Things 3 Alternatives: 6 Cross-Platform Picks for 2026
The best Things 3 alternatives in 2026 for users leaving Apple's walled garden. Cross-platform picks with voice capture, markdown export, and honest tradeoffs.
The best Things 3 alternatives in 2026 are cross-platform task managers that keep the calm design Things users love while adding what the app lacks: a web app, Windows and Android support, collaboration, and real export. quik.md leads the list for voice-first capture. Todoist is the closest feature-for-feature replacement.
For the wider view of where these apps sit in the productivity stack, our pillar on AI task managers covers the category.
Why are people looking for Things 3 alternatives?
People look for Things 3 alternatives because the app runs only on Apple devices, sells the Mac, iPhone, and iPad versions as three separate purchases, and offers no web app, no collaboration, and no real voice capture. Those limits were easy to forgive in 2017. In 2026, with mixed-device households and AI-first capture, they are harder to ignore.
The five limits that come up most:
- Apple-only. No Windows app, no Android app, no Linux, no web app. If your tasks cannot follow you to a work PC or a browser tab, the list stops being a source of truth.
- Paid per platform. Mac, iPhone, and iPad are three separate one-time purchases, roughly $10 to $50 each as of 2026. Check Cultured Code's site for current prices. Using Things everywhere Apple means paying up to three times.
- No collaboration. No shared projects, no assignments, no comments. Things 3 is a single-player app by design.
- No voice capture. Siri dictation into the quick entry window is typing by another name. There is no AI layer that listens to a rambling thought and files it into the right project.
- No real export. Sharing a list produces plain text. There is no full data export, which makes leaving harder than it should be.
None of this makes Things 3 a bad app. It makes it a specific app, built for one kind of user. The question is whether you are still that user.
What are the best Things 3 alternatives in 2026?
The best Things 3 alternatives in 2026 are quik.md for voice-first capture, Todoist for the closest feature match, TickTick for habits plus tasks, Obsidian with the Tasks plugin for markdown purists, Microsoft To Do for a free and simple option, and Super Productivity for open source. All six run on platforms Things 3 does not.
1. quik.md: best for voice-first capture and markdown export
quik.md flips the capture model Things 3 was built on. Instead of opening a quick entry window and typing, you speak the thought out loud. AI organize files it into the right project and writes the next step for you. The inbox stays calm because the filing is not your job.
Every project exports as markdown, so your tasks stay portable no matter what you use next year. The app is a PWA, which means it runs in any browser on macOS, Windows, Android, or iOS with no separate purchase per platform. The free tier includes unlimited capture through browser speech recognition with a daily AI-organize cap. Pro is $14.99 per month, $69.99 per year, or $99.99 once for lifetime, with a 7-day trial. For the head-to-head, see the full quik.md vs Things 3 comparison.
2. Todoist: the closest feature-for-feature replacement
Todoist is the obvious first stop for most Things 3 leavers. It runs on web, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, parses natural language dates almost as smoothly as Things, and adds the collaboration layer Things never built: shared projects, assignments, and comments. There is a free tier, with paid plans per user; check their current pricing. What you give up is the design restraint. Todoist is denser, more feature-forward, and typed-first.
3. TickTick: habits, Pomodoro, and tasks in one app
TickTick packs habit tracking, a built-in Pomodoro timer, a calendar view, and tasks into a single cross-platform app. It is less beautiful than Things 3 and more feature-stuffed, but for users who kept three separate apps for tasks, habits, and focus timers, it collapses the stack. A free tier covers the basics; premium adds the calendar view and full habit history. Check their current pricing.
4. Obsidian with the Tasks plugin: for markdown purists
Obsidian stores everything as plain markdown files in a local folder you own, and the community Tasks plugin turns any vault into a capable task manager with due dates, recurrence, and queries. It is free for personal use as of 2026, with optional paid add-ons like Sync. The tradeoff is setup cost: you assemble the system yourself, and mobile capture is slower than any purpose-built app. Best for writers and researchers who already live in markdown.
5. Microsoft To Do: the free and simple path
Microsoft To Do is completely free with a Microsoft account and syncs across web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. The My Day feature, which asks you to pull a short list out of the backlog each morning, is the closest thing to Things' Today view outside Apple. Shared lists exist but are basic. There is no AI routing and no markdown export. For short, personal task lists, free and synced is often enough.
6. Super Productivity: the open-source option
Super Productivity is a free, open-source task manager for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, with built-in time tracking, break reminders, and integrations with tools like Jira and GitHub as of 2026. Data stays local by default, with sync as an option you configure. The UI is functional rather than elegant, but for users leaving Things 3 over lock-in concerns, an app whose code and data format are both open is a principled answer.
How do the top Things 3 alternatives compare?
The six alternatives differ most on four axes: which platforms they run on, what they cost, how you capture a task, and how you get your data back out. Price entries for competitors reflect their public pricing pages as of 2026 and change often.
