Things 3 for iPad vs 531 Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- To-Do management
- Project planning with headings
- Area organization
- Today and Upcoming task views
- Reminders and repeaters
- Calendar integration
- Tagging and filtering
Read full descriptionHide 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!
531 Focus
Read full descriptionHide full description
Stop planning 20 tasks and finishing zero. 531 Focus is the daily planner and focus timer built for ADHD brains and overwhelmed professionals. Plan just 9 tasks — 5 small (10 min), 3 medium (30 min), 1 big (2 hours) — each with a built-in timer. No endless to-do lists. No decision paralysis. Just structure that works. Terms of Use: https://www.531focus.com/terms HOW IT WORKS Plan your day in seconds. Drop tasks into three categories: - 5 Quick Wins (10 min each) — emails, messages, small errands - 3 Deep Work blocks (30 min each) — focused work that moves the needle - 1 Big Focus session (2 hours) — your most important task of the day Start a task and the stopwatch runs. A progress ring fills as you approach your target time. Beat the target? You're a legend. Keep going as long as you need. WHY 531 WORKS Most productivity apps give you infinite space to plan and zero structure to execute. 531 Beats does the opposite — it limits what you plan so you actually finish. The constraint is the feature: - 9 tasks max means you have to prioritize - Built-in timers mean you stop overthinking how long things take - Visual progress means you see momentum building through the day FEATURES - 531 daily planning system with category-based task slots - Stopwatch timer for every task with target duration - Customizable durations per task category - Daily streak tracking to build consistency - Weekly stats to see your progress - Clean, minimal dark interface - All data stored locally on your device — your tasks stay private BUILT FOR - People with ADHD who need structure without overwhelm - Students juggling classes, studying, and life - Freelancers who need to plan their days realistically - Anyone who makes ambitious to-do lists and never finishes them 531 Beats Premium unlocks medium and large task categories and unlimited daily sessions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: 531 Focus at Free against Things 3 for iPad's $19.99. Things 3 for iPad's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On update cadence, 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
531 Focus is free to download; Things 3 for iPad costs $19.99 up front. 531 Focus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Things 3 for iPad asks for nothing beyond the download.
Things 3 for iPad ships an update every 8 days, 531 Focus every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Things 3 for iPad | 531 Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (12K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 79.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 12K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cultured Code GmbH & Co. KG | Jan Lipmann |
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
531 Focus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Things 3 for iPad
No in-app purchases
531 Focus
- 531 Beats Monthly$9.991 Month
- 531 Beats Annual$39.991 Year
Questions
Is Things 3 for iPad free?
Is 531 Focus free?
Do Things 3 for iPad or 531 Focus have ads?
Which is updated more often, Things 3 for iPad or 531 Focus?
Other comparisons















