Comparison

To Do Machine vs Jottle

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

Design your ideal productivity system with this highly customizable task manager. It adapts to your unique workflow using natural language commands and AI organization. Seamlessly syncs across Mac and iOS devices.

Highlights
  • Natural language task creation
  • AI-powered organization
  • Customizable views (list, kanban, calendar)
  • Invent custom statuses and fields
  • Two-way calendar sync
  • Instant cross-device sync
  • Personalized productivity system assessment
Features
Read full description

The only productivity app designed just for you. 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 ORGAINZING — 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 (if you don't want to). "Plan my Q3" → full project with milestones, weekly check-ins, and time blocks. Auto-triage your inbox: priority, due dates, parent project. Orgainize your tasks in bulk: "Complete all of my overdue tasks and let's start fresh." — 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. — FREE TRIAL AND PRICING — -A free personalized assessment and recommendation of one of nine proven productivity systems. -Start your free 7-day trial (available with an annual subscription) to unlock full usage of To Do Machine, including task management and system customization. After your trial, task management and system customization is only available on a paid plan. -Pricing starts at $23.99 for three months. -Auto-renewal can be cancelled at any time via Apple subscription settings. Assembled in Brooklyn, NY. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Jottle

Features
Read full description

Jottle is for the thought you need to get down before it's gone. Open it and there's a blank line, waiting. Type the thought, tap Add Note, and get on with your day. There's nothing to set up and nothing to file. A note is a piece of plain text with a date on it. The first line becomes the title. That's the whole model, and it's why capture takes a second instead of a minute. EACH DEVICE GETS ITS OWN SHAPE • iPhone: the list and the editor, and nothing between you and the blank line • iPad: your notes on the left and a full page for writing on the right • Apple Watch: a real app, not a mirror. Dictate or scribble from your wrist. It syncs straight from iCloud, so it works with your phone out of range • Mac: Jottle is there too, as a notepad that drops in over whatever you're doing with one keystroke Notes sync through your own iCloud account. There's no Jottle account, no sign-in, and no server of ours in the middle. WIDGETS AND COMPLICATIONS Pin the notes that matter and they show up in the Pinned Notes widget, small, medium or large, on the Home Screen, the Lock Screen or in Notification Center. On the watch, put New Note on your face to dictate with one tap, or Recent Notes to read your latest at a glance. LOCKED NOTES, ACTUALLY LOCKED Lock any note and its body is encrypted with AES-256-GCM under a passphrase only you know, derived with PBKDF2-SHA256 at 600,000 iterations. Only the ciphertext is stored and only the ciphertext syncs, so a locked note is unreadable everywhere except on a device where you've entered the passphrase. Face ID or Touch ID unlocks it after the first time, and an open locked note is hidden from the app switcher. There's no recovery and no backdoor. Forget the passphrase and the note is gone for good. That's not an oversight. It's the feature. PLAIN TEXT, NOT A TRAP Export one note or all of them as ordinary Markdown files, with the dates kept in the front matter. Import a folder of them back. They open in any editor and are already covered by whatever backup you run. You are never locked in. THE REST OF IT Pin a note to keep it at the top. Archive one to get it out of the way without deleting it. Search across everything, or find within the note you're editing. MAKE IT YOURS Eight accent colors, light or dark, on a Paper or Bright background, and a text size your eyes agree with. Your watch keeps a color of its own. FREE Jottle on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch is free, with every feature. The Mac app is a separate choice: a free 14-day trial, then a one-time purchase. WHAT IT DOESN'T DO No account. No subscription. No analytics, no advertising, no crash reporting, no third-party SDKs of any kind. Jottle makes no network requests of its own. The only thing it talks to is your iCloud, at your instruction. Nothing about you or your notes is collected, because there is nothing in it to collect them with. Requires iOS or iPadOS 26. The Apple Watch app requires watchOS 26. Syncing needs an Apple Account signed in with iCloud Drive on. Without one, Jottle runs perfectly well on a single device and tells you plainly that it isn't syncing.

Screenshots

To Do Machine4 screens
Jottle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Jottle at weekly against To Do Machine's every 2 weeks. Jottle also leads on device support (4 vs 2). To Do Machine's advantage is iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). On price, 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. To Do Machine sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Jottle sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

To Do Machine ships an update every 2 weeks, Jottle weekly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
To Do Machine versus Jottle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTo Do MachineJottle
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB6 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperElectric Lantern LLCMike Shear

In-app purchases

6 purchases

To Do Machine

Subscriptions6
  • Standard7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • To Do Machine Max7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Standard - 3 Months$23.993 Months
Show 3 more
  • Welcome Price7 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • To Do Machine - Annual7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • To Do Machine Max - Annual7 Days trial$199.991 Year
2 purchases

Jottle

One-time2
  • 14-Day TrialFree
  • Jottle for Mac$9.99

Questions

Is To Do Machine free?
To Do Machine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Jottle free?
Jottle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do To Do Machine or Jottle have ads?
Neither To Do Machine nor Jottle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, To Do Machine or Jottle?
To Do Machine ships an update every 2 weeks, and Jottle weekly. Most recently, To Do Machine was updated on October 31, 2026 and Jottle on October 31, 2026.

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