Stuff | ToDos and Lists vs PaperTrail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stuff | ToDos and Lists
Organize your life and achieve goals with a powerful task management system. Create interconnected lists, manage dependencies, and collaborate on shared projects. Track progress and stay focused on daily priorities.
- Task dependencies
- Interconnected lists
- Shared lists for collaboration
- Progress tracking (Adventure Log)
- Today Card for daily priorities
- Someday Tasks and repeating tasks
- Home screen widgets
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Stuff is built to help you organize your life and achieve your goals. Your Stuff can be as simple as a list of to-dos, or as complex as a system of interconnected lists, organized into spaces full of dependencies, deadlines, and carefully planned tasks. Stuff is designed to keep track of the dozens of to-dos that come to mind throughout the day, helping to clear your mind and turn thoughts into action. Dependencies: A Simple Yet Powerful System One of Stuff’s most unique and powerful features is Dependencies. Unlike other to-do apps, where tasks pile up into overwhelming lists, Stuff lets you link tasks together so that future steps stay out of sight until they’re relevant. This means that doers can brain-dump everything into Stuff without worrying about clutter, only the next actionable steps will be visible. Whether you’re planning a project, setting up routines, or just organizing weekend errands, Dependencies help keep Stuff clean, focused, and effortlessly powerful. Shared Lists: Collaborate Seamlessly Some tasks aren’t meant to be tackled alone. With Shared Lists, you can collaborate with teammates, classmates, family members, or anyone who needs to be in the loop. Assign tasks, track progress, and keep everyone on the same page, all within Stuff’s clean and intuitive interface. The Adventure Log: See Your Progress Over Time Every completed task tells a story, and with the Adventure Log, you can look back at everything you’ve accomplished. Filter by tag, space, or item type to see exactly what was done and when. Whether tracking work projects, study sessions, or personal growth, the Adventure Log helps you reflect on progress and stay motivated. The Today Card: Stay Focused, No Matter Where You Are Your most important tasks should always be front and center. The Today Card gives doers a snapshot of the day’s top priorities, no matter where they are in the app. With a quick tap, you can check your highest-priority tasks, see how much is left to do, and even glance at your Daily Note. Even if you’re bouncing between lists and organizing your week, the Today Card ensures that what matters most stays in view. Plan Ahead or Save for Later Sometimes, tasks don’t need to be done today, but they still matter. Stuff makes planning easy with Someday Tasks, allowing doers to set things aside without forgetting them. Assign a Deadline to separate when you plan to do something from when it has to be done. And for routine actions, repeating tasks keep everything on track automatically. Widgets: To-Dos at a Glance Stay on top of your tasks without even opening the app. Home screen widgets let doers see their lists instantly, making it easy to check off tasks, review deadlines, and stay on track throughout the day. Designed to Stay Open All Day Stuff is built to fit into your life, not disrupt it. Whether open on your desk while working or quickly pulled from your pocket while on the go, Stuff adapts to the way you work. The interface is designed to be both visually appealing and highly functional, keeping to-dos top of mind without being distracting. Built for Doers, Growing for the Future This is just the beginning! Stuff will continue to grow, with exciting new features on the roadmap designed to make productivity even more intuitive, effective, and enjoyable. Meet the Developer Stuff was built by me, Austin, an indie developer and a one-person team. I’ve always been passionate about productivity, but after trying countless apps, I couldn’t find one that truly fit my needs. I wanted something that combined a simple, beautiful interface with powerful features like Dependencies and repeating lists. So, I taught myself to code and started building Stuff, the to-do list of my dreams. Stuff uses Apple's Standard Licensing Agreement found here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
PaperTrail
This app provides a full TaskPaper editing experience on iOS and iPadOS, allowing you to manage projects, tasks, and notes using simple, flexible plain text files. Sync your work with iCloud and edit across devices, with powerful search and filtering capabilities.
- Full TaskPaper format support
- OPML import
- Distraction-free editing
- Full query language search
- Tag system with progress tracking
- iOS Reminders integration
- Shortcuts and Siri integration
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PaperTrail brings full TaskPaper editing to iOS and iPadOS. TaskPaper is plain text productivity—simple, fast, flexible. Projects, tasks, notes, and tags. Filter, search, and archive. All in plain text files you can sync via iCloud and edit in TaskPaper on your Mac. FEATURES • Full TaskPaper format support (.taskpaper, .todo, .txt, .md) • Open Bike (.bike) and OPML (.opml) outlines, with clear warnings when an import can't carry everything across • OPML and Bike-style export, so tags and done state round-trip back into Bike • Fold and focus into any subtree for distraction-free editing • Full query language with text, tag, boolean, and semantic search • Tag system with dates, progress tracking, and cost aggregation • Tag autocomplete ranked by how often you use each tag • Smart filters with edge-swipe gestures and an iPad side-by-side sidebar • Colour lines by priority, depth, or due date proximity • Natural date parsing and two-way iOS Reminders integration—import a Reminders list as a project • Quick capture: append tasks, notes, clipboard text, or web links to your most recent document • Planning shortcuts: Open in Today, Random Next Task, and Morning Brief • Shortcuts, Siri, Action Button, and Spotlight integration via App Intents • Find & update documents from Shortcuts: run queries, mark done, set tags, append tasks • Command palette for projects, searches, tags, and every editor command • iPadOS menu bar with Item, Tag, Outline, View, and Palette menus • Export documents as interactive HTML slide presentations or as OPML outlines • Built-in and custom document templates • 50+ keyboard shortcuts for power workflow • Native Swift app—tiny install size, built for speed • Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, and dark mode support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Stuff | ToDos and Lists at Free against PaperTrail's $19.99. Stuff | ToDos and Lists also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (87% vs 77%). PaperTrail's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On update cadence, ads and device support 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
Stuff | ToDos and Lists is free to download; PaperTrail costs $19.99 up front. Stuff | ToDos and Lists sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. PaperTrail asks for nothing beyond the download.
Stuff | ToDos and Lists holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stuff | ToDos and Lists has 86 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Stuff | ToDos and Lists's written reviews are positive against 77% of PaperTrail's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stuff | ToDos and Lists | PaperTrail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (86 ratings) — better | 4.3 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.9% of reviews — better | 76.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 86 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 10 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 225 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 2196, LLC | gingerbeardman |
Customer experience
Stuff | ToDos and Lists
PaperTrail
In-app purchases
Stuff | ToDos and Lists
- Extra Stuff | Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Extra Stuff7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Extra Stuff | Yearly1 Month trial$29.991 Year
- Level 1 Tip$0.99
- Level 2 Tip$4.99
- Level 3 Tip$9.99
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- Level 4 Tip$19.99
- Level 5 Tip$39.99
- Extra Stuff Lifetime$119.99
PaperTrail
No in-app purchases









