Comparison

abcNotes Full Version vs Things 3

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

Head to head
About

abcNotes Full Version

This app allows you to create stylish and functional notes and to-do lists with a realistic paper sticky note feel. It offers extensive customization options for appearance and functionality, including iCloud synchronization and checklist management.

Highlights
  • iCloud Synchronization
  • Checklist style notes
  • Customizable appearance (backgrounds, skins, icons)
  • Virtual desktops
  • Scale, rotate, and drag notes
  • Email and share notes
  • Save notes as images
Read full description

• iCloud Synchronization between iOS and MacOS X! • Checklist style notes! Manage your tasks directly on notes. abcNotes was designed to become your stylish and highly customizable, functional and easy to use assistant in taking notes and managing To Do lists. abcNotes is an awesome note taking application! It takes advantage of unique iOS devices touchscreen preserving realistic look & feel of paper sticky notes. abc Notes - Checklist & Sticky Note Application for iPhone and iPad (share, email and synch your lists, memos, projects and school notebooks) HINT: To make a checklist note: Double tap the note to edit it. Tap the Note Properties button (blue one with tools icon). Find the checklist switch next to text alignment toggles. The total number of unchecked items is displayed as badge on abcNotes icon. BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE: • 88 backgrounds to choose from • 45 note skins • 27 badge designs & 115 icons EXTREMELY FUNCTIONAL: • 15 virtual desktops • Scale, rotate and drag notes • Easy to edit, duplicate, move between desktops • Supports any iPad orientation SHARE YOUR NOTES: • Email notes and desktops • Copy note image to any application • Synchronize notes between iOS devices • Save notes as image and place to lock or home screen No more boring note lists – abcNotes brings you the ability to make REAL notes on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Put everything you need to remember into abcNotes! View you notes the way you want! Rotate your abcNotes to any angle you wish! abcNotes is great for shopping lists, student class notebook, to record lecture and interview notes or to track projects, recordings and more tasks at home, school and university (class or homework). Please feel free to contact us at alsedi.apple@gmail.com if you have suggestions, feature requests, or bug reports.

About

Things 3

This app helps you organize your life by planning your day, managing projects, and tracking progress toward your goals. It offers a clean interface to manage tasks from daily routines to larger life ambitions.

Highlights
  • To-Do management
  • Project organization
  • Area categorization
  • Daily planning
  • Calendar integration
  • Reminders and repeaters
  • Share extension
Features
Read full description

Get things done! The award-winning Things app helps you plan your day, manage your projects, and make real progress toward your goals. Best of all, it’s easy to use. Within the hour, you’ll have everything off your mind and neatly organized—from routine tasks to your biggest life goals—and you can start focusing on what matters today. “Things offers the best combination of design and functionality of any app we tested, with nearly all the features of other power user applications and a delightful interface that never gets in the way of your work.” —Wirecutter, The New York Times KEY FEATURES • Your To-Dos Your basic building block is the almighty To-Do—each a small step toward a great accomplishment. You can add notes, tag it, schedule it, and break it down into smaller steps. • Your Projects Create a Project for any big goal, then add the to-dos to reach it. Use headings to structure your list as you outline your plan. There’s also a place to jot down your notes, and a deadline to keep you on schedule. • Your Areas Create an Area for each sphere of your life, such as Work, Family, Finance, and so on. This keeps everything neatly organized, and helps you see the big picture as you set your plans in motion. • Your Plan Everything on your schedule is neatly laid out in the Today and Upcoming lists, which show your to-dos and calendar events. Each morning, see what you planned for Today and decide what you want to do. The rest is down to you :) MORE THINGS TO LOVE As you dive deeper, you’ll find Things packed with helpful features. Here are just a few: • Reminders — set a time and Things will remind you. • Repeaters — automatically repeat to-dos on a schedule you set. • This Evening — a special place for your evening plans. • Calendar integration — see your events and to-dos together. • Tags — categorize your to-dos and quickly filter lists. • Quick Find — instantly find to-dos or switch between lists. • Magic Plus — drag the + button to insert to-dos anywhere in a list. • Share extension — create to-dos with content from other apps. • Widgets — see lists on your home/lock screens. • Mail to Things — forward an email to Things; now it’s a to-do. • Markdown — structure & style your notes. • And much more! MADE FOR IPHONE Things is tailored to the iPhone with deep system integrations as well. A great example is the Share extension, which allows you to create to-dos with content from other apps, such as a link to a website you want to get back to. You can also enjoy a beautiful dark mode at sunset, connect your calendars, add a variety of widgets, create to-dos via Siri, import from Reminders—Things can do it all! There’s even Shortcuts integration if you want to automate your workflows. MADE FOR APPLE WATCH Things comes with a great app for Apple Watch. Just raise your wrist to glance at your Today list, mark to-dos complete as you go, and dictate new ones on the fly—all synced instantly with your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. AWARD-WINNING DESIGN Made in Stuttgart, with two Apple Design Awards to its name, Things is a fine example of German engineering: designed not only to look fantastic, but to be perfectly functional as well. Every detail is thoughtfully considered, then polished to perfection. “It’s like the unicorn of productivity tools: deep enough for serious work, surprisingly easy to use, and gorgeous enough to enjoy staring at.” —Apple GET THINGS TODAY Whatever it is you want to accomplish in life, Things can help you get there. Install the app today and see what you can do! • Things is also available for Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro (sold separately). • Sync is provided for free via our Things Cloud service. • A free trial is available for Mac: www.things.app If you have any questions, please get in touch. We provide professional support and will be glad to help you!

Screenshots

abcNotes Full Version4 screens
Things 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: abcNotes Full Version at $2.99 against Things 3's $9.99. abcNotes Full Version also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 77%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). Things 3's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (28K vs 898). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

abcNotes Full Version costs $2.99 and Things 3 $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for abcNotes Full Version against 4.8 for Things 3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Things 3 has 28K ratings behind it against 898, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of abcNotes Full Version's written reviews are positive against 77% of Things 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

abcNotes Full Version ships an update every 2 months, Things 3 every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
abcNotes Full Version versus Things 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterabcNotes Full VersionThings 3
Price$2.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.7 (898 ratings)4.8 (28K ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.1% of reviews — better76.5% of reviews
Number of ratings89828K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#5 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB120 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperALSEDI GroupCultured Code GmbH & Co. KG

Customer experience

abcNotes Full Version

All ratings882 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews1,089 reviews
Positive86.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative6.8%

Things 3

All ratings28,060 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews1,895 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral8.4%
Negative15.1%

Bugs and requests

abcNotes Full Version

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Things 3

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Occasional crashes or freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to collapse headings and projects
  • Location-based reminders
  • Two-way calendar sync
  • Shared task lists
  • Customizable alert sounds

In-app purchases

None

abcNotes Full Version

No in-app purchases

None

Things 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is abcNotes Full Version free?
abcNotes Full Version costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Things 3 free?
Things 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, abcNotes Full Version or Things 3?
Things 3 is rated higher. abcNotes Full Version averages 4.7 out of 5 from 898 ratings, while Things 3 averages 4.8 from 28K ratings.
Do abcNotes Full Version or Things 3 have ads?
Neither abcNotes Full Version nor Things 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, abcNotes Full Version or Things 3?
abcNotes Full Version ships an update every 2 months, and Things 3 every 11 days. Most recently, abcNotes Full Version was updated on November 6, 2026 and Things 3 on November 7, 2026.

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