Things 3

Overview

Things 3 is the personal task manager from Cultured Code (Stuttgart, Germany). It captures to-dos, organizes them into Areas and Projects, and helps you decide what belongs on Today—with a deliberately calm, Apple-native interface. Apps ship separately on the App Store for Mac, iPhone (includes Apple Watch), iPad, and Vision Pro. There is no Windows, Android, Linux, or official web client.

Unlike Todoist, TickTick, or Asana, Things is built as a solo tool: no shared lists, no multiplayer workspaces, no browser inbox for a team. Sync across your own Apple devices is free via Things Cloud. Pricing is a one-time purchase per platform—no subscription for the apps and no paid sync tier. Cultured Code continues free point updates (Things 3.21–3.22 era work includes recent Apple OS alignment, Control Center controls, Spotlight create-to-do on Mac, Writing Tools, Vision widgets, and a multi-year rebuild of Things Cloud in server-side Swift).

Things has twice won an Apple Design Award, is frequently an App Store Editors’ Choice, and is regularly praised by MacStories, The Sweet Setup, Wirecutter, and WIRED for craft. It is not a team project-management system and not a GTD powerhouse on the level of OmniFocus. The product thesis is “powerful enough, beautiful enough, and still simple after years of daily use.”

Primary job: get commitments out of your head, structure them lightly, and run a reliable daily list—without turning task management into another job. Company and product home: culturedcode.com/things. Pricing notes: culturedcode.com/things/pricing. Mac trial: download page.

Key features

• Areas, Projects, and Headings — Life domains (Work, Home, Health) hold projects; projects split with headings you drag as groups. Progress pies show project completion at a glance; archived headings keep history without clutter.
• Today, This Evening, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday — Daily focus list; deferred evening work; calendar-style week view with scheduled to-dos, deadlines, and events; unscheduled active work; and a someday/maybe backlog.
• Checklists inside to-dos — Sub-steps without a full project (packing, multi-step errands, process checklists). Paste bulleted lists and Things can convert them.
• Jump Start + natural language dates — Schedule Today/Evening, set a start date, deadline, or reminder; type fragments like “tomorrow,” “Sat,” or “Wed 8pm.”
• Time-based reminders — Notifications for critical items; Things Cloud “Fastlane” pushes reminder changes quickly across devices.
• Calendar integration — Show selected Apple calendars at the top of Today and in Upcoming so events and tasks share one plan (requires Apple Calendar data on the device).
• Tags and Quick Find — Filter by context, energy, or people tags; type to jump to any list, to-do, or tag. On Mac, Type Travel starts search as soon as you type—no dedicated shortcut required.
• Magic Plus — Drag the + control to insert a to-do exactly where you want it, create headings, or drop straight into Inbox.
• Markdown notes — Longer notes on to-dos and projects with Markdown styling; granular note sync (Cultured Code’s “Fractus”-style text merge in Things Cloud).
• Repeating to-dos and projects — Fixed calendar intervals or “after completion”; weekday-only patterns for routines.
• Capture surfaces — Inbox, Quick Entry on Mac, Share sheet, Siri, Mail to Things (email into Inbox from any OS), handoff from Apple Reminders / Microsoft To Do where supported, Spotlight “Create To-Do” on recent macOS builds.
• Automation — Deep Apple Shortcuts actions (including Find Items and newer model-related actions), URL scheme, and Mac AppleScript for power users.
• Widgets & controls — Home Screen / Lock Screen / Control Center list and New To-Do controls; Watch app with checklists/headings; Vision widgets in recent versions.
• Writing Tools (Apple Intelligence) — Optional proofread/rewrite/summarize on note text where Apple Intelligence is available; Cultured Code states Things data is not shared for that path unless you invoke Writing Tools on selected text.
• Things Cloud — Free multi-device sync with encryption in transit and at rest, offline local databases, local-network push when Things is open, background push via APNs, Mail to Things, conflict merge logic, GDPR-oriented policies, and a 2025 public write-up of a full server rewrite in Swift.
• Desktop-class iOS editing — Multi-select, batch moves, drag-reorder groups, and Magic Plus insert—especially strong on iPad with keyboard/trackpad.
• Multi-window Mac workflow — Open several lists/projects side by side; Slim Mode collapses the sidebar for focus or Split View.

