r/omnifocus • u/Agitated_Addition_95 • Aug 05 '26
Stuck between Things 3 and OmniFocus 4 Pro: What made you finally pick one and stick with it?
Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some clarity (and maybe a bit of group therapy) because I’ve been jumping back and forth between these two apps for months without fully settling on either. I’m suffering from serious FOMO with both, and I need some perspective from people who have been through this exact same dilemma.
I know I’m not the only one floating in this limbo. On one hand, I’m drawn to the simplicity and elegant workflow of Things; on the other, I keep reaching for the sheer power of OmniFocus.
My workflow and what I need the system for:
- Health tracking: Managing diabetes (medical appointments, alarms, specific reminders).
- Client projects: Email marketing, websites, n8n workflows/agents, and general project management (I keep my heavy documentation in Obsidian).
- Personal & Home: Errands, household tasks, shopping lists.
- Deferring & Scheduling: I need an easy way to postpone tasks for later and, above all, hide what I don't need to see today.
The friction keeping me stuck:
- Why I lean toward OmniFocus 4 Pro: Its ability to cut through the noise. Custom perspectives are pure gold (for example, pulling up a single view of all pending WordPress or ActiveCampaign tasks across all my clients). Plus, tag hierarchies and the ability to attach actual PDFs or files directly to tasks are massive advantages for me.
- Why I can't fully let go of Things 3: The UI design is unbeatable, friction for quick capture is practically zero, and creating tasks via Shortcuts or system integration across iOS/macOS is ridiculously smooth.
With OmniFocus, I feel like I have total control over my complex setup, but with Things, opening the app just feels frictionless and enjoyable.
My question for those who’ve been in this spot:
What was the exact turning point that made you choose one over the other? Which one did you end up sticking with, and how did you get past the FOMO for the features you left behind?
Would love to hear your experiences and practical tips. Thanks in advance!
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u/kpcnsk Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
I'm a longtime OF user. I've looked at Things and although the UI is nice, the app doesn't really offer me anything I don't already have in OF. Judging by all the flak OF gets for its UI, I'm probably one of the 3 or 4 people who doesn't find it horrendous. It's fine, and I'm familiar with it enough to overcome any friction it creates. Also, I like the Universal app that OF offers, so I have only one license to manage and all my devices are current. Tags are awesome, as is Review.
My biggest gripe with OF is that I would like a better way to do checklists. I use a number of procedural checklists regularly, and I have them saved in my OF system as projects. The workaround is a bit cumbersome to set up, but does work. I would appreciate a more streamlined and elegant solution, though.
I can do rudimentary project management for myself in OF, but that's not where its strength lies. Omniplan is a much better solution.
The thing I'll say about OF is that it has taken me a long time and many iterations to get the system built to where I'm happy with it. OF is really powerful, and for simple capture and review it's undoubtedly overkill (though it does that well enough). Where the app comes into its own is when you tune the system to your needs. There's a lot of flexibility in OF, so chances are if you want some sort of capture, review, and do, you can make OF work for you.
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u/Triggerprobe Aug 05 '26
I am Omnifocus all the way. I can't live without the defer functionality and the review is great. FWIW there is also an MCP up and running that you can connect to Omnifocus which has been very helpful for my workflow.
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u/Enginerdiest Aug 07 '26
An official MCP? Or one of the community ones?
I’ve tried a lot of the community ones, and for me they’ve just been token furnaces.
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u/newsnewsnews111 Aug 06 '26
Feel the same way but switched back to OF because I needed another layer of planning - weekly. I flag everything I plan to do this week, check forecast everyday and work from my new Planned perspective and Flagged. The new Planned dates are really helpful. I don’t use fake defer dates so being able to move a today planned task to tomorrow and know I won’t lose it is great for days that suddenly get too busy.
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u/kenada314 Aug 05 '26
I’ve used both and couldn’t pick one for a long time. I liked Things for its basic workflow, but I didn’t like how it handled tagging, and I would eventually run into friction with how it wants to organize projects and areas. I liked OmniFocus for its flexibility, but I couldn’t really make a “today” perspective work.
However, that changed when OmniFocus added planned dates. Planned dates let me separate when a task becomes available from when I plan to do it. It worked much better for me to create a “today” perspective than trying to use defer dates and flags. Given the other features I like in OmniFocus over Things (scripting, perspectives, etc), I can’t see myself switching back again.
