Teams switch away from Things when notification overload makes it harder to focus, the tool becomes a graveyard for tasks nobody reviews, or pricing doesn't justify the feature set for basic task tracking. Task management tools succeed only if teams actually use them — complexity, poor mobile apps, or slow performance are common reasons adoption fails. 4 alternatives listed below offer a free tier with meaningful feature access. The right replacement is usually not the tool with the longest feature list; it is the one that preserves your current workflow while changing the constraint that made Things frustrating. Use the alternatives below to compare pricing model, deployment control, migration effort, and the specific tradeoffs between Todoist, Microsoft To Do, TickTick.
Who should switch from Things
- You're evaluating Things but haven't committed — Todoist offers a free tier covering the core workflow so you can compare on real data before spending.
- Your Things invoice is growing faster than the value you extract — OmniFocus covers the same core task management workflow at $10/month and removes the features you're subsidizing but rarely using.
- You're on a Things plan primarily for one or two features — a focused alternative covers your real use case at a lower tier price.
Things alternatives compared
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Open source | Key differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | Todoist for task management teams | Yes | Free | No | Todoist is proprietary, starts at free, and runs as managed SaaS. |
| Microsoft To Do | Microsoft To Do for task management teams | Yes | Free | No | Microsoft To Do is proprietary, starts at free, and runs as managed SaaS. |
| TickTick | TickTick for task management teams | Yes | Free | No | TickTick is proprietary, starts at free, and runs as managed SaaS. |
| Any.do | Any.do for task management teams | Yes | Free | No | Any.do is proprietary, starts at free, and runs as managed SaaS. |
| OmniFocus | OmniFocus for task management teams | No | $10/mo | No | OmniFocus is proprietary, starts at $10/month, and runs as managed SaaS. |
Todoist — Best Things Alternative for Bootstrapped Teams Starting for Free
Todoist offers a functional free tier that covers what most small teams actually need from Things's paid plan. You can evaluate real usage without committing to an annual contract. The paid upgrade path exists, but many teams stay on the free plan indefinitely.
Pricing: Todoist starts at free; Things starts at $50/month. Todoist has a free plan and Things is paid-only. At comparable feature tiers, check both annual and monthly billing — annual discounts of 20–30% are standard across both.
Best for: Early-stage startups, bootstrapped founders, and small teams evaluating Task Management tools before committing to a paid plan.
The catch: The paid upgrade path can be steep — free tier limits are intentionally tight to encourage conversion, and the jump to the first paid plan is often abrupt.
Microsoft To Do — Best Things Alternative for Non-Technical Users Who Need Fast Onboarding
Microsoft To Do strips away the configuration depth that makes Things powerful but slow to adopt. The narrower feature set means faster onboarding and less ongoing admin burden — teams that struggled to get consistent adoption on Things often find Microsoft To Do sticks. The trade-off is real: you'll hit limits as complexity grows, but that's often years away.
Pricing: Microsoft To Do starts at free; Things starts at $50/month. Microsoft To Do has a free plan and Things is paid-only. At comparable feature tiers, check both annual and monthly billing — annual discounts of 20–30% are standard across both.
Best for: Non-technical users and small teams who need the core job done without configuration overhead.
The catch: The simplicity ceiling is also a feature ceiling — teams with complex workflows will eventually hit limits that force a move back to a more configurable tool.
TickTick — Best Things Alternative for Organizations Reducing Single-Vendor Dependency
TickTick is frequently chosen by teams actively migrating away from Things. The data import tools, migration guides, and feature mapping make the transition more straightforward than building a case for a greenfield tool. Many teams run both in parallel during transition — TickTick's pricing accommodates this without penalty.
Pricing: TickTick starts at free; Things starts at $50/month. TickTick has a free plan and Things is paid-only. At comparable feature tiers, check both annual and monthly billing — annual discounts of 20–30% are standard across both.
Best for: Teams in the Task Management space that have evaluated the category and want a TickTick-first workflow.
The catch: TickTick's integration catalog is smaller than Things's, which may require additional middleware or Zapier connections for niche tools.
Any.do — Best Things Alternative for Cutting Annual Task Management Spend
Any.do delivers the core Things workflow at free — meaningfully cheaper than Things's $50/month starting point. The feature set is slightly narrower, which is exactly what teams paying for Things capabilities they don't use should expect. The savings compound: over 12 months, the difference often covers a meaningful addition to the stack.
Pricing: Any.do starts at free; Things starts at $50/month. Any.do has a free plan and Things is paid-only. At comparable feature tiers, check both annual and monthly billing — annual discounts of 20–30% are standard across both.
Best for: Cost-conscious SMBs and seed-stage startups watching software spend as a percentage of revenue.
The catch: The feature gap versus Things is real at the equivalent tier — power users migrating from Things will hit limits that require workflow changes.
OmniFocus — Best Things Alternative for Enterprise Procurement With Security Reviews
OmniFocus targets the enterprise segment with governance, compliance, and audit features that go beyond Things's mid-market positioning. SSO, SCIM provisioning, role-based access, and dedicated support SLAs are standard rather than expensive add-ons. For teams in regulated industries or with security review requirements, the additional structure justifies the premium.
Pricing: OmniFocus starts at $10/month; Things starts at $50/month. OmniFocus is paid-only and Things is paid-only. At comparable feature tiers, check both annual and monthly billing — annual discounts of 20–30% are standard across both.
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise buyers with procurement, security review, and compliance requirements.
The catch: Enterprise pricing is opaque and typically requires a demo and negotiation — you won't find a self-serve signup with predictable per-seat cost.
How to choose your Things alternative
- Do you need team collaboration or primarily personal productivity? Individual task managers are simpler; team tools add assignment, comment, and reporting complexity.
- How important is natural language input? Some tools (Todoist, Things) excel at quick-capture; others require clicking through forms.
- Do you need integration with your project management tool, or will tasks be managed independently? Overlap creates duplication; integration creates switching friction.
Frequently asked questions
Todoist has a generous free tier. TickTick offers free individual use. Tasks.org is fully open-source. Notion can function as a task database at no cost for personal use. For a fair comparison, price Things against the exact workflow you use weekly, not the whole feature checklist. Todoist is listed at free, while Microsoft To Do is listed at free; Things is listed at $50/month.
Things 3 (Mac/iOS, one-time purchase) is praised for minimal friction. Todoist works across all platforms with clean UX. Google Tasks integrates natively with Gmail and Calendar at no cost. For a fair comparison, price Things against the exact workflow you use weekly, not the whole feature checklist. Todoist is listed at free, while Microsoft To Do is listed at free; Things is listed at $50/month.
OmniFocus is the GTD-optimized standard on Apple platforms. Todoist and Things 3 also support GTD workflows. Emacs org-mode is free and infinitely configurable for power users. For a fair comparison, price Things against the exact workflow you use weekly, not the whole feature checklist. Todoist is listed at free, while Microsoft To Do is listed at free; Things is listed at $50/month.
Most tools export tasks as CSV or JSON. Recurring task rules, subtask hierarchies, and integration automations typically require manual recreation. For a fair comparison, price Things against the exact workflow you use weekly, not the whole feature checklist. Todoist is listed at free, while Microsoft To Do is listed at free; Things is listed at $50/month.
About Things
Award-winning personal task manager