Comparison

Things 3 for iPad vs PreFlight

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

Head to head
About

Things 3 for iPad

This app helps you organize your life by planning your day, managing projects, and tracking progress toward your goals. It offers a user-friendly interface to get tasks organized quickly, from daily routines to long-term aspirations.

Highlights
  • To-Do management
  • Project planning with headings
  • Area organization
  • Today and Upcoming task views
  • Reminders and repeaters
  • Calendar integration
  • Tagging and filtering
Features
Read full description

Get things done! The award-winning Things app helps you plan your day, manage your projects, and make real progress toward your goals. Best of all, it’s easy to use. Within the hour, you’ll have everything off your mind and neatly organized—from routine tasks to your biggest life goals—and you can start focusing on what matters today. “Things offers the best combination of design and functionality of any app we tested, with nearly all the features of other power user applications and a delightful interface that never gets in the way of your work.” —Wirecutter, The New York Times KEY FEATURES • Your To-Dos Your basic building block is the almighty To-Do—each a small step toward a great accomplishment. You can add notes, tag it, schedule it, and break it down into smaller steps. • Your Projects Create a Project for any big goal, then add the to-dos to reach it. Use headings to structure your list as you outline your plan. There’s also a place to jot down your notes, and a deadline to keep you on schedule. • Your Areas Create an Area for each sphere of your life, such as Work, Family, Finance, and so on. This keeps everything neatly organized, and helps you see the big picture as you set your plans in motion. • Your Plan Everything on your schedule is neatly laid out in the Today and Upcoming lists, which show your to-dos and calendar events. Each morning, see what you planned for Today and decide what you want to do. The rest is down to you :) MORE THINGS TO LOVE As you dive deeper, you’ll find Things packed with helpful features. Here are just a few: • Reminders — set a time and Things will remind you. • Repeaters — automatically repeat to-dos on a schedule you set. • This Evening — a special place for your evening plans. • Calendar integration — see your events and to-dos together. • Tags — categorize your to-dos and quickly filter lists. • Quick Find — instantly locate to-dos, headings, or tags. • Type Travel — jump from list to list with your keyboard; just start typing! • Magic Plus — drag the + button to insert to-dos anywhere in a list. • Share extension — create to-dos with content from other apps. • Widgets — see lists on your home/lock screens. • Mail to Things — forward an email to Things; now it’s a to-do. • Markdown — structure & style your notes. • And much more! MADE FOR IPAD Things is tailored to the iPad, with excellent pro features as well. Chief among them is the outstanding support for your keyboard & trackpad. You can edit your to-dos without touching the screen, utilize plenty of shortcuts, and navigate your lists at blistering speed—just start typing! “Things has the best implementation of external keyboard support I’ve ever seen in an iPad app.” —Federico Viticci, MacStories You can also enjoy a beautiful dark mode at sunset, connect your calendars, open multiple windows, add a variety of widgets, scribble with Apple Pencil, create to-dos via Siri, import from Reminders—Things can do it all! There’s even Shortcuts integration if you want to automate your workflows. AWARD-WINNING DESIGN Made in Stuttgart, with two Apple Design Awards to its name, Things is a fine example of German engineering: designed not only to look fantastic, but to be perfectly functional as well. Every detail is thoughtfully considered, then polished to perfection. “It’s like the unicorn of productivity tools: deep enough for serious work, surprisingly easy to use, and gorgeous enough to enjoy staring at.” —Apple GET THINGS TODAY Whatever it is you want to accomplish in life, Things can help you get there. Install the app today and see what you can do! • Things is also available for Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro (sold separately). • Sync is provided for free via our Things Cloud service. • A free trial is available for Mac: www.things.app If you have any questions, please get in touch. We provide professional support and will be glad to help you!

About

PreFlight

Create and manage detailed, customizable checklists for any recurring task or preparation. This app ensures you never miss a critical step in your routines, from outdoor adventures to daily organization.

Highlights
  • Customizable checklists
  • Master recurring tasks
  • Detailed step management
  • Organized preparation workflows
  • Ensures no steps are missed
Read full description

PreFlight is your essential checklist companion for mastering complex, recurring tasks. Whether you're preparing for a hike, planning a road trip, or tackling any multi-step routine, PreFlight ensures nothing gets overlooked. Create detailed, customizable checklists that capture every step of your process. From simple reminders to comprehensive preparation workflows, PreFlight adapts to your needs and keeps you organized. Never miss a critical step again. With PreFlight's structured approach to task management, you can confidently tackle your most important routines knowing every detail is accounted for.

Screenshots

PreFlight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PreFlight at Free against Things 3 for iPad's $19.99. PreFlight also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Things 3 for iPad's advantage is ratings volume (12K vs 2) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On rating, update cadence, 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

PreFlight is free to download; Things 3 for iPad costs $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Things 3 for iPad against 5.0 for PreFlight. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Things 3 for iPad has 12K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Things 3 for iPad's written reviews are positive against 100% of PreFlight's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Things 3 for iPad ships an update every 10 days, PreFlight every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Things 3 for iPad versus PreFlight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThings 3 for iPadPreFlight
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (12K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCultured Code GmbH & Co. KGAngryBoat, LLC

Customer experience

Things 3 for iPad

All ratings11,793 ratings
Positive97.7%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews815 reviews
Positive79.4%
Neutral8.1%
Negative12.5%

PreFlight

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Things 3 for iPad

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sync issues and data loss reported
  • Siri integration not working well in some languages

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add location-based reminders
  • Improve task prioritization and urgency indicators
  • Implement mass editing and batch actions
  • Introduce web app and Windows support

PreFlight

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Things 3 for iPad

No in-app purchases

None

PreFlight

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Things 3 for iPad free?
Things 3 for iPad costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PreFlight free?
PreFlight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Things 3 for iPad or PreFlight?
PreFlight is rated higher. Things 3 for iPad averages 4.9 out of 5 from 12K ratings, while PreFlight averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Things 3 for iPad or PreFlight have ads?
Neither Things 3 for iPad nor PreFlight shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Things 3 for iPad or PreFlight?
Things 3 for iPad ships an update every 10 days, and PreFlight every 9 days. Most recently, Things 3 for iPad was updated on September 24, 2026 and PreFlight on September 15, 2026.

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