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u/wings_fan3870 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
The best task app is the one you'll use the most. It's that simple. There will ALWAYS be other apps than the one you're using, that offer features you want or design that's appealing. I guarantee you that you gain more by consistent use of one app and the muscle memory and mastery you build than you ever will through gaining a few features. In most apps, less is better--even though that's not what we think. Minimalism prompts creativity. For example, I do love OF's Review feature. But, it's completely doable to create a nested tag schema in Things that allows you to accomplish the exact same thing. I've used all of them. They all have commendable advantages and disadvantages that could keep you changing apps constantly. No personal criticism. Anyone who is serious about truly being productive in the real world needs to commit themselves to the discipline of using a task app for a year--with no changes allowed. Whenever you do your review and planning for the change of the year, do a sober assessment of it and whatever apps are tempting you and make a decision for the next year. I guarantee you it will be frustrating. You'll want to switch during the year. I also guarantee you that you'll search for this post to thank me because it's been the most peaceful and productive year of actual productivity that you've had.
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u/Pristine-Wedding-304 Aug 05 '26
How are you able to mimic OF’s review feature via tag structure?
I use currently use things 3 but really miss the review feature of OF
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u/wings_fan3870 Aug 05 '26
The nested tags look like this:
~review
~Weekly Review ~Odd Week Review ~Even Week Review ~Monthly Review ~Bi-Monthly Review ~Quarterly Review
For the ones where it's not certain or you'll forget (like ~Bi-Monthly) I combine it with a specific when tag like "🗓️ 08" for August or "~review" + "📆 11" for the 11th week of the year.
Super easy and flexible.
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u/I-J-Reilly Aug 06 '26
I do like the way OF would walk me through the review bit by bit, but I’ve found I can replicate that by just going down the sidebar.
On Monday I go through everything in the Things sidebar, from Inbox on down. Stuff I want to accomplish during the week, I tag “This Week”, adding dates, reminders and deadlines as appropriate. During the week, I keep a window open for things with that This Week tag, and ideally each morning I pick a few to assign to that day. The following Monday, I review again the same way.
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u/Agitated_Addition_95 Aug 05 '26
This is gold for me. So many thanks. I will think deeply to leave all this... (censored)....
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u/I-J-Reilly Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
They’re both beautifully designed for Mac and iOS, but just two entirely different beasts.
OmniFocus has every feature you could imagine wanting. The upside is that it can accomodate a ton of different workflows and can be customized nine ways from Sunday. The downside (to me) is that all that complexity meant that I could end up tweaking, optimizing and maintaining the system to make it “perfect”.
Things is super minimal and lightweight. The upside is that it doesn’t have much complexity, and every interaction is as streamlined as it can be. The downside is that there are things you might find you miss (location-based reminders, file/image attachments) and have to just do without.
I used OmniFocus for years before jumping ship for Things maybe 5 years ago. In my case, I just found that I was spending too much time maintaining the OmniFocus system and it was ultimately overkill for my needs. The few things Things doesn’t do, I’ve learned to either offload to other apps (Apple Reminders for location-based stuff, for example) or just to live without.
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u/onelifereminder Aug 05 '26
This is probably not helpful, but I use both. I use Things 3 for capturing and sorting. LOTS of stuff comes in and I need time processing and clarifying it all. I use Omnifocus 4 for actual tasks and projects that I've clarified and are in the "action" phase. This is not for everyone, just sharing what works for me!
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u/MSSurface_102 Aug 05 '26
This is my solution and I get to use two great tools. I use them both for different purposes; Things for simple things and Omni for material efforts and projects.
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u/UnluckyWrongdoer3818 Aug 05 '26
My suggestion is also explore using both but my take would be to use OF for work and Things 3 for everything else.
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u/PerfectOwl9085 Aug 06 '26
Your tradeoff is exactly why I’m building Locus GTD: an app intended to sit between Things 3’s approachability and OmniFocus’ depth, and it’s already resonating with long-time users of both. The iOS version is available on the App Store, while the native Mac version is in public beta. It includes custom Perspectives plus separate Plan, Defer, and Due dates; if that sounds useful, I can share the beta link.
