Is Things 3 worth the cost?

I’ve started using Goodtask and like what I am seeing so far. It’s probably not the tool for managing complex projects but the additional functionality over Reminders makes it an easy to use and very effective task manager, definitely worth a look.

I’m using Things 3 on the iPad only and so far it is working Very well. iPad for keep track of stuff, Mac for getting that stuff done.

For me, one of the things that put me over the top was the Keyboard Shortcuts available in Things 3 on the iPad. Plus, the combo of Things and Drafts is fantastic.

I used OmniFocus (and many others!!) in the past, and it is good too - but I found it was too fiddlly for my use. I spent too much time working OF and not enough time working.

As mentioned, there is a demo for the Mac if that helps. The iPad version is really close to what you get on the Mac version (and again with Drafts, I think better)

Don’t worry. Drafts for Mac is in the works. This will open up a whole new world for us! Can’t wait to see Drafts in MacOS.

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I did trial Things (after buying OF, so obvious bias was present). I tried it before I had gotten OF really working for me and was still figuring out how to organize it best for my needs. I really liked the Today function as a rolling thing (which OF3 sort of manages now with a tag that you can add to the forecast), but it just didn’t click right for me. I store everything in OF, and I don’t have a problem with that. There’s a few projects I have in OF that are just there to get things out of my head (a project of things I’d like to look up, a project of “busywork” that I never have the time to get to…) I immediately felt more friction with Things when I imported my projects, particularly with these. As a psychological thing, the progress wheel on projects also really bothered me, because almost none of my projects are ever going to be “finished” (so they’re not really traditional projects), and the few that will be finished won’t be finished when I’ve done all the actions in them (so I have “finish upon completion of last action” unchecked in OF).

One of the nicest things about Things right now IMO are the iPad shortcuts. If I weren’t Mac-first, the amount of tapping to get through OF on iPad would drive me insane.

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There is a free trial on Things for the Mac app at least, not sure about ios.

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Sounds like OF is right for you then!

Todoist is a fine app …used it for years to manage sophisticated reminders. I use Things 3 now for the same propose. There are feature differences. But as kennonb wrote, if it serves, stay with Todoist. If you want to explore, Things is an interesting app.

Thirty day trials give enough exploration time. Obviously, you will use up a few hours of the rest of your life.

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I have used OF, Things, Todoist and 2Do. The important thing is to use the app that you like using, because you then probably will use it. It has to fit the way you think and work, rather than the other way round.

Andrew

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Exactly!! They can all get the job done. Pick the one that you like to look at and work with.

Personally, I use the iPhone version on both phone and iPad. Not pretty, but it works fine. My phone is my task “nerve centre” so that’s where I use Things 3 the most.

I haven’t bought the Mac version as I don’t see what I would gain from it, taking into account my previous statement.

So my advice is start with the iPhone version and see if you REALLY need the specific version on any other device.

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My two cents – it is absolutely worth it. $80 is a SMALL price to pay for a system that keeps me organized and on track; for some of my work, if I missed only one task (or got behind), it would cost me far more than $80, so it’s well worth the investment. The real question, though, is not whether $80 is better than nothing (which it is), it’s whether $80 is better than an alternative. There’s a lot I could say on this, but having experimented with lots of different task managers over the years, Things is the one I’d recommend bar none because of its balance between simplicity and power. OmniFocus arguably has more power and customization features (though it’s arguable), but the learning curve on it is steep because of that complexity, whereas Things has nearly all of the power but with a simplicity that makes it accessible to nearly anyone. I’d highly recommend it.

If you’d like to test it out, I’d recommend getting the iPhone and/or iPhone & iPad apps first; try it out for a while and return it if you don’t like it. If you do like it, spring for the Mac app (which is worth it).

If you do end up buying, shameless plug, here’s links with my affiliate code if you want to help a bro out :wink::
Things for iPhone
Things for iPad
Things for Mac

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Also my two cents. Well, my $80 worth anyway. Yes from my POV at least it’s completely worth it. I’ve been in Things for years. 3 is amazing, but it’s always been amazing. In that time I’ve had two tech issues - one a glitch, one a suggestion I made to them. On both occasions, I got personal instant contact. Things 3 is incredibly powerful and effective, and whilst it’s on the expensive side for apps, I touch it so many times a day, and it saves me so much time and headspace, I can’t imagine any other way to get stuff done. So yes to Things at $80 or to any other app that works the way your brain does and keeps delivering. If you use it for 4 or 8 years, it’s going to be $20 a year. If it becomes collaborative at some stage in the future, it will be genuinely magical, but for now it’s more than sufficient for my needs, and a genuine pleasure to use. Good luck with your search, whatever you end up doing.

