# Reminders vs Things Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 Reminders is the top pick for most Mac users looking at task management. It is free and installs in one Homebrew command. Things is the stronger choice if you want tasks. As of November 2026, both install with brew install --cask reminders and brew install --cask things. Things still wins for anyone who wants a structured, beautiful personal productivity system. Reminders’ Tahoe 26 intelligence features raise the free baseline, but they do not replace Areas, Projects, and temporal views. Pick by ambition, not hype. Score the decision on three questions: Do you need shared lists? Do you manage multi-week projects with phases? Will you pay once for a better daily ritual? Shared lists point to Reminders. Multi-week projects and a paid ritual point to Things. Needing both still points to running both. ## Head to head | Factor | Reminders | Things | | --- | --- | --- | | Price | Free | Paid | | Open Source | No | No | | Replaces | Things 3 ($49.99) | — | | Best for | tasks, to-do, apple | tasks, to-do, gtd | | Install | brew install --cask reminders | brew install --cask things | | Category | Productivity | Productivity | ## Reminders Built-in macOS task management app for creating to-do lists with alerts and Siri integration. Install: `brew install --cask reminders` [Reminders on Bundl](https://bundl.run/apps/reminders) ## Things Award-winning personal task manager for Mac with a clean design and powerful organization features. Install: `brew install --cask things` [Things on Bundl](https://bundl.run/apps/things) ## Features - **Cost and Accessibility.** Reminders' zero cost and pre-installation make it the most accessible option. - **Siri and System Integration.** Reminders' native Siri integration is unmatched by any third-party app. - **Project Management and Structure.** Things' project management capabilities are vastly more structured and powerful. - **Design Quality.** Things' design is in a different league. - **Shared and Family Lists.** Reminders' sharing capabilities are essential for family and team task coordination. - **Location-Based Reminders.** Location-based reminders are a unique and valuable Reminders feature. - **Keyboard Shortcuts and Quick Entry.** Things' global Quick Entry is significantly superior for capturing tasks without context switching. - **Automation and Shortcuts Integration.** Both apps offer solid automation through Apple Shortcuts, with Things providing additional URL scheme power and Reminders offering deeper system-level triggers. ## FAQ ### Is Apple Reminders good enough for serious task management in 2026? For errands, shared household lists, and light personal tracking, yes, especially after Tahoe 26 Apple Intelligence suggestions and urgent filters. For multi-area project portfolios, recurring complex work, and a deliberate GTD review habit, Things still provides structure Reminders does not. A practical test: if your weekly review needs more than two flat lists, Things will feel calmer within a week. ### Is Things worth about $80 when Reminders is free? If you will use Areas, Projects, Today, and Quick Entry every weekday, the one-time cost is usually cheaper than a year of subscription task apps and still feels justified. If you mostly need grocery lists and Siri reminders, spend $0 and stay on Reminders. Also factor device count: Mac-only buyers pay about $50; full Apple households pay closer to $80 before Vision Pro. ### What is the latest Things version on Mac? As of early August 2026, Things for Mac is on the 3.22.x line with 3.22.13 released 3 August 2026. Things 3.23 is in external beta, and Cultured Code is developing OS 27 compatibility for autumn. ### Can I use Siri with Things? Yes via Shortcuts and some Spotlight create-to-do paths after 3.22, but it is not as fluid as saying “remind me when I get home,” which only Reminders handles natively with geofences. ### Does Reminders support shared lists? Yes. iCloud shared lists remain a first-class feature with real-time collaboration and assignment. Things has no multi-user sharing by design. ### Can Things do location-based reminders? No. Things schedules by date and time only. Location arrival/leave triggers are exclusive to Reminders in this comparison. ### Does Things support macOS Tahoe 26? Yes. Things 3.22 launched 15 September 2025 with full OS 26 support, and subsequent 3.22.x builds through August 2026 keep refining that release. ### Should I switch from Reminders to Things? Switch if your lists feel chaotic, projects lack phases, or you want a calmer daily Today view. Stay if free shared lists, grocery auto-sort, and Siri geofences are your main needs. ### Can I use both apps together? Yes. A common 2026 setup is Reminders for family groceries and voice errands, Things for personal and work projects. There is no perfect two-way sync, so pick a primary system of record. ### Has Apple Intelligence closed the gap with Things? It narrowed the capture and triage gap by suggesting tasks from content and auto-sectioning lists, but it did not add Areas, Project deadlines as a first-class GTD model, or Things-class temporal views. Structure still favours Things. ### Which app has better widgets on iPhone and Mac? Reminders offers more interactive checklist widgets for quick completion. Things widgets are cleaner and Today-focused. Functionally interactive completion leans Reminders; aesthetic focus leans Things. ## Sources - [Apple Reminders User Guide for Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/reminders/welcome/mac) - [macOS Tahoe 26 — Apple Newsroom (Reminders + Apple Intelligence)](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/06/macos-tahoe-26-makes-the-mac-more-capable-productive-and-intelligent-than-ever/) - [Things — Cultured Code](https://culturedcode.com/things/) - [Things App Store Pricing](https://culturedcode.com/things/pricing/) - [Things Status Board](https://culturedcode.com/status/) - [Things for Mac Release Notes](https://culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/1100684/) - [Things 3 on the Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/things-3/id904280696?mt=12) - [What's new in the updates for macOS Tahoe](https://support.apple.com/en-us/122868) ## Related - [Todoist vs Reminders](https://bundl.run/compare/todoist-vs-reminders) - [Things vs OmniFocus](https://bundl.run/compare/things-vs-omnifocus) - [Things vs Todoist](https://bundl.run/compare/things-vs-todoist) - [TickTick vs Things](https://bundl.run/compare/ticktick-vs-things) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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