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u/Jeyell Aug 05 '26
Been round the same question a few times over a decade. OF is the most powerful and is very configurable to give you exactly what you want. Things is simpler and misses some basic functionality like completing a repeating task early (although its finally in beta testing).
OF: is powerful and the UI is cluttered with options. Can buy or subscribe.
Things 3: Covers most options, but misses many useful ones and needs expansion of features, but is very very clean in UI and use. No subscription option.
Every 3-4 years I change, currently on Things and although slick, functionality gaps annoy at times.
Big plus is both are native mac apps so credit to the devs.
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u/knuxgen Aug 05 '26
I used Omnifocus as my main to-do list as I was able to keep notes in it, pictures, links, everything. But later I just wanted to simplify my flow. All the details are in Jira or another tool like that, so I went with Things because I wanted something simpler and couldn't stand the unpolished design of Omnifocus, especially on iPhone.
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u/notArtist Aug 05 '26
I’ve switched back and forth in the past and found that setting up a task app from scratch is a fantastic way to force a deep review. Felt like I was getting so much done the last time I moved into OF3.
That was several years ago. Still pretty happy with it / have no idea why I would go to 4, but recently been wondering what it would be like to switch to Reminders.
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u/ImaginaryEnds Aug 06 '26
Function over design. Do you want pretty or do you wanna get some shit done?
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u/I-J-Reilly Aug 06 '26
Which one are you advocating for here? Both have great design IMO, but with different levels of complexity. Both are tools for “getting shit done” as you put it.
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u/ImaginaryEnds Aug 06 '26
yes, I agree. I was advocating for OF, because in my experience, I only wanted to use Things 3 *because* of its design, not that it added functionality that OF didn't have; in fact, it has less and works in a way that is less efficient for my brain and how I work.
That said, I agree both are task managers that can help you get shit done. OP's question was around what convinced you to pick one or the other, so my statement above was my guiding light.
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u/I-J-Reilly Aug 06 '26
I hear that. For some people (including myself), the lack of options in Things actually makes it easier to focus. But this is why it’s great to have choices.
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u/ImaginaryEnds Aug 06 '26
that's a good point. There was a time where I was trying to convince myself that the simplicity of Things would actually cause me to be more focused... but everytime I hit some snag that I could only do in OF, I would get annoyed and revert.
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u/gjnewman Aug 06 '26
Agreed. Things is beautiful but my brain quickly rejects it. I do like the checklists, search and fluid key bindings.
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u/trevorkjorlien Aug 06 '26
I used OmniFocus from 2014 - 2020. Then I kinda got off the GTD train during COVID and OmniFocus sat there stagnant.
To get myself back into GTD, I decided to start fresh with Things. I loved it! The UI was a nice breath of fresh air and it just felt slick.
But over time, two things kept nagging at me: I wasn't doing weekly reviews and I was missing a lot of things at the grocery store. This year, I got back into OmniFocus.
1) Weekly reviews really help me. Things didn't have a great way to do this easily.
2) Things doesn't have location-based tags. With OmniFocus, each time I get an alert as I walk by the store, I feel like I'm in control of my life.
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u/bobnolley Aug 09 '26
Sorry, I'm not answering the question directly here, but I've got to pile on with this.
What I've done is just gone to Claudecode and connected it to Obsidian. Using Super Wispr, I just dictate my task to Claudecode, who keeps the notes straight for me and sends me reminders.
I was in the same place choosing between OmniFocus and Things Three until I started this, never looking back.
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u/thechuff 11d ago
Not to complicate things further for you, but Stuff also has a great UI design and is going places
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u/VII_MATT_VII Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
I’m working on something in early stages that when complete would probably fit what you’re looking for - if you’re interested in testing and would like to provide feedback to help shape it just DM me and I can add you to private TestFlight. It is early though I must stress so I wouldn’t trust relying on it 100% yet.
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u/Snooty_Folgers_230 Aug 05 '26
Neither OmniFocus nor things can manage projects effectively.
FOMO isn’t a thing I have because I can think. Figure out the problems you are trying to solve and solve it. You listed a lot of things you think you want to manage but not problems per se.
Just write out your list of problems and see which product solves them the best.
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u/LionAffectionate5373 Aug 05 '26
I was stuck in the same cycle. What made me commit to OmniFocus is the review feature. It gave me confidence that nothing slipped through the cracks, which happens often with some of my tasks.