Comparison

Boards vs 3things

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Boards

Visualize and track your projects with a simple Kanban-style organizer. Create boards with lists and task cards to manage your workflow, capture details, and organize ideas. Works offline with full data control.

Highlights
  • Kanban board visualization
  • Customizable lists and task cards
  • Capture task outcomes with details
  • Offline functionality
  • Universal purchase for all devices
  • Open and accessible file format
Features
Read full description

Visualize your projects and tasks and track their path to completion: Boards is a new Kanban app to boost your productivity for your projects. SIMPLE PRICING / NO SUBSCRIPTIONS: Boards is a single universal purchase covering all devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac). It includes new feature updates for one year and lifetime bugfix and iOS/macOS compatibility updates. Includes: • iPhone app • iPad app • Mac app • iCloud sync Features: Collect your thoughts & ideas, plan your week, or just keep a board with links to your favorite recipes, the possibilities are endless. Each board can hold multiple lists. Each list can contain task cards, list items, or notes. You can further organize lists with subheadings to create sections within lists. Capture the outcome of a task, instead of merely crossing off a to do: Each entry on a board can have a dedicated cover image, a link, as well as notes. This makes it easy to record the results of a phone call or to keep meeting minutes. Implement your own workflow: Each list can represent a step in your workflow. By dragging an item from list to list, you see how it progresses towards completion. For example, track which tasks are still in the backlog, which are in progress, blocked, and completed. Or plan a party and keep track of invitations sent and replies yet to be received. Bonus: Local First Software • Works Offline, no Internet connection required. Everything is saved on your device. You have full control over your data. • Open and accessible file format: each “board” file can be opened even without having the app installed so that you can always access your data (each *.board file is simply a ZIP archive). No risk, try before you buy: You can download and try Boards for free for all devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac). All features are unlocked from the start, but boards are limited to 20 entries each. Once you a ready, you can buy Boards from within the app with a single In-App purchase covering all devices. What this app is not: This app is for personal projects or smaller work projects, this is not a full project management app. No Gantt charts anywhere to be seen.

About

3things

This app helps you stay focused and organized by tracking up to three important tasks. It also includes a journaling feature, a checklist, and home screen widgets for quick access. Sync your progress across all your Apple devices with iCloud.

Highlights
  • Track up to three important things
  • Schedule reminders for tasks
  • Dedicated journaling space
  • Create and manage checklists
  • Home screen widgets
  • iCloud syncing across devices
  • Biometric authentication (3things+)
Read full description

Track the three most important things, and more, with 3things! Track things: You can add up to three things to track. If you want to be reminded, you can schedule a reminder. Once you are done with your thing, simply press the done button! With only three important things, you stay focused and more organized! Journal: There is a dedicated space to add journal entries! Keep track of your journal entries and add as many journal entries as you need. Checklist: Quickly add items to a checklist and check them off when you need to remove them! Widgets: Quickly glance at each of your things, right from the home screen! iCloud Syncing: 3things will sync across all of your devices that can run 3things! If you purchase 3things+ on one device, you can access it on all other devices that run 3things (iPhone, iPad, and Mac) at no additional cost. 3things+: Get access to some great additional features in 3things! Add an extra layer of security with biometric authentication, scan & import text from paper, change the app icon, set a custom greeting, and set a custom tint/theme color. More features are always being added!

Screenshots

Boards4 screens
3things4 screens

Verdict

The call

Boards and 3things are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Boards sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and 3things sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Boards against 5.0 for 3things. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 7 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Boards ships an update every 2 months, 3things every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Boards versus 3things: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBoards3things
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (19 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings19 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.114.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKitestack SoftwareVedant Malhotra

Customer experience

Boards

All ratings19 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative10.7%

3things

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Boards

One-time4
  • One Year Feature Updates$14.99
  • Boards Standard$29.99
  • Boards Extended$39.99
Show 1 more
  • Boards Lifetime$49.99
8 purchases

3things

One-time8
  • Tip Level 1$0.99
  • 3things+$1.99
  • Tip Level 2$1.99
Show 5 more
  • 3things+$2.99
  • Tip Level 3$2.99
  • 3things+$3.99
  • Tip Level 4$3.99
  • Tip Level 5$4.99

Questions

Is Boards free?
Boards is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 3things free?
3things is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Boards or 3things?
3things is rated higher. Boards averages 4.9 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while 3things averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Boards or 3things have ads?
Neither Boards nor 3things shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Boards or 3things?
Boards ships an update every 2 months, and 3things every 3 months. Most recently, Boards was updated on October 7, 2026 and 3things on October 5, 2026.

Other comparisons