GoodTask vs TaskPaper
Both are bought outright, both sit in email & tasks, and both are bought by people leaving Todoist Pro, TickTick Premium. Here is what actually differs — including what each price does not buy.
The short answer
- TaskPaper costs $24.99 against $39.99 — 38% less.
- GoodTask has the cleaner licence: buy once, own forever, against own this version forever for TaskPaper.
Side by side
| What it is | power-user front end for Apple Reminders and Calendar | plain-text to-do lists in a real Mac app |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39.99 | $24.99 |
| Licence | Buy once, own forever | Own this version forever |
| What you get | One payment. Updates included, indefinitely. | One payment buys this major version outright. The next major version is a separate purchase, if you want it. |
| The catch | The iPhone and iPad app is a separate purchase from the Mac one | No iPhone or iPad app — on mobile you edit the file in someone else's text editor |
| Macs per licence | not established | not established |
| Account required | no | no |
| Works offline | yes | yes |
| Apple Silicon | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| On Setapp | Yes | No |
| Minimum macOS | not established | not established |
| App Store rating | not established | not established |
| Last updated | not established | not established |
| Price checked | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-22 |
Apple’s public API reports a rating for only a small minority of Mac apps, and returns zero for most of the rest even when the store page plainly shows reviews. A blank here means we could not read a number, never that an app is unrated or disliked.
In their own right
GoodTask
A layer over Apple Reminders and Calendar that adds smart lists, quick actions, templates and board views, sold once for $39.99 rather than by subscription.
TaskPaper
A to-do app whose files are plain text you can open in any editor, with folding, tag queries and scripting layered on top. $24.99 once on the Mac App Store.