Comparison

TaskScratch vs DoTree

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

Head to head
About

TaskScratch

Read full description

TaskScratch is a task manager built on a simple promise: you pay once, you own it forever. No subscription. No "Pro" upgrade that changes the deal. No bait-and-switch. The price you see is the price you pay, and it never expires. YOUR TASKS, YOUR DEVICES, YOUR DATA TaskScratch syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your personal iCloud account. Your tasks never touch our servers, because we don't have any. No account to create, no third-party cloud service, no data harvesting. Just your Apple ID and end-to-end encryption courtesy of iCloud. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Create collections for every part of your life: Personal, Work, Family, Travel. Each collection holds multiple lists, and each list holds tasks with priorities, due dates, subtasks, and tags. Sort by priority, due date, name, newest, oldest, or drag to reorder manually. MARKDOWN NOTES ON EVERY TASK Add rich notes to any task with a formatting toolbar: bold, italic, headings, bullet lists, numbered lists, checklists, code blocks, and links. Preview your notes as beautifully rendered text, or expand to a full-screen editor for longer writing. Lists auto-continue as you type. EXPORT AND SHARE IN OPEN FORMATS Share any list or entire collection as plain text or Markdown. Send via iMessage, Mail, AirDrop, or any app on your device. Your data is never locked in. Export a grocery list to a friend or back up your entire project plan in a format any text editor can read. SCRATCHPAD: PRIVATE BY DESIGN A local-only notepad built for sensitive content. Passwords, credentials, private notes, code snippets, anything you need to jot down but never want in the cloud. Your scratchpad is stored only on your device. It does not sync to iCloud. It does not appear in backups. It does not leave your hands. BUILT FOR APPLE TaskScratch is a native SwiftUI app, not a web wrapper, not a cross-platform port. On Mac, it lives in your menu bar with quick access to today's tasks, hides to the background when you close the window, and comes back when you need it. On iPhone, it feels like it belongs. WHAT YOU GET - Collections, lists, tasks, subtasks, and tags - Markdown notes with toolbar and live preview - Seven sort options including priority, due date, and manual reorder - Show or hide completed tasks - Today view with overdue, due today, and this week - Search across everything: titles, notes, subtasks, and tags - iCloud sync across all your Apple devices - Share lists and collections as plain text or Markdown - Scratchpad that is local-only, never synced, never backed up - macOS menu bar app with today's tasks at a glance - Dark mode and Dynamic Type support - No ads, no analytics, no tracking NO SUBSCRIPTION. NO TRICKS. NO ASTERISKS. We believe software should be something you buy, not something you rent. TaskScratch will never move to a subscription model. Future updates are included. The app you buy today is the app you keep forever.

About

DoTree

Features
Read full description

Most task apps flatten your life into a list. DoTree doesn't. Here you break a goal down as far as you actually think — from the big ambition to the next small step. Folders inside folders, like a file system. Everything draggable, like files. And when it's time to work, you never have to look at the tree: the Active view shows only what's due now. • A TREE, NOT A LIST: unlimited depth, projects with progress bars — weighted by effort if you want • WHAT'S ACTUALLY DUE: the Active view pulls today out of a thousand tasks, grouped by date or by priority • IMPORTANT, OR MERELY URGENT: an Eisenhower matrix separates the two — and shows what's allowed to wait • BEFORE YOU OVERCOMMIT: the Forecast adds up every day's hours and flags the ones where you've planned more than fits • SPEAK IT INSTEAD OF TYPING: say what's on your mind and DoTree turns it into a structured outline with dates and effort, on device, for you to review before anything is created • RECURRENCE THAT THINKS: fixed to a date even when things pile up, or starting over once you're done — weekdays, month days, multi-year rhythms • DATES THAT INHERIT: subtasks take start and due dates from above, with optional times • YOUR OWN ORDER: contexts with icons and colors, life areas, stars, and an idea store for everything that isn't a commitment yet • APPLE CALENDAR: task time spans appear as entries in dedicated DoTree calendars, and move along when your dates change • REMINDERS: push tasks to Apple Reminders and check them off on either side — done is done, everywhere • ATTACHMENTS: photos straight from the camera, voice notes, videos, files • BRING YOUR STUFF: import from MyLifeOrganized (XML), export everything as JSON whenever you like • EVERYWHERE YOU WORK: iPhone, iPad, and Mac — with a widget and optional Face ID lock YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS No account. No sign-up. No subscription, no ads, no analytics, no trackers. Your content lives on your device and syncs through your own private iCloud — we run no server and cannot read any of it. Dictation stays on your device by default, too. DoTree is free, and it stays free. Your plan. Your tree. Your data. DoTree is not affiliated with MyLifeOrganized.

Screenshots

TaskScratch4 screens
DoTree4 screens

Verdict

The call

TaskScratch and DoTree are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
TaskScratch versus DoTree: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTaskScratchDoTree
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 daysEvery 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSteve EubanksLars Bruckschen

In-app purchases

None

TaskScratch

No in-app purchases

None

DoTree

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TaskScratch free?
TaskScratch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DoTree free?
DoTree is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do TaskScratch or DoTree have ads?
Neither TaskScratch nor DoTree shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TaskScratch or DoTree?
TaskScratch ships an update every 2 days, and DoTree every 2 days. Most recently, TaskScratch was updated on September 14, 2026 and DoTree on September 18, 2026.

Other comparisons