OmniFocus alternatives
OmniFocus is the most complete GTD app on Apple devices. People leave it because it costs a lot, because keeping the system up became the work, or because they need Windows or Android. Here’s what fits each.
Free for two projects · Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. By Yassine Zeriouh. Prices and features checked on October 25, 2026.
Milestones is the app this site belongs to, so it’s listed first and held to a harder standard below. The others are where OmniFocus users most often go, each for a different reason.
Projects with stages, without a GTD system to maintain
A calmer, simpler Apple-only task manager
Every platform; filters come closest to perspectives
GTD lists out of the box: Next, Waiting, Scheduled, Someday
Tasks alongside habits and a Pomodoro focus timer
Free, built in, with tags and smart lists
Prices from each app’s own site or the App Store, checked on October 25, 2026.
Feature comparison
OmniFocus is a full GTD system; Milestones is a project planner built around stages. Where each one is ahead, row by row.
Built for
Milestones
Projects split into milestones, each with its own tasks
OmniFocus
A full GTD system: inbox, contexts, defer dates, reviews
Structure
Milestones
Project, milestone, task, plus tags
OmniFocus
Folders, projects (parallel, sequential or single-action lists), actions, tags
Progress
Milestones
A progress bar for every milestone and every project
OmniFocus
Counts of remaining actions; no progress per stage
Setup
Milestones
Little to configure
OmniFocus
Rewards time spent building perspectives, tags and a review habit
Weekly review
Milestones
None built in; progress and dates show what’s late
OmniFocus
A built-in Review that reminds you which projects to check
Custom views
Milestones
Today, Upcoming and Inbox
OmniFocus
Custom perspectives with your own filters and grouping (Pro)
Defer dates
Milestones
No; tasks have due dates
OmniFocus
Defer dates hide actions until they’re relevant
Boards
Milestones
Kanban board for any project, and for Today, Upcoming and Inbox (Pro)
OmniFocus
No board view
Task states
Milestones
To do, in progress, done
OmniFocus
Available, completed or dropped
Quick capture
Milestones
Dates, #tags and !1 to !3 priorities typed in one line; Quick Entry on the Mac
OmniFocus
Quick Entry; dates typed in words on iPhone and iPad
Platforms
Milestones
iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch
OmniFocus
Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro; a web app for other computers
Sync
Milestones
Your own iCloud, no extra account
OmniFocus
Omni Sync Server, free and end-to-end encrypted, or your own server
Trying it
Milestones
Free for two projects, no time limit
OmniFocus
14-day free trial
Price
Milestones
Pro $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 once; one purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac
OmniFocus
$74.99 Standard or $149.99 Pro, once, for every Apple device; or $99.99 a year with the web app
Why switch
OmniFocus rewards upkeep: tags, perspectives, defer dates and a weekly review. When maintaining all of that takes more time than the projects themselves, a simpler structure helps. Milestones has projects, milestones and tasks, and very little else to configure before you can start.
In OmniFocus a long project is a list of actions, perhaps grouped, with a count of what’s left. In Milestones every stage is a milestone with its own due date, its own tasks and a progress bar, so you see which stage is running late, not just how much remains overall.
Milestones is free for two projects with no time limit, and archived projects don’t count toward that. If you need more, Pro costs $29.99 a year or $79.99 once and covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. OmniFocus costs $74.99 for Standard, $149.99 for Pro, after a 14-day trial.
A task in Milestones is to do, in progress or done, and Pro adds a Kanban board for any project and for Today, Upcoming and Inbox, where you drag a task from one column to the next. OmniFocus has no board view and no in-progress state for an action.
Honest trade-offs
OmniFocus is a better app than Milestones at several things. If these are why you chose it, stay with it.
Head to head
OmniFocus vs Things 3
The two best-known GTD apps on Apple devices, built for different people: OmniFocus is a system you configure and grow into, Things 3 is a calm list you can learn in an afternoon.
Use case · Client project tracking
How to set project milestones for client work.
Milestones gives freelancers and consultants the structure clients ask for (projects per client, milestones for deliverables, tasks for the work) without the overhead of Asana or the chaos of a notes file.
Use case · Launch checklist
An app launch checklist you’ll actually finish.
Every step from six weeks out to the week after release for an iPhone, iPad or Mac app, with the mistakes I made shipping Milestones. Then plan it as a project with one milestone per phase.
More alternatives: Linear alternatives · Things 3 alternatives · Todoist alternatives
FAQ
Yes. Apple Reminders is free and already on your devices, with tags and smart lists. Nirvana is free for up to 5 projects and is built around GTD lists. Todoist and TickTick have free plans with limits, and Milestones is free for two projects. OmniFocus itself only has a 14-day trial.
Not as an app. OmniFocus for the Web runs in a browser on any computer; it comes with the $99.99 yearly subscription or costs $4.99 a month on top of a license. Todoist, TickTick and Nirvana have native apps for Windows and Android. Milestones is Apple-only.
OmniFocus 4 costs $74.99 for Standard or $149.99 for Pro as a one-time universal license covering Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. A $99.99 yearly subscription includes Pro and the web app. Prices checked on omnigroup.com on October 25, 2026.
Nirvana is built directly around GTD lists: Inbox, Next, Waiting, Scheduled and Someday. Todoist’s saved filters come closest to custom perspectives and run on every platform. Things 3 is the simpler Apple-only choice if you want to keep the spirit of GTD with less upkeep.
Not automatically: Milestones has no importer for OmniFocus. Most people move only the projects with clear stages, turning action groups into milestones as they go, and keep OmniFocus or another task manager for everything else. The two run side by side without trouble.
Not really. Milestones is a project planner: projects split into milestones with their own tasks, dates and progress. It has no contexts, defer dates or weekly review. Plenty of people use it next to a GTD app, with Milestones for the projects that have stages.
Free for two projects on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Keep OmniFocus for your system and see whether your next project fits better in milestones.
