Best To-Do List App for Mac (2026): Free and Paid Picks

For most people, the best to-do list app for Mac is Apple Reminders. It's free, already on your Mac, syncs to your iPhone and handles dates, locations and repeating tasks. Look elsewhere only when you need something Reminders lacks: Windows or Android access, a one-time-purchase task manager, or a checklist that lives next to your notes.

Quick picks (prices as of November 2026):

• Apple Reminders: best free option if all your devices are Apple.
• Things 3: best one-time-purchase task manager for Apple devices.
• Todoist: best if you also use Windows, Android or a browser.
• Microsoft To Do: best free app that syncs across Mac, Windows and phones, especially if you use Outlook.
• Gubb: best for a daily checklist or small Kanban board inside a notes scratchpad, with no subscription.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to every app here, including saying where Gubb is the wrong choice.

Full task manager or daily checklist?

Decide this first. The apps on this page fall into two groups, and the right app depends on which group fits how you work.

A full task manager holds everything you've committed to, often for months, and keeps it on your phone too. It's worth it if you need some of these:

• alerts at a specific date, time or place
• repeating tasks (pay rent, water plants)
• your list on your phone when you're away from the Mac
• team projects or work spread across several platforms

Apple Reminders, Things 3, Todoist and Microsoft To Do are in this group, and all four have iPhone apps. Each section below says which of these needs it covers.

A daily checklist is shorter-lived. You write today's tasks in the morning, tick them off, and start fresh tomorrow or next week. It needs to be fast to open and add to, and visible while you work. Alerts and phone sync matter less because you're at the Mac all day. Gubb's to-do lists sit here. So does a plain checklist in Apple Notes, which is enough for many people.

If you're unsure, put anything with a deadline you can't miss in Reminders and keep a checklist for the day's work. Our guide to making a to-do list on Mac covers the built-in options step by step.

How we chose

We looked at what changes your day-to-day use, not at feature counts:

• Where your tasks live: Mac only, Apple devices, or every platform including Windows and Android.
• Alerts and repeats: whether the app can notify you about a task and repeat it.
• Structure: subtasks, sections, priorities, boards.
• Price model: free, one-time purchase or subscription, as of November 2026.
• Speed of capture: how quickly you can get a task down.
• Storage: cloud account or local only.

Facts about other apps come from their official pages and store listings, and from third-party reviews where we say so. We didn't run benchmarks or surveys, and we don't quote any.

We start with the free built-in app, then the three dedicated task managers, and put Gubb last because it covers the narrowest need: a daily checklist, not a full task system.

The best to-do list apps for Mac at a glance

Apple Reminders: best free option

Reminders comes with every Mac, so there's nothing to install or buy. It syncs through iCloud to iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, and you can add a reminder by voice with Siri.

What it's good at:

• Subtasks, sections inside lists, tags, flags and dates.
• Location-based and repeating reminders.
• Reminders that trigger when you message a specific person.
• A URL or image attached to a reminder.
• Natural-language entry: type the task and when it's due in plain words.
• Smart Lists and Custom Smart Lists.
• Grocery lists that sort items into categories by themselves.

What it lacks:

• It runs only on Apple devices. There's no Windows or Android app.
• The advanced features need updated iCloud reminders and the same Apple Account on every device.
• It's a reminders and task app only, with no notes, timers or other tools in the same window.

Price: free, as of November 2026.

Pick it if everything you own is Apple and you want alerts and repeating tasks without paying. For most readers this is enough, so try it before spending money.

Things 3: best one-time purchase for Apple devices

Things 3 from Cultured Code is a personal task manager with native apps across Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It has won Apple's Editors' Choice award on the App Store, and optional Things Cloud sync keeps your devices in step.

What it's good at:

• A one-time price with no subscription.
• Steady updates. Version 3.22.3 (September 2025) refreshed the interface for macOS 26 Tahoe, and Things for Mac 3.24.2 came out on November 5, 2026.
• A free trial of the Mac version, so you can live with it before paying.

What it lacks:

• Each platform is bought separately: the Mac, iPhone and iPad apps are separate purchases.
• It's Apple-only, with no Windows version.
• The Mac app needs macOS 13.3 or later.
• It's a task manager only.

Price: the Mac app is $49.99 one-time on the US Mac App Store, as of November 2026. Cultured Code offers a 15-day free trial of the Mac version from its website.

Pick it if you're on Apple devices, want a dedicated task manager you pay for once, and don't need Windows or Android.

Todoist: best for Mac plus other platforms

Todoist runs on more platforms than anything else here: Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch and Wear OS, plus the web, browser extensions and email add-ons.

What it's good at:

• Your tasks are on whatever device you pick up, including a work PC or an Android phone.
• Board views. Tasks on the Today, Upcoming, label and filter boards can expand to show their subtasks.
• Pro is aimed at power users and includes AI features.
• Business adds team workspaces.
• Frequent updates. The 2026 changelog has macOS, Windows, Linux and web entries up to October 30, 2026.

What it lacks:

• Paid features are subscription only, with no one-time option.
• Third-party sources say the free plan is limited to 5 active projects. We couldn't confirm this on Todoist's own pages.
• It's a task manager, not a place for free-form notes.

Price (as of November 2026):

• Beginner: free.
• Pro: $7/month, or $60/year ($5/month billed yearly), with a 7-day free trial.
• Business: $10/user/month, or $8/user/month billed yearly, with a 14-day free trial.

