Kan Do vs Things 3
We give Kan Do a 2.6 GPA and Things 3 a 3.0, out of 4.0. Kan Do grades higher on value for money. Things 3 grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kan Do
Personal kanban boards for Mac, iPhone and iPad, bought once
From $2.99 one-time
Things 3
Personal task manager for Apple devices, sold as a one-time purchase
Free trial · from $9.99 one-time
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAKan DoGood | 3.0GPAThings 3Very good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$2.99, one time, and that covers Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV and Apple Watch. No subscription and no in-app purchases. Most paid to-do apps charge more than that every month. | BNo subscription, and sync through Things Cloud costs nothing extra. The iPhone app is $9.99 once, which is cheap. But iPad is $19.99 and Mac is $49.99, with no bundle, and all four apps come to $109.96. That's a bit over two years of a typical to-do subscription. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free. It's a paid download with no free version and no trial. At $2.99 the risk is small, but you are buying it blind. | CNo free version. The Mac app has a 15-day trial with every feature, downloaded from Cultured Code's site. There's no trial on iPhone, iPad or Vision, so there you pay first and find out after. |
| Features | ABoards with your own columns, Spaces, nested tags, smart lists and a Calendar view. Tasks take start dates, due dates, repeats and reminders that keep going until you're done. Each one has a notes editor with images, drawings and attachments. | AProjects split by headings, checklists inside a to-do, notes in Markdown, repeating items, deadlines and reminders. Today and Upcoming show your calendar events with your tasks. Type "in four days" and it gets the date. For one person's tasks, that's the whole job with depth. |
| Ease of use | BWe have no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. There's no account to make. Buy it, open it, and your boards sync through your own iCloud. | A4.8 from about 28,000 App Store ratings. Dates go in as plain words like "Tomorrow" or "Saturday", and on a Mac Quick Entry adds a to-do while you're in another app. |
| Platforms and integrations | CApple only, and its FAQ says there's no web or Windows version. Inside that world it goes far: Siri, Shortcuts, and on the Mac a built-in MCP helper so assistants like Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can read and manage your tasks. | CMac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, with Apple Calendar, Reminders, Shortcuts and Siri. All Apple. Cultured Code states it will not work on Windows, Android, Linux or in a web browser. |
| Best for | personal kanban on Apple devices for $2.99 | one person's tasks on Apple devices, paid for once |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Kan Do and Things 3. How we grade
Where they differ
- Kan Do starts at $2.99 one-time purchase. Things 3 starts at $9.99 one-time for iPhone; iPad $19.99 and Mac $49.99 are sold separately.
- Kan Do also covers kanban boards.
- Things 3 also covers Markdown and natural-language input.
In commonmacOSiOSOne-time purchaseTasksCalendar
At a glance
| Kan Do | Things 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $2.99 one-time purchase | $9.99 one-time for iPhone; iPad $19.99 and Mac $49.99 are sold separately |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 15-day free trial of the Mac app with every feature. There is no trial on iPhone, iPad or Vision. |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Stephen Robles | Cultured Code GmbH & Co. KG |
| Price read from | kandotasks.app | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Kan Do
- One person running kanban boards across Apple devices
- Buyers who want a low one-time price and no account
- People who let an AI assistant manage tasks through MCP
Things 3
- People who work only on Apple devices
- Buyers who prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription
- One person planning their own tasks and projects
Worth knowing
Kan Do
- Apple platforms only: the FAQ says there is no web or Windows version.
- Boards cannot be shared with another person; sync runs only between one user's devices under a single Apple Account.
- It is a paid download with no free version or trial.
- Kan Do does not write tasks to the Calendar app, and Apple Reminders is the only app it imports from directly.
Things 3
- Apple devices only: the vendor states it will not work on Windows, Android, Linux or in a web browser.
- Mac, iPhone, iPad and Vision apps are separate purchases with no bundle; all four come to $109.96.
- Real-time sharing of to-dos or lists with other people is not supported.
- Only the Mac app has a free trial.
Key features
Kan Do
- Boards, columns and list view
- Every project is a board of user-defined columns. Cards are dragged between columns, dividers split long columns into sections, and any project can switch to a list.
- Spaces, projects and nested tags
- Spaces group projects, each with its own icon and color, and tags can be nested to any depth to cut across projects.
- Notes editor in every task
- A task's note takes headings, lists, to-do checkboxes, quotes, code blocks, highlights, images, drawings and file attachments, which sync with the task.
- Smart lists and Calendar view
- Inbox, Today, Upcoming and Flagged collect tasks across projects, custom smart lists filter by tag, date, priority or project, and a built-in Calendar view shows tasks and subtasks.
- Reminders that repeat until done
- Tasks take start dates, due dates and repeats. Alert Until Done reminders recur every 30 minutes, hour, 3 hours or day, and can be snoozed from the notification.
- Siri, Shortcuts and MCP connector
- Siri and Shortcuts actions add, edit, find and complete tasks. On the Mac, a built-in MCP helper lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor read and manage tasks.
Things 3
- Today and This Evening
- The Today list puts the day's calendar events at the top and to-dos underneath, with a separate This Evening section for tasks meant for later in the day.
- Upcoming
- A view of the days ahead with scheduled to-dos, repeating items, deadlines and calendar events. A to-do can be dragged to another day to reschedule it.
- Projects, headings and checklists
- Headings split a project into categories or milestones, and a single to-do can carry a checklist of smaller steps along with notes written in Markdown.
- Dates in plain words
- The Jump Start popover accepts dates typed as "Tomorrow", "Saturday" or "in four days", and a time-based reminder can be added to any to-do.
- Quick Entry and Quick Find
- Quick Entry on Mac creates a to-do while you are working in another app. Quick Find searches projects, to-dos and tags as you type.
- Things Cloud sync
- To-dos sync between your devices through the vendor's own Things Cloud service at no extra charge.
Plans
Kan Do
Kan Do$2.99
one-time purchase
One App Store purchase covers Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV and Apple Watch, with no subscription or in-app purchases.
Things 3
Things for iPhone & Watch$9.99
one-time purchase
The iPhone app, with the Apple Watch app included. Sold on the App Store.
Things for iPad$19.99
one-time purchase
The iPad app, bought separately from the iPhone and Mac apps.
Things for Vision$29.99
one-time purchase
The Apple Vision Pro app, bought separately from the other apps.
Things for Mac$49.99
one-time purchase
The Mac app, sold on the Mac App Store. A 15-day trial can be downloaded from the vendor's site.
Ways to pay less
Kan Do
No public discounts listed.
Things 3
- Other savings
Shareable through Apple Family Sharing
Cultured Code supports Apple's Family Sharing, so one purchase of an app can be shared with family members at no extra cost.
