Chaos Control vs OmniFocus

Chaos Control

• People who organize work with GTD-style projects and contexts
• Buyers who prefer a one-time lifetime license to a subscription
• Keeping files and voice notes next to the tasks they belong to
• Small teams that want a flat price per workspace

OmniFocus

• People managing many projects on Apple devices
• Workflows built around defer dates, tags and regular project reviews
• Buyers who want to choose between a one-time license and a subscription

Chaos Control

• The Time Tracker, cloud storage beyond 100 MB and the AI assistant are limited to the PRO plans, with weekly caps on AI requests.
• The site does not publish the free version's task and project limits.
• Some in-app prices on the US App Store are higher than on the website: PRO 10 GB yearly is $49.99 there against $39.
• Team workspaces are licensed separately, and file storage and AI for team workspaces are marked as coming soon.

OmniFocus

• Native apps are for Apple devices only. Web access comes with the subscription or costs $4.99 a month on top of a license.
• Custom perspectives, Focus mode and automation are Pro features and are not in the $74.99 Standard license.
• There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial the app falls back to a viewer mode.
• Education discounts do not apply to subscriptions or to purchases made through the App Store.

Chaos Control

Chaos Box

An inbox for tasks, ideas and information that arrive unplanned: drop an item in to record it quickly, then process the accumulated entries when there is time.

Projects, checklists and contexts

Large goals become projects that break down into tasks with checklists. Projects are grouped into categories, and context tags group tasks by place, priority or other criteria.

Time Tracker

A timer started on a task collects time statistics for that task and by day, week and month. It is part of the PRO plans.

Files and cloud storage

Photos, voice notes, documents and other files can be attached to tasks or kept in a Files section that syncs across devices: 100 MB free, 10 GB to 1000 GB on PRO.

Chaos Control AI

A built-in assistant answers questions, drafts documents, prepares summary tables and writes action plans. PRO tiers include 10, 100 or 1000 AI requests per week.

Team workspaces

Separately licensed workspaces let members assign tasks to each other, with admin and member roles, a Kanban board and a built-in messenger.

OmniFocus

Projects, folders and tags

Actions are grouped into projects and folders and labeled with tags, flags, due dates and defer dates. Repeat schedules handle recurring work.

Forecast

Shows upcoming actions together with calendar events. Calendar integration is available in the native apps but not in the web version.

Review

A review mode steps through projects at a regular interval, such as once a week, so that projects and goals stay current.

Custom perspectives and Focus (Pro)

Pro adds custom perspectives, which are saved views built from filtering and grouping rules in a perspective editor, along with Focus mode.

Automation (Pro)

Pro runs Omni Automation plug-ins and, on Mac, AppleScripts.

Encrypted sync

Syncing through the free Omni Sync Server or a server of your own is described by the vendor as end-to-end encrypted. The web version requires Omni Sync Server.

Chaos Control

• Free$0

  The apps without a license, including up to 100 MB of file storage. Task and project limits are not published on the site.

• Premium$29

  per year ($6.99 monthly, or $49.99 one-time for Forever)

  Unlimited tasks and projects, without the Time Tracker, file storage or AI assistant.

• PRO 10 GB$39

  per year ($9.99 monthly, or $99 one-time for Forever)

  Unlimited tasks and projects, the Time Tracker, 10 GB of cloud storage, 10 AI requests and 10 minutes of audio transcription per week.

• PRO 100 GB$79

  per year ($14.99 monthly, or $199 one-time for Forever)

  The PRO features with 100 GB of cloud storage, 100 AI requests and 100 minutes of audio transcription per week.

• PRO 1000 GB$99

  per year ($19.99 monthly, or $299 one-time for Forever)

  The PRO features with 1000 GB of cloud storage, 1000 AI requests and 1000 minutes of audio transcription per week.

• Workspace: Small$79

  per workspace / year ($9.99 monthly, or $450 lifetime)

  A team workspace for up to 5 members, not charged per user. Larger workspaces for 10, 30 and 100 members cost more.

OmniFocus

• OmniFocus for the Web Subscription$4.99

  per month, or $49.99 per year

  Browser access as an add-on. Requires an existing OmniFocus setup on Mac, iPad, iPhone or Apple Vision Pro.

• v4 Standard License$74.99

  one-time purchase

  Version 4 with all 4.x updates on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, with the standard feature set.

• OmniFocus Subscription$99.99

  per year

  The latest Pro version on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro plus web access, with no charge for major version upgrades.

• v4 Pro License$149.99

  one-time purchase

  Version 4 with all 4.x updates, plus the Pro features: custom perspectives, Focus mode and automation.

Chaos Control

• Lifetime license

  Forever licenses for Premium and PRO

  One-time Forever licenses are sold next to the subscriptions: $49.99 for Premium, and $99, $199 or $299 for PRO with 10, 100 or 1000 GB of storage.

• Annual discount

  Yearly plans cost far less than monthly

  A year of Premium is $29 against $83.88 for twelve monthly payments of $6.99, about 65% less. PRO 10 GB is $39 a year against $119.88 paid monthly.

• Other savings

  50% off PRO for Premium license holders

  Existing Premium users are offered an upgrade to PRO at a 50% discount, applied in the app when logged in or through a code requested from support.

• Other savings

  Workspace discount for lifetime PRO users

  Personal lifetime PRO users get 20% to 40% off a team workspace license on request, and PRO users are not counted toward workspace billing.

OmniFocus

• Lifetime license

  One-time v4 license instead of a subscription

  A v4 Standard ($74.99) or Pro ($149.99) license is bought once and kept, with all 4.x updates included, as an alternative to the $99.99 yearly subscription.

• Education

  Education pricing on licenses

  Staff, faculty and students of accredited educational organizations can buy discounted licenses from Omni's Educational Store. Subscriptions and App Store purchases are excluded.

• Other savings

  Quantity discount on perpetual licenses

  Each license beyond the first in the same transaction takes a further 5% off the whole order, up to 30%. The discount is not available on subscriptions.

• Other savings

  Family sharing through an Omni Account

  A personal license or subscription can unlock the apps for immediate family members living in the same household. OmniFocus for the Web access cannot be shared.

• Other savings

  Upgrade pricing for owners of versions 1 to 3

  The purchase page says upgrade discounts are available. The App Store listing shows upgrades from v1-v3 at $37.49 for v4 Standard and $74.99 for v4 Pro, half the full license prices.