Comparison

To Do Machine vs Task Focus

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

Head to head
About

To Do Machine

This productivity app allows users to fully customize their to-do list and workflow using natural language commands. It offers AI-powered task creation, project management, and calendar integration, syncing seamlessly across Mac and iOS devices.

Highlights
  • Natural language interface for customization
  • AI-powered task creation and triage
  • Multiple project views (list, kanban, calendar)
  • Customizable statuses, fields, and automations
  • Two-way calendar sync (Apple/Google)
  • Real-time sync across Mac and iOS
Features
Read full description

The only productivity app you design yourself. Most to-do apps make you bend to their rules. To Do Machine flips the workshop on its head — open the back panel, swap the parts, paint it your color. Talk to it in plain English and watch your task inbox, your projects, and your entire workflow rebuild themselves in real time. Built natively for Mac and iOS. Perfectly in sync. — WHO IT'S FOR — For the people who've tried every to-do app and bounced off them all. For the ones who keep building systems in Notion, then abandoning them. For anyone whose brain works a specific way and is tired of apps that don't. To Do Machine isn't another opinionated workflow. It's a workshop where you build the one that fits you. — DESIGN IT YOURSELF — Tell To Do Machine what you want and it remakes the app around you. "Make the inbox darker and put due dates on the right" — done. Switch any project to list, kanban, calendar, focus, or blueprint view. Invent your own statuses, fields, and automations, project by project. Every tweak syncs to all your devices instantly. — AI THAT DOES THE TYPING — Just say what's on your mind. To Do Machine writes the tasks, breaks them into projects, sets reminders, and finds time on your calendar — no tapping the + button. "Plan my Q3" → full project with milestones, weekly check-ins, and time blocks. Auto-triage your inbox: priority, due dates, parent project. A daily standup that drafts your day before you've finished your coffee. — CALENDAR IN, DAY OUT — Connect Apple or Google Calendar and your tasks thread themselves between your meetings. Two-way sync with Apple or Google Calendar. Time-blocking that respects your meetings, focus blocks, and breaks. Move a meeting and your tasks move with it. — INSTANTLY SYNCED BETWEEN iOS AND MAC — Tasks, projects, and calendars sync in milliseconds. Custom layouts and themes travel with you. Redesign your inbox on Mac at lunch — it's waiting on your iPhone by the time you stand up. Assembled in Brooklyn, NY. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Task Focus

Features
Read full description

One thing is enough. Task Focus does one thing. It pauses the apps that pull you away, for as long as one task takes. You write down the one thing you are doing, you pick what to pause, and everything else waits. There is no countdown. Not on the screen, not in a notification, not anywhere. A focus ends when you say it is finished — not when a timer decides you failed. WHAT IT DOES • Pauses the apps you choose, using Screen Time. Feeds, timelines, the endless pull-to-refresh — closed until you are done. • Puts the one thing on your Lock Screen and in a widget, so it is always one glance away and never out of sight. • Gives everything back the moment you tap "I'm done". One toggle in Settings takes it back too, any time. • Keeps what you finished, so a week adds up to something. NOTHING HERE IS A TARGET No streaks to break. No score to keep up. No badge for a good week and no guilt for a quiet one. The history is a record, not a report card. FREE, AND PRO Pausing apps is free and always will be. Task Focus Pro is everything the app remembers afterwards: • Every session you finish, kept for good — free keeps this week • What your focus actually adds up to • A profile for each kind of focus, so the right apps pause for the right work Pro opens on its own for seven days, the first time you finish a focus. Nothing to sign up for and nothing to cancel. When the seven days are up, history goes back to the last week, insights to this week, and profiles to one — nothing is deleted, and pausing apps carries on free as always. One payment. No renewal. Nothing to cancel. YOURS TO TAKE WITH YOU Your history follows you between your own devices through your iCloud account, and exports as a file you keep — whatever you use next. Nothing is collected. What you focus on, and what you choose to pause, stay on your device and in your own private iCloud database. We cannot read either one.

Screenshots

To Do Machine4 screens
Task Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: To Do Machine at none against Task Focus's 1. To Do Machine also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Task Focus sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. To Do Machine asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

To Do Machine ships an update weekly, Task Focus fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
To Do Machine versus Task Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTo Do MachineTask Focus
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB10 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperElectric Lantern LLCSascha Thiele

In-app purchases

None

To Do Machine

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Task Focus

One-time1
  • Task Focus Pro$9.99

Questions

Is To Do Machine free?
To Do Machine is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Task Focus free?
Task Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do To Do Machine or Task Focus have ads?
Neither To Do Machine nor Task Focus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, To Do Machine or Task Focus?
To Do Machine ships an update weekly, and Task Focus fortnightly. Most recently, To Do Machine was updated on September 15, 2026 and Task Focus on September 11, 2026.

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