Any.do vs WaterDo

Any.do

• Personal to-do lists kept in sync between phone, desktop and web
• Households that want shared projects and a shared grocery list
• People who want task reminders delivered in WhatsApp
• Small teams that want project boards next to personal tasks

WaterDo

• People who are motivated by game-style rewards for finishing tasks
• Users of Forest who want a to-do list from the same team
• Phone-first planning with a calendar and reminders
• Buyers who prefer a one-time lifetime purchase to a subscription

Any.do

• Recurring tasks, location reminders, color tags and WhatsApp reminders are Premium features.
• The Family plan is fixed at 4 members; a larger group has to move to the per-member Teams plan.
• The license agreement limits refund requests to within 48 hours of purchase.
• No Linux app is listed on the vendor's site.

WaterDo

• Neither the store listings nor the vendor's site say which features need a membership. Prices here are from the US App Store.
• Phones only: the App Store marks it as only for iPhone, and the site links to the App Store, Google Play and Coolapk with no web or desktop app.
• Both store listings show the most recent update in November 2025, version 3.9.5.
• The free trial of the premium version is mentioned without a stated length.

Any.do

Tasks, lists and reminders

Personal to-do lists with reminders are free. Recurring tasks, location reminders and color tags are listed under Premium.

Calendar and daily planner

Calendar events and tasks are shown together, and a daily planner asks what you intend to get done today.

WhatsApp tasks and reminders

Tasks can be created and reminders received inside WhatsApp. WhatsApp reminders are a Premium feature.

Family space

The Family plan gives up to 4 members a shared space for family projects, task assignment and a grocery list that groups items by aisle.

Team boards and views

The Teams workspace has project boards with kanban, calendar, table and Gantt views, custom fields and time tracking.

Automations and templates

In the Teams workspace, automations can assign tasks, set due dates and update statuses, and more than 100 workflow templates are provided.

WaterDo

Tasks as water balls

Every to-do is drawn as a water ball on the main screen, so the whole list is visible at once, and a ball is popped when its task is completed.

Quick add and calendar scheduling

Tasks are added quickly and then dragged onto dates in a calendar to schedule them.

Water ball of the day

One task can be marked as the water ball of the day to single out the most important thing to finish.

Daily Review

A review of about five minutes a day walks through the list so that the status of every task is brought up to date.

Reminders, snooze and notes

Tasks can carry reminders that can be snoozed, and notes can be added at any time. On iOS 16 and later a widget can sit on the lock screen.

Treasure chests and islands

Completing tasks unlocks treasure chests, and there are themed islands to explore and develop. A picture of an island can be shared with friends.

Any.do

• Personal$0

  Tasks and lists, reminders, calendar, daily planner and sync across devices for one person.

• Premium$4.99

  per month, billed annually ($7.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Personal, plus recurring tasks, WhatsApp reminders, AI-powered features, color tags and location reminders.

• Teams$4.99

  per member / month, billed annually ($7.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Premium, plus a collaborative workspace, unlimited project boards and members, 100+ workflow templates and admin permissions.

• Family$8.33

  per month for 4 members, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Premium for up to 4 members, plus a shared family space, a shared grocery list and up to 4 shared projects.

WaterDo

• Free$0

  The free features of the iPhone and Android apps. The listings do not itemize what is held back for members.

• WaterDo Monthly Membership$0.99

  per month, US App Store in-app purchase

  The premium version billed monthly. Neither store listing nor the vendor's site lists what the membership adds.

• WaterDo Annual Membership$9.99

  per year, US App Store in-app purchase

  The same membership billed once a year.

• WaterDo Lifetime Membership$14.99

  one-time purchase, US App Store

  A single payment for the membership with no renewal. Google Play's US listing shows in-app items from $0.99 to $14.99.

Any.do

• Annual discount

  About 38% off Premium and Teams with yearly billing

  Premium and Teams cost $4.99 a month billed annually against $7.99 billed monthly, about 38% less. Family drops from $9.99 to $8.33 a month, about 17% less.

• Education

  Discounted Premium for students and educators

  The pricing FAQ says students and educators can contact Any.do's Customer Success Team for a discounted Premium offer. The amount is not published.

• Nonprofit

  Discounted Premium for people working at NGOs

  The same FAQ extends the discounted Premium offer to people working for an NGO, on request through the Customer Success Team. The amount is not published.

WaterDo

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Membership for $14.99

  The US App Store lists a WaterDo Lifetime Membership at $14.99, a one-time purchase that costs about as much as 18 months of the annual plan.

• Annual discount

  Annual membership is about 16% cheaper

  The US App Store lists the membership at $0.99 monthly and $9.99 annually. Twelve monthly payments come to $11.88, so the annual plan costs about 16% less.