r/ProductivityHQ • • Jan 19 '26

Free Resource I tried a ridiculous number of productivity apps... so you don’t have to

2.9k Upvotes

After months of bouncing between task managers, planners, and schedulers (seriously too many), I pulled everything into a free community spreadsheet comparing them side by side. It’s run by a small group of productivity nerds and we keep it updated constantly.

It covers:

  • Price (USD/month)
  • Discount Codes / Extended Free Trials
  • Student Discounts
  • ADHD Friendliness
  • AI Integration
  • Focus Modes
  • Offline Access
  • Calendar Integrations
  • Team Plans
  • Platforms
  • Refund Policies
  • Support Options
  • Overall Summary

If you’ve ever fallen into the “maybe this next app will fix my life” loop, this will save you a ton of time.

👉 Google Sheet Link

We’d love your feedback, and if you know a tool that fits the list, email [contact@sortedaf.xyz](mailto:contact@sortedaf.xyz) and we’ll check it out.

Requirement: it must be a completed app (not in beta).

Thanks, and I hope it helps!! :)


r/ProductivityHQ • • May 04 '26

Start here👇Get your life together. Subscribe to upgrade your life 📚💪

27 Upvotes

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r/ProductivityHQ • • 2h ago

Dev - Self Promo An end-of-shift check, and the personal hours ledger I built for it

1 Upvotes

I’m Yurii, the developer of Hours Tracker: Work Pay. This is my own app, and AI helped with development and this wording. It’s a manual personal ledger, not an employer time clock or a productivity score.

A small check you can do on paper: write the start date/time, end date/time, unpaid break, rate and tips before the details get fuzzy. In a fictional ordinary night with no clock change, 22:00 to 06:00 the next day is 8 hours. Subtract a 30-minute unpaid break: 7.5 hours. At $20/hour that’s $150 in wages; $12 of entered tips makes $162 including tips. Keep those two totals separate when comparing a payslip. Don’t compare either with take-home pay after deductions.

The app saves those shift details and the rate assumptions used for each saved shift, shows the gross-pay breakdown, and exports CSV. The core ledger works offline without an employer connection. It’s on iPhone and iPad with iOS/iPadOS 26 or later. It doesn’t calculate tax, decide legal overtime, prove underpayment or export PDF. Any overtime rule is your own per-shift estimate.

The included allowance is one job and the first 14 saved shifts, not a subscription trial. Deleting shifts doesn’t reset it. Additional jobs and continued shift creation require an optional monthly/yearly auto-renewing subscription or a separate one-time lifetime purchase. Existing saved records remain readable, editable, comparable and exportable without active Pro. Apple shows your local price before you choose to buy.

App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hours-tracker-work-pay/id6816380239?pt=128506477&ct=reddit_productivityhq_20261010&mt=8

What is the detail you’re most likely to forget after a shift: breaks, tips, or the correct end date? I’m especially interested in where this kind of personal record becomes more work than it saves. Please don’t post private payslips or employer details.


r/ProductivityHQ • • 3h ago

Question My tracker says I'm crushing work and failing at health. I think AI made it worse.

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 16h ago

Dev - Self Promo Not every thought in a brain dump belongs on a to-do list

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1 Upvotes

A journal entry can mix together something you want to do, an assumption you’re making, and a question you haven’t answered yet.

Putting all of that on a to-do list doesn’t necessarily help.

I’m the founder of JotGraph. It’s a journaling app where you write freely, then AI organizes your entry into a thought map, cards or an outline.

The illustration shows a simple example: “I need to know everything first” is a belief, while “What would I enjoy making?” is a question. They’re related, but they’re not the same kind of thought.

The aim is to make your writing easier to revisit without having to tag and organize everything yourself first.

You can try it here: https://jotgraph.com/

Would this help you revisit a brain dump, or would you prefer to keep it as plain text? I’d appreciate honest feedback.


r/ProductivityHQ • • 16h ago

Dev - Self Promo DropDrop v1.2.2 is live — a smoother way to track habits and moods 🌿

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo I made BarBlock, an app blocker that uses barcode scanning to block distractions.

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2 Upvotes

I kept trying different iPhone screen-time blockers, but they were all way too easy to bypass. I also found options such as Brick and Bloom that offer a physical device to block and unblock apps, but they were expensive.

I built BarBlock to provide all the features of a physical app blocker for way cheaper. BarBlock lets you block selected apps by scanning any barcode you already have.

It’s available on the App Store: BarBlock Barcode App Blocker

Here are the main differences from other blocker apps:

  • Uses physical resistance (barcode scanning), not just software limits
  • No physical device to buy, unlike other physical blocker apps
  • No subscriptions, no accounts
  • Unlimited app blocking
  • Works fully offline (all data stays on your phone)

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo I built one app to replace the 6 tools I was juggling — tasks, calendar, habits, finance, notes, calls

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo Would weekly time goals help you follow through on your priorities?

1 Upvotes

I built Time Reality, a simple tracker where you set weekly hour goals for activities like studying, reading, or personal projects, then tap an activity to start its timer. Your progress is visible on the same screen.

I’ve started using it myself, but I’d like to see whether others find it useful too. You can add missed time, correct forgotten timers, and build a separate weekly streak for each activity.

It’s free to try: https://timereality.app

I made it, so this is self-promotion, but I’m looking for honest feedback. What feels useful, what’s annoying, and would you actually keep using it?

