Things 3 vs Todoist: Which Task App Fits? (2026)

TL;DR: Things 3 is the best pure single-player Apple experience. Todoist is the most flexible general-purpose to-do app, on the most platforms. Done Bear is for people who want the Things-style GTD workflow with a web app, real collaboration, local-first speed, and first-class automation (CLI, API, MCP). We make Done Bear, so we’ll be specific about where the others win.

Things 3 and Todoist both do the job, and almost nothing about them is the same. Four questions decide it: where you work, whether you share projects, how much system you want to maintain, and whether your tools (including AI assistants) need access.

Platforms: where can you use it?

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 Windows laptop is part of your day, Things isn’t there; Things 3 for Windows is the direct answer.

Todoist is close to everywhere: web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, browser extensions, email plugins. Reach has always been what it does better than anyone.

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

Cultured Code’s official device list is the source of truth, and it lists Windows, Android, Linux and browser access as unsupported. Todoist’s current plan guide lists its web, desktop and mobile availability.

GTD workflow: built in or built by you?

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

Todoist is GTD-capable: you assemble those views out of filters, labels and conventions. That works, but you maintain it, and hand-built systems drift. Our minimal version: The GTD App Setup That Sticks.

Done Bear is GTD-native too, with the same five views as Things plus a Logbook. The structure is the product, so there’s nothing to maintain.

Offline and speed

Things 3 is the trust benchmark: fully native, instant, offline by default. Todoist is cloud-first with an offline mode: its native and web apps are designed around a synced account 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. Same feel as Things on every platform. 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.

Todoist’s is mature: shared projects, assignees, comments, a Teams tier. If you need heavyweight delegation today, Todoist is proven.

Done Bear has real-time shared workspaces on every plan, Free included. Personal views stay personal, and projects go shared when the work does, without the app becoming project-management software.

Automation and AI

Things 3 has URL schemes and Shortcuts. Fine for Apple-side glue, but there’s no real API. Todoist offers a solid REST API and a large integration ecosystem.

Done Bear is built agent-first, with a full 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. If your AI assistant manages your task list, that’s the difference.

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’re all-Apple and single-player. Todoist has a free tier, then paid plans per user per month.

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

Choose Todoist if you need Android, natural-language capture everywhere, or established team workflows with assignees and comments across a big integration ecosystem.

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 isn’t picking the workflow. It’s keeping that workflow fast wherever your day happens.

Start with the Things 3 comparison or the Todoist comparison, 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.
• Todoist: plans, pricing, and billing FAQ for current plans, platform availability, layouts, and collaboration limits.