Things 3 is the best-designed task manager on Apple. You are here because a plain text notes field is not a writing environment — and your tasks need somewhere to remember the thinking behind them.
Tareea is the Things 3 alternative for people who need to write as well as plan — and, since Things 3 is Apple-only, a cross-platform Things 3 alternative for Windows and PC too. Everything Things 3 users love about serious task management, with a full writing environment, a permanent note-to-task connection, and one price across every device — no per-platform purchases.
Things 3 raised the bar for what a task manager should feel like. The interaction design, the visual hierarchy, the way a completed task disappears — these are not details. They are the reason people stay. We took that seriously.
Things 3 is a task manager. A superb one. But it was built to hold tasks — not the thinking that generates them. For knowledge workers who start with writing, that gap is the problem that accumulates over months.
Select any text in a note. One click. A task is created — and it carries a permanent link back to the exact note where the idea lived. The note can be rewritten, restructured, renamed. None of that breaks the connection.
Three months later, you open a task and the full context is one click away. Not a copied sentence in a notes field. The original note, with all the thinking around it, exactly where you left it.
Notes also link to each other via references that work across the full note-and-task system. Following a reference takes you to the note and to the tasks that note generated. The whole thread, intact.
The official version and the real version are probably different. Find out whether the board saw the risk assessment before or after the vote.
Cross-reference the timeline with the leaked February memo. Check if her name appears in the subsidiary filings→ Create a task — it might. Send a thank-you within 24 hours.
The Focus card scores every active task — by due date, priority, and context — and surfaces the single most important thing to work on right now. Not a Today list to review. A decision already made.
The Connection Map shows every Folio as a spatial graph. Every note is a node. Every task connected to that note sits beside it. Notes that generated more action have more lines radiating outward. You see which ideas are driving work before you read a single label.
The Timeline shows sixty days of intentions ahead. Your tasks as coloured dots distributed across time. Dense where work is concentrated, open where there is breathing room. Drag any dot to reschedule. Things 3 has no equivalent. A flat task list has no equivalent.
Things 3 is a genuinely excellent task manager. This table is not an attack. It is an honest look at what each product does and where the gaps are for people who need to write as well as plan.
| Feature | Things 3 | Tareea | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task management | Excellent | Full system | Baseline for serious planning. Neither tool compromises on task quality. |
| Writing environment | Plain text notes field only | Full editor | Things has a notes field per task. Tareea has a full editor with typography, Focus Mode, and Markdown. These are not the same thing. |
| Note-to-task connection | None | Permanent backlink | Every Tareea task carries a permanent link to the note it came from. Context survives the project. |
| Note-to-note references | None | Links notes and tasks | Following a reference takes you to the note and to the tasks that note generated. The whole thread, intact. |
| Daily Focus surfacing | Today view — manual | Focus card — automatic | Things 3's Today view requires a morning review. Tareea's Focus card makes the decision for you. |
| Connection Map | None | Yes — Pro | See which notes generated the most work and which threads are still open. A spatial view of your project. |
| Timeline planning | None | Yes — Pro | 60 days of work distributed spatially. Drag dots to reschedule. Time as a dimension, not a field. |
| Calendar sync | Read-only · Apple Calendar only | Live iCal feed — Pro | Things 3 shows Apple Calendar events — read-only. Tareea's iCal feed works with Apple Calendar, Google, and Outlook. |
| Platform availability | Mac, iPhone, iPad only | Web — any device | There is no Things 3 for Windows, no Android app, no web version. If your work involves a PC, a shared computer, or any non-Apple device, Things 3 is unavailable. Tareea opens in any browser on any device — no installation, no Apple ID required. |
| AI features | Apple Intelligence only (iOS 18+ / macOS Sequoia) | None | Things 3 exposes Apple's system Writing Tools. Tareea keeps AI out of the writing entirely — content is never read or processed. |
| End-to-end encryption | Things Cloud — encrypted in transit | Always on, every tier | Tareea encrypts what you write before it leaves your device. We can't read it — even if we wanted to. |
| Pricing model | ~$80 one-time (3 purchases) | Free · $9/mo Pro | Things 3 costs roughly $80 across three separate platform purchases — and that only covers Apple devices. Tareea is free forever, $9/month Pro, one price across Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, and any browser. |
The worry about switching from a best-in-class task manager is almost always about task quality — trading a system that feels considered for a generic interface that happens to have notes tacked on.
That is not what Tareea is. The task system is the reason the product exists. We did not build a notes app and bolt tasks onto it. We built a workspace where both halves deserve to be excellent — because neither half of the work is optional.
The note-to-task connection is the mechanic you will not find anywhere else. It becomes more valuable the longer a project runs. On week one, it is convenient. On month three, it is the only reason you still know why half your tasks exist.
If you are Apple-only and never want to write more than a sentence per task, Things 3 is the right tool. For everyone else — cross-platform users, writers, researchers, people who need to think before they plan — the gap that forces a second app is the problem Tareea was built to close.