Free task managers compared
Best free task manager in 2026
Last updated:
Every task manager claims to have a free tier. But “free” means wildly different things — from fully functional apps to crippled demos designed to frustrate you into upgrading. Here's what you actually get for $0 in every major app, and which free option is genuinely worth using.
What “free” actually means in task managers
There are three types of “free” in the task management world:
Freemium with meaningful limits
The core app works, but key features are locked. Todoist's free tier limits you to 5 active projects and strips out reminders, calendar feeds, and the new Deadlines feature. You can manage tasks, but you hit walls quickly if you use it seriously.
Free during a promotional period
The full app is free now but will cost money later. This is how early-access products work — you get everything while the product matures. The risk is that the price may change. The upside is no feature restrictions during the free period.
One-time purchase (no subscription)
Pay once, own forever. Things 3 costs $50 for Mac + $10 for iPhone + $20 for iPad but has no subscription. After the initial purchase, it's “free” indefinitely. Not truly free, but a different cost model worth considering.
The question isn't just “which app is free?” — it's “which free version is actually usable for real work?”
Every free tier, compared honestly
| App | Free tier | Key limits on free | Paid price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Todoist | Yes, permanent | 5 projects, no reminders, no calendar feed, no Deadlines, no labels as filters | $60/yr |
| TickTick | Yes, permanent | 9 lists, 19 subtasks per task, 2 reminders/task, limited calendar views, no Kanban | $36/yr |
| Notion | Yes, permanent | 1 guest, 10MB file uploads, 7-day page history. No task-specific limits (it's a general tool) | $96/yr |
| Any.do | Yes, permanent | Basic lists, no recurring tasks, no color tags, limited integrations | $36/yr |
| Google Tasks | Yes, permanent | No limits (minimal features). No start dates, no priorities, no tags, no collaboration | Free |
| Microsoft To Do | Yes, permanent | No limits (basic features). My Day view, steps, but no projects, no start dates, no review | Free |
| Things 3 | No free tier | One-time purchase. Apple only. No web access. | ~$80 total |
| OmniFocus | 14-day trial | No permanent free tier. Apple only. | $100/yr |
| SingleFocus | Yes, full app free* | No limits during early access. All features included. | $36/yr later |
* Free during early access. $36/year for early users when paid plans launch. No credit card required.
Each free option, honestly
Google Tasks — free forever, minimal forever
Google Tasks is genuinely free with no limits because there's almost nothing to limit. You get lists, tasks, subtasks, due dates, and Google Calendar integration. That's it. No start dates, no priorities, no tags, no projects, no review mode, no NLP input. It's a digital checklist inside Gmail.
Best for: People who just need a basic grocery list or a few reminders tied to their Google Calendar. Not suitable for any structured productivity system.
Microsoft To Do — the Wunderlist successor
Microsoft To Do is fully free for anyone with a Microsoft account. It has a thoughtful “My Day” feature — a daily planning view where you manually select today's tasks each morning. Steps (subtasks), due dates, reminders, list sharing, and a clean interface. Integration with Outlook is seamless if you're in the Microsoft ecosystem.
What's missing: No start/defer dates, no projects (just flat lists), no sequential ordering, no review mode, no NLP input, no custom views. My Day resets daily, which is intentional but means you're manually curating every morning.
Best for: Microsoft 365 users who want a simple, integrated task list. Falls short for GTD or any structured methodology.
Todoist Free — good capture, frustrating limits
Todoist's free tier has the best natural language input of any task manager and works on every platform. But the limits bite quickly: 5 active projects, no reminders, no calendar feed, no Deadlines feature, and labels can't be used in filters. For casual use, 5 projects is enough. For real GTD — where 30–100 active projects is normal — it's a hard ceiling.
The free tier is designed to get you hooked on Todoist's excellent capture and then push you to Pro ($60/year) when you hit the walls. It's a fair business model, but the free version isn't suitable for serious task management.
Best for: Light personal use. Students or anyone with fewer than 5 areas of life to track. See Todoist alternatives if you need more.
TickTick Free — the most generous freemium
TickTick's free tier is arguably the most generous of any traditional task manager. 9 lists, calendar view, basic Pomodoro timer, habit tracker, and NLP input. The paid version ($36/year) adds more lists, Kanban, custom filters, and the full Pomodoro. The free-to-paid jump is smaller than Todoist's, which means the free version is more usable.
