Comparison

Tasks vs Routine Roaster

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

Head to head
About

Tasks

This app helps you manage tasks beyond a simple to-do list. It allows for customizable statuses, tags, and hierarchical organization with a Kanban view to visualize project progress. Syncs across Apple devices and offers extensive customization for your workflow.

Highlights
  • Customizable task statuses
  • Tagging and hierarchical organization
  • Kanban project view
  • Smart lists and powerful queries
  • Attachments (PDFs, images)
  • iCloud sync
  • Home screen widgets
Features
Read full description

Tasks is a flexible task manager built for Apple devices. Start with a simple to-do list, then add structure only when you need it—with projects, subtasks, tags, priorities, custom statuses, Kanban boards, collaboration, and powerful automations. Your work is rarely just “to do” or “done.” A task might be in progress, waiting, under review, or following a workflow unique to your team. Tasks lets you shape every project around the way you actually work, without overwhelming you upfront. START SIMPLE. GROW YOUR WAY. • Capture tasks quickly and organise them into folders, projects, and subtasks • Add tags, priorities, task types, notes, links, images, PDFs, and other details • Create custom statuses for any workflow • Use fixed or completion-based recurring reminders • Build Smart Lists with powerful filters across all your projects • Find tasks, comments, and project information with advanced search • Start faster with project templates and helpful tag and date suggestions SEE WORK MOVE FORWARD Turn any project into a clear visual workflow with Kanban. Move tasks between custom statuses, or let completing a task advance it naturally through your flow. From a personal checklist to a multi-stage project, you can always see what is happening and what comes next. AUTOMATE ALMOST ANYTHING With more than 50 App Intents, Tasks works deeply with Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, and system automations. Create, edit, clone, search, and organise tasks and projects without opening the app. Build workflows around dates, recurring rules, locations, tags, priorities, statuses, comments, and collaborators. COLLABORATE WITHOUT THE OVERHEAD Share projects by email or public link, assign work, add comments, and keep files with the tasks they belong to. Only the person sharing a project needs Tasks Plus—collaborators can join without purchasing their own subscription. MADE FOR THE APPLE ECOSYSTEM Tasks is designed for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, with reliable CloudKit-powered sync across your devices. • Interactive Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • A full Apple Watch app for capturing and completing tasks from your wrist • Share and Action extensions for creating tasks from other apps • Focus Filters, rich notifications, and Time Sensitive alerts • Keyboard, trackpad, drag-and-drop, and multi-window support • Native dark mode, Dynamic Type, and accessibility support • Face ID and Touch ID protection for private projects • Import from Apple Reminders and Notes • Export and import complete backups using the .tasks format • URL schemes and x-callback-url support for advanced workflows PRIVATE BY DESIGN Tasks is built with privacy in mind, with secure CloudKit-powered sync across your Apple devices. START FREE Tasks is free to download with a generous free tier. Upgrade to Tasks Plus with monthly, annual, family, and lifetime options when you need more. Questions or feedback? We read every message. tasks@msquarelabs.com Privacy Policy: https://thetasks.app/legal/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://thetasks.app/legal/terms/

About

Routine Roaster

This app tracks your daily routines with a unique coaching system. Choose from five distinct personalities or create your own to receive personalized feedback, including roasts for missed tasks and celebrations for achievements. It prioritizes user privacy with no account required.

Highlights
  • Personalized coaching with unique personalities
  • Customizable coaches with AI-generated voices
  • Daily routine tracking and check-offs
  • Progress statistics (completion, streaks)
  • Private by default with iCloud backup
  • Optional notifications and message types
Features
Read full description

Routine Roaster is a habit tracker with an opinion. Set your routines, pick which days they run, then check them off. That part is ordinary. What isn't is the coach who notices. Each morning they tell you what's on. If the day is still open, they nudge. And the next day they deliver a verdict on yesterday: a roast if you let it slide, a small celebration if you didn't. FIVE COACHES, FIVE TONES - Asian Mom: disappointed in you, but with love - Mom: gentle, warm, quietly keeping score - Friend: hypes you up, roasts you gently, never actually mad - Boss: everything is a deliverable, and you are a resource - Enemy: actively rooting for your failure OR WRITE YOUR OWN Describe any character in a sentence and they get a voice and a face. A retired drill sergeant. A cat that is sweet but cold. Your future self, disappointed. Keep two coaches of your own for free. THE REST - Monday-to-Sunday week at a glance, tap to check off - Routines on any pattern of days, with an optional end date - 30 days of stats: completion rate, current streak, best streak, day by day - The last 15 things your coach said, kept so you can share the good ones - Four kinds of message, each one optional: the morning lineup, the nudge, the roast, the win - Turn any notification off and still read the message inside the app PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No account. No sign-in. Nothing to log into. Your routines and the coaches you write are backed up to your own iCloud, so they survive a reinstall and follow you to a new phone. Your check-off history stays on your phone and is kept for 90 days. We never see any of it. Writing a coach with Pro sends the description you typed, and a check that your device is genuine. Nothing else. Routine Roaster will not be nice to you. That is the point.

Screenshots

Tasks4 screens
Routine Roaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Routine Roaster at 100% against Tasks's 63%. Routine Roaster also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid). Tasks's advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 1) and device support (5 vs 1). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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 12 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days and Routine Roaster sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Routine Roaster holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tasks has 1.9K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Tasks's written reviews are positive against 100% of Routine Roaster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tasks ships an update weekly, Routine Roaster every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Tasks versus Routine Roaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTasksRoutine Roaster
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.9K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size169 MB3 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperMsquare Labs Technologies Private LimitedYen-Tin Liu

Customer experience

Tasks

All ratings1,909 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral3.5%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews307 reviews
Positive63.2%
Neutral13.4%
Negative23.5%

Routine Roaster

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Routine Roaster

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Tasks

Subscriptions10
  • Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Tasks Plus (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Tasks Plus Family (Monthly)$7.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Annual (Offer)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Tasks Plus$24.991 Year
  • Tasks Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Annual$39.991 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
2 purchases

Routine Roaster

One-time2
  • 5 Pro Generations$1.99
  • 3 More Coaches$2.99

Questions

Is Tasks free?
Tasks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Routine Roaster free?
Routine Roaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tasks or Routine Roaster?
Routine Roaster is rated higher. Tasks averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Routine Roaster averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Tasks or Routine Roaster have ads?
Neither Tasks nor Routine Roaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tasks or Routine Roaster?
Tasks ships an update weekly, and Routine Roaster every 3 days. Most recently, Tasks was updated on October 21, 2026 and Routine Roaster on October 9, 2026.

Other comparisons