Comparison

DotList vs Project Planner

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

Head to head
About

DotList

This digital checklist app helps you organize all your notes and tasks in one place. Manage work, groceries, and plans with customizable lists, sorting, and sharing options. Keep your life organized with an intuitive interface and helpful features like drag-and-drop and undo.

Highlights
  • All-in-one list management
  • Multi-themed display options
  • Customizable sorting by status or alphabetically
  • Personalized list control (rename, reorder, add, delete)
  • Shareable lists via text or email
  • Drag-and-drop rearranging
  • Pin important tasks
  • Undo function for accidental changes
Features
Read full description

DotList is a simple, fast checklist app for organizing everything you need to remember, from groceries and errands to projects, packing lists, work tasks, and everyday plans. Juggling random scraps of paper and scattered notes? DotList keeps your lists in one clean, easy-to-use place so you can stay organized without overcomplicating things. DotList is free to download and includes up to three lists, reminders for up to three items, Home Screen widgets, core checklist tools, and four free themes. DotList Pro unlocks unlimited lists, unlimited reminders, and every theme with one optional one-time purchase. No subscription. Key Features: • Simple List Management Create and manage lists for work, shopping, travel, routines, appointments, ideas, and anything else you want to keep track of. • Reminders That Fit Your Schedule Set one-time reminders for individual items, or repeat them daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom schedule. Manage all your upcoming reminders from one place. • Home Screen Widgets Keep a chosen list or your upcoming reminders visible without opening the app. • Themes to Make DotList Yours Choose from four free themes and switch between light and dark appearances. DotList Pro unlocks the complete theme collection, including Firefly and Midnight. • Smart Clipboard Import Copy a checklist from another app, preview it in DotList, and add the items to a new or existing list. • Organize Your Way Rename and reorder lists, drag items into place, pin important tasks, sort alphabetically, or move completed items below everything still to do. • Reset and Reuse Lists Use Reset Dots to mark every item back to to-do, making recurring grocery lists, packing lists, routines, and other checklists easy to use again. • Clean, Shareable Lists Share an easy-to-read copy of your current list by text, email, or any supported sharing option. • Helpful Undo Support Made a change you didn’t mean to? Undo edits, deletions, imports, reordering, sorting, reminder changes, and more. • Private by Design DotList requires no account and does not collect your data. You can also export your DotList data from the Help menu whenever you want a copy. DotList is built for people who want practical organization without clutter. Keep your everyday lists simple, organized, and easy to manage. Download DotList today and bring effortless organization to your fingertips.

About

Project Planner

Manage multiple projects and track their progress with a focus on independent development. Break down large goals into actionable tasks and organize your workflow with customizable tags and a clean interface. Ideal for solo creators and indie developers.

Highlights
  • Flexible task management
  • Smart tagging system
  • Customizable color-coded tags
  • Visual progress tracking
  • Backlog management
  • Distraction-free interface
Features
Read full description

Most projects stall not because you lack motivation — but because "finish the project" is too vague to ever act on. You open a blank to-do list, dump in a dozen tasks, and within a week it's either abandoned or buried under newer ones. Milestones is built around a different idea: every project deserves structure, and structure is what makes finishing possible. A smarter way to plan Milestones introduces a three-tier hierarchy — Projects, Milestones, and Tasks — that mirrors how real work actually happens. A project isn't one thing; it's a series of phases. Each phase has its own focus, its own deadline, its own definition of done. Milestones makes that structure explicit so you always know where you are and what's next. Break goals into phases Every project is divided into named milestones — the chapters of your work. Whether you're building an app, writing a thesis, planning an event, or launching a side project, milestones give you a natural way to chunk the journey into stages you can actually complete one at a time. Track progress visually Each milestone has its own live progress bar showing task counts and completion percentage. At a glance, you can see how much you've done, how much is left, and which phases are moving. No more guessing whether you're close or far. Focus on what matters right now Mark one milestone as Active. It pins to the top of your project, pulses with a live indicator, and becomes your single point of focus. Everything else stays visible but secondary — giving you clarity without losing context. Organized from every angle Milestone statuses — Draft, Planning, In Progress, In Review, Released — give each phase a clear stage in the lifecycle. Tasks are sorted into To Do, In Progress, and Done sections automatically. Tag tasks to group related work across a project. Store unscheduled ideas in the project backlog so nothing falls through the cracks. Designed to look as good as it works Give every project its own icon — choose from a curated set of symbols or use your own photo — paired with a custom color. Your project list becomes a visual dashboard that's satisfying to open every day. Manage projects with AI Milestones includes a built-in MCP server — connect Claude and other AI agents on your Mac to create projects, add tasks and move milestones forward just by asking. Your project planner, now AI-native. Built for iPhone, iPad, Mac & Apple Vision Pro On iPad, Mac and Vision Pro, Milestones expands into a full three-column layout: your project list, milestone list, and task list all visible at once. On iPhone, everything is one tap away. Sync seamlessly across both with iCloud. Whether you're a developer shipping a product, a student finishing a dissertation, a designer managing client work, or anyone with a goal worth finishing — Milestones gives your projects the structure they've always needed.

Screenshots

DotList4 screens
Project Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Project Planner at every 5 days against DotList's every 6 weeks. Project Planner also leads on device support (4 vs 2). DotList's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and review sentiment (94% vs 80%). On price, rating, 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. DotList sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Project Planner sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. 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 — 4.8 for DotList against 4.9 for Project Planner. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 17 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of DotList's written reviews are positive against 80% of Project Planner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DotList ships an update every 6 weeks, Project Planner every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
DotList versus Project Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDotListProject Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (56 ratings)4.9 (17 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings56 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDanz L.L.C.Yassine Zeriouh

Customer experience

DotList

All ratings56 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral5.4%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative0.0%

Project Planner

All ratings17 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative10.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

DotList

One-time1
  • DotList Pro$4.99
4 purchases

Project Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Premium Lifetime$29.99
  • Premium Lifetime$79.99

Questions

Is DotList free?
DotList is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Project Planner free?
Project Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DotList or Project Planner?
Project Planner is rated higher. DotList averages 4.8 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Project Planner averages 4.9 from 17 ratings.
Do DotList or Project Planner have ads?
Neither DotList nor Project Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DotList or Project Planner?
DotList ships an update every 6 weeks, and Project Planner every 5 days. Most recently, DotList was updated on September 30, 2026 and Project Planner on October 3, 2026.

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