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Things 3

Calm, opinionated to-do app you buy once per platform

Price: $49.99 once

This versionThe next major is a new purchase

Buy on the App Store Website

Price read on apps.apple.com, the page Buy on the App Store opens.

The catch

Each platform is a separate purchase — the iPhone app is another $9.99

The full picture

A Mac plus iPhone plus iPad set costs well over the Mac price, because each is its own app. You own version 3 specifically: Things 2 to 3 shipped as a new paid app in 2017, and 3 has been the current version for years now, so a paid Things 4 at some point is plausible rather than promised. There is no collaboration or list sharing in the app at all — that is a design decision, not a gap they are filling. The trial is downloaded from Cultured Code's site rather than the App Store.

Pays back in
10 months
Seats
Not stated
Developer account
Optional
Buy once$49.99Rent 5 years$300

$250 kept over five years, and you still have the app.
Against Todoist Pro at $60 a year, $5 per month, $60 billed yearly. Also replaces TickTick Premium at $50 a year and Any.do Premium.

What it looks like

Things 3: Three real Things windows overlapping: the main window with the full sidebar (Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, Logbook, then Family / Work / Hobbies areas and their projects) and the Today list with calendar events and This Evening; a project window for "Prepare Presentation" with headings and notes; and the When date-picker popover open. Has a one-line "Meet Things" headline at the top.
Three real Things windows overlapping. Mac App Store (id 904280696)
Things 3: A single complete window, sidebar and all, with the "Prepare Presentation" project open — project notes, tag filter chips (All / Important / John), and three headings (Slides and notes, Preparation, Facilities) with checklist items, tags and dates, plus the full bottom toolbar. The cleanest single-window shot in the set; caption text sits in empty space to the right.
A single complete window, sidebar and all, with the "Prepare Presentation" project open — project notes, tag filter chips (All / Important / John), and three headings (Slides and notes, Preparation, Facilities) with checklist items, tags and dates, plus the full bottom toolbar. Mac App Store (id 904280696)
Things 3: Two windows side by side: the Today list with inline calendar events, and the Upcoming view with tag filters and day-by-day sections. Two short headlines across the top.
Two windows side by side. Mac App Store (id 904280696)
Things 3 App Store screenshot 1 of 3
Things 3 App Store screenshot 2 of 3
Things 3 App Store screenshot 3 of 3

3 screenshots published by the developer on the Mac App Store.

Images belong to their developers.

What you’re buying

Things is the to-do app for people who have noticed that configuring a to-do app is itself a way of avoiding work. There is an Inbox you empty, a Today list short enough to actually finish, Projects with headings, and Areas to hold the projects. That is most of it. Against OmniFocus you give up custom perspectives and scripting, and you get back an app that does not invite fiddling.

$49.99 on the Mac App Store buys the Mac app outright. Things Cloud sync is included and free — no account tier, no in-app purchases, nothing to renew, which is why it keeps showing up in threads about cancelling Todoist. Quick Entry with autofill is very good, dates parse from plain English, and the whole thing is keyboard-drivable.

The licence boundary is per device family. The iPhone app is a separate $9.99, and iPad and Vision Pro are separate again, so a full set costs meaningfully more than the headline number. You also own version 3 in particular: Things 2 to 3 arrived as a new paid app in 2017, and 3 has been current for years, so leave room for a Things 4.

Skip it if you need to share a list with anyone — there is no collaboration here by choice. Skip it too if your system leans on heavy tagging and saved filters.

What owners report

Points that recur across the discussions below. A report of what users say, not our verdict: we don’t review software.

Praised

  • Owners repeatedly say the opinionated structure is the point - it is the task app they stopped configuring and started using
  • Keyboard control and plain-English date entry come up in thread after thread as the reason people stay put

Criticised

  • Repeating tasks are the recurring frustration, especially completing one early and rebuilding anything template-shaped by hand
  • Long-term owners keep raising the slow pace of change since 2017 and ask each other what a paid Things 4 would cost

Details

The price in full

$49.99 one-time on the Mac App Store, with no in-app purchases and no subscription. iPhone is a separate $9.99 purchase; iPad and Apple Vision Pro are sold separately again. Things Cloud sync is included at no charge. Cultured Code sets the price in US dollars and lets Apple convert it, so your local figure comes from the store.

The Things 3 page at culturedcode.com
The developer’s own page. culturedcode.com, captured 22 Sep 2026
Free trial
Yes
Works offline
Yes
Apple Silicon
Native
On Setapp
No
Minimum macOS
not stated
Developer
Cultured Code

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