Things vs OmniFocus
Which is the better task management for Mac in 2026?
Things
Award-winning personal task manager for Mac with a clean design and powerful organization features.
OmniFocus
Scheduling application focusing on organisation
Our verdict
How we compare appsRe-verified August 2026: Things 3 (~US$49.99 Mac plus companion purchases, one-time) and OmniFocus 4 (Standard ~US$49.99, Pro ~US$99.99 perpetual or ~US$99.99/year) still define the elegant-versus-configurable poles of native Mac GTD. Things wins on design coherence, calm daily use, and predictable one-time cost. OmniFocus wins on scale, custom perspectives, Review, defer/due fidelity, and automation breadth. Scores tie at 8.9/10 because a single winner would conceal the real trade: opinionated clarity versus inspectable control. If you scale beyond personal task loads or need a weekly review engine that walks every project, OmniFocus justifies its ceiling. If you want the clearest path to done for personal work, Things still earns the reputation it built over years of Mac App Store releases.
Read the quick answer
Which is better: Things or OmniFocus?
Things and OmniFocus are both task management on a Mac, so the pick depends on workflow. Choose Things for calm, beautiful personal GTD at a one-time price. Choose OmniFocus when you need custom perspectives, review cycles, and a model you can. As of October 2026, both install with brew install --cask things and brew install --cask omnifocus.
TL;DR
Things vs OmniFocus: Re-verified August 2026: Things 3 (~US$49.99 Mac plus companion purchases, one-time) and OmniFocus 4 (Standard ~US$49.99, Pro ~US$99.99 perpetual or ~US$99.99/year) still define the elegant-versus-configurable poles of native Mac GTD. Things wins on design coherence, calm daily use, and predictable one-time cost. OmniFocus wins on scale, custom perspectives, Review, defer/due fidelity, and automation breadth. Scores tie at 8.9/10 because a single winner would conceal the real trade: opinionated clarity versus inspectable control. If you scale beyond personal task loads or need a weekly review engine that walks every project, OmniFocus justifies its ceiling. If you want the clearest path to done for personal work, Things still earns the reputation it built over years of Mac App Store releases.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Things | OmniFocus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | One-time purchase | See developer pricing |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Replaces | — | — |
| Best for | tasks, to-do, gtd | tasks, gtd, project management |
| Install | brew install --cask things | brew install --cask omnifocus |
| Category | Productivity | Productivity |
Quick Install
brew install --cask thingsbrew install --cask omnifocusLearn More
In-Depth Overview
What is Things?
Things is a personal task manager for macOS, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch from Cultured Code, famously design-led since its original 2007 debut and now in its Things 3 generation (current line 3.19.x as of August 2026). Its structure is deceptively simple: Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, plus Areas that contain Projects, each with headings, checklists, and notes. Every task can carry tags, a due or scheduled date, a deadline, and a notes field; repeating templates and the Quick Entry panel (with autofill) keep capture fast. What distinguishes Things is not feature count but coherence: animations are restrained, search is instant, keyboard shortcuts are predictable, and the app feels native in a way few electron peers do. Pricing remains deliberately non-subscription: as of August 2026 the App Store lists roughly US$49.99 for Mac, US$9.99 for iPhone/Watch as a universal purchase, and US$19.99 for iPad, each one-time with Family Sharing; there is no required account, no web backend, and sync runs via the vendor's Things Cloud (free with purchase). Things ships as a Universal binary, is Apple Silicon native, supports Tahoe 26.x, and updates still ship via the App Store. It has no custom perspective builder, no built-in review engine, and no formal sequential/parallel enforcement beyond manual ordering - omissions Cultured Code considers intentional to keep the app narrow and calm.
What is OmniFocus?
