Best Apple Reminders alternatives (2026): Notif, Things, Todoist and more

Apple Reminders is a good app. It's free, it's on every device you own, and Siri can put things in it without you touching the phone. The trouble starts after the note is written. A reminder tells you what you said you'd do and then goes quiet. The address you'd need, the hours of the place, the form you have to fill in first: none of that is on the note, so the note sits there until it's overdue.

If that's the itch, here are four apps that scratch it in different ways. One of them, Notif, is mine, so it's first and I'm telling you that up front. The other three are the ones I actually compared it against while building it. Pricing describes each app's model as of September 2026; check their sites for current numbers.

1. Notif, the reminder that does something

Notif is a reminders app that keeps Apple Reminders as the source of truth and adds a layer on top of it. You write a note the way you'd write a sticky note. Notif reads that one note and adds an Insight, one line of context about what you wrote: that the restaurant doesn't take reservations, that passport renewals are running slow right now, that it's going to rain on the day you picked. Under it sits one button for the next step, whether that's opening the official site, getting directions, or calling the person named in the note.

Every note is a real reminder in Apple's app, on your other devices already, and it stays there if you delete Notif. There's no account. Nothing about a note leaves your phone unless you ask for an Insight, and a note you mark private can't leave at all. If you want to go deeper, you can chat with the note itself, and it already knows what it's about.

It's the right pick if you like Reminders and want the notes to start helping. It's the wrong pick if you want a project manager with sub-tasks, labels and team sharing. Notif is deliberately a sticky note, not a database.

Pricing: Free, with 7 Insights and 14 chat answers a week. Notif Pro makes both unlimited for $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. iPhone, Mac and Apple Vision. trynotif.app

2. Things 3, the beautiful list

Things is the app people mean when they say a to-do app can be a pleasure to use. It has the cleanest design in the category, a sensible structure of areas, projects and headings, and a Today view that most people end up living in. Its keyboard support on Mac is the best there is.

What it won't do is think about your tasks. A task in Things is text you typed, with a date and maybe a checklist, and that's the whole story. There's no context, no suggestion, no next step. If you want a calm, well-made place to keep a long list and you don't need help acting on it, this is the one.

Pricing: A one-time purchase, bought separately for iPhone, iPad and Mac. No subscription.

3. Todoist, the cross-platform workhorse

Todoist's strength is that it's everywhere: iPhone, Android, Windows, web, browser extensions, and integrations with most things you'd want. Its natural-language entry is excellent, so "pay rent every 1st" becomes a recurring task without touching a date picker. It handles projects, labels, filters and shared lists better than anything else on this list.

The cost of all that is that it can feel like work to keep tidy, and it lives outside Apple's ecosystem, so it doesn't sync with Reminders and Siri support is more limited. It's the choice if you share lists with other people or switch between platforms.

Pricing: A free tier with limits on projects, and a Pro subscription for the rest.

4. TickTick, the all-in-one

TickTick tries to be a to-do app, a calendar, a habit tracker and a Pomodoro timer at once, and it mostly succeeds. The calendar view is the standout; you can see tasks alongside events and drag them around. It's also one of the few with a proper built-in focus timer.

If you want one app for everything productivity-shaped, it's hard to beat on value. If you want a single app that does one thing cleanly, it's the busiest option here.

Pricing: A free tier, and a Premium subscription that unlocks the calendar views and higher limits.

How to choose

• You like Reminders and want the notes to help you act. Notif. It adds the context and the button, and leaves your reminders where they are.
• You want the nicest list on the platform and nothing more. Things 3.
• You share tasks with other people, or you're not all-Apple. Todoist.
• You want a calendar, habits and a timer in the same app. TickTick.

None of these are wrong. The question is whether the problem you have is keeping the list or doing the list.

Frequently asked questions

Why look for an alternative to Apple Reminders at all?

Usually because the note is only the beginning of the job. Reminders is excellent at capture and terrible at follow-through; it gives you a nag and nothing to do with it.

Do any of these keep working with Apple Reminders?

Notif does, by design: every note is a real reminder in Apple's app and syncs there. Things and Todoist can import from Reminders but then keep their own lists. TickTick has an import as well.

Which one is free?

Notif, Todoist and TickTick all have free tiers you can live on. Things 3 is paid up front, once per platform, with no free tier beyond the trial.

Which one is best for iPhone specifically?

Notif and Things are built only for Apple platforms and feel like it: widgets, Siri, Spotlight, the lot. Todoist and TickTick are good on iPhone but built to be the same everywhere.

If Notif sounds like the one, it's free on the App Store: trynotif.app.