Things 3 alternatives at a glance
| App | Platforms | Price | Capture | Export |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| quik.md | Any browser (PWA), iOS, Android | Free tier; Pro $14.99/mo, $69.99/yr, $99.99 lifetime | Voice-first, AI filing | Markdown |
| Todoist | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Free tier; paid plans per user | Typed, natural language | CSV |
| TickTick | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Free tier; premium subscription | Typed, some voice input | CSV |
| Obsidian + Tasks | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | Free for personal use | Typed, inside markdown files | Native markdown |
| Microsoft To Do | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Free | Typed | Limited |
| Super Productivity | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | Free, open source | Typed | JSON backup |
Which Things 3 alternative is best for markdown?
Obsidian with the Tasks plugin is the most markdown-native Things 3 alternative, because every task is already a line in a plain text file. quik.md is the better fit if you want markdown portability without living in a markdown editor: projects stay in the app and export as markdown on demand. Things 3 itself has no markdown export at all, which is why "things 3 markdown" is such a common search.
Things 3 vs Todoist: which one should you pick?
Pick Todoist if you are leaving Apple devices or need shared projects; stay on Things 3 if you are Apple-only, work alone, and value design restraint. Todoist runs everywhere and supports collaboration. Things 3 is faster, calmer, and solo by design.
The honest summary of Things 3 vs Todoist is that they barely compete anymore. Things 3 is a single-platform object you pay for once. Todoist is a cross-platform service you rent. Users who want the calm of Things with the reach of Todoist are exactly the audience voice-first apps like quik.md are built for. Our ranked list of Todoist alternatives covers that comparison from the other direction.
Who should stay on Things 3?
Stay on Things 3 if you use only Apple devices, work solo, keep a short and personal task list, and open the app every day without friction. The design is still the best in the category, and the one-time price is fair. Switching task managers costs roughly two weeks of reduced throughput while muscle memory rebuilds, and that cost is real.
The switch is worth it only against a named friction: a Windows laptop at work, a partner you need to share a project with, a commute where your hands are not free, a notes system built on markdown. If you cannot name the friction in one sentence, you probably do not need apps like Things 3 at all. You need to keep using Things 3.
Competitor features and pricing reflect public documentation as of August 2026 and change quickly. Verify current capability on each vendor's site. quik.md pricing shown is current.
FAQ
What is the best Things 3 alternative?
For most switchers, quik.md is the best Things 3 alternative in 2026 because it adds voice-first capture, AI filing into projects, and markdown export, all from any browser. Todoist is the closest feature-for-feature replacement if you want a traditional typed task manager with collaboration. Both run on Apple and non-Apple devices.
Is there a free Things 3 alternative?
Yes. Microsoft To Do is completely free with a Microsoft account, and Super Productivity is free and open source. quik.md has a free tier with unlimited capture through browser speech recognition and a daily AI-organize cap. Todoist and TickTick also offer free tiers with feature limits.
Does Things 3 work on Windows or the web?
No. As of 2026, Things 3 runs only on macOS, iPhone, and iPad. There is no Windows app, no Android app, and no web app. If you need to reach your tasks from a non-Apple device, you need a cross-platform alternative such as quik.md, Todoist, or Microsoft To Do.
Can I export my tasks out of Things 3?
Only partially. Things 3 can share a list as plain text, but it has no full data export as of 2026. Moving means copying lists one by one into the new app, and most cross-platform task managers accept pasted text or CSV imports. Keep your Things 3 install until the new app has everything.
Is Things 3 still worth buying in 2026?
Yes, if you use only Apple devices, work solo, and value its design. The per-platform one-time pricing is fair for what you get. It is the wrong buy if you need a web app, Windows or Android access, shared projects, or voice capture, because Things 3 offers none of those.
Related reads
- quik.md vs Things 3: full comparison
- Todoist alternatives: 8 honest picks
- AI task managers: the pillar guide
References
- Things 3, Cultured Code.
- Todoist, Doist.
- TickTick, Appest.
- Obsidian Tasks plugin documentation.
- Microsoft To Do, Microsoft.
- Super Productivity, open-source project.
Keep reading
Workflows10 minBest Free GTD Apps in 2026: 6 Truly Free Picks
Six free GTD apps ranked by how completely each one runs the capture-clarify-organize loop at $0: quik.md for voice-first capture, Super Productivity for open-source purists, plus the Apple, Google, and Microsoft defaults, with honest notes on what each free tier actually covers.
Workflows8 minGTD for Developers: A Practical Guide (2026)
GTD maps cleanly onto a developer workflow once you stop trying to run your life out of GitHub issues. This guide covers the issue-tracker boundary, markdown files as projects, coding agents as delegates on your waiting-for list, and a weekly review that measures shipped work instead of started work.
Workflows9 minGTD Inbox Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
A GTD inbox works when three things hold: few capture points, a fixed processing routine, and a daily emptying cadence. This walkthrough covers the physical and digital setup, the clarify-first processing rules, and the weekly review that keeps the system trusted.
