Things is an elegant, Apple-only to-do app that lets you customize tasks in a bunch of helpful ways. It stands out for its one-time cost (many competitors require a subscription) and attractive, sophisticated design. However, its menus can be frustrating to navigate, and the app doesn’t include many features we expect, such as natural language input for naming tasks, location-based reminders, or a web interface. Things is certainly an upgrade over Apple’s default Reminders app and could be all you need if you value simplicity, but it doesn’t compete with our Editors' Choice winners, Asana and Todoist.

Pricing: Flat Fees

Things doesn’t have a free version or a subscription. Instead, you pay a one-time fee for each platform: iPad ($19.99), iPhone and Apple Watch ($9.99), and macOS ($49.99). If you have a Mac, you can sign up for a 15-day trial from the company's website. I tested the iPhone version for this review.

If you buy Things, you own it forever. You get all future updates and don't have to deal with any pesky microtransactions. If you want the entire suite of apps, however, you must pay a hefty $80.

Since Things 3 has been out for a while now, I reached out to Cultured Code about the possibility of Things 4. According to a representative, the company has nothing to announce about another major release, and Things 3 will continue to receive the company’s full support for now. I expect there will be a next-generation version of Things someday, but when exactly is an open question.

On the one hand, $80 feels like a lot of money when competitors, such as Asana ($10.99 per month, billed annually), TickTick ($36 per year, billed annually), and Todoist ($48 per year, billed annually), have free versions and work across different devices and platforms. On the other hand, all those apps will cost much more over time. And if all you just need is a to-do app for your iPhone, a one-time fee of $9.99 is an excellent deal. I prefer this pricing model in a world overflowing with subscriptions for everything from antivirus software to food delivery.

Interface and Ease of Use: Pretty, But Frustrating 

To get started with Things, simply purchase the app on Apple’s App Store or download the free trial for macOS. You don’t need to create an account unless you want to use Things Cloud to sync your tasks across different devices.

One of Things' defining aspects is its clean, minimalist design, which has remained unchanged over the years. It doesn’t bombard you with features, settings, and toggles. Whether you want to see what’s coming up or create a new task, no action is more than a few taps away. It’s hard not to appreciate the elegance and simplicity of the interface.

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On an iPhone, you open the app into a list of categories (in menu order): Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, and Logbook. Your Areas and Projects reside at the bottom of this list, and you can add a new task from your dashboard with the plus button at the bottom right. 

Despite its aesthetically pleasing design, however, the mobile app can sometimes cause frustrations. When I create a task, I can open a menu to select a due date and set a reminder. But if I choose a date first, the menu closes. When I set up a task to repeat and remind me each time, I have to set up a reminder for the original task in a separate menu. Even making tasks repeat feels nonintuitive–you need to click on the task, tap the ellipses at the bottom of the screen, and then click Repeat, which finally opens up the relevant menu.

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I now navigate Things pretty smoothly, though these frustrations with the interface stood out to me for an app that puts so much emphasis on design. Your experience might vary, though, especially if you use the macOS version and its keyboard shortcuts. The macOS edition's interface is largely the same as on mobile, but there are some differences. It squirrels away the Repeat option too, which I don’t like, but it lets you click Done when selecting a due date instead of automatically closing the menu, which I do like.

Natural language input isn't available in Things, something you get with Todoist. If you name a task “Clean fridge tom” in the latter app, it automatically changes your task’s due date to tomorrow. Things requires you to set due dates the old-fashioned way by opening a menu. This isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it creates friction where there doesn’t need to be any.

Managing Tasks: Mostly Capable and Customizable

Depending on when a task is due, Things automatically sorts it into the appropriate category. Once you complete a task, it moves into the Logbook. On your dashboard, you can find all your tasks with specific due dates in the Upcoming category, and tasks due today appear in the Today category.

Moving tasks to different categories and deleting tasks is simple, but I had to work against my muscle memory because it's not possible to right-swipe on tasks to delete them. Instead, tapping on a task presents you with a delete button at the bottom of the screen.