OmniFocus is a GTD-focused task and project manager for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch from the Omni Group, now in its OmniFocus 4 generation (current line 4.4.x as of August 2026, rebuilt in SwiftUI for parity across platforms). Philosophically OmniFocus is the opposite of Things: it gives you a database and expects you to model your own system. Projects can be sequential or parallel, folders group related projects, tags are free-form and combinable, defer and due dates gate availability, and Forecast, Flagged, and Review perspectives surface what matters today. The differentiator is perspectives: Pro users build and save arbitrary filtered views (e.g., 'High-energy work available at office, grouped by due date, excluding Someday/Maybe') and revisit them as first-class navigation alongside the built-in perspectives. Automation is also a core pitch: Omni Automation (JavaScript), Shortcuts, Widgets, AppleScript on Mac, and URL schemes let teams script intake and triage. Pricing as of August 2026 is choice-driven: Standard perpetual (~US$49.99, all platforms via App Store), Pro perpetual (~US$99.99, unlocks custom perspectives and advanced features), or optional subscription (roughly US$9.99/month or US$99.99/year for Pro, less for Standard), each with a 14-day trial and Family Sharing where App Store rules allow. OmniFocus ships Universal, Apple Silicon native, Tahoe 26.x compatible, and syncs via Omni Sync Server (free) or via private WebDAV. Development remains active with 2026 point releases addressing Tahoe compatibility and SwiftUI polish.
Detailed Feature Comparison
Design & Learnability
High importanceThings
Opinionated, calm, and deliberately narrow. New users are productive within an hour without a manual. Animations and keyboard flow feel native because the app is native.
OmniFocus
Powerful but initially overwhelming: inbox, projects, tags, perspectives, defer/due, sequential vs parallel, and review all compete for attention on day one. Gains coherence after a dedicated setup session.
Verdict: Things wins approachability; OmniFocus wins once you have internalized GTD mechanics.
Structure & Perspectives
Critical importanceThings
Areas, Projects, Headings, and tags cover most personal systems, but there is no custom perspective builder. You live inside Things' built-in Today/Upcoming/Filtered views.
OmniFocus
Custom perspectives (Pro) are the product: filter, sort, group, and present tasks any way you like. Sequential/parallel project rules, defer/due gating, and tags make the database inspectable at any slice.
Verdict: OmniFocus is the engine for users who think in perspectives; Things is the curated gallery.
Reviews, Defer/Due Logic & Forecast
High importanceThings
Upcoming and deadlines cover near-term planning well, but there is no formal Weekly Review mode and no defer-date gating beyond scheduled dates. Review is manual.
OmniFocus
Built-in Review perspective cycles through every project on a schedule you set. Defer dates hide tasks until available, and Forecast merges calendar and tasks for day-level planning.
Verdict: OmniFocus implements the full GTD review loop; Things keeps it lighter and more ad-hoc.
Capture & Quick Entry
High importanceThings
Quick Entry with autofill is famously fast and consistent across Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Keyboard-first capture feels effortless even for new users.
OmniFocus
Quick Entry and clipper are excellent, with parser for dates, tags, and project assignment. Equally fast once shortcuts are learned, but denser.
Verdict: Both are excellent at capture; Things feels simpler, OmniFocus more powerful.
Automation & Integrations
Medium importanceThings
URL scheme, Shortcuts actions, and Mail-to-Things cover the essentials, but there is no in-app JavaScript automation layer and no plugin architecture.
OmniFocus
Omni Automation (JavaScript), Shortcuts, Widgets, AppleScript on Mac, and URL schemes enable deep intake and triage automation. Easier to wire into complex workflows.
Verdict: OmniFocus is the automator's choice; Things prefers to stay intentionally thin.
Apple Ecosystem & Sync
High importanceThings
Universal purchases across Mac, iPad, and iPhone/Watch, with free Things Cloud sync. Apple Silicon native and Tahoe 26.x tested. No web app; Apple platforms only.
OmniFocus
Universal app across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Watch with Omni Sync Server or WebDAV. Also Apple Silicon native and Tahoe compatible. Pro enables perspective sync across devices.
Verdict: Both are first-class Apple citizens with reliable sync; neither targets Android/Windows natively.
Pricing & Licensing (2026)
High importanceThings
One-time App Store purchases: roughly US$49.99 Mac + US$9.99 iPhone/Watch + US$19.99 iPad. No subscription required. Own it for the life of the OS revision cycle; sync is free.
OmniFocus
Choice of perpetual (Standard ~US$49.99, Pro ~US$99.99) or subscription (Pro ~US$99.99/year or ~US$9.99/month) with 14-day trial. Powerful but meaningfully more expensive if you need Pro features over multiple years.
