Comparison

Tasks vs NotePlan

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

Head to head
About

Tasks

Organize your to-dos, reminders, and projects in one place. Capture ideas instantly, visualize progress with Kanban boards, and attach all necessary details to tasks. Collaborate with others and track your time effectively.

Highlights
  • Capture tasks with natural language
  • Switch between lists and Kanban boards
  • Break down tasks into subtasks
  • Attach notes, links, and files
  • Set location-based reminders
  • Collaborate on shared projects
  • Track time spent on tasks
Features
Read full description

Keep your day clear and your projects moving. Tasks brings your to-dos, reminders, and shared projects together in one place. Plan a busy week, organize a trip, or take a project from first idea to finished. Start with a simple list and add the structure you need as you go. CAPTURE IT WHILE IT'S ON YOUR MIND Type “Send the report tomorrow at 3pm” and accept the suggested date and time. Tasks recognizes dates, repeats, priorities, and locations as you type. Add tasks with Siri, save something from another app, or turn an email into a task with the original message attached. SEE WHAT'S NEXT, AND WHAT'S MOVING Switch between lists and Kanban boards. Give each project its own stages, such as Planned, In Progress, and Waiting, so you can see where things stand. Break bigger tasks into subtasks, add tags and priorities, and use Smart Lists to bring the right work together across projects. KEEP THE DETAILS WITH THE TASK Add notes, links, images, PDFs, and emails so you have what you need when it's time to act. Customize each project's fields and keep conversations in comments. A task can hold the whole story, from the first brief to the final decision. MAKE TIME FOR FOCUSED WORK Start a timer on a task and see where your time goes. On iPhone and iPad, block distracting apps while you work. Follow your session from a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and, on supported iPhones, the Dynamic Island. REMINDERS THAT FIT REAL LIFE Set reminders for a date, a time, or when you arrive at or leave a place. Repeat tasks on a schedule or a set time after you finish them, ideal for routines that don't always happen on the same day. Connect Apple Reminders to keep your existing lists in sync. SHARE THE WORK, KEEP EVERYONE IN THE LOOP Plan with your partner, family, or team. Share a project, assign tasks, and use comments and @mentions to keep every decision right where the work happens. The people you invite collaborate for free. Bring your AI assistant into the project too. Connect it through MCP to create and update tasks, leave comments, and track time. You choose which projects your assistant can access and what it can change. FEEL AT HOME ON YOUR APPLE DEVICES Use Tasks on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Keep tasks close with widgets, capture ideas from your wrist, and build everyday automations with Siri and Shortcuts. Sync lets you pick up where you left off on another device. Make Tasks feel like yours with Classic, Mono, and Paper themes, your choice of heading and body fonts, and light or dark mode. Dynamic Type and VoiceOver support help you work comfortably. START WITH YOUR NEXT TASK Download Tasks for free. Tasks Plus adds unlimited projects, custom workflows and fields, sharing, attachments, Smart Lists, sync, and more. Choose a subscription or a lifetime purchase in the app. Made by an independent developer who cares about the details. Questions or ideas? Write to tasks@msquarelabs.com. Privacy Policy: https://thetasks.app/legal/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://thetasks.app/legal/terms/

About

NotePlan

Organize your tasks, notes, and calendar in one unified app. Quickly plan your day with Markdown, link notes bi-directionally, and stay on top of your to-dos with powerful review and search features. Seamlessly integrates with your existing calendars and syncs across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Unified task, note, and calendar view
  • Markdown for quick task and note creation
  • Bi-directional note linking
  • Calendar integration (iCloud, Google, Exchange)
  • Flexible recurring tasks
  • Global Command Bar for fast navigation
  • Plaintext note storage
Features
Read full description