Practical daily loop many long-time users settle on: capture everything into Inbox (Share sheet / Quick Entry / Mail) → process to Projects or Areas with a When (Today / date / Anytime / Someday) → plan the morning on Today, parking evening chores in This Evening → glance at Upcoming mid-week → complete, don’t over-tag. Things rewards light structure more than elaborate GTD taxonomies.

Pricing

Things is not a subscription. Each platform is a separate one-time App Store purchase. Things Cloud sync is included at no extra charge. There is no free tier of the full app; Mac has a 15-day free trial from Cultured Code’s site (starts on first launch; purchase keeps your trial data). Prices below are US App Store list prices widely cited from Cultured Code / App Store listings (Mac $49.99, iPhone $9.99, iPad $19.99, Vision $29.99); Apple converts to local currency—always confirm on your storefront.

Product	US price (one-time)	Includes
Mac	$49.99	macOS app; 15-day trial available before purchase
iPhone & Apple Watch	$9.99	iOS app + Watch companion (Watch not sold separately)
iPad	$19.99	iPadOS app (separate SKU from iPhone)
Vision Pro	$29.99	visionOS app; widgets and Writing Tools in recent builds
Things Cloud	Free	Sync across devices you own; no paid sync tier

A full personal kit (Mac + iPhone + iPad) is about $80 one time; adding Vision Pro brings the stack near $110. Extra devices of the same kind (second Mac, second iPhone) do not require another purchase under the same Apple Account. Cultured Code does not market its own student or business discount portal; education and volume licensing generally go through Apple’s Education / Volume Purchase programs. Refunds are handled by Apple, not Cultured Code—use the Mac trial first.

Cost math vs subscriptions: PCMag and many users note that ~$80 for a full Apple kit can undercut multi-year Todoist Pro or TickTick Premium bills, but only if you stay in Apple-only land and do not need sharing. iPhone-only at ~$10 is an easy experiment; buying three platforms “just to try” is expensive if you bounce in a week—hence the Mac trial-first path.

Limits & gotchas

• Apple only — No Android, Windows, Linux, or official web app. On a Windows laptop you cannot open Things natively; workarounds are Mail to Things, a second personal system, or a different tool entirely.
• No collaboration — You cannot share a live project with a partner or team. Contacts-as-assignees patterns on Mac have been de-emphasized; tags (e.g. “waiting:Alex”) are the usual substitute for “waiting on someone.”
• Not end-to-end encrypted in the “only you hold keys” sense — Things Cloud encrypts data in transit (documented 2048-bit certificate language) and at rest (AES-256), with GDPR-oriented processing and a no-tracking/no-analytics positioning. Community threads and older forum debates stress that support/staff can access Cloud contents when needed. Local-only use without Cloud is possible on a single device if that threat model matters more than multi-device sync.
• Feature velocity is deliberate — Things 3 launched in 2017 and remains the current generation. Updates focus on OS alignment, polish, Shortcuts, widgets, reliability, and Cloud infrastructure—not AI planners, Kanban boards, duration-based time blocking, or location reminders. PCMag (2025) still flags missing natural-language task naming on create, location reminders, and web/cross-platform reach.
• Integrations are Apple-centric — Deep Shortcuts / URL scheme / Siri / Share sheet; no first-party Zapier marketplace. Community libraries (e.g. things.py) read the local SQLite database on Mac—unofficial, reverse-engineered, and can break across app updates.
• GTD depth ceiling — Strong on personal lists and projects; weaker than OmniFocus on custom perspectives, complex defer/review machinery, and hierarchical power features.
• Export / exit friction — Day-to-day data lives in Apple apps + Things Cloud. Migration out is possible but is a project, not a one-click “move my life to web SaaS.”
• Attachments via Mail to Things — Email capture is excellent for titles/notes; attachments often do not land as expected—do not rely on it as a document vault.
• Up-front multi-device cost — Fair long-term for Apple-only users; painful if you only need one device briefly or if household members need Android.

Community sentiment

On r/thingsapp, Hacker News, MacStories comments, and productivity YouTube, the consensus is stable: people who stay, stay for years because the UI still feels best-in-class and the one-time price ages well. Common praise: speed, keyboard workflow on Mac/iPad, “it doesn’t nag,” reliable Cloud sync, and a Today list that matches how many knowledge workers actually plan a day.

