If you’re searching for the best task management app to use, there are an overwhelming number of options to choose from. What I eventually figured out, through lots of testing and experimentation, is that the basic reminders app that came with my phone is way more powerful than I thought it was—I think it’s actually the best option for most people.
Task management apps are a dime a dozen
They just cost a lot of dimes per month to use
There are task management apps for everything and everyone. Some apps are local-first and require one-time purchases, like Things 3. Others require monthly ongoing costs like Todoist. Microsoft To Do is part of Microsoft 365, but is free to use. And others are still designed for specific groups of people, like Tiimo, which is designed for people with ADHD.
The problem with all these apps is the fact that they all have different feature sets and most cost money, normally relying on monthly subscriptions. I’m a big Todoist user, and the free version is decent, but they really push you toward the paid tier. My wife loves Things 3, but it’s an expensive one-time purchase and requires separate purchases for iPhone, Mac, and iPad.
Todoist is not the best task management app—this one does so much more
Manage your entire life in one app.
With so many task management apps out there, it can be overwhelming trying to find the perfect one to use. Even I have been trying to find the “perfect” task management app to use, jumping from app to app over the past few months to really hunt down the “one” that fills every need I have. The problem is: it doesn’t really exist with third-party apps.
You see, I want an app that doesn’t cost any money, allows for picture uploading, syncs across devices, has a clean aesthetic, and offers notifications, tags, and headers. Todoist comes the closest to this for me, but it costs a monthly fee. The Apple Reminders app, however, actually ticks just about every box (including price).
The stock task management app on your phone is actually really powerful
Images, attachments, tags, reminders, and more at no cost
Whether you’re looking at Apple Reminders on iOS/iPadOS/macOS, or Google Keep on Android/web, the stock reminders app that your device comes with is actually quite powerful.
Take Apple Reminders as an example (since I have the most experience with it). The default Reminders app on iPhone actually has a lot of features, including uploading pictures to a reminder, adding tags, subtasks, multi-stage notifications, sharing lists, and so much more.
Apple Reminders is also free to use and comes pre-installed on every Apple device, so the barrier to entry is quite low. The image attachment works well too, making it easy to attach one (or multiple) pictures to a single reminder.
You can even use advanced features like having it remind you when you get to a specific location, like home or a store. This is one of my favorite features of Reminders—being able to say something like “Hey Siri, remind me to buy chicken breasts at Costco” and then having that reminder fire off when I get to Costco. Or, “Remind me to pull the steak out of the freezer when I get home,” and have that reminder fire when I get home—whenever that may be.
This is just one of the features that really can’t be mimicked well by third-party apps, but the stock Reminders app does extremely well. It also integrates fluidly with Siri and works across all of my Apple devices, including my HomePod.
Apple and Google are constantly updating Reminders and Keep with new features
These apps are pre-installed and deeply integrated with your device
Sadly, the Apple Reminders app only gets major updates once a year, typically when the next version of iOS comes out. But that gives Apple plenty of time to work on new features for the app. With iOS 26, Reminders got Siri suggestions, automatic categorization, and integration with Control Center.
This might not seem like a lot of new features—and they’re not—but the Reminders app is already pretty full-featured, as I mentioned. Google Keep is similarly full-featured for Android users.
The best part about stock apps is that the updates are free. You’ll never be expected to pay Google or Apple money to use these stock apps, and they’ll continue to get updates, even if those updates come out slower than third-party options.
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Save your money and just use the stock reminders app on your phone
Before spending money on a task management app, sit down and actually write down the features that you need from a reminders app. You might actually surprise yourself, and the stock app could suit every need you have.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