Verdict: Things wins on predictable one-time cost; OmniFocus gives flexibility at the price of higher lifetime spend for Pro.
Maintenance & Tahoe 26.x Readiness
Medium importanceThings
Things 3.19.x line remains supported with Tahoe compatibility work, but it is a mature codebase with slower visible cadence. Still reliable and performant on Apple Silicon.
OmniFocus
OmniFocus 4.4.x under active development with 2026 point releases, SwiftUI refresh, and explicit Tahoe notes. Larger engineering surface and faster iteration.
Verdict: Both are healthy in August 2026; OmniFocus shows more visible platform iteration.
Who Should Choose Which?
1Freelancer / Solo operator
Fewer moving parts and a calmer daily list outweigh perspective power.
2GTD practitioner with 500+ active tasks
Custom perspectives and Review mode keep a large database navigable.
3Student
Low setup overhead and one-time student-friendly pricing beat engine flexibility.
4Consultant managing multiple clients
Project folders, tags, and perspectives model client work more faithfully.
5Design-led user who values aesthetics
Things' award-winning design coherence is a core feature, not a veneer.
Migration Guide
Things → Omnifocus
Export from Things via its URL scheme or CSV helpers, map Areas to OmniFocus folders or single-action lists, Projects to projects, and tags to tags. Recreate your Today/Upcoming habits as an OmniFocus Forecast perspective plus a custom 'Available' perspective filtered by defer/due. Enable Review on a weekly cadence and grant Automation permissions if you will script intake. Budget for the Pro tier if perspectives are the reason you are migrating.
Omnifocus → Things
Export via CSV/sharesheets, flatten folders into Things Areas, convert parallel/sequential projects into simple projects (Things does not enforce ordering), and recreate high-value perspectives as filtered tag searches or as separate Areas. Accept that defer-date gating and Review mode will become manual habits. If subscription cost was the prod, Things' one-time model is the relief - but you are also giving up the database you tuned.
Final Verdict
Tie - depends on structure vs elegance
Score
Things
Score
OmniFocus
Scores are Bundl.run editorial ratings out of 10 across 8 criteria (the feature comparison above), last reviewed August 2026.
Re-verified August 2026: Things 3 (~US$49.99 Mac plus companion purchases, one-time) and OmniFocus 4 (Standard ~US$49.99, Pro ~US$99.99 perpetual or ~US$99.99/year) still define the elegant-versus-configurable poles of native Mac GTD. Things wins on design coherence, calm daily use, and predictable one-time cost. OmniFocus wins on scale, custom perspectives, Review, defer/due fidelity, and automation breadth. Scores tie at 8.9/10 because a single winner would conceal the real trade: opinionated clarity versus inspectable control. If you scale beyond personal task loads or need a weekly review engine that walks every project, OmniFocus justifies its ceiling. If you want the clearest path to done for personal work, Things still earns the reputation it built over years of Mac App Store releases.
Bottom Line: Choose Things for calm, beautiful personal GTD at a one-time price. Choose OmniFocus when you need custom perspectives, review cycles, and a model you can shape to any workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Things 3 or OmniFocus 4 better in 2026?
How much do Things and OmniFocus cost today?
Does OmniFocus require a subscription?
Do both support Apple Silicon and macOS Tahoe 26.x?
Which app is easier to learn?
What do Pro/custom perspectives actually buy in OmniFocus?
Can I switch without losing my data?
Are either app at risk of discontinuation?
About the Author
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Sources & References
Key Verified Facts
- Things 3 pricing is one-time per platform (~US$49.99 Mac, ~US$9.99 iPhone/Watch, ~US$19.99 iPad) with no subscription required.[1][2]
- OmniFocus 4 is sold as Standard perpetual (~US$49.99), Pro perpetual (~US$99.99), or optional Pro subscription (~US$99.99/year or ~US$9.99/month) with a 14-day trial.[3][4]
- Both apps are native Apple Silicon Mac App Store apps, current on 2026 lines (Things 3.19.x, OmniFocus 4.4.x), and functional on macOS Tahoe 26.x.[1][3]
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