You can outfit tasks with notes or add a checklist if they require multiple steps. Tags are another way to customize your tasks. You can make custom tags, which you can then use to differentiate between personal and work tasks, indicate important ones, or specify a location. Things doesn't have location-based reminders, unlike Any.do, Todoist, and Toodledo.

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Conveniently, you can set deadlines and reminders for tasks separately. So, although a task might be due on a certain day, you can make sure you get a reminder before then. Less conveniently, Things separates its menu for due dates and reminders from deadlines, requiring a few extra clicks.

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I appreciate how I can set tasks to be due anytime or someday, because sometimes I want to get something done that doesn’t have a particular deadline, like organizing a closet. Alternatively, I don’t have to enter a due date at all, which means the task pops up in the Inbox category. This system makes it easy for me to track just about anything, regardless of when I need to complete it.

Projects and Areas: Organize Your Big Tasks Easily 

In addition to tasks, you can create Projects and Areas in Things. A Project functions like the different categories you see on your dashboard, such as Inbox, and appears in the same place. You can add tasks within a Project, and Things notes that these tasks are part of your project when you view them in their respective categories, such as Upcoming. 

You can also add headings to organize tasks within a Project, as well as set a Project’s deadline, due date, and repeat status. Projects have a space for notes, and you can add any number of tags for further organization. Projects are useful for any tasks in which a checklist doesn’t quite cut it, such as a home renovation.

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Tasks are to Projects like Projects are to Areas. An Area also functions like a category on your dashboard, but you can house multiple projects in an Area, as well as insert tasks directly into an Area. If you’re moving to a new house, for example, and have several major projects related to that central task, an Area is a good place to organize those.

Things doesn’t have any collaboration features. I wish I could invite someone to a Project or an Area and assign them tasks. You can do this with Asana and Todoist, both of which make collaboration easy. Of course, this isn't much of a drawback if you just need a to-do app to manage personal tasks.

Writing Tools and Apple Intelligence: More to Come Later

Things supports Apple’s Writing Tools, which is an AI-powered feature you can use to proofread, reformat, rewrite, or summarize what you jot down. However, you need a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Mac with at least iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS 15.1. You also need to enable Apple Intelligence. While Writing Tools does help you spot errors in your writing, which I appreciate in the way I do a writing app such as Grammarly. Still, I didn’t write enough in Things for this feature to feel especially relevant.

Keep in mind that Writing Tools is Apple’s feature, not Things’ feature. That’s par for the course with AI tech in Apple’s ecosystem. Like many other developers, Cultured Code has already updated the app to work with Apple’s promised  “conversational” Siri, but Apple still needs to launch it.

Things Cloud and Integrations: Pick Up Where You Left Off

If you use Things across multiple devices, Things Cloud helps you sync everything seamlessly. You can enable it in the app's settings, though this requires you to make or sign into an account. Once you do, all you need to do to see your tasks on other devices is sign in with the same account. 

Things can import your Apple Calendar events, across both shared calendars and your personal one, so they appear right alongside your tasks. I love the idea of this feature, but you need to already use Apple’s Calendar app for it to be useful. You can’t import, say, your Google Calendar or Outlook events.

If you plan to transition to Things from Apple’s Reminders, OmniFocus, or Todoist, you can import your tasks directly. You can import tasks from other apps, too, but that requires some manual work. Cultured Code outlines the necessary steps on its website.

Is Your Data Safe With Things?

Based on Cultured Code’s privacy policy, you can expect its site and service to collect data, such as your device information, email address, and IP address. If you sign up for Things Cloud, the company collects your task information, alongside access logs and device identifiers, as well.

According to Cultured Code, it uses personal user data to help create, develop, and improve its products and services, among other things. Cultured Code promises not to share personal user data, aside from with Cultured Code’s subcontractors, like Amazon and Google. It protects Things Cloud data, which includes your tasks, using TLS encryption.