What's the best to-do list app?

Feeling overwhelmed by what seems like a never-ending list of things you have to do?

You’re not alone.

In a Vitalsmarts study, 3 out of 5 people said they struggle to cross things off their list because they overcommit to tasks they don’t have time for.

Wanna know one of the biggest reasons people overcommit?

They want to be polite and helpful.

According to the same study, 73% of people just can’t say no when someone asks them to do something they really don’t have time for.

This brings us to our next point which is: if you want to stop feeling overwhelmed by too many commitments, you need to start prioritizing and you have to say no when you just don’t have time to fit something in.

One way of knowing what you can feasibly fit on your plate is by using a to-do list app.

In this article, we’re going to cover 6 to-do list apps and clue you in on the one we think you’ll love the most.

What are to-do list apps?

Did you ever write out a to-do list on a scrap of paper to check things off as you’re completing tasks?

That’s basically what a to-do list app is, only it’s digital, so you can access it from your phone, laptop, tablet, etc.

The best thing about a to-do list app is that you’ll never have to worry about losing your list again. If you’ve got a connected device, you should be able to access it.

What are the different types of to-do list apps?

There’s a surprising variety of to-do list apps out there. That’s why it’s so important for you to understand what your specific needs are.

Almost all to-do list apps have a checklist feature and calendar view. Some might focus on Kanban style, while others provide note-taking tools, sub-item options, and folders.

Many are geared toward personal lifestyle — like grocery lists — and some are designed for business or school use.

The best ones, however, are flexible — like ours.

Get started with monday.com

What to look for when choosing an app

When choosing a to-do list app, look at the big picture.

What are some things on your schedule that never change? What tools help you understand your tasks the most? Maybe that’s a calendar or Gantt chart.

What features do you need? It could be the ability to create unlimited tasks or collaborative tools if you’re sharing this list with a team.

We’ve put together these 7 ideal to-do list app features to help you choose the one that best fits in with your needs.

Fast and reliable customer support: if something goes wrong, you don’t have time to wait.
Ability to customize features: this includes custom fields or customizable templates, for example.
Access to robust features beyond lists: this is especially true when using a to-do list app for business purposes
Sharing and collaboration features: the mark of a good collaboration feature lies in its ability to seamlessly bring people together, whether it’s individuals, teams, or families.
Compatible on multiple devices: you should be able to use the app on an Android device, iPad, iPhone, or whatever you’re using.
Ability to sync with your favorite integrations: choose an app that supports the tools you already know and love
View styles beyond just calendar: enjoy the flexibility of seeing your tasks in a variety of practical ways like table, timeline, workload, and Gantt (check out our battery view for a unique example)

Alright, we’ve given you the steps to make, manage, and stick to a to-do list, plus some tips on finding the best to-do list app. Now, let’s take a look at some options and give you our top pick.

What apps should I use?

We’ve compiled a list below of some of the very best to-do list apps on the market today, highlighting their features, integrations, customer service options, and reviews to help you make the best choice possible.

Let’s kick things off with the best of the best, shall we?

1. monday.com

Transform your to-do lists with monday.com

monday.com has every bell and whistle you’ve been dreaming about. Manage your weekly to-dos, get a notification a couple of days before a big meeting, and automatically receive an email when your tasks are done.

Need to share something? Done.

Need to see lists across multiple projects? No problem.

Need to assign workflows, prioritize assignments, and manage them on the go? We’ve got that too.

Learn how Ford Media Lab uses monday.com’s “Action Board” template for individual tasks and time management.

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Impressive monday.com features

Desktop app and mobile app (we have both an Android app and an iOS app).
20 beautiful status colors to keep your boards looking snazzy.
@mention function to tag people and guests on boards.
Two-factor authentication.
Advanced board filtering.
hashtags column to filter results across all boards.

monday.com’s integrations

We offer 40+ integrations, like Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, Harvest, Toggl, and way more.

Grab an item from your Outlook email account and set it as a task on your monday.com checklist.

You can attach an important Google Drive file to any item on your monday.com boards, easily import your to-dos from Excel, and send task updates to your Gmail account.

For 2,000+ more integration options, you can connect monday.com to an app like Zapier.

monday.com’s customer service

Making sure you feel supported is a top priority, which is why we’re available 24/7.

So, when the next holiday comes around, you won’t be stressed out while trying to get a hold of someone that’s not there.

We do our best to respond as quickly as possible, and we promise to reply within one hour — most apps can’t promise that.

monday.com’s reviews

We’re wildly consistent with 4.6/5 stars on G2, Capterra, and Google Play. And people just love giving us productivity awards too.

Here’s what you get with our plans

To choose a plan with monday.com, decide how many seats you need (aka your team size). The minimum team size is 3 and it can go up beyond 200 seats.

In the end, what you pay is based on how many seats and features you need. You can pay annually instead of monthly to receive a discount.

Look at our pricing page to find the right match for your needs.

2. Dynalist

Dynalist is a to-do list app created to help manage endless sub-items. It focuses on task tracking, using lists and searchable dates, so it’s a bit limited.

Their core features include:

Checklists
Note-taking tools
File attachment

What plans do they offer?