I’m in my third week of Things 3, having moved over from years of OF.

I’ve found it has been worth the price so far, because it really fits my needs.

Right now, if you offered me a full refund of $80 to stop using it, I would not take it. :sunglasses:

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This is a personal decision of course, but personally I stumped up for the lot and I am very happy with it so far.

As many other people have already said it depends on what you’re using now and whether you think you’re going to get the most out of it. For example if you already have Omni Focus then probably spending money on the Things 3 might not suit you, but I didn’t have any other system in place. There are a few things I do irritate me about Things 3 through but I believe that they will be rectified in future updates.

It’s very clean, and if actually used is quite effective. The only ongoing problem I have with it is when you put in new item into the inbox, I would like to (at that moment) associate that task with a project etc. Currently this doesn’t seem to be possible. You have to go back into Things 3 and then associate the item you placed in the inbox to a project.

Like I said it’s a small thing and I hope they rectify the future but otherwise it’s fantastic and very useful – if used!.

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Marcus, You might want to describe your current process and device for creating tasks, as it is absolutely possible to immediately associate a new task with a project. One way that comes to mind is to use the Move command, available on both iOS and macOS.

I have used so many task managers through time that I have completely lost count. I think Things 3 is by far the best I’ve found for solo tasks, and I’m quite happy with Asana with collaborative tasks. I used to think that I’d like to use just one single system for everything, but that’s not the case anymore. Asana for collaborative tasks / stuff on a higher level, Things 3 for all personal things + a little overlap with Asana, but typically more detailed day-to-day.

OmniFocus was also fairly good, but Things 3 just struck a chord with me, and I absolutely love it. My advice is to do a trial run of all the major (probably Things 3, OmniFocus and Todoist) and make the decision for yourself. But if you actually end up using Things 3 as your daily task manager? Then it’s absolutely worth the price IMO. Good specialized software is a huge part of having a good experience with electronic devices, and considering how much we (in general) spend on hardware, it’s absolutely worth it to pay for the few very high quality apps that really make the devices come to life :+1:

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image

Greg, I’m not talking about when you create a task whilst already using things three on any device… I’m talking about when you create a task from somewhere else, when you are not in the application already.

For example if I was on a website and I tried to send a link from that website to things three from within Safari you are not given the option during that process to associate the task project or even set timelines at that stage. The only option you have (unless I mistaken – which I don’t think I am), is posting the contents as a description into your inbox for processing later.

I am suggesting that it would be great to be able to do that right from the share process at the beginning.

I’ve put a quick video together to illustrate.

That’s what I did. I used to have the Mac app, but it was by far my least used app. So now I have Things on my iPhone and iPad and I haven’t missed the Mac app at all.

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I had Things version 2 (I believe!) on my iPhone before but I actually didn’t pay for it as it was an app of the week when we had them on the App Store, I wish that was a thing still. Anyway I had that long before I got into todo list apps etc and didn’t use it to its full potential. I like to have multi platform apps since I use windows at home, an iPad and an iPhone. I’m more flexible with the phone as I switch back and forth at contract renewal between iOS and android. It’s androids turn next so if I bought things 3 that would be silly as I cannot use on other os’s unfortunately!

I also wanted to give Things 3 a chance, but the following stopped me from switching from OmniFocus to Things:

Instead of using iCloud Storage for syncing tasks between devices Things 3 uses its own Cloud Solution called Things Cloud

OmniFocus does the same with OmniSync, but:

  • with Things you can not use your own server for storing your tasks like in OmniFocus with your own WebDAV - Server
  • from my understanding, your tasks are NOT stored in an encrypted form in Things Cloud, so their employees or some data bug could leak your personal information
    -> in OmniFocus you can set an additional encryption passphrase for your data

Greetings, Stefan