A brief survey of some of the task/to-do list managers for Mac OS X

A brief survey of some of the task/to-do list managers for Mac OS X (including some web-only products)…
Still considering:

  • OmniFocus - *** Worth doing a deeper dive ***. I can get it to show me home+any tasks at the same time. Has AppleScript support.
  • Taskpaper - *** Worth doing a deeper dive ***
  • The Hit List - *** Worth doing a deeper dive ***. I can get it to show me home+any tasks at the same time. Has AppleScript support. Sync is $20 per year.
  • ThinkingRock - *** Worth doing a deeper dive ***
  • Todo (Appigo) - *** Worth doing a deeper dive ***. Can't show @home+@any contexts simultaneously, but CAN show @home+@any TAGS simultaneously. Free sync via Dropbox. No AppleScript support. Sync is manually started.

Rejected early:

  • Action Method - No offline Mac app. Web only.
  • Actiontastic - abandonware. No iPhone app.
  • Anxiety - No iPhone app.
  • Beeswax - Abandonware. No iPhone app.
  • Check Off - No iPhone app.
  • Circus Ponies Notebook - Great Mac app. No iPhone app.
  • Do It (http://www.jimmcgowan.net/) - No iPhone app.
  • Doit (https://www.doit.im/) - Has only a "mini" version for Mac.
  • Doomi - No iPhone app.
  • EasyTask - Can't show both @home and @any simultaneously. Sync is manual, and iPhone sync is via WiFi only, although the Mac edition can sync with web edition every 10 minutes. Simplistic.
  • Enleiten - Web only.
  • EtreTask - Abandonware. No iPhone app.
  • Frictionless - Fails to start with OS X Lion.
  • Goal Organizer - Web only.
  • GTDAgenda - No Mac desktop app. Free version of web app is too crippled.
  • Helium - Can't show both @home and @any simultaneously. No search. Has auto-sync, but it costs $5 per month.
  • iGTD - Can't find the download. Probably abandoned, since the developer went to work on Things.
  • Listappy - $20. No trial available.
  • Nirvana - Web only.
  • Nozbe - Web only.
  • Remember (by Lighthead) - No iPhone support.
  • Remember the Milk - Doesn't support moving tasks around in the list. I really want offline capability, and it relies on Google Gears which doesn't run on modern browsers.
  • SimpleTask - No tagging or contexts. Sync is manual, and requires action on both phone and desktop.
  • Smartsheet - Priced unreasonably for use as a task list manager.
  • Taskpad.jp - Web only. I don't see a way to persist data.
  • Taskmate - iPhone and Mac versions don't talk to each other at all.
  • TeuxDeux - Desktop is browser-based.
  • Things - It is very popular. I can't see a way to search for @home or @any. (i.e. I'm at home, and I want to see everything I could do there, including do-anywhere items too.) Has AppleScript support.
  • Todoist - "Mac app" is really just a SSB (site specific browser). Would have to use Web for iPhone.
  • todoTweet - Web only. Cute idea. Not useful for me.
  • Toodledo - Desktop is web only.
  • Trimpath Next Action - Web only (with offline access). No iPhone support.
  • Tracks - Web only.
  • Wrike - Not priced for use as a task manager.
  • Wunderlist - Too simplistic. No tags or contexts.
  • Yojimbo - No iPhone support.

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