Task Coach vs Taskwarrior (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Task Coach grades higher than Taskwarrior: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Task Coach grades higher on ease of use. Taskwarrior grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Task Coach if
- Fits if you want a free desktop to-do list that also tracks effort
- Works for people who like nested tasks and categories
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want phone apps or sync, as only a Funambol server option is listed
- Watch out: the site names version 1.4.6, released April 2019, as the latest
- Not for you if you work in a team, as no built-in sharing is described
- Skip it if you want a web version, as it is a desktop program only
Pick Taskwarrior if
- Fits if you already spend your day in a terminal and want your tasks there too
- Works for people who script, with hooks in any language and fields they define themselves
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you've never opened a terminal, because typed commands are the only way in
- Not for you if you want an official phone or desktop app, as front ends are separate community tools
- Not for you if you want sync out of the box, since you run a sync server or a cloud bucket that carries a small cost
- Tight if you're on Windows, as it runs only through WSL or MSYS2, and Cygwin is no longer supported
- Watch out: since version 3.0 the docs warn that Syncthing or rsync can corrupt your task data
How we grade them
| 3.0GPATask CoachVery good | 2.8GPATaskwarriorGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree under the GPL, the whole application, against a to-do middle of $3.99 a month. | AFree and open source under the MIT license, a program anyone can download and run, with no paid edition at all. The project takes donations through GitHub Sponsors. The only bill you might see is for sync, since the docs say a cloud storage bucket carries a small cost. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with donations accepted and no paid plans. | AThe whole program is free. There's no paid edition, so nothing is locked. Filters, reports, hooks and custom fields are all yours from the first command. |
| Features | CTasks, subtasks, categories, effort tracking and export do the job; there is no built-in sharing. | BMore than 20 standard attributes per task, filters you combine on the command line, contexts that stay switched on, and an urgency score built from a dozen or more factors. Hook scripts and your own fields bend it to any workflow, and everything moves in and out as JSON. The whole job, in a terminal. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but it is a program you install and start using with nothing to set up. | DIt's a command-line program, so you learn commands before you add your first task, and anything that needs a terminal sits at a D on our ladder. Sync is more work again: you run a TaskChampion sync server or set up a cloud storage bucket yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux programs only; the Android version is separate and not supported by the project. | CMac and Linux, and Windows only through the Windows Subsystem for Linux or MSYS2. That's computers and nothing else: the project ships no graphical, web or mobile app, and those are separate community tools. Sync runs through a TaskChampion server or a cloud bucket. |
| Best for | a free desktop to-do list with effort tracking | running your to-do list from a terminal |
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: Task Coach and Taskwarrior. How we grade
Price against what you get
Task Coach has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Taskwarrior has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Task Coach scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other to-do list apps on the chart, none scores higher than Task Coach for less, and none scores higher than Taskwarrior for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Task Coach also covers time tracking.
In commonFree planmacOSLinuxOpen sourceTasks
At a glance
| Task Coach | Taskwarrior | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Everything is free: the site says Task Coach is completely free and it is released under the GNU GPL version 3. | The whole program is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid edition. The project takes donations through GitHub Sponsors. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Task Coach developers | Gothenburg Bit Factory |
| Price read from | taskcoach.org | taskwarrior.org |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Task Coach
- Desktop only: the site lists Windows, Mac, Linux and BSD downloads, and says the Android version is developed separately and not supported by the project.
- The site names version 1.4.6, released April 27, 2019, as the latest release.
- The site's sync option is a Funambol server, rather than a built-in cloud service.
- No built-in team sharing is described on the features page.
Taskwarrior
- The project ships only a command-line program. Graphical, web and mobile front ends are separate community tools.
- On Windows it runs through the Windows Subsystem for Linux or MSYS2; Cygwin is no longer supported.
- No hosted sync service is included: you run a TaskChampion sync server or configure a cloud storage bucket yourself.
- Since version 3.0 the docs warn that file-sync tools such as Syncthing or rsync can corrupt task data and are unsupported.
Key features
Task Coach
- Tasks and subtasks
- Tasks have a subject, description, priority, start and due dates, completion date and an optional reminder, and can recur daily, weekly or monthly.
- List and tree views
- View tasks as a flat list or a tree, sort by any attribute, and filter out completed tasks or show only those due today.
- Effort tracking
- Track time spent on tasks, set budgets, and view time by effort period, day, week or month.
- Categories and notes
- Assign tasks and notes to user-defined categories.
- Attachments and email drag-in
- Attach files, URLs or email messages by dragging them onto a task; dragging an email from Outlook, Thunderbird, Claws Mail or Apple Mail creates a task.
- Export and print
- Export tasks, notes, effort and categories to HTML and CSV, effort to iCalendar, and print the current view.
Taskwarrior
- Task commands in the terminal
- Tasks are added, modified and completed with short task commands, and carry attributes such as project, tags, priority and due date out of more than 20 standard ones.
- Filters, reports and contexts
- Reports list tasks through filters you combine on the command line. A context is a named filter that stays active, for example to show only work tasks.
- Urgency score
- Each task gets a numeric urgency score summed from a dozen or more factors such as priority, and the next report sorts tasks by it.
- Sync between replicas
- The task sync command exchanges changes with a TaskChampion sync server, an AWS or Google Cloud storage bucket, a local file or a git repository.
- Hooks and user defined attributes
- Hook scripts in any language run at set events in the program, and user defined attributes add your own fields that can be stored, sorted and shown in reports.
- JSON import and export
- Task data moves in and out through a documented JSON format, which the community tools listed on the project's Tools page build on.
Plans
Task Coach
Free$0
The full application, open source under the GPL; the site accepts donations.
Taskwarrior
Free$0
The full command-line program under the MIT license. Sync needs your own server or a cloud storage bucket, which the docs say carries a small cost.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Task Coach or Taskwarrior?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Task Coach and Taskwarrior are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Task Coach or Taskwarrior?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Task Coach and Taskwarrior have a free plan.
Which platforms do Task Coach and Taskwarrior run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Task Coach lists a Windows app. Both list macOS and Linux apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.