Aftertone vs Things 3 (2026)
TL;DR
Aftertone: £20/mo or £100 lifetime. macOS productivity system — tasks, time blocking, Focus Screen, behavioural AI, weekly reports.
Things 3: £49.99 one-time (Mac). Beautiful, fast task manager. No time blocking, no calendar sync, no AI, no focus mode. Apple-only. Last major update: 2017.
Key difference: Things 3 is a gorgeous task list. Aftertone puts tasks inside time blocks and tracks what actually happens.
Things 3 is one of the best-designed apps on Mac — genuinely beautiful to use. It's been around since 2017, it costs a one-time fee, it runs beautifully on Apple devices, and it does task management with a level of polish that most apps never reach.
But it's a task list. A gorgeous, well-structured task list — with projects, areas, tags, headings, and a Today view that's pleasant to use — but still a task list. It doesn't know when you're going to do each task, how long it will take, or whether you actually did it on time. It doesn't block time. It doesn't protect your focus. It doesn't learn anything about your patterns. And it hasn't had a major update since 2017.
Aftertone starts where Things 3 stops. Tasks exist inside time blocks. Time blocks exist inside a daily plan. The plan is protected by a Focus Screen that adapts while you work. And at the end of each week, AI reviews everything and tells you what to change. Both apps are macOS-native. Both offer one-time pricing. The question is whether you want to manage a list or run a system.
Side-by-Side
Feature | Aftertone | Things 3 |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | £20/mo or £100 lifetime | $49.99 Mac + $19.99 iPhone + $9.99 Watch (one-time) |
Lifetime plan | Yes | Yes (one-time purchase) |
Platform | macOS (iOS/Android coming) | macOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro |
Task management | Native — keyboard shortcut capture, project tags, filtering | Advanced — projects, areas, headings, tags, checklists, deadlines, repeating tasks |
Time blocking | Visual time blocks with daily structure | None |
Calendar integration | Google Calendar, real-time two-way sync | Read-only calendar view in Today and Upcoming |
AI | Silent behavioral AI — stalled tasks, time drift, energy tracking, weekly insight reports | None |
Focus Screen | Context-aware — current task, overdue flags, 1-2-3 shortcuts to pull tasks forward, auto calendar updates | None |
Weekly reports | Automated, AI-generated, with optimisation suggestions | None |
Natural language input | Task capture via keyboard shortcut | Full natural language parsing for dates, tags, deadlines |
Methodology | Plan → Execute → Evaluate → Optimize | GTD-inspired (Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday) |
Apple ecosystem | macOS only | Deep — Shortcuts, widgets, Apple Watch, Quick Entry, Vision Pro |
Design quality | Clean, focused | Arguably best-in-class for any productivity app |
Last major update | Active development | No major update since 2017 (regular maintenance only) |
Where Aftertone pulls ahead
Tasks live inside time, not a list
Things 3 tells you what to do. It doesn't say when. You can add a "when" date to surface a task on a given day, but that's not the same as blocking 90 minutes at 10am for deep work on it. Aftertone puts every task inside a time block on your calendar. You see your day as a plan, not a list. That changes how you relate to your work — you stop hoping you'll get to things and start knowing exactly when you will.
The Focus Screen
When it's time to work in Things 3, you minimise the app and open whatever you're working on. Things 3 stays in the background — it doesn't know if you're doing the task, procrastinating, or answering Slack messages. Aftertone's Focus Screen takes over. It shows your current task. If something goes overdue, it flags it. Finish early and it offers your next tasks as 1-2-3 options — pick one and your calendar updates. You stay in a structured working state instead of switching between your task list and your actual work.
AI that learns your patterns
Things 3 has no intelligence. You check tasks off and they disappear. Aftertone tracks which tasks repeatedly stall, where your time drifts from your plan, and when your energy is highest. End of each week, you get a report with specific observations and suggestions. Use Things 3 for a year and you have an empty task list. Use Aftertone for a year and you have a documented record of how your productivity has evolved.
Two-way calendar sync
Things 3 shows your calendar events as read-only context in Today and Upcoming views. Your tasks don't appear on your calendar. Your colleagues can't see what you're working on. Aftertone syncs both ways with Google Calendar — your time blocks show up everywhere, and your availability updates automatically.
The Evaluate and Optimise phases
Things 3 covers capturing and doing. Aftertone adds automated evaluation (what stalled, where you drifted, energy analysis) and optimisation (AI suggestions for restructuring next week). That's the difference between completing tasks and actually improving how you work.
Where Things 3 is the better fit
Things 3 is a more capable pure task manager — projects with headings, areas of responsibility, repeating tasks, checklists within tasks, tags, and a Someday list. If you need deep task organisation without time blocking, Things 3 does that well.
The Apple ecosystem integration is strong — Apple Watch, Shortcuts, widgets, Quick Entry, Vision Pro. If you capture tasks on your phone throughout the day, Things 3 has the mobile app that Aftertone doesn't yet.
The design genuinely sets a standard. Cultured Code cares about every pixel. If the feel of your tools matters to you — and it should — Things 3 is hard to fault on aesthetics.
Bottom line
Things 3 is one of the best task managers ever made. Aftertone is a productivity system that happens to include task management. If you want a beautiful list that keeps track of everything in your life, Things 3 is a fine choice. If you want your tasks tied to time blocks, a Focus Screen that keeps you working, AI that studies your patterns, and weekly reports that help you actually improve — Aftertone does a different job, and it does it well. Try Aftertone free at aftertone.io.