Things 3

What is Things 3?

Things 3 is a premium task management application designed exclusively for Apple devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch). Known for its elegant interface, thoughtful design, and powerful-yet-simple organizational structure, Things helps you manage personal and professional tasks through projects, areas, tags, and smart lists. It uses a Getting Things Done (GTD)-inspired approach with an Inbox for quick capture, Today view for daily focus, Upcoming for scheduled tasks, and Anytime for tasks without specific dates. Things 3 syncs instantly across all your Apple devices via its proprietary cloud service, making it a seamless part of the Apple ecosystem for users who value beautiful, intuitive software.

Best For

Things 3 is ideal for Apple-centric users who want premium task management that feels native to their devices, professionals managing both work projects and personal responsibilities in one system, and individuals who prefer elegant, opinionated design over endless customization options. It excels when you value design quality, speed, and reliability over cross-platform compatibility. For users who find Todoist too cluttered, Asana too team-focused, or OmniFocus too complex, Things 3 strikes a balance between power and simplicity with an interface that feels like it was designed by Apple itself.

Key Features

How does Things 3 organize tasks with Projects and Areas?
Projects are temporary containers for related tasks with a defined end (e.g., "Plan conference," "Website redesign"). Areas are ongoing responsibilities without end dates (e.g., "Family," "Marketing," "Health"). Tasks can belong to projects, areas, or neither. This structure helps separate one-time projects from continuous areas of focus, making it easy to see what's a discrete deliverable versus an ongoing commitment.

What is the Today view and how does it help with focus?
The Today view shows only tasks you've committed to completing today—either because they're due or because you've manually moved them to Today. This creates intentional daily planning: each morning you review upcoming and anytime tasks, pulling the most important ones into Today. This prevents overwhelming task lists and encourages realistic daily capacity planning. You can rearrange Today tasks to prioritize throughout the day.

Can Things 3 handle complex task organization?
Yes—while the interface is simple, Things supports checklists within tasks (subtasks that must be checked off), headings to group tasks within projects, tags for cross-cutting categorization (e.g., @urgent, @waiting, @call), and deadlines with reminders. You can also add notes, attachments, and start dates (when tasks become actionable). This provides sophisticated organization without visual clutter.

How does Things integrate with the Apple ecosystem?
Things offers deep Mac integration: keyboard shortcuts for power users, drag-and-drop from other apps, Quick Entry from anywhere via global hotkey, Siri shortcuts for voice task creation, Calendar integration showing scheduled tasks alongside events, and Handoff (start on iPhone, continue on Mac). For Apple Watch, you can quickly check Today tasks and mark items complete. This tight integration makes task capture effortless across devices.

Pricing & Plans

Things 3 uses one-time purchase pricing (no subscription):

• Things for Mac: $49.99 one-time
• Things for iPhone: $9.99 one-time
• Things for iPad: $19.99 one-time

Each purchase is per device category (you can use Mac version on multiple Macs with the same Apple ID). There's no free tier or trial beyond the App Store refund window. Total cost for all three versions is $79.97 one-time, which is expensive upfront but cheaper than multi-year subscriptions to competitors like Todoist Pro ($4/month) or OmniFocus ($9.99/month).

Getting Started

Purchase Things 3 from the Mac App Store or iOS App Store. Start by adding tasks to your Inbox as they occur to you—use Quick Entry (Control+Space on Mac) from anywhere. Organize tasks into Projects (temporary initiatives) and Areas (ongoing responsibilities). Each morning, review your Upcoming and Anytime lists, then drag important tasks into Today to commit to completing them. Use tags to categorize tasks by context (@work, @home, @errands) or priority (@urgent). Schedule tasks with due dates and reminders for time-sensitive work. Sync happens automatically across devices via Things Cloud.

Limitations

• Apple-only: No Windows, Android, or web version; completely inaccessible to non-Apple users
• High upfront cost: $79.97 to use on all devices is expensive compared to free or low-cost alternatives
• No collaboration: Strictly personal task management; can't share projects, assign tasks to others, or see team member tasks
• Limited recurring task flexibility: Recurring tasks are functional but less sophisticated than OmniFocus or Microsoft To Do
• No time tracking: Doesn't track how long tasks take or provide productivity analytics
• Sync requires all devices on same Apple ID: Can't easily sync between work and personal Apple IDs without workarounds