android, Linux and browser access as unsupported. TickTick’s Backup and Import article is the source for the web-only backup path.

GTD workflow

Things 3 is GTD-native. Today, Upcoming, Anytime and Someday are the app’s structure, which is why Things users rarely rebuild their setup.

TickTick is GTD-capable: you assemble those views out of smart lists, tags and conventions. That works, and you maintain it. The rest of the app is a suite: a calendar, a habit tracker, and a Pomodoro timer sit next to the list.

Done Bear is GTD-native too, with the same five views as Things plus a Logbook. The structure is the product.

Offline and speed

Things 3 is the trust benchmark: fully native, instant, offline by default. TickTick works offline too, as a cloud-first app with caching rather than a local-first data model.

Done Bear is local-first. Tasks live on-device and render instantly, and sync happens in the background. Offline-First Beats Cloud-Only covers why the architecture matters.

Collaboration

Things 3 has none of it, deliberately. No shared projects, no assignees, and Things 3 for Teams has the details.

TickTick shares lists. That is enough for a household checklist. It is not a real-time workspace with the same Today.

Done Bear has real-time shared workspaces on every plan, Free included. Personal views stay personal, and projects go shared when the work does.

Automation and AI

Things 3 has URL schemes and Shortcuts. Fine for Apple-side glue, but there is no real API.

TickTick hosts an official MCP server, at no extra cost. Its public API covers tasks and lists only, and there is no official CLI.

Done Bear ships a CLI, a GraphQL API and a hosted MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants can capture, triage and plan against your tasks with OAuth-scoped permission.

Pricing

Things 3 is a one-time purchase per Apple device, with Mac, iPhone and iPad sold separately. No subscription, and a bargain if you are all-Apple and single-player.

TickTick Premium is billed as a single annual subscription. We do not quote a price here because plan pages move; check TickTick for the current number. You pay for habits, calendar and Pomodoro as well as the list.

Done Bear is free to start, up to 250 tasks with unlimited workspace members, then from $7/month per member billed yearly. Details on the pricing page.

The honest verdicts

Choose TickTick if you use the habit tracker, built-in calendar and Pomodoro timer as one bundle, or if Android is a hard requirement. Stay there if you would rather have one app than the best tool for each job.

Choose Things 3 if you work alone, entirely on Apple devices, and want a one-time purchase. It is still the most polished personal task manager anyone has made.

Choose Done Bear if you want Things’ calm GTD structure but need the web, Windows, shared projects, or AI and automation access. The hard part is keeping that workflow fast wherever your day happens.

Start with the Things 3 comparison or the TickTick comparison. To leave TickTick, export from the web app first. Or try it free.

Sources

• Cultured Code: Getting Things for supported devices and separate purchases.
• Cultured Code: Syncing with Things Cloud for browser-access, offline, and collaboration limitations.
• TickTick: Backup and Import for the web-only backup path and the iOS and Android limit.