Having trouble planning your day, managing your to-do list, and organizing your notes? Always jumping between apps and losing track of what to do and where you put things? Say hello to NotePlan! NotePlan lets you manage everything in one place: your tasks, notes, and calendar. Perfect for project managers, designers, researchers, writers, students, or anyone who wants to be organized and efficient. QUICKLY PLAN YOUR DAY WITH MARKDOWN • Plan your day by seeing your calendar, notes, and tasks in a single view • Create tasks and notes quickly with Markdown • Add #tags to organize tasks and notes • Use @mentions to find people • Reschedule to-do items easily • Create flexible recurring tasks • Work faster with autocomplete BUILD YOUR NETWORK OF NOTES • Create your own network of notes • Organize any way you want to: from simple folders over P.A.R.A. to a Zettelkasten system • Bi-directional notes: link your calendar and your notes in any direction, automatically • Cross-reference and link notes easily STAY ON TOP OF THINGS WITH REVIEW • Search all tasks and notes, instantly • See all open tasks with the click of a button • Get a list of overdue to-do items • See upcoming tasks at a glance • Create custom filters with your own queries using status, #tags, @mentions, or even text SEAMLESS INTEGRATION WITH YOUR CALENDAR • Create events and reminders right in NotePlan • Support for iCloud, Google, and Exchange calendars • Time-block tasks on your calendar simply by typing AVAILABLE ON MAC, IPHONE & IPAD • Sync everything between your Apple devices • Use any sync method you like: CloudKit or iCloud Drive • A single subscription for all your devices OPEN, PRIVATE & FAST • All your notes are stored in plaintext so you're never locked in • Your information is private and cannot be accessed • Enjoy lightning speed thanks to local files and native apps ANY THEME YOU WANT • Choose from a variety of built-in themes • Work with light or dark versions • Create your own custom theme SHORTCUTS FOR MAXIMUM SPEED • Extended Markdown syntax support with customization options • Move around without ever leaving the keyboard • Find everything with the Global Command Bar NotePlan is developed independently and prioritizes user features and requests. We have long-term roadmaps and listen to customers to improve the apps. - - - - - Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. After purchase, manage your subscriptions in App Store Account Settings. - - - - - Email: hello@noteplan.co Web: noteplan.co Discord: https://discord.gg/D4268MT Twitter: NotePlanApp Reddit: reddit.com/r/NotePlanApp Learn NotePlan course: https://noteplan.eo.page/newsletter Terms of use: http://noteplan.co/tos/ Privacy policy: https://noteplan.co/privacy/

Screenshots

Tasks4 screens
NotePlan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Tasks at free with in-app purchases against NotePlan's subscription. Tasks also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and device support (5 vs 3). NotePlan's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 64%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

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. Tasks sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and NotePlan sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NotePlan holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Tasks's written reviews are positive against 85% of NotePlan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tasks ships an update every 9 days, NotePlan monthly. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tasks versus NotePlan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTasksNotePlan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.9K ratings)4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.6% of reviews85.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K — better1.5K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB204 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMsquare Labs Technologies Private LimitedNotePlan LLC

Customer experience

Tasks

All ratings1,914 ratings
Positive90.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews313 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral13.7%
Negative22.7%

NotePlan

All ratings1,517 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews478 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative10.3%

User reviews

Tasks

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Customizable task statuses
  • 🚀 Seamless cross-device sync
  • 👍 Clean and visually appealing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Sync issues between devices
  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior
  • 🔒 Limited free trial
  • 🐛 Slow performance on some devices

NotePlan

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful note-taking and task management
  • 👍 Seamless calendar and reminders integration
  • 💡 Flexible and customizable workflow
  • 🔒 Secure and open-format data storage
  • 👍 Responsive and helpful developer

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Occasional sync and performance issues
  • 👤 Limited collaboration and sharing features

Bugs and requests

Tasks

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Tasks not syncing correctly
  • Inability to delete tasks
  • Crashes when adding comments
  • Unreliable date and time handling
  • Inconsistent behavior when rearranging tasks

Requested features

7 requests
  • Recurring tasks
  • Calendar integration
  • Ability to move tasks between projects
  • Global tag management
  • Expanded note-taking capabilities
Show 2 more
  • Shortcuts and automation support
  • Batch task editing and management

NotePlan

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent sync between devices
  • Crashes when opening certain files

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved iPad and mobile app experience
  • Better integration with other productivity apps
  • More automation and scripting capabilities
  • Weekly or monthly calendar view

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Tasks

Subscriptions8
  • Tasks Plus (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Tasks Plus Family (Monthly)$7.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Annual (Offer)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Tasks Plus$24.991 Year
  • Tasks Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Annual (Offer)14 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Tasks Family Plus$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Tasks Plus Lifetime - Individual$59.99
  • Tasks Plus Lifetime - Family$99.99
8 purchases

NotePlan

Subscriptions8
  • Personal Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Personal Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Personal Monthly1 Month trial$11.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Personal Monthly2 variants$12.001 Month
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Personal Annual7 Days trial2 variants$99.991 Year
  • Personal Annual1 Month trial$119.991 Year
  • Business Class1 Month trial$199.991 Year

Questions

Is Tasks free?
Tasks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NotePlan free?
NotePlan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tasks or NotePlan?
NotePlan is rated higher. Tasks averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while NotePlan averages 4.8 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Tasks or NotePlan have ads?
Neither Tasks nor NotePlan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tasks or NotePlan?
Tasks ships an update every 9 days, and NotePlan monthly. Most recently, Tasks was updated on November 11, 2026 and NotePlan on November 11, 2026.

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