# Task Coach review (2026): is it any good? > Free open-source desktop to-do manager for composite tasks Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Task Coach is a free, open-source desktop to-do manager built around tasks that contain subtasks. It adds effort tracking with budgets, categories and notes. Data is kept in an XML file on your own computer. - **Category:** To-Do List Apps - **Made by:** Task Coach developers - **Website:** https://taskcoach.org - **Runs on:** Windows, macOS, Linux - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want phone apps or sync, as only a Funambol server option is listed. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Task Coach is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** Everything is free: the site says Task Coach is completely free and it is released under the GNU GPL version 3. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | The full application, open source under the GPL; the site accepts donations. | Read from https://taskcoach.org/ on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Task Coach before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - People who break work into nested subtasks on a desktop - Anyone who wants to log time against tasks without paying - Users who want data in a local file rather than an account ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 3.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Task Coach is a free, open-source desktop to-do list with subtasks and effort tracking. Its latest release on the site is from April 2019, and it has no cloud sync or phone app of its own. - **Value for money: A.** Free under the GPL, the whole application, against a to-do middle of $3.99 a month. - **Free plan and trial: A.** Free outright, with donations accepted and no paid plans. - **Features: C.** Tasks, subtasks, categories, effort tracking and export do the job; there is no built-in sharing. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record, but it is a program you install and start using with nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Windows, Mac and Linux programs only; the Android version is separate and not supported by the project. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Task Coach's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among to-do list apps - Task Coach's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 106 of the 127 other to-do list apps we grade, and level with 10. - It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 89 of 127) and worst on features (C, above 8). - Task Coach has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/to-do-lists ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Task Coach is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 106 of the 127 other to-do list apps we grade. - You could make: Tasks and time tracking: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows and Linux that stay in step with each other. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Outlook, Thunderbird and Claws Mail among them. - You could not: People on the other end: coaches. No app builder makes those. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Outlook, Thunderbird, Claws Mail, Apple Mail, iCalendar **Tags:** Tasks, Open source, Time tracking ## Alternatives - [ToDoList](https://toolgpa.com/tools/todolist): Free, open-source task outliner for Windows with Gantt and kanban. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/task-coach-vs-todolist) - [Taskwarrior](https://toolgpa.com/tools/taskwarrior): Free, open-source to-do list manager for the command line. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/task-coach-vs-taskwarrior) - [Super Productivity](https://toolgpa.com/tools/super-productivity): Free, open-source to-do app with time tracking and a Pomodoro timer. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/super-productivity-vs-task-coach) - [Todo.txt](https://toolgpa.com/tools/todo-txt): Plain-text to-do list format with an open-source command-line tool. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/task-coach-vs-todo-txt) - [MyLifeOrganized](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mylifeorganized): Outline-based task manager that builds a next-actions list. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mylifeorganized-vs-task-coach) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://taskcoach.org/ - https://taskcoach.org/features.html - https://taskcoach.org/license.html Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/task-coach Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).