Taskmator vs Zavala
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Taskmator
This app allows you to create and manage to-do lists, projects, and notes using a simple plain text format. It offers robust integration with Apple Reminders and Files, along with powerful organizational features like tags and outlining. Enjoy a productive workflow with customizable themes and extensive font options.
- Plain text task formatting
- Apple Reminders integration
- Files App integration
- Live search with saved filters
- Dropbox sync
- Customizable themes and fonts
- Outlining and drag & drop
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◉ "The Best TaskPaper app for iOS" — Macdrifter ◉ "Excellent Task Manager"— Cult of Mac ◉ “Taskmator, a powerful TaskPaper client for iPhone and iPad, has received full Reminders Integration” — Federico Viticci, MacStories ◉ "Taskmator is really neat and great" —Merlin Mann ◉ "I love using the TaskPaper format, with TaskPaper on Mac and Taskmator on iOS" —Brett Terpstra Taskmator ( Next-Generation of renowned task management app called TaskPaper ) takes full advantage of iOS/ iPadOS technologies, gives you speedy, powerful tools that let you more productive. • Based on the open source code of TaskPaper for iOS/ iPadOS. • Type your lists into Taskmator and each line is quickly formatted into a Project, Task, or Note. • Apple Reminders Integration. • Built-In Files App Integration. • Local Notifications. • Live Search with Saved Filters. • Dropbox Sync API V2. • Multiple Window, Split View Support for iPadOS. • System Dark Mode. • Touch ID/ Face ID support. • Document Picker Support. • Custom Task Symbol. • Colored Tags, Tags Suggestion, Links Detections, Tag Formatting. • Print with custom task symbol. • Full Screen Mode. Scroll Headings to have more space. • Organize notes, tasks, or projects by tags. • Support Outlining. Drag & Drop items from another app and vice versa. • UI elements respond to the cursor on iPadOS when connecting a mouse or trackpad. • Statistics. • TextExpander (TETouch Snippet Expansion) support. • Re-use a file on a single tap. Little expensive method. • Review all your projects using "Go to Project.." feature. • URL Schemes. • Customize extended keyboard keys, themes, dark mode, fonts, colors. • Export file as PDF. • Approx. 150 beautiful fonts are available. • Total 9 app icons available. If you have any questions/ suggestions/ issues related to Taskmator then please contact me via email (taskmator@gmail.com) or on twitter (@Taskmator).
Zavala
This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.
- OPML Import & Export
- Markdown Export
- iCloud Syncing & Sharing
- Nested Tags
- Image Embedding
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Drag and Drop
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Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Zavala at Free against Taskmator's $4.99. Zavala also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (88% vs 59%). Taskmator's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks) and ratings volume (232 vs 70). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Zavala is free to download; Taskmator costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Zavala holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 232 and 70 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Taskmator's written reviews are positive against 88% of Zavala's.
Taskmator ships an update weekly, Zavala every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Taskmator | Zavala |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (232 ratings) | 4.8 (70 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.1% of reviews | 87.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 232 — better | 70 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Amit Chaudhary | Vincode, Inc |
Customer experience
Taskmator
Zavala
User reviews
Taskmator
From 232 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful, flexible, and customizable
- 👍 Excellent integration with Reminders app
- 👍 Distraction-free plain text interface
- 👍 Extensive customization options
- 👍 Responsive developer
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive user interface
- 👎 Difficulty with scrolling and moving tasks
- 👎 Dropbox sync problems and data loss
- 👎 Lack of iCloud support
Zavala
From 70 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive UI
- 🚀 Fast and lightweight
- 🌟 Excellent outliner functionality
- 🆓 Free and open source
- ✨ Elegant and clean design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues reported
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🐛 Glitchy behavior
- 🐛 Formatting issues
- 🐛 Incompatible iCloud database
Bugs and requests
Taskmator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on launch or when switching apps
- Deleting or modifying files causes data loss
- Syncing issues with Dropbox and iCloud
- Unreliable task management and completion
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to collapse/expand sub-tasks
- Improved keyboard shortcuts and navigation
- Better visual indication of task completion
- Smoother drag-and-drop functionality
- iCloud sync support
Zavala
Reported bugs
9 issues- Broken sync between iPhone and Mac
- iCloud database incompatibility
- Unable to format using toolbar
- Lost outline after update
- Sidebar not available
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- Cannot open outlines from Document Provider
- App crashes on M1
- IME input ignored in body text (Japanese)
- Abstürze beim Anlegen des ersten Dokuments (M1)
Requested features
15 requests- Continue releasing macOS builds for older versions
- Legacy database option for iOS apps
- Cross-platform support
- Ability to change tag and outline list order manually
- Support for hiding notes
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- Typewriter scroll mode
- Due dates on the right of the note
- Font color change
- Multi-select for dragging
- Copy and paste lines
- Option to use system fonts
- Full screen document view with swipe gesture
- Adjust line spacing
- Improve drag and drop behavior on Mac
- Sync via Nextcloud
In-app purchases
Taskmator
No in-app purchases
Zavala
No in-app purchases
