Firetask vs OmniFocus

Firetask

• People who follow GTD on iPhone, iPad and Mac
• Users who like to review their tasks on a kanban board
• People who want tasks kept in their own iCloud with no separate account

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

Firetask

• Apple only: there are apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and sync runs through iCloud. No web, Windows or Android version is offered.
• After the one-month trial a Firetask Pro subscription is needed: $3.99 a month or $24.99 a year on the US App Store.
• Firetask 5 is a new app: Firetask 4 data must be exported and imported, and the free upgrade leaves out attachments, journal entries and status notes.
• CSV import is in the Mac app only; the manual says it will come to the iOS version.

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.

Firetask

GTD focus lists

An Inbox with a badge count for unprocessed items, an In Focus list for today, a Waiting For list grouped by assignee and a Someday list follow a GTD-style flow.

Kanban boards

Drag-and-drop boards arrange tasks by status, focus, due date or priority, so a review can be done by moving cards between columns.

Task calendar

Monthly and weekly calendar views are built around tasks instead of events, with drag-and-drop rescheduling and repeating due dates.

Projects, portfolios and templates

Tasks are grouped into projects and projects into portfolios, and templates store reusable task lists. To-dos act as lightweight subtasks inside a task.

Command tagging and quick capture

Typing /tomorrow sets a due date and @John delegates a task while it is being created. A share extension and a global Mac hotkey add tasks from other apps.

Pomodoro timer

Effort can be estimated in Pomodoros, with a built-in timer and a running Pomodoro count for the tasks in focus.

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.

Firetask

• Firetask Pro Monthly$3.99

  per month

  One subscription that unlocks every feature on iPhone, iPad and Mac, billed monthly through the App Store.

• Firetask Pro Yearly$24.99

  per year

  The same subscription for iPhone, iPad and Mac, billed once a year through the App Store.

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.

Firetask

• Annual discount

  Yearly plan costs less than twelve months

  On the US App Store, Firetask Pro Yearly is $24.99, while Firetask Pro Monthly at $3.99 adds up to $47.88 over twelve months.

• Other savings

  Free upgrade for Firetask 4 App Store customers

  Existing Firetask 4 App Store customers can unlock Firetask 4-level functionality in Firetask 5 at no charge. Features new in version 5 still need the subscription.

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.