Feb 24, 2026
Aftertone vs Sorted³ (2026) – Productivity System vs Hyper-Scheduling App
TL;DR
Aftertone: £20/mo or £100 lifetime. macOS productivity system — tasks, time blocking, Focus Screen, behavioural AI, weekly reports.
Sorted³: Free (basic) or ~$15/yr pro. Hyper-scheduling app combining tasks and calendar in a timeline. Auto Schedule fills gaps. iOS and macOS.
Key difference: Sorted³ auto-schedules tasks into timeline gaps. Aftertone gives you a focus environment and weekly improvement loop.
Sorted³ combines tasks and calendar events in a single timeline view. Its signature feature — Auto Schedule — takes your unscheduled tasks and fits them into available gaps in your day. Drag to rearrange, pinch to adjust duration, and everything flows.
For people who think in timelines and want every minute accounted for, Sorted³ is elegant. But there's no dedicated focus mode, no behavioural AI, and no weekly reports.
Aftertone trades auto-scheduling flexibility for execution depth: Focus Screen, AI pattern analysis, weekly improvement reports.
Side-by-Side
Feature | Aftertone | Sorted³ |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | £20/mo or £100 lifetime | Free (limited). Pro: ~$15/yr. |
Platform | macOS (iOS/Android coming) | iOS, macOS |
Task management | Native — keyboard shortcut capture, project tags, filtering | Unified timeline with tasks and calendar events, nested tasks, tags |
Time blocking | Visual time blocks with daily structure | Auto Schedule fills gaps automatically. Gesture-based duration adjustment. |
AI | Silent behavioural AI — tracks patterns, weekly insight reports | Auto Schedule algorithm (rule-based, not learning AI) |
Focus mode | Focus Screen — context-aware, current task, overdue flags, 1-2-3 shortcuts | None |
Weekly reports | Automated, AI-generated, personalised | None |
Calendar sync | Google Calendar, two-way | Apple Calendar, Google Calendar |
Where Aftertone pulls ahead
The Focus Screen. Sorted³ shows your timeline. Aftertone's Focus Screen shows only your current task — nothing else — with adaptive shortcuts.
Behavioural AI and weekly reports. Sorted³ doesn't track patterns or generate insights. Aftertone watches your week and tells you what to change.
Execution depth. Sorted³ plans your day. Aftertone helps you work through it and improve each week.
Where Sorted³ is the better fit
Auto Schedule is genuinely clever — it fills timeline gaps with your tasks based on duration and priority.
The gesture-based interface (pinch to resize, drag to reorder) is fast and intuitive on iOS.
At ~$15/year it's one of the cheapest options in the space.
Runs on iOS and macOS — mobile-first unlike Aftertone.
Bottom line
Sorted³ is an elegant hyper-scheduling app for people who want every minute of their day planned. Aftertone is a productivity system for people who want to work through that plan with focus and improve over time. Different strengths at very different price points.