Pick it if you switch between a Mac and Windows or Android, work in a team, or want board views on top of lists. For a Windows-first view, see the best to-do list apps for Windows.

Microsoft To Do: best free app with cross-platform sync

Microsoft To Do is free on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and the web, and syncs your lists automatically between them. It's the free answer for anyone with a Windows PC at work and a Mac at home.

What it's good at:

• It's free on every platform, with no paid plan.
• It syncs tasks with Outlook and pulls in tasks from other Microsoft 365 apps and services.
• It handles lists and tasks from more than one account.
• It works for shopping lists, task lists, notes and reminders.

What it lacks:

• It's a list app first. One review (Cloudwards) says it does little beyond lists.
• It has no clipboard, voice, timer or math tools.
• The Mac app needs macOS 13.0 or later.

Price: free, as of November 2026.

Pick it if you want sync across Mac and Windows without paying, or your tasks already live in Outlook. If it's close but not quite right, our list of Microsoft To Do alternatives covers other options.

Gubb: best checklist inside your notes

Gubb is our app: a small notes window for Mac (also on Windows through the Microsoft Store) with to-do lists and Kanban boards built into notes. Clipboard history, a timer and break reminders sit in the same window. It isn't a full task manager, and it doesn't try to replace Reminders for anything with a hard deadline.

How a to-do list works in Gubb

1. In any note, type gubb@todo (or /todo) on a line by itself. The line becomes a to-do block and the note is titled "Todo List".
2. Type a task in Add a task... and press Return.
3. For more detail, click + (Add new task). The form has a task name, a Due Date, a Priority (None, Low, Medium, High or Urgent, shown as colored flags) and an Add notes... field.
4. Click Add Task.
5. Click the circle next to a task to complete it.
6. Use Add subtasks to break a task down. The row then shows progress such as "1/3".

Tasks are grouped into collapsible sections: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming and No Date, so you see what has slipped without opening a separate view.

Keep the trigger alone on its line. If gubb@todo sits inside other text, the note can open in an older view where ticking and deleting tasks don't work.

For an even lighter list, type [ ] and press Space at the start of a line in any note to get a plain checkbox. Our page on Markdown checklist syntax covers this style.

Kanban boards in the same app

Type gubb@board on a line by itself and the note becomes a board with To Do, In Progress and Done columns. You can:

• Add columns and cards, and drag cards between columns.
• Give cards labels (priority or type), a due date, a description, comments and checklists.

This suits a personal project, such as a job search or a small client job. It's for you alone: there's no sharing, and you can't create custom labels. If you're new to boards, what a Kanban board is explains the idea.

What Gubb is good at

• Tasks sit in the same window as your notes, so a brain dump can turn into a checklist without switching apps.
• Pin window on top keeps today's list visible over your other windows.
• The built-in Timer sits next to your list for a focus block.
• No account is needed. Tasks are stored on your device, in Gubb's local database.
• The direct download is a one-time purchase, so there's no subscription.

What Gubb lacks

Read this part before buying:

• No due-date reminders or notifications. A due date sorts the task into Overdue or Today, but Gubb won't alert you.
• Due dates have no time, and there are no recurring tasks.
• No sync, no iPhone or iPad app, and no link to Apple Reminders or Calendar.
• No drag-to-reorder for tasks.
• No task labels in the to-do list.
• The block's header always reads "Today", whatever the task dates are.
• Deletes are immediate. Deleting a task, or a whole note from Notes History, happens without confirmation, and there's no trash.

Price: $59 one-time for a lifetime license from gubb.net, as of November 2026. The license activates on up to 3 devices, and the Mac download includes a 7-day free trial with no account. Gubb is also on the Mac App Store as a separate build without a trial.

Pick it if you plan your day at the Mac, want your checklist next to your notes, and are happy to keep hard deadlines in Reminders or your calendar. The to-do section of our help center has the full details, and you can download the Gubb trial to try it for 7 days.

Platforms and price model compared

How to choose

• You only use Apple devices and want alerts: Apple Reminders. Try it before paying for anything.
• You want a dedicated Apple-only task manager and dislike subscriptions: Things 3.
• You use Windows or Android as well as a Mac: Todoist if you want boards and team features, Microsoft To Do if you want it free.
• Your tasks start in Outlook: Microsoft To Do.
• You want a daily checklist and a small board inside a notes window, paid once: Gubb, with Reminders alongside for anything that needs an alert.
• You only need a checklist now and then: a checklist in Apple Notes is enough.

If your lists keep falling apart, the system may matter more than the app. Our page on to-do list apps for ADHD looks at what helps, and the daily to-do list template gives you a format to start from.

FAQ

Does a Mac have a built-in to-do list app?

Yes. Reminders comes with macOS and syncs to your iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Apple Notes can also hold simple checklists.

What is the best free to-do app for Mac and Windows together?

Microsoft To Do is free on both and syncs automatically. Todoist also has a free plan on both, with Pro and Business available as subscriptions.

Is Things 3 a subscription?

No. As of November 2026, Things 3 is a one-time purchase, but the Mac, iPhone and iPad apps are each bought separately.

Can Gubb remind me when a task is due?

No. Gubb moves past-due tasks into an Overdue section, but it doesn't send notifications for due dates. Use Apple Reminders or your calendar for anything you can't afford to miss.