TaskPaper vs Things 3
Both are bought outright, both sit in email & tasks, and both are bought by people leaving Todoist Pro, TickTick Premium, Any.do Premium. Here is what actually differs — including what each price does not buy.
The short answer
- TaskPaper costs $24.99 against $49.99 — 50% less.
Side by side
 TaskPaper$24.99This version |  Things 3$49.99This version | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | plain-text to-do lists in a real Mac app | calm, opinionated to-do app you buy once per platform |
| Price | $24.99 | $49.99 |
| Licence | Own this version forever | Own this version forever |
| What you get | One payment buys this major version outright. The next major version is a separate purchase, if you want it. | One payment buys this major version outright. The next major version is a separate purchase, if you want it. |
| The catch | No iPhone or iPad app — on mobile you edit the file in someone else's text editor | Each platform is a separate purchase — the iPhone app is another $9.99 |
| Macs per licence | not established | not established |
| Account required | no | optional |
| Works offline | yes | yes |
| Apple Silicon | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| On Setapp | No | 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
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.
Things 3
A deliberately simple Mac task manager built around an inbox you empty, a Today list you can finish, and projects with headings. One $49.99 Mac App Store purchase, free Things Cloud sync, and no subscription anywhere in the app.