Praise themes: design craft; Type Travel / Quick Find; Magic Plus; free sync; Shortcuts depth (MacStories has called native Shortcuts support a standout); offline-first local databases; sense that Cultured Code is not farming engagement metrics.

Criticism themes: slow feature cadence (“is Things complete or abandoned?” threads reappear regularly); Apple lock-in for mixed-device households; no collaboration; multi-device sticker shock; privacy debates about Cloud staff access vs marketing encryption language; power GTD users bouncing to OmniFocus; cross-platform users choosing Todoist or TickTick; “I just need lists” users staying on free Apple Reminders.

Review outlets in 2024–2025 (PCMag and long-running Apple blogs) still call Things worthwhile for Apple-only solo users who value craft over feature checklists—especially if they reject subscription fatigue. PCMag’s framing: a clear step up from stock Reminders, but not a category Editors’ Choice when collaboration and multi-platform matter. Cultured Code’s own quote wall (Apple Design Award, Sweet Setup, Wirecutter, WIRED, MacStories) matches the enthusiast consensus more than the “team SaaS” market.

Infrastructure-minded fans also noticed the May 2025 “A Swift Cloud” post: a multi-year server rewrite in Swift, improved performance claims, and continued free sync—read as a signal the product is maintained, not mothballed, even without a splashy Things 4 launch.

Who should use it

• All-in Apple individuals — Mac + iPhone (and maybe iPad/Watch/Vision) who want one polished personal system without a monthly fee.
• Design-sensitive planners — Users who abandon cluttered tools; Things’ animations, empty states, and list model reduce friction to open the app daily.
• Solo freelancers and knowledge workers — Personal deliverables, life admin, light project structure—not client portals or team boards.
• Shortcut / automation tinkerers — People who will wire capture from Mail, browsers, and Siri into Inbox and build review automations.
• Subscription-fatigued Apple users — Willing to pay ~$10–$80 once rather than $5–$10/month forever for personal tasks.
• Not ideal for — Remote teams; agencies needing shared projects; Android/Windows users; heavy GTD perspective power users; anyone requiring a browser-only task list; households that must share grocery/chores lists in real time (use Reminders, Todoist, or a shared notes app).

Alternatives

• Todoist — Cross-platform, free tier + subscription; natural language, labels, team workspaces; better if you leave Apple or need sharing.
• TickTick — Tasks + calendar + habits + Pomodoro; stronger built-in time and habit features than Things.
• OmniFocus — Apple-focused power GTD (perspectives, defer dates, review); steeper learning curve and different pricing history.
• Apple Reminders — Free, shared lists, location alerts, good enough for light use; less project structure and polish.
• Notion — Docs + databases as tasks; better for wikis and team docs than pure daily task flow.
• Obsidian — Local Markdown notes; task plugins for people who want tasks inside a knowledge base, not a dedicated manager.
• Asana / Linear / ClickUp — Team delivery tools when work is multiplayer by default.
• Microsoft To Do (if available on site) or Microsoft To Do generally — Free Microsoft-ecosystem lists with simple sharing; weaker craft than Things, better for mixed Windows/mobile shops.

Quick chooser: Apple-only + design + one-time pay → Things. Need Android/Windows/share → Todoist or TickTick. Need deep GTD on Apple → OmniFocus. Need free and good enough → Reminders. Need team work → Asana/Linear/ClickUp, not Things.

Verdict

Things 3 remains one of the best personal task managers on Apple hardware—if you accept its deliberate limits. You pay once per platform, sync for free, and get a system that prioritizes clarity over AI feature theater, team boards, and every-platform reach. The product is mature (version 3.x with ongoing free OS-aligned updates through 2025–2026, including Cloud infrastructure work), not abandoned, but it will not morph into a collaborative web suite.

Choose Things if your world is Apple + solo and you want a tool you will still enjoy opening in three years. Choose Todoist/TickTick if you need Android, Windows, or shared lists. Choose OmniFocus if you need deeper GTD machinery. For a single iPhone, the ~$10 one-time seat is an easy experiment; for Mac + phone + tablet, budget ~$80 and use the Mac trial before you commit.

Bottom line: best-in-class Apple personal task craft with honest trade-offs—no team, no web, no subscription tax, no endless feature roadmap noise. Buy for longevity and taste; do not buy hoping it becomes a SaaS collaboration suite.