Monthly plans start at $7.99 and include:

Google Calendar integration
Unlimited bookmarks (P.S. you’ll love our bookmarks widget)
Capture to inbox

Dynalist’s integrations

Dynalist only offers a Google Calendar integration, but we think you deserve so much more.

Dynalist’s customer service

To contact customer support, you’ll need to send a message on their website or peruse their help center for articles.

Dynalist’s reviews

Dynalist is rated 4.5/5 stars on Google Play.

3. Outplanr

Outplanr lets you organize project tasks into actionable lists, assign tasks to other people, manage project costs, and track tasks.

Their core features include:

Sub-items
Time tracking (P.S. our time tracking column is the bee’s knees!)
Urgent and low priority tasks

What plans do they offer?

Monthly plans start at $15 and include:

Unlimited projects
1GB storage per user

Outplanr’s integrations

Outplanr has a small handful of integrations like Slack, Asana, and Calendar integrations.

Outplanr’s customer service

If you need support, you can contact them by email, but there’s no indication on their website about how long it’ll take for them to get back to you.

Outplanr’s reviews

Outplanr scored 4.3/5 stars on software review site G2.

4. Toodledo

Toodledo is a list-making tool that lets you take notes, create outlines, track habits, and share items with other people.

Their core features include:

Repeating tasks
Priority tasks
Alarms/reminders

What plans do they offer?

Monthly plans start at $2.99 and include:

Graphs
Saved searches — we bet you’ll love our ‘Search Everything’ feature even more
Customizable hotlist

Toodledo’s integrations

Toodledo doesn’t provide many integration options apart from Gmail, Dropbox, and Google Calendar — but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with more options.

Get started

Toodledo’s customer service

For support, you can browse their FAQ section or forums, or you can create a support ticket — but it doesn’t say how long you’ll have to wait to get a reply.

Toodledo’s reviews

Toodledo has 4.2/5 stars on G2.

5. Any.do

Any.do is a pretty bare-bones list-making tool that offers custom lists, reminders, and a calendar view. We wish we could say more, but there’s not much to it other than that.

Their core features include

Calendar view
Grocery list — our checklist feature will get you excited about your shopping list
Daily planner to manage daily tasks

What plans do they offer?

Monthly plans start at $2.99 and include:

Customized themes
Color tags
Recurring tasks

Any.do’s integrations

Any.do doesn’t have any integrations, but they mention that you can use Zapier to connect other apps.

Any.do’s customer service

For support, you can browse articles in their support center or send them an email.

Any.do’s reviews

Any.do received 4.2/5 stars on G2 — did we mention monday.com received 4.6?

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6. Zenkit To Do

Created to help users from Wunderlist’s shutdown find a place to go, Zenkit To Do helps users manage lists using sharing features, task management tools, and organizational folders.

Their core features include:

Checklists
Dark mode
Sorting
Wunderlist importer

What plans do they offer?

Monthly plans start at $4 per user and include:

Recurring items
More lists
More storage

Zenkit To Do’s integrations

From what we can tell, Zenkit To Do doesn’t offer any integrations, unless you count integrating with its big brother Zenkit.

Zenkit To Do’s customer service

You can call or email support, but their website doesn’t mention wait times.

Zenkit To Do’s reviews

We couldn’t find any ratings for Zenkit To Do yet, which isn’t surprising since it just rolled out in April 2020.

Why monday.com is the best choice for your team

All of the other apps on this list offer more or less the same thing, while monday.com busts out with special features to satisfy both individuals and teams.

Here’s what monday.com offers that you can’t get with the other tools:

We turn to-do lists into assembly lines, aka productivity machines.

We have everything the other tools have, plus way more versatility, so you can customize whatever you need to your heart’s content.

Let’s take a closer look at some ways you can use monday.com to supercharge your to-do list.

What can you do with monday.com?

Use our Todo List Widget to tick off todos as you power through different tasks.

This provides the same service as most standard to-do apps, and if that were our only feature, then this might be a more difficult choice. But we’re just getting started.

Use our Bookmarks Widget to collect articles and stories from wherever you like:

This allows you to compile a list of resources that can accompany each item in your to-do list.

Search for anything you need across all of your boards with our Search Anything feature.

Seriously, this is such a useful feature. You’re able to perform quick searches, save searches you might want to refer back to, and review a list of recent searches.

Use our ‘Time Tracking’ column to track how much time you spend on each task.

This lets you spot opportunities to do things faster and make room for other actions you need to take.

Use our Checklist feature on any item.

You’ll be able to easily break down any task into a task list with smaller actionable steps.

Use our automations to create recurring tasks.

With our automation recipes, you don’t have to know code to create a recurring task. Just click the one you need in our automations center and check tasks off your list as needed.

Use our Calendar integration to sync tasks to your external calendar.

See everything in one place and set up alert reminders to make sure you never miss something.

Sync tasks with Outlook calendar, Google Calendar, or iCalendar.

Use our Workload view to plan and manage resources.

Who needs to be involved on a task? What equipment does a task need? Manage whatever resources you need for all of your to-dos. Learn how to use it here.