What's missing on free: No defer dates (even on paid), no sequential projects, no review mode, no focus mode. The Eisenhower matrix and habit tracker are available on free, which is genuinely useful.
Best for: People who want a capable free app with Pomodoro and habits built in. See TickTick vs Todoist for the full comparison.
Notion Free — unlimited but unstructured
Notion's free Personal plan gives you unlimited pages and blocks, which means unlimited tasks in theory. You can build any system you want: Kanban boards, database views, filtered lists, custom properties. The limits (1 guest, small file uploads, limited page history) rarely matter for personal task management.
The problem isn't the free tier — it's the tool itself. Notion is a general-purpose workspace, not a task manager. There's no inbox, no defer dates, no focus mode, no review, no NLP capture, no mobile-optimized task entry. You have to build everything from scratch, which is the opposite of what most people need. See Notion for task management for the full analysis.
Best for: People who enjoy building systems and want everything (notes, docs, tasks, wikis) in one tool. Not recommended for ADHD or GTD users.
SingleFocus — full GTD app, free during early access
SingleFocus is currently free with no feature restrictions. Every feature — defer dates, sequential projects, custom perspectives, guided weekly review, ML-powered focus mode, energy lens, rescue mode, REST API, browser extension, calendar integration — is included at $0.
The catch: it's an early-access product. It will become paid ($36/year) when it launches fully. Early users get a locked-in rate. The app is stable and fully functional, but it's newer than the established players, which means a smaller community and fewer third-party integrations for now.
Best for: GTD practitioners who want the full feature set without paying. People evaluating whether SingleFocus fits before committing. Anyone tired of hitting free-tier walls.
What actually matters when choosing a free task manager
Price is one variable. Here are the others that determine whether a free app is genuinely usable:
Can you export your data? If you invest months of tasks and projects into a free app, can you get that data out? Todoist and TickTick offer CSV export. Notion exports to Markdown. SingleFocus exports to JSON and has a full REST API. Google Tasks has no export. Before committing, check the exit path. See Data Manifesto for why this matters.
Does the free version support your methodology? If you practice GTD, you need defer dates, projects, and a review workflow. None of the permanent-free tiers support all three. If you just need a daily checklist, Google Tasks or Microsoft To Do works fine.
What happens when the free tier changes? Todoist raised prices and tightened free limits in December 2025. TickTick has gradually moved features from free to paid. The risk with any freemium model is that the free tier gets worse over time as the company needs revenue. Early-access models have a different risk: the product becomes paid, but usually at a known price with a locked-in rate for early users.
Is it available on every device you use? A free app that only works on Apple devices (Things 3, OmniFocus) isn't free if you need Windows access. Cross-platform availability is a feature, not a nice-to-have.
The honest take
If you need a basic checklist, Microsoft To Do and Google Tasks are perfectly adequate and will remain free forever. No catches.
If you need a real task manager with projects, dates, and filters, TickTick's free tier is the most generous permanent option. It lacks GTD-specific features, but for general task management it's surprisingly capable at $0.
If you practice GTD or want features like defer dates, sequential projects, focus mode, and weekly review, no permanent-free tier supports this. The closest option is SingleFocus during early access — full GTD feature set at $0, with a clear future price of $36/year.
The broader truth: task management is a tool you'll use every day for years. If a $3–5/month subscription genuinely improves your productivity and reduces anxiety, it's one of the highest-ROI purchases you can make. Don't let the price of a coffee prevent you from using the right tool. But if free is a hard constraint, the options above are real and usable.
Related guides
Best Todoist alternatives in 2026
After the price hike, what are the real alternatives? Honest comparison of every option.
Best task manager for work in 2026
Which task manager actually works for knowledge workers? Honest comparison for real work use.
How to pick a task manager
A three-question framework to stop the app-switching cycle and commit to one tool.
Full GTD. $0. No walls.
SingleFocus is free during early access. Every feature included. No credit card. No project limits. No artificial walls. Just a complete task manager.
Also see: Todoist Alternatives · Best GTD App 2026 · ADHD Task Manager
Start free todayYour data stays yours. Export anytime. No lock-in. Data Manifesto →