Comparison
Notchable vs Things 3, Todoist and Apple Reminders
Three excellent apps, one honest table. The short version: if your problem is that thoughts die between the moment they arrive and the moment you open a to-do app, Notchable is built for exactly that gap. If your problem is team coordination or a Windows laptop, it is not.
| Feature | Notchable | Todoist | Things 3 | Reminders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capture without leaving the app you are in | Partial | Partial | Partial | |
| Say several tasks at once and get them split | No | No | Partial | |
| AI sets the date, priority, category and estimate | Partial | No | Partial | |
| Focus timer visible while you work in any app | No | No | No | |
| Two-way Apple Reminders sync | No | Partial | ||
| Full desktop planning app | ||||
| iPhone, iPad, Windows and web appsTasks reach your iPhone and Watch through Reminders sync | Partial | Partial | Partial | |
| Shared lists and collaboration | No | No | ||
| Price | $19.99 once | $48 per year for Pro | $49.99 Mac, $9.99 iPhone, $19.99 iPad | Free with macOS |
Things 3
The most polished planner on Apple platforms, and a one-time purchase per device. Quick Entry gets you a capture window with a shortcut, but it is still a window, dates are typed by hand, and there is no timer.
Pick Things if you want a beautiful weekly planning ritual and already live in it. Read the Things 3 alternative guide.
Todoist
Everywhere, with shared projects, comments and a strong natural-language date parser. It is a subscription, the global quick add is a floating window, and there is nothing that splits a spoken brain dump into tasks.
Pick Todoist for teams, Windows or Android. Read the Todoist alternative guide.
Apple Reminders
Free, on every Apple device, and the best-integrated sync there is. Siri capture works one task at a time, there is no priority or estimate logic, and no focus mode. Notchable syncs both ways with it, so you do not have to choose.
Pick Reminders if free is good enough and you never lose tasks between apps.
What Notchable does that the others do not
- Capture from the notch. The notch is on screen in every app, on every Space. Hovering it opens the composer; moving away closes it. There is no window to summon and dismiss.
- Split a spoken brain dump. Say “reply to Jen, gym at 7 tomorrow, someday learn Spanish” and you get three tasks with three different dates and priorities. Speech recognition runs on your Mac.
- A focus timer that stays in view. Start a session and the notch widens into a live activity with a ring and countdown. It follows you into every app and shrinks back when you stop.
- A desktop app when you want one. Since 2.x, the same tasks open in a native window with Today, Upcoming, Inbox, projects, sub-tasks and notes. Nothing to sync between the two.
- One price. $19.99 once for Standard, $9.99 once for Lite, every update included.
3 days, every feature, no account.