There is no such thing as perfect in task manager apps. You will have to hack and compromise so just get stuff done.

I am a long time sufferer of thinking that there is a “perfect” app that will allow me to always make sure I am on top of everything I have to do.

I’ve recently tried more than 30 task and project management apps and none of them are perfect. I started with a set of 10 requirements and no one app actually does all of those things in the most convenient way possible. So, at the end of the day I am just choosing one app to use that meets the majority of my requirements in the way that I feel works best for me.

From that study of task management apps, I’ve divided task management apps into three different categories and though I’d share those with you.

Task Managers

While these apps can be used to manage projects, their primary goal is to serve as a single master task list. You can add things like tags and subtasks to “fake” the concept of projects, but by their nature they do not handle projects. This category includes Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do, Toodledo, Remember the Milk, and Any.do.

Tasks Managers with Projects

The second group of apps are a little better designed to handle keeping track of multiple projects. They are still, at their heart, only task managers but they also recognize the need for projects as a container for similar tasks. In this category, I place Nirvana HQ, Tick Tick, Things, Todoist, and Nozbe.

Project Managers

The final group of apps are designed to manage projects and are probably more complex than an individual needs to do the work. They are built for teams and have far more features than a basic task management software. I include ClickUp, Monday.Com, Asana, and Microsoft Project. This is also the category I’d place custom build no-code tools like Notion and Airtable.

What is your favorite app or tool for tracking what you have to get done? How often do you throw things out and start over again?

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