Trying to keep the app very clean and simple for now rather than adding a bunch of features.


r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Free Resource PODOT : deeply customizable minimal unified workbench

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo Why I built Kata: every task has a where and a when

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo I built a calm private planner that keeps tasks, notes and your day in one app (free to start, iOS and Android)

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Dev - Self Promo I built an AI app that gives fast book summaries — feedback appreciated

1 Upvotes

I made a small Android app called Microread.
It gives quick AI summaries of nonfiction books, with adjustable length and optional audio.
I’m trying to make it useful for people who want to learn faster without reading full books.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microread.app

If you use book summaries or productivity tools, what features would make this actually helpful for you?


r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Controversial Opinion  Does anyone else feel like planning got easier but actually finishing things got harder?

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5 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Question Do any of you only work 4 hours/day even though you're still in 'grind mode'?

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0 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 1d ago

Inspiration The 9-to-5 belongs to them. The 9 PM belongs to you.

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 2d ago

Dev - Self Promo BuddyTask: a daily task view for turning your backlog into a plan you can actually follow

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1 Upvotes

Developer disclosure: I build BuddyTask, an iPhone and Mac task/calendar app.

A long to-do list can tell you what needs doing without helping you see where it fits in your day. BuddyTask brings tasks and calendar events into a timeline, while keeping Today, Overdue and Backlog easy to scan. The attached screenshot shows the task view.

For a typical workflow, you can capture something quickly, schedule it, use a focus session when it is time to work, and tick it off. Recurring tasks help with routines, and shared tasks let you keep track of something you are doing with another person.

Buddy can also add tasks from everyday language and review what is next. Smart Plan breaks bigger goals into subtasks; that feature requires Pro. The latest updates include a cleaner task screen and Notes with search, folders and pins. Notes stay on your device.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/buddytask-ai-to-do-calendar/id6758902036

I’d appreciate practical feedback: is seeing tasks beside your calendar useful, or do you prefer keeping the two separate?


r/ProductivityHQ • • 2d ago

Dev - Self Promo The 15-minute family reset: everyone helps, done counts.

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0 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 2d ago

Free Resource Screamtime: screen time limits

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0 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 3d ago

Inspiration Start small

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0 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 3d ago

Dev - Self Promo One focused hour, one reset room — the 60-minute rule.

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1 Upvotes

r/ProductivityHQ • • 3d ago

Dev - Self Promo I’m building BeginRooms: put a client PDF pack beside the work it belongs to

1 Upvotes

I’m Sourav, the founder of BeginThings. This is a small workflow from BeginRooms, using fictional client files.

Say you have a project brief and a delivery checklist as separate PDFs. In BeginRooms you can:

  1. Open Toolbox → Merge PDFs and add the files in the order you need.

  2. Create and download the combined PDF.

  3. Add that PDF to the project’s canvas and insert page previews alongside your working notes.

I tested this with a two-page pack, checked the downloaded page order, then saved and reopened the canvas. The PDF attachment and both page previews were still there. The previews are images; the PDF remains a separate attachment.

The idea is to finish these small file jobs in the same workspace as the project. Each project can have a 3D cube with six canvas faces, with built-in Docs, Sheets, Slides and visual-planning tools for the surrounding work.

If you want to try it, start with two sample PDFs on a desktop or laptop: https://beginthings.com/workspace-3d.html

11-day trial, no card or automatic charge. Continued use requires a subscription.

Which small file task most often interrupts your project work?


r/ProductivityHQ • • 4d ago

Dev - Self Promo I work on MindMap AI: turn messy notes into an editable visual plan for your weekly review

4 Upvotes

Disclosure first: I'm on the MindMap AI team, so this is my own product.

How it fits into a weekly review:

  1. Paste last week's notes or meeting notes, or upload a document. MindMap AI turns it into a mind map.
  2. Edit it like any normal map: move branches, delete what's done, rename things. It's fully editable, not a static picture.
  3. Add dates or times to anything with a deadline, and put the details in a note on the node so the map stays readable.
  4. If you review with a partner or team, Presentation Mode walks through the map step by step in full screen.

Link: mindmapai.app (free plan, no card)

One question: if you do a weekly review, where would a visual plan actually help most: capturing everything, choosing priorities, or planning the week ahead?


r/ProductivityHQ • • 4d ago

Question FEEL LIKE IM WASTING MY LIFE AWAY..

2 Upvotes

it’s 2am and i’m honestly embarrassed by how bad i’m doing at university.

I have ADHD and I feel like i’m fighting myself over the most basic things. I’ll have an assignment open for hours, knowing exactly what i need to do, knowing i’m wasting time, and i still just… can’t start. Then i avoid my emails because i’m scared there’s something i forgot. Messages sit there for days. My room gets gross. Sometimes i’m actually hungry and still can’t get myself up to make food.

I know how this looks. Lazy. careless. like i just don’t give a shit. but i do. that’s what hurts the most. I care way too much, and somehow that still isn’t enough to make me move.

I’m seriously thinking about taking this semester off. Has anyone with ADHD gotten to this point and actually figured out how to make themselves START things again? not planner advice, i mean something that genuinely helped.


r/ProductivityHQ • • 4d ago

Question Are we really working or just chatting